West Virginia Injury Lawyer Blog

For some West Virginia legislators, sponsoring a mine safety bill wasn't just about preventing a repeat of the 2010 Upper Big Branch mine tragedy: it was also about something personal. Two legislators had lost fathers in coal mining accidents.

House Speaker Rick Thompson lost his father in 1952, when he fell off the mine roof -- before Thompson was even born. Delegate Charlene Marshall lost two fathers -- her biological father when she was six years old, and later her stepfather. Marshall emphasized that she never wanted any child to feel what she felt. As a result, she and 11 other legislators have sponsored a bill that would not only increase training and increase sanctions for violations, but would also improve the role of miners' families during investigations. Miners' families or their representatives would be permitted to sit in on investigator interviews. This would prevent situations like the one Marshall experienced. During a routine canvassing for the vote, she learned that the details of her father's death were different from what her family had been told.

In addition, the bill would require a review of the three reports that were issued by Upper Big Branch investigators. The goal is to identify problems and then alter safety standards to ensure that disaster never strikes again. The three reports, as well as a federal report issued by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, faulted Massey Energy Company for allowing safety lapses that led to the accident, as well as Massey's efforts to conceal these problems.

If the bill is passed, changes will include a whistleblower hotline for mine safety violations, double the penalties for lying to investigators, and triple the penalties for safety violations. Mining machines would shut off automatically if methane levels were too high. Mine workers would be permitted to leave areas that they believed to be unsafe.

We at the Wolfe Law Firm applaud West Virginia legislators and Governor Tomblin for taking sensible steps to end the safety abuses routinely found in coal mines. While the 2011 death toll was much lower than in 2010, more than a dozen people still died in coal mining accidents. The numbers may rise if something is not done to prevent them. Fortunately something is being done, and it will be up to inspectors and whistleblowers to ensure that mining companies don't successfully evade the new regulations.

Continue reading "West Virginia Legislators Sponsor a Bill That Would Improve Mine Safety" »

West Virginia's House and Senate committees are expected to pass a bill banning cell phone use and texting while driving. The bill is championed by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, and once he signs it, West Virginia will become one of a growing number of states to ban the practice. Already nine states and Washington D.C. ban the use of handheld cell phones while driving, while 35 states have banned text messaging.

The bill would treat both cell phone use and texting as secondary offenses, meaning that a police officer could cite drivers for cell phone use or texting only after pulling them over for a different offense. Other states treat cell phone use as a primary offense, so police officers can pull drivers over just for using a cell phone.

One typical reason for the imminent ban was given by Delegate Nancy Peoples Guthrie: "We're losing too many people in accidents that we know could be avoided. I don't want to lose any more kids, any more parents, any more people." Already, West Virginia prohibits drivers 18 years old and younger from texting or using a cell phone while operating a car. The upcoming ban would extend that ban to every driver.

The Senate Transportation and Infrastructure committee and the House Transportation and Roads committee are expected to take up the bill, and chairmen of both are optimistic that the legislation will take effect sometime this year.

We at the Wolfe Law Firm believe that banning handheld cell phones and texting is a smart solution that is a long time coming -- one that is sure to save countless lives. While driving is a privilege that everyone should handle with great care, too many people act as though they can do anything (eat, drink alcohol, talk on a cell phone, apply makeup) and come away unscathed. That leads to accidents that could have easily been avoided. Our firm has represented car accident victims for over 20 years, and can attest to the variety of injuries people suffer, as well as the often nightmarish interactions with the other driver's insurance company.

Continue reading "West Virginia Legislature Poised to Pass Ban On Texting, Cell Phone Use, While Driving" »

This story will serve as a precaution for every West Virginia driver: keep an eye on the road at all times, or you could become a casualty of those who have no concern about driving while intoxicated or on drugs.

A tractor trailer driver from Mississippi was recently sentenced in neighboring Maryland to 21 years in prison for going on a high-speed rampage through three states in December 2010, including West Virginia. A police pursuit of Thomas McNeel, 43, began in West Virginia and reached speeds of 80 miles per hour by the time they reached Maryland. While driving along Interstate 70 and Interstate 81, he damaged four vehicles of civilians unlucky enough to get out of the way in time. Police finally slowed McNeel down by shooting out McNeel's tires -- yet even that just slowed him down to 35 miles per hour. When McNeel reached Washington County, Maryland, he purposely swerved the tractor trailer toward a police cruiser. Because of police dashboard cameras, McNeel avoided being charged with first-degree assault, as police determined that McNeel was just trying to scare the officers in the cruiser rather than actually harm them.

Instead, McNeel was charged with four counts of second-degree assault. McNeel later testified that he tried a synthetic methamphetamine called "bath salts" that morning, which left him unable to remember the high-speed chase. His bench trial took place one year after the original offense and the verdict was handed down soon after.

Most people know that driving is a privilege and a responsibility. We might sometimes bend certain rules, but most people would never consider taking drugs before getting behind the wheel. It is almost miraculous that no one was killed in the incident. However, some civilians did pay a price. The people whose cars were damaged by McNeel's tractor trailer have asked for $11,000 for repairs, and one woman reported suffering back injuries as a result.

If you or a loved one ever experiences such a situation, you should go out and hire a West Virginia car accident attorney as soon as possible. An experienced car accident attorney would quickly take evidence from the scene of the crime and gather the necessary witnesses. Your attorney would then help you build a case that the other driver was negligent or reckless. Even if the driver were not as obviously reckless as McNeel, it would be possible to get a sizeable award from the jury -- known as "money damages," or just "damages" -- that could pay your medical expenses, for pain and suffering, and for any possible property damage. You might even be able to obtain punitive damages -- in West Virginia, punitive damages may be awarded if the wrongdoer's actions were intentional or grossly negligent. The burden of proof is a preponderance of the evidence, the lowest burden of proof in a trial.

Continue reading "Driver in High-Speed Chase Through West Virginia Sentenced to 21 Years in Prison" »

An Iraq War veteran and West Virginia Air National Guardsman died in a tragic plane crash in Marysville, Ohio. Michael Lakin, 42, of Charleston, West Virginia, lost control of his plane while performing aerobic maneuvers for the purpose of recertification and crashed near the airport. He was taken to the hospital, where he later died of his injuries.

The cause of the crash is unclear, whether due to a mechanical problem or due to Lakin's error. Following the accident, many took time to remember the man who had been passionate about flying since the age of 10. Lakin flew for both the United States Marines and West Virginia's Air National Guard in a C-130 aircraft. Part of Lakin's piloting duties included flying state officials, including West Virginia's governor. Members of the 130th Airlift Wing mourned Lakin's loss.

Frequently, when accidents happen with small planes, it is due to an inexperienced pilot's error. A pilot with too little training may attempt big maneuvers and end up paying a tragic price. This was not the case with Lakin. While Lakin's tragic death may have been the result of pilot error, it is worth asking whether the cause of death could have been mechanical. In a situation like this, a West Virginia wrongful death attorney could investigate to see what the cause of death truly was. If the death was the result of a mechanical error, the deceased person's loved ones could file a wrongful death suit against the one responsible -- such as the manufacturer or the company responsible for maintenance. Wrongful death suits can be filed against both individuals and companies. They hold appeal for many people because wrongful death suits require less proof than criminal trials -- a "preponderance of the evidence" versus "beyond a reasonable doubt."

In a wrongful death suit, you would charge that the entity -- whether the manufacturer or the maintenance company, or both -- had a duty to produce and/or maintain as safe a plane as was reasonably possible. The manufacturer breached this duty by producing a plane with a design defect or an assembly line defect, or the manufacturing company breached this duty by putting an inexperienced mechanic on the plane, or by not following available safety standards, resulting in failure to correct a mechanical problem. This breach caused your loved one's injury, and the damage was your loved one's death.

If you are successful in your suit, you will receive damages, a money award, for lost wages, emotional distress, medical bills (if any), and loss of companionship. West Virginia also permits punitive damages for extreme cases, but only if it could be shown that the defendant's conduct was intentionally or grossly negligent. We at the Wolfe Law Firm have represented countless families who have filed wrongful death lawsuits. If you lost a loved one through tragic circumstances and suspect that another party was responsible, don't hesitate to find an attorney who will listen to you, get to the truth of what happened, and will work to bring you justice.

Despite the improvements in mining safety, there have still been more than a dozen mining fatalities this year. Just as a settlement has been reached concerning the 2010 Upper Big Branch mine explosion, lawmakers in Washington are hoping that a final investigative report on the tragedy that killed 29 people will renew interest in mine safety legislation.

West Virginia's Senator Jay Rockefeller is a key supporter of the Robert C. Byrd Mine and Workplace Safety and Health Act. The Act would increase penalties for significant safety violations, aim to protect whistleblowers, and shutdown "problem" mines. Senator Rockefeller called the legislation commonsense and said that there is "no excuse" for not supporting it. He and Senator Joe Manchin introduced the bill after a similar one failed the previous year in the House of Representatives. At the time, critics claimed that it was premature since the investigation was not yet complete. Now, with the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) claiming that Massey Energy Company (previous owner of the Upper Big Branch mine) used "systematic, intentional, and aggressive efforts" to conceal problems that were life threatening, the legislation may get a more serious look.

Meanwhile, Alpha Natural Resources, Inc., the company that bought Massey Energy Company, has agreed to pay $200 million to resolve various civil and criminal penalties linked to the Upper Big Branch mine disaster. The global settlement will not only resolve civil fines issued by MSHA, but will also serve as restitution to families of the miners killed. Some of the money is also expected to be used for mine safety research.

Although the settlement would resolve Alpha's corporate criminal liability, many believe that prosecutors would still be able to pursue individual Massey former employees and officers. The families' attorneys also claim that the settlement will have no effect on attempts to mediate wrongful death suits filed for 18 miners.

If your loved one is injured in a mining accident, you have options. If the mining company has workers compensation, you must accept workers compensation payments in place of filing suit against your employer. You will receive fixed payments until you recover from the accident, even if you were partially to blame for it occurring. However, you could also hire a West Virginia personal injury lawyer and file a lawsuit against a third party if it was partially responsible for the accident -- such as the manufacturer of faulty equipment.

Continue reading "As Final Report On Upper Big Branch is Released, Alpha Settles and West Virginia Senators Pursue Tough Mining Legislation" »

As hard as this economy has been on all of us, it may have one unexpected benefit: it reduced the number of fatal traffic accidents across the nation to a 61-year low.

The results came from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data of 2010. West Virginia accidents declined 12% from the previous year. Other states had healthy declines as well, such as Nebraska (15%), Montana (14%), Mississippi (8.4%), South Carolina (9.4%), and Utah (3.3%). At first, it was believed that photo radar and automatic ticketing may have been responsible, but there is no evidence showing a correlation between these new devices and the drop in fatal traffic accidents. Here in West Virginia, use of photo radar is prohibited.

Instead, the lingering effects of a poor economy may be responsible. Fewer cars on the road going to work -- the fewest since 1949 -- means fewer cars to get into accidents. At the same time, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood suggested that there were other factors at work. First, cars in general are safer due to greater improvements in crash avoidance technology. Second, many roads are safer due to improved signs and lighting, and third, more drivers are choosing to wear their seatbelts and to refrain from driving after drinking. Even so, one could argue that those changes have been taking effect for a number of years, and by themselves would not result in such a steep drop in fatalities. The only way to know for certain is to wait and see if the percentage remains low after the economy picks up steam.

While it is encouraging to hear that traffic fatalities are down across the nation, and significantly in West Virginia, it is still often too dangerous on the road. West Virginia has several scenic routes where it becomes easy for the driver to lose focus on the road. Mix that with alcohol, or other poor conditions, and you have an accident that is serious, if not fatal. Operating any vehicle on the road, whether a car or a motorcycle, is a privilege and a responsibility that every driver should take seriously. Yet when you get in an car accident through no fault of your own, you need to know your options.

If you or your loved one has been in a car accident, you should hire a West Virginia car accident attorney to represent you. An experienced attorney would investigate the scene as quickly as possible after the accident, preserve all necessary evidence, and interview witnesses. Once your attorney is able to obtain the evidence, you would file a negligence lawsuit against the one you believe was responsible for the accident. You would claim that he or she had a duty to operate on the roadway as safely as possible. He or she breached this duty by driving carelessly (after drinking alcohol, talking on a cell phone, and more). The breach caused your injury, and your damage was anything from a stiff neck to a shattered leg or spine. In a negligence suit such as this, if you are successful, the usual award is "damages," a monetary award meant to cover medical bills and pain and suffering. We at the Wolfe Law Firm have been representing car accident victims for more than two decades. If you were just in a car accident and need help, contact our firm today.

Back in July, we discussed the tragedy at the All Good Music Festival, an annual event in Marvin's Mountaintop, West Virginia. During this year's summer festival, a pickup-truck driver lost control and drove into a tent, killing one woman and injuring two others. The tragic event and the circumstances that followed led the festival's promoter, Walther Productions, to move next year's festival to Legend Valley, Ohio.

Following the accident, the women and their families sued Walther Productions and several vendors -- including the company in charge of security -- for "wanton, reckless, grossly negligent acts." Without confessing anything, Walther Productions acknowledged that there were "challenges and frustrations" in getting 12,000 fans into and out of the campground year after year. Walther Productions sought to have the lawsuits dismissed in federal court, and also filed a cross complaint that accused the festival's security company of negligence. All civil suits are expected to move forward in early 2012, and there may be criminal proceedings yet to come. The Preston County sheriff announced that the West Virginia State Police has just concluded an accident reconstruction report.

So far, the festival is expected to stay in Ohio for just one year. It remains to be seen whether Walther Productions will decide to keep it there permanently. That would be unfortunate, since the All Good Music Festival has become a popular attraction in West Virginia. There has been no word as to whether the women and their families would sue the truck driver who caused the accident.

The lawsuits against Walther Productions are likely based in the premises liability theory. That theory holds that property owners have a legal responsibility to prevent visitors to the property from being injured. When the property is opened for use by the public, these people are known as "invitees." Owners owe the highest duty of care to invitees: a duty to warn about hazards on the land that the owner knows about or should know about. Failure to warn or use reasonable care to make the property safe is grounds for a negligence claim.

Here, the women might claim that Walther Productions knew that the fair grounds had dangers, such as conditions that caused cars to sometimes veer off of established roadways, but failed to warn invitees. The women might also claim that Walther Productions breached its duty to make the fair grounds reasonably safe, such as widening the road or posting more signs, or by arranging to have more security present to prevent intoxicated people from driving.

Continue reading "After This Year's Tragedy, All Good Music Festival to Move to Ohio" »

As drivers, we have been taught to share the road and be thoughtful and courteous of our fellow travelers. This includes tractor trailers, also known as "big rigs," which are many times larger and heavier. Being near one has caused more than one driver to become white knuckled, and often with good reason -- a typical tractor trailer fully loaded can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. A car driver who gets in an accident with a tractor trailer is far more likely to suffer an injury than if the accident were with another car. That is why tractor trailer companies and their drivers must follow safety regulations that do not apply to car drivers. Drivers must maintain a log, and they are not allowed to operate a tractor trailer if they have a blood alcohol concentration of 0.02 or greater. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requires drivers to work limited hours to avoid fatigue.

Yet far too many accidents happen anyway as the result of driver fatigue or carelessness. Recently on Interstate 77, near Rockport, West Virginia, a tractor trailer driver struck a bridge guardrail at 2:30 am. As a result, diesel fuel was spilled and traffic lanes were closed down. Fortunately no one was injured, but officials said that the lanes would be shut down for three days while clean-up efforts were underway. Unfortunately, the story of another recent tractor trailer accident ends on a darker note. On Interstate 81 in Martinsburg, a tractor trailer hit a black Toyota SUV, causing the Toyota driver to lose control of the car, hit a guardrail, and overturn. While one of the passengers remained trapped inside the SUV, the tractor trailer fled the scene, whereabouts currently unknown.

If you or your loved one is injured by a tractor trailer driver, what are your options? The most obvious would be to hire a West Virginia car accident attorney and sue the tractor trailer driver for negligence, if you can find him. You would argue that the tractor trailer driver had a duty of care to other drivers on the road to operate the vehicle according to applicable regulations. The driver breached this duty through carelessness, or possibly by not resting enough hours or by drinking too much alcohol. The breach caused you or your loved one injury (the car accident), and you suffered damage as a result, such as broken bones, a spinal injury, or even an injury to your brain.

Besides suing the driver directly, you could also sue the company through vicarious liability theory. With vicarious liability, you would argue that the company is also responsible for the driver's actions because the accident occurred during normal work hours, while the driver was performing the usual tasks of employment. If you succeed in finding the employer vicariously liable, you can collect a money award from the employer as well as (or possibly instead of) the driver.

We at the Wolfe Law Firm have represented several clients who were in tractor trailer accidents. It is always important to find an experienced attorney as soon as possible who can do a thorough investigation of the accident scene, before key evidence is removed or disappears. In West Virginia, there is a two-year statute of limitations for filing a claim. So if you or your loved one were injured by a tractor trailer driver, don't wait -- find someone willing to defend your interests right away.

Hughie Elbert Stover, security chief at Massey Energy Co., was convicted of obstructing a federal criminal investigation and of lying to federal investigators. Stover has been security chief of the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia since 1999, including during the period of the 2010 explosion that killed 29 mine workers.

After the Upper Big Branch explosion, the federal government conducted a far-reaching criminal probe into what went wrong. Stover was found guilty of obstruction after ordering a security guard to get rid of thousands of documents related to security, several months after investigators interviewed Stover about the accident. A jury in a U.S. District Court in Beckely gave Stover the maximum penalty -- 25 years in prison -- but he remains free until his February 29, 2012 sentencing.

There is no word over whether Stover will appeal the ruling, though Stover's attorney called it a "rush to judgment" when those directly responsible for the mine explosion had not yet been charged.

The Upper Big Branch accident was the worst in West Virginia's history, and the worst overall since 1970, when 38 miners were killed in Kentucky. The accident occurred after high methane levels were reported in the mine. The federal investigation that followed revealed that Massey Energy had repeatedly failed to meet safety standards from the Mine Act of 1977. Massey Energy officials repeatedly pressured mine workers to lie in safety books shown to inspectors, while keeping copies of the real books that highlighted all of the flaws.

As we at the Wolfe Law Firm have repeatedly pointed out, mining is dangerous enough work without mine companies ignoring safety regulations. We applaud the federal government's effort to bring those responsible for the Upper Big Branch accident to justice, and hope that it leads other companies to be more conscientious about safety. Even though mines have been notably safer this past year, there have still been over a dozen deaths. In other words, there is always room for improvement.

Continue reading "Security Chief at Massey Energy Co. Convicted of Obstructing Investigation of Upper Big Branch Explosion" »

Driving a car is a great privilege. But as always, great privileges come with great responsibilities -- and too often, car accidents can result in injury, or even tragedy, as two recent accidents show.

One multi-car accident happened after 47-year old Fitzgerald Wise ran into two cars on West Main Street in Charlottesville, Virginia. He then backed into a police car and hit a utility pole. A police officer and driver received non-threatening injuries, and Wise was charged with reckless driving. It is unknown whether other factors affected Wise, such as drugs and alcohol. A second recent crash happened to a West Virginia resident, and unfortunately, the result was a fatality. A 60-year old man, Charles Herald, was driving a Dodge Ram Charger with a camper through Kentucky. The camper started to fishtail, causing Herald to lose control of the truck. The truck careened off of the right shoulder, hit a tree, and finally came to a rest. Although Herald was flown to a hospital, he was pronounced dead an hour later.

It is estimated that 5.5 million car crashes take place each year. They are common along several routes in West Virginia, especially on Interstate 79 and Interstate 68. A car accident can result in injuries that range from serious -- such as injuries to the neck, spine, or brain -- to "mild," such as whiplash. In too many cases, car accidents can even result in death. Even those with "mild" injuries can still face a lifetime of problems. That is why you should take any injury from a car accident seriously, no matter how minor it seems at the time.

We at the Wolfe Law Firm have seen quite a number of car accident victims over the past 20 years. Often, these people are fed up with trying to get money from the insurance company to pay for their injuries and need help from an experienced West Virginia car accident attorney. A jury verdict in their favor could give them money for medical bills and pain and suffering. How a person injured in a car accident proceeds depends upon the nature of the accident.

If you or your loved one were injured by a driver like Fitzgerald Wise, you would most likely sue that driver for negligence. You would argue that the other driver owed a duty to you and other occupants of the roadway to drive safely according to the law. By using alcohol, or by simply ignoring road safety laws, the other driver breached that duty. The other driver's breach caused you injury, and you suffered damage as a result. As a remedy, you would seek damages, or a monetary award.

Continue reading "Two Car Accidents in States That Neighbor West Virginia Highlight the Need for Caution on the Road" »

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its preliminary report on workplace deaths in 2010. It found that 95 people were killed at West Virginia worksites, up from 54 in 2009.

In some ways, the leap sounds more problematic than it is. The 54 figure in 2009 represents the second-lowest amount of accidents on record, while the 95 figure is inflated by the explosion at Upper Big Branch mine, which killed 29 mine workers. Overall, the mining industry saw the highest number of deaths at 37. This was followed by construction industry deaths at 10. Of those killed, 94% were men, and 96% of the men were white, non-Latino males. Fire was the greatest cause of death, though that might also have been distorted by the Upper Big Branch mine accident.

While 95 deaths in 2010 is a high figure, it does not even come close to the number of workplace injuries, including serious injuries that leave a worker partially disabled. No one should have to fear coming to work every day. Yet while certain jobs carry natural dangers -- like coal mining, construction, and police and firefighting -- their dangers may be exacerbated by employers who ignore safety regulations in order to save money. Even a job not normally considered dangerous can be if your employer fails to keep the workplace reasonably safe.

If you are injured in a workplace accident, you have options for relief. If your employer has workers compensation insurance, you can receive fixed monthly payments for your injury until you (hopefully) recover. The bad news is that you have no choice but to accept workers compensation because the law does not allow you to elect a lawsuit instead. The good news is that you can receive payment regardless of fault, whereas you might not receive anything if you sue. In cases where your employer does not have workers compensation insurance, you could hire an experienced West Virginia personal injury lawyer and file a suit against the employer and/or a third-party manufacturer of any faulty equipment you used.

With your employer, you would argue that it had a duty to provide as safe a work environment as reasonably possible. Your employer breached that duty by failing to follow reasonable safety standards. The breach resulted in your injury and you suffered damage in the form of a broken leg, or damaged disc in your spinal column, or some other serious damage. Your argument against the third-party manufacturer would be similar, except that you would argue that the manufacturer created equipment that was either poorly designed or flawed on the assembly line, and the flaw caused your injury and bodily damage. One thing to watch out for: West Virginia has modified comparative negligence, which means that you cannot collect a monetary award unless you are less than 50% at fault.

Continue reading "Labor Statistics Show That 95 People Died in West Virginia Workplace Accidents in 2010" »

Sadly, despite recent data showing that coal mines have become safer since the Upper Big Branch disaster in 2010, mine workers still lose their lives in workplace accidents. This time, a 62-year old mine worker at Consol Energy's Shoemaker Mine in West Virginia lost his life after being struck by a trench digger.

Charles McIntire had been operating the trench digger moments beforehand at the Ohio River portal to the mine. He then stepped off of the machine and connected it to a power source. The machine came unexpectedly to life and ran over McIntire, amputating his leg. McIntire died late that evening -- the second in a Consol Energy Mine and the seventeenth death in a mining accident this year.

Federal and state mine safety officials met with Consol Energy employees to review the accident and safety procedures. Some emergency management officials cited Consol Energy employees' failure to call 911 when McIntire injured his leg. Instead, they called STAT Medevac and Tri-State EMS.

We at the Wolfe Law Firm always regret preventable deaths. Coal mining has a long, proud history in West Virginia, but it also has many dangers. It is best when mining companies do everything possible to avoid adding more dangers. Yet many of them do, taking shortcuts and ignoring safety procedures. Here, the cause is a little less clear: whether McIntire acted carelessly, or whether the equipment was simply unsafe.

If you or a loved one are injured in a coal mining accident, you have options. If your workplace has workers compensation insurance, you would receive fixed monthly payments while you recuperated from the injury. When the employer has workers compensation insurance, you have no choice but to accept it; you cannot elect to file a lawsuit instead. At the same time, one of the benefits is that you receive payment for your injuries regardless of who was at fault -- whereas you may not get any payment if you sue.

Continue reading "West Virginia Man Dies In a Coal Mine Accident at the Shoemaker Mine" »

A grand jury chose not to indict a West Virginia man on vehicular homicide charges, believing that there was not enough evidence. The Athens County Grand Jury had convened following a tragic situation where two seniors -- Mary and Fred Hart -- were killed after being struck from behind by a vehicle. The accident happened on an interstate highway in neighboring Ohio.

The grand jury determined that the driver, a 34-year old from Fairmont, West Virginia, did not have alcohol in his system at the time of the accident. Rather, investigators at the scene blamed inattentiveness for the collision. The case will now be referred back to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which will likely file misdemeanor charges against the driver.

Car accidents are sadly common, with an estimated 5.5 million occurring each year. In West Virginia, they are especially common along Interstate 79 and Interstate 68, and several routes throughout the state. The results can include everything from whiplash to serious injuries to your neck, back, and brain -- or, in the case of the unfortunate couple here, death. Those fortunate enough to survive car accidents may be left with debilitating injuries. Even a "mild" injury like whiplash can have results that last for years.

If you or your loved one is in a car accident, what can you do? One of the first things to do is hire a West Virginia car accident attorney to help you get relief. Although insurance companies are tasked with paying for car accident injuries, they may not cover everything, and often will act resistant when you try to argue with them. Therefore, you need someone who can help you get more monetary funds to pay the medical bills that crop up as a result of the accident. An attorney has the experience and resources to help you determine if the insurance company settlement is fair or not, or whether the other driver's fault was so great that you could obtain a large award at trial.

If the other driver was largely responsible for the car accident, you would file a suit in court stating that the driver was negligent. You would argue that the other driver had a duty to people on the road (including yourself) to drive safely, and the other driver breached that duty through careless driving. The breach was the direct or proximate cause of your injury, and you suffered physical and property damage as a result. Even if you were partially at fault for the car accident, you can still collect a monetary award in court as long as you were less than 50% at fault. That's because West Virginia has a "modified comparative negligence" system, as opposed to a pure comparative negligence system (where a party can collect no matter what their level of fault as long as it is not 100%) or a contributory negligence system (where a party cannot collect even if it is only 5% at fault). Often a negligence case will be settled before it goes to trial. If not, the outcome of the case will be decided by a jury.

Continue reading "West Virginia Man Not Indicted for Killing Two People in a Car Accident" »

A Danbury, Connecticut man was killed after his kit-built, single-engine plane crashed as he was about to take off from a West Virginia airfield. The recently completed Arion Lightening reportedly careened off the runway at the Green Landings airfield and struck a nearby house. While the occupants of the house fortunately escaped harm, Harry Weber, a 70-year old retired pilot, died at the plane's controls.

So far, the reason for the crash is unknown. It is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration. Some naturally speculate that there was a flaw in the plane, either in its construction or its design. "[Weber] was an excellent pilot," said Frank Giumarra of Danbury. "I can't believe he did anything stupid."

Weber used to fly commercial jets for Pan Am, logging over 100,000 hours since becoming a pilot 50 years ago. As a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association, he was also an enthusiast about building and restoring his own aircraft. Weber traveled frequently to West Virginia to build the Lightening, a project that took seven months. Weber had completed one flight on the new plane prior to his latest attempt. His neighbors remembered him fondly and with sadness.

We at the Wolfe Law Firm understand that flying a private plane is an exciting hobby for many people. As with any exciting hobby, it carries several dangers. Many people with private planes lack Harry Weber's experience and attempt maneuvers that quickly go out of control. They believe that just because they have a license, they are capable of handling a plane in all conditions. At the same time, Weber's case shows that plane crashes can happen under any circumstances, even when the plane is guided by a seasoned hand. The sad question for the deceased person's family members is whether pilot error caused the crash or a defect in the plane.

If evidence reveals that a defect in the plane caused the crash, the family might consider hiring a West Virginia product liability attorney and filing a product liability lawsuit against the plane's manufacturer. To be successful, the family would need to show that the plane had a manufacturing or design defect. This defect made the plane unreasonably dangerous, which caused the accident that resulted in your loved one's death. It might be difficult to prove a manufacturing defect -- where the one plane has serious flaws coming off of the assembly line -- if the plane crash leaves few remains. However, records from the manufacturer or elsewhere might reveal problems with the plane that went uncorrected.

Continue reading "Connecticut Man Killed in West Virginia After His Plane Crashes Into a House" »

A 51-year old man from Shenandoah Junction, West Virginia was killed after being struck by a CSX freight train. The accident happened early in the morning at a location east of Ridge Road and Potomac Avenue. By 6:15 am, the man was pronounced dead by a Jefferson County medical examiner on the scene. Cause of death: blunt force trauma.

Before the accident, the man was reportedly walking east on the north side of the tracks -- as he did every morning to Duffields station, before catching a train into Maryland for work. This time, although the train blew its horn to alert him of its approach, the man did not step off of the tracks. Law enforcement officials state that they do not view the accident as a suicide. Instead, they viewed it as a tragedy and hastened to emphasize that walking alongside or inside of railroad property is illegal.

We at the Wolfe Law Firm express condolences to the man's loved ones and hope that future tragedies like this can be avoided. Sadly, too many people lose their lives to collisions with trains -- either through suicide or through tragic errors. In some cases, train tracks run through busy metropolitan areas, where car drivers may misread signs and end up stuck between the crossing gates. In other cases, inattention on the part of the train operator may result in a tragedy.

If your loved one was struck and killed by a train, you have the option of hiring a West Virginia wrongful death attorney to get relief. An attorney would know how to obtain the facts to help you understand what went wrong. If the tragedy was a suicide, or entirely due to lack of attention on your loved one's part, you could not expect to collect any monetary relief. However, in the case of an inattentive train operator or a poorly designed intersection, you may be successful if you argued that your loved one's death was the result of negligence. To prove negligence against the train conductor, you would need evidence that the conductor's failure to take the necessary safety precautions resulted in the accident. Sometimes the evidence is circumstantial -- "X, Y, and Z would never have happened if the driver had been paying attention." Sometimes direct evidence can be obtained from sources such as cell phone records showing that the driver was chatting or texting shortly before the tragedy occurred. Witnesses to the event -- either on the train or outside -- can be helpful in establishing what happened.

If the accident was caused by an unsafe crossing area, you might succeed in filing a lawsuit against officials of the municipality. Your chance of success is greatest if there is evidence of other tragedies, or "near misses," at this crossing area, and that it was reported to officials. That would demonstrate that these officials were put on notice that a tragic event would occur if nothing were changed. If these officials continued to not act, without a justifiable reason, you could make the case that they were negligent. If you succeed in your suit, the relief awarded by the jury usually includes money for loss of support and services and medical bills (if necessary). It will never bring your loved one back, but it might help you obtain justice and move on with your life.