Missouri Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

An eight-year-old Missouri girl was injured by a pet monkey in the parking lot of a Springfield Wal-Mart, according to a recent article on impre.com. The girl was walking through the parking lot with her father when she saw the monkey sitting in a vehicle parked in the lot. Curious, the girl approached the macaque, which attacked her, leaving her with injuries to her forehead.

The girl was taken to a local hospital to be treated for her injuries. As a precaution, she was also given antiviral and antibiotic medication, since physicians who treated her did not know whether or not the monkey was carrying any diseases that could be transmitted to humans via a bite or a scratch. Macaque monkeys are capable of carrying diseases like hepatitis, tuberculosis, and herpes, and may transmit these infections to people who come into contact with them.

The macaque’s owner stated that the monkey likely lashed out because it felt threatened by the young girl’s approach. Local animal control officers have quarantined the animal for a required period to watch for signs of disease. The woman also received a ticket for violating the city’s ordinance banning monkeys and other exotic pets.

Dog bites are a common source of injury to children, but dogs are not the only animals kept as pets that can cause injuries or illness if they attack. If you or someone you love has been injured by another person’s animal, please don’t hesitate to call the experienced Missouri animal bite attack attorneys at Page Law for a free consultation. Our number is 314-322-8515.

The Missouri Hazardous Waste Management Commission met recently to discuss changes to Missouri’s hazardous waste management regulations that will bring them in line with federal regulations designed to control pollution, according to Lake News Online. The regulations will address underground storage tanks for hazardous materials as well as other public health and safety regulations. As experienced St. Louis chemical exposure attorneys, we fully support the Commission in its efforts.

The regulations being considered by the Commission would create several changes. For instance, one proposed regulation will require hazardous waste management facilities to submit a health profile along with other required paperwork to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The health profile must include information about diseases associated with the particular hazardous wastes stored at the site, as well as information about the rate of these diseases in the surrounding community and the risks that community members face of developing the listed diseases.

Another set of proposed rule changes will update Missouri’s requirements for underground hazardous waste storage. The Commission notes that Missouri’s underground storage tank regulations have not been updated in over twenty years, and that, consequently, regulators are not currently able to take advantage of the significant improvements in testing, storage, and safety technology and procedures that have developed during that time. The new regulations are intended to bring Missouri’s regulations up to speed when it comes to using the best technology available to store hazardous waste safely.

Hazardous waste and hazardous materials storage facilities are heavily regulated because, in many cases, a leak or spill can cause serious damage to the health of the community. If you’ve been exposed to toxic materials and suffered injury, the experienced Missouri personal injury attorneys at Page Law can help. Call us today at 314-322-8515 for a free consultation. You can also visit our Page Law Facebook page for useful information and other topics of interest.

The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) collects and analyzes accident data for a wide range of vehicle-related accidents, including pedestrian accidents. In 2009, the most recent year for which data analysis has been completed, the MoDOT found that most of the pedestrian accidents that year occurred when a traffic signal changed, but drivers did not pause to check for pedestrians before removing their feet from the brake pedal.

MoDOT Pedestrian Crash Statistics

According to the MoDOT data, a total of 291 pedestrians were injured or killed in Missouri pedestrian-car crashes in 2009. Of these, 127 accidents, or 44 percent of the total, occurred immediately along with or after a traffic signal change. Often, these types of accidents occur when a driver is paying more attention to the light than the roadway around the car. The driver may see the light turn green and step on the gas without realizing that a pedestrian is still in the crosswalk. Drivers who attempt to turn right or left may also risk hitting pedestrians, who have often been given a “walk” signal at the same time.

Additional Pedestrian Accident Causes

Other major causes of pedestrian accidents included pedestrians standing in the roadway, walking on the shoulder of the road, or standing or walking between parked cars. Since pedestrians can usually be expected to stand or walk near a road especially when sidewalks are not available, drivers can help prevent pedestrian accidents by keeping in mind these common pedestrian behaviors and checking twice for people in or near the road, especially before making a turn or passing through an intersection.

Next Steps

Pedestrian accidents can cause serious injuries. The experienced Missouri pedestrian injury accident attorneys at Page Law can help you piece together the facts after an accident and hold any negligent parties accountable for their actions. To learn more, please call Page Law today at 314-322-8515 for a free consultation or visit our Page Law Facebook page.

Missouri’s State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) recently received a $30,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which SEMA will use to review chemical storage safety at several sites across the state, according to a recent CBS news report.

The grant funds will be used to focus on chemical processing and storage sites that handle between 500 and 20,000 pounds of chemicals. Auditors working under the grant program will focus on facilities that have not filed complete, accurate, and/or timely reports as required under the federal Clean Air Act. These facilities are required to file these and other regular reports with the EPA, but the audits will review the reports for accuracy and timeliness.

By awarding the grant to the Missouri SEMA, the EPA also hopes to improve cooperation among Missouri’s chemical facilities, SEMA officials, and the communities in which large chemical facilities are located. SEMA expects to work with local emergency management officials to give them a better understanding of what chemicals each facility handles and what community emergency plans might be necessary in case of an accident.

The spill or airborne release of chemicals is rare, but these accidents can have serious consequences. Many industrial chemicals are hazardous to human health, and some can even cause death. If you or someone you love has been injured by chemical exposure in Missouri, please don’t hesitate to contact Page Law. Our knowledgeable St. Louis chemical exposure injury attorneys will fight to protect your rights and hold any negligent parties accountable for the harm their actions caused. For a free case evaluation, call Page Law today at 314-322-8515.

The Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance Company (MEM) was founded in 1993 by state law. MEM is a public corporation whose responsibility is to provide worker’s compensation insurance to employers who cannot get the appropriate amount of insurance on the regular market. However, recent management issues and board director misdeeds have prompted some of Missouri’s state senators to take a second look at the organization, questioning whether it is still fulfilling its intended purpose.

The Senate’s inquiry comes after two board members resigned their positions at MEM in the face of federal investigations of their non-MEM-related business practices. Although none of the suspected misbehavior the federal investigations uncovered appeared to be related to MEM or its work, the state Senate has scheduled an April 15 hearing to get a clearer view of how MEM is providing worker’s compensation insurance to employers and whether injured workers are getting the proper benefits from MEM plans.

Missouri requires most employers to have worker’s compensation insurance. This insurance provides payments if a worker is injured on the job, including payments for medical bills and amounts to cover lost wages while the worker recovers. MEM’s original purpose was to make it easier to certain employers to get the worker’s compensation insurance they need to protect employees when an injury occurs.

If you’ve been injured on the job, you may be entitled to worker’s compensation payments, but employer procrastination or insurance company runaround can make it hard to determine whether you’ve gotten the proper payments. The experienced Missouri worker’s compensation attorneys at Page Law can help you get the compensation you deserve, so you can focus on healing. Call us today at 314-322-8515 for a free and confidential consultation.

Recently, it seems like broken oil and natural gas pipelines are everywhere. Explosions of natural gas pipelines left neighborhoods decimated and their inhabitants nursing severe injuries in California and Pennsylvania. Broken oil pipelines have sent thousands of gallons of crude into rivers in Montana and Michigan, causing injuries from hazardous chemical exposure and lung damage from inhalation.

In the wake of these disasters, Congressional members from both parties have banded together to set stricter rules for pipeline use and maintenance. Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee have said they will work together to decrease pipeline risks and create ways for injured workers and community members to seek compensation.

One new bill, introduced by Michigan representatives John Dingell (D) and Fred Upton (R), would require oil and gas companies to replace aging cast-iron pipes with stronger materials, use special care when running a pipeline near or under a body of water, and use up-to-date technology to detect leaks or weak spots that might result in leaks. Some oil and gas company representatives, however, are opposing the bill, saying that it would be too complicated and costly to update aging pipelines or monitor entire networks for possible leaks.

Oil and gas lines that aren’t maintained properly may break, causing leaks or explosions that can result in serious personal injury or even death. Severe burns may be caused by an explosion, and lung and other organ damage may be caused by exposure to toxic fumes from oil or gas, or from other materials burned after a pipeline leak ignites.

If you’ve been injured in a chemical spill or leak, please don’t hesitate to contact the experienced Missouri chemical inhalation attorneys at Page Law. We will help you hold any negligent parties accountable for their actions. For a free consultation, call Page Law at 314-322-8515 today.

One of the first bills introduced in Missouri’s state Senate in 2011 was a bill that would change the state’s motorcycle helmet requirements. The bill, introduced by Missouri state senator Dan Brown (R-Rolla), eliminates the motorcycle helmet requirement for drivers or passengers who are 21 years of age or older. Drivers or passengers under age 21, however, are still required to wear helmets.

Under the new law, a person under age 21 who does not wear a helmet may be fined no more than $25.00. However, no points are placed on the license of a rider that does not wear a helmet.

The bill, which was introduced in January 2011, is currently awaiting revision on the state Senate’s informal calendar. The Transportation Committee has already reviewed the bill and agreed that it should be made available to the entire Senate for advice, comment, and revision if necessary. Similar bills have been introduced in previous years, most recently in 2009. The 2009 bill passed through the state legislature, but was vetoed by the governor.

Wearing a properly-fitting motorcycle helmet can increase your chances of surviving a serious crash up to 37 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). While a helmet can reduce the risk of death or serious injury, it can’t make other drivers put safety first. If you’ve been injured in a motorcycle accident in Missouri, the experienced St. Louis motorcycle accident attorneys at Page Law can help. To learn more, call us today at 312-344-8515 for a free and confidential case evaluation.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Health Canada, and toymaker Battat, Inc. have issued a voluntary recall of a set of toy car keys attached to a pretend car remote. The toys have been recalled because the plastic ring that holds the keys and toy remote together can break, creating a choking hazard.

Approximately 1,080,000 of the toy key rings were sold in the U.S. and approximately 3,600 were sold in Canada. The toys consist of oversized metal and plastic “keys” attached to a plastic keyring, which hangs from a toy car remote with oversized buttons and a speaker. The remote makes noises when the buttons are pressed. So far, 17 instances of the toy’s keyring or keys coming apart have been reported.

The recall covers key rings with the product numbers H58000-01 or H26300-01. Battat, Inc. recommends that parents take the toys away from children immediately, then contact the company for a free mailing envelope in which to return the keys. The company will send a replacement toy.

When parents give toys to their children, they trust that the toys meet minimum safety standards and will not harm their children. A defective toy that does harm a child or other family member, however, can cause serious injury. If you or someone you love has been injured by a defective product, please don’t hesitate to contact the experienced products liability attorneys in Missouri at Page Law. To learn more about how we can help, call Page Law today at 314-322-8515.