Central New York Injury Lawyer Blog

Say Goodnight to Drowsy Driving! Central and Syracuse NY Car Accident Lawyer Explains

December 21, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

Drowsy driving kills thousands of people in the United States each year. We’ve all been there: You are driving down a boring interstate highway at night. You start to nod off and, just when you about to enter la la land, you “snap out of it” and clutch the wheel, your heart racing. Scary, huh? And you were one of the lucky ones. Other drivers, succumbing to the sirens of sleep, crash and burn.

But a new device being developed may keep drivers like you awake and save your life. Here’s how it works:

A Bluetooth headset fits on one ear and points an infrared sensor toward the eye to detect blinking. (See photo). The driver’s blinking frequency indicates drowsiness. The data is transmitted by Bluetooth to a smartphone. If the sensor detects drowsiness, the headset vibrates, flashes and beeps to alert — and awaken — the sleepy driver.

New York Drone Injury Lawyer Discusses Explosion Of Drone Accidents

December 20, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

Drones! They’re everywhere! Officially known as unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAV’s, they come in all sizes and at all prices. Some are as small as a flying insect. Others are full-sized airplanes on bombing missions. They’re used in agriculture, construction, photography, engineering, real estate and many other industries, but now, most recently, they are used just for fun. Among other recreational uses, they’re the new “selfie stick” – fly it over and away from your guests and snap a picture of the whole crew!

700,000 drones have been sold this year in the USA. Every year the number of drones sold quadruples! It is predicted that 400,000 more will be sold this holiday season. You can get one on Amazon for just $50 – with a camera. They’re the hot-selling Christmas gift this year.

They might also be the most dangerous Christmas gifts we have yet seen. Yes, this Christmas we are way past the days of shooting your eye out with a Red Ryder BB gun. We’ve come from “every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings” to “every time a drone passes you might get dinged”. Example: Recently a New York restaurant launched “mistletoe drone” that flew from table to table to coax patrons into kissing on camera. It was a lot of fun and romance until the mobile mistletoe plummeted like a reindeer dropping and mauled a patron’s nose with its unguarded rotor. (I suppose she could have played the part of Rudolph after that).

New York Car Seat Inspections Reveal Most Kids Are Not Safely Placed in Car Seat.

November 23, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

I sometimes wax nostalgic about the “good old days” when my boys were toddlers: The petting zoos, the living-room wrestling matches, the cute things they would say. But one thing I definitely do NOT miss is struggling with car seats. What a pain! And I was never sure I had them in right.

Well, I was right to be unsure. Results from recent child car seat inspections throughout New York State revealed that out of 931 random car seats inspected only 112 seats were installed correctly. That’s only 12%! Nevertheless, most parents — 96% to be exact — BELIEVED they had their kids correctly installed in the car seat.

What was wrong with the car seat installation? In some cases, the seats didn’t fit the child, in others they weren’t fitted in tight enough, in still others they were installed or positioned incorrectly.

Medical Malpractice Cover-ups. How Many Doctors Get Away With It?

November 22, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

A real MRI/ MRA (Magnetic Resonance Angiogram) of the brain vasculature (arteries) in monochrome

As anyone who has been following health news in the last few years knows, medical malpractice is rampant. But what fewer people know – except perhaps those of us who sue doctors for a living – is that medical malpractice cover-ups are also rampant.

Here’s a recent example of a med mal cover-up that made headline news. (But note there is no way of knowing how many med mal cover-ups go on since many of the cover-ups surely succeed).

Dear New York Personal Injury client: You Have Been Ripped Off.

November 7, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

Dear client: You have been ripped off. No, not by me, silly! By your doctor, by the hospital, by your physical therapist, and by anyone else who has treated you for your injuries. Let me explain.

Your medical providers have been charging me 75 cents a page for your medical records. This money initially comes out of my pocket, but eventually comes out of yours because I charge it as an expense on your case. The charge reduces your “net” settlement or recovery.

Seventy-five cents a page may not sound like a lot. But it’s a nickle-and-dime ripoff that can add up to a lot of money if we are ordering hundreds or even thousands of pages of medical records.

Rental Car Insurance: Do You Need It? Syracuse Car Accident Lawyer’s Answer:

November 6, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

A New York resident is on vacation and has stopped into a rental car agency. Let’s listen in:

Customer: “Hello, I came to pick up my rental car. I was told it was $30 per day”.

Salesman: “Sure, but you should really get the “rental insurance” on it for an extra $10. Otherwise, you may be responsible for any damage to the car or injuries to others.”

“Why Does My NY Personal Injury Case Take So Long To Resolve”? CNY Injury Lawyer Explains.

November 5, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

New York personal injury lawyers like me get this question all the time. The answer is complex, but explaining complex things to judges, juries and clients, is what we do for a living. We are essentially in the “communication” business. So here goes:

Most often it is not a good idea to settle your claim until you are done treating or at least until your doctor can render an opinion on what – if any – permanent injuries you have. This often takes a year or longer. Insurance adjusters won’t give you anything for “permanent” injuries until your medical records make it clear that they are permanent. This can usually happen only a year or longer after your injury, or even longer if the injuries are very serious.
If the insurance adjuster is disputing “liability”, that is, he or she says the defendant was not at fault, or that the accident was partially your fault, the case may take longer. We may need to sue. Only by suing can we take depositions. Once we nail down the defendant’s and witnesses’ sworn testimony at deposition, we can show the insurance adjuster the accident was all defendant’s fault. If there is still a dispute about liability after depositions, we may have to go to trial to prove we are right. This judicial process takes months or even years!

Honda To Takata: “You’re Fired”! Central NY Inujry Lawyer Explains.

November 4, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

In the TV smash hit “The Apprentice”, Donald Trump famously trumpets the words “you’re fired” when dismissing a contestant for failing to live up to his high job performance expectations.

Well, Trump isn’t the only one. Honda yesterday uttered those same words to Takata, the Japanese maker of the infamous defective shrapnel-shooting airbags.

Maybe it was “you’re fired” or maybe “Sayonara”. But by any measure, Takata had a bad day yesterday. Longtime customer Honda dumped the company right after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) slapped Takata with a $70 million penalty for failing to promptly disclose the dangerous defects in its airbags.

Your Right To Civil Jury Trial Is Disappearing! CNY Injury Lawyer Explains.

November 3, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

Our jury system is in trouble, big trouble, and that’s no small matter. It’s a Constitutional matter. The right to a civil jury trial is enshrined in our Constitution’s Seventh Amendment as part of the Bill of Rights.

But that right is under siege, as explained in a recent series of New York Times articles. Who is assaulting this important right? Corporate America. Corporations are tucking away arbitration clauses into the contracts their customers and employees are routinely required to sign. These arbitration clauses state something like this: “The company may elect to resolve any claim by individual arbitration”. With these simple words, corporations are depriving millions of Americans to their Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial.

Examples abound. Do you have a credit card, a cell phone, or internet service? Then you have given up your right to a jury trial in any dispute with those companies. In the fine print of your service contract lies a hidden a requirement that you “arbitrate” any disputes at a forum pre-selected by the corporation. The same is true in many employment contracts you might sign. Think your boss has discriminated against you? No jury. No Court. Arbitration.

CNY Injury Lawyer’s New York State Personal Injury Lecture Tour About To End

October 29, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

Tomorrow I head to Buffalo to give my annual “Municipal Liability” update lecture to a room full of lawyers there. I have already given the same talk in Albany, Syracuse and Rochester earlier this month. Buffalo is the “end of the road” for this year.

I’ve been giving the annual update on this topic to my fellow New York personal injury lawyers all around New York state every year since 2007. To prepare the talk, I have to read EVERY published case from all New York courts on the topic for the entire year, which amounts to hundreds of cases. I then have to write an “outline” summarizing the most important hundred or so cases.

Lots of work? Sure. And it is UNPAID work. Totally voluntary. But still, I get more out of it than what I put in. How?