Does faulty safety equipment relieve the equipment operator from being liable?
Construction Workers Need Their Heads on a Swivel – Unsafe equipment isn’t a valid excuse to run over them.
I’ve written and litigated extensively on construction worker accidents in Iowa and around the country. They are factually complex because construction workers are hard workers working in a dangerous place. The construction site is an unforgiving environment where OSHA rules apply but many times are not followed. General contractors are under tremendous pressure to keep the work moving on schedule.
Some workers show up with a hangover putting others at risk for serious injury (loss of limbs, etc) or worse yet, death. Some workers don't use the safety equipment provided while others are using faulty safety equipment. Everyone has a tendency to want to blame something other than the people making the decisions to proceed in light of known risks. Today's story is out of Florida. In this instance the young man, just 30-years-old, walked between a forklift delivering roof tiles at a home and a semi-truck, where he was crushed to death. The statement is made the driver of the forklift with a bad mirror and bad back-up warning beeper isn't at fault. Really?
When we examine the news article we are told faulty equipment is to blame, a broken mirror and a broker reverse beeper. But it’s not the equipment that made the decision to be operated; it’s the driver of the vehicle. Working with unsafe equipment is no excuse and won’t relieve the driver of being sued and held liable. Whichever company the driver worked for has a responsibility to maintain its equipment and to remove unsafe equipment from the construction site. Really, it’s that simple.
Here is the part that I read and made me shake my head. The person talking on the news story states it’s not the driver’s fault it was the fault of the broken mirror and inoperable backup warning beeper. That’s simply not true. The law doesn’t place blame on faulty equipment; it’s placed on the people who chose to use or fail to maintain faulty equipment. So in this case the Christian Flores construction site accident is not a freak accident. The driver is responsible for the equipment he drives, not the guy killed and certainly not the mirror and beeper. The owner or company that places faulty equipment into use on a construction site is legally responsible, not the construction worker that is killed.
Who comes up with this stuff? The NTRA? Give me a break. Here is the link to the news story.
Family remembers forklift accident victim
NBC2 News
A 30-year-old man was killed when he was crushed between a forklift and a semi-truck on Wednesday. Naples Police say Christian Flores was delivering roof tiles at the home of Joan and Frank Szot when he walked in between the moving forklift and a truck ...
Comments (2)
Read through and enter the discussion by using the form at the endRepeal_The_Va_Radar_Detector_Ban - September 17, 2011 5:38 PM
As you may know, Virginia is the only state that bans the use and sale of radar detectors. There is no evidence that the radar detector ban increases highway safety. Our nation’s fatality rates have fallen consistently for almost two decades. Virginia’s fatality rate has also fallen, but not any more dramatically than it has nationwide. Research has even shown that radar detector owners have a lower accident rate than motorists who do not own a detector.
Maintaining the ban is not in the best interest of Virginians or visitors to the state. I know and know of people that will not drive in Virginia due to this ban. Unjust enforcement practices are not unheard of, and radar detectors can keep safe motorists from being exploited by abusive speed traps. Likewise, the ban has a negative impact on Virginia’s business community. Electronic distributors lose business to neighboring states and Virginia misses out on valuable sales tax revenue.
Radar detector bans do not work. Research and experience show that radar detector bans do not result in lower accident rates, improved speed-limit compliance or reduce auto insurance expenditures.
• The Virginia radar detector ban is difficult and expensive to enforce. The Virginia ban diverts precious law enforcement resources from more important duties and this ban may be ILLEGAL.
• Radar detectors are legal in the rest of the nation, in all 49 other states. In fact, the first state to test a radar detector ban, Connecticut, repealed the law – it ruled the law was ineffective and unfair. It is time for our Virginia to join the rest of the nation.
• It has never been shown that radar detectors cause accidents or even encourage motorists to drive faster than they would otherwise. The Yankelovich – Clancy – Shulman Radar Detector Study conducted in 1987, showed that radar detector users drove an average of 34% further between accidents (233,933 miles versus 174,554 miles) than non radar detector users. The study also showed that they have much higher seat belt use compliance. If drivers with radar detectors have fewer accidents, it follows that they have reduced insurance costs – it is counterproductive to ban radar detectors.
• In a similar study performed in Great Britain by MORI in 2001 the summary reports that "Users (of radar detectors) appear to travel 50% further between accidents than non-users. In this survey the users interviewed traveling on average 217,353 miles between accidents compared to 143,401 miles between accidents of those non-users randomly drawn from the general public." The MORI study also reported "Three quarters agree, perhaps unsurprisingly, that since purchasing a radar detector they have become more conscious about keeping to the speed limit..." and "Three in five detector users claim to have become a safer driver since purchasing a detector."
• Modern radar detectors play a significant role in preventing accidents and laying the technology foundation for the Safety Warning System® (SWS). Radar detectors with SWS alert motorists to oncoming emergency vehicles, potential road hazards, and unusual traffic conditions. There are more than 10 million radar detectors with SWS in use nationwide. The federal government has earmarked $2.1 million for further study of the SWS over a three-year period of time. The U.S. Department of Transportation is administering grants to state and local governments to purchase the SWS system and study its effectiveness (for example, in the form of SWS transmitters for school buses and emergency vehicles). The drivers of Virginia deserve the right to the important safety benefits that SWS delivers.
***With the SWS, Radar Detectors may be able to receive Amber Alerts.***
Please help to repeal this ban and give drivers in Virginia the freedom to know if they are under surveillance:
www.thepetitionsite.com/1/repeal-the-virginia-radar-detector-ban
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=121180977905712
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Virginia-Repeal-the-Law-462-1079/244547988902810
http://recklessdrivingfacts.com/featured/radar-detectors-and-the-law/#comments
Tell Friends and Family about this.
Steve Lombardi - October 2, 2011 12:15 PM
Interesting reply. Thanks for commenting. Steve Lombardi