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Personal Injury Law

Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer

Commonsense analysis of Iowa personal injury law. Focused on the rights of the common working man and woman.
By Steve Lombardi, Esq.

Post Frequency: 17.4/day

Last Entry: March 31, 2010 at 07:01:00

Kayaking a swollen river takes more than just guts

Posted on June 18, 2009
KCCI reported on a drowning involving kayakers from Iowa. Brothers originally from Creston, Iowa were on a kayak trip on the Pennsylvania River in the Philadelphia area. The river attacks kayakers as it swells with rains. These two were not described as being very familiar with the river, the area or kayaking for that matter...

Tyson child accidental hanging and Iowa infant playground near strangulation very similar

Posted on June 18, 2009
A playground injury at the Apple Tree Daycare center in Dickinson County, Iowa was caused by a 5-year-old girl near strangulation caused by a jump rope around her neck hooking on the upper portion of the slide at her preschool as she slid down the slide...

Scaffolding Collapses in the news, how often does it happen?

Posted on June 18, 2009
How common is a scaffolding collapse on a construction site? Brooks Schuelke and Wayne Parsons posted about the June 10, 2009 21 Rio Condo scaffolding collapse in Austin, Texas and it seems really popular right now. Brooks being from this area finds this story pretty close to home...

Iowa woman dies after horse loses footing and falls

Posted on June 18, 2009
A 28-year-old woman died from a horse losing it's footing, falling and her ending up under the falling horse. The time was some time before 8:50 P.M. to the entrance of Fountain Springs County Park two miles from Greeley, Iowa. She died at the scene...

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Get off the cell phone while driving!! You almost hit a boy on a bike!

Posted on June 18, 2009
Get off the cell phone while driving!! You almost hit a boy on a bike! As I was exiting Interstate 235 in West Des Moines at approximately 2:45 p.m. today (June 18, 2009), I was waiting to turn right onto Valley West Dr. (35th Street). In front of me was an SUV, a silver Saturn VUE driven by a woman who was talking on her cell phone...

Unusual weekend as seven die in five separate crashes across Iowa

Posted on June 17, 2009
The news always refers to them as 'road fatalities' but really they are car crashes of various natures, some have to do with the road and others don't. They do start off on the road but many have to do with driver distractions; distractions that cause a loss of control or making the wrong decisions while driving...

O'Connell, an Irish family, is devasted after van crash in Iowa.

Posted on June 17, 2009
This is one of those accidents I hate writing about but without this posting the relatives and friends back in Ireland may wonder about how to obtain information concerning the O'Connell family. I reviewed the Iowa State Patrol report of this family's June 14, 2009 accident...

Woman saves toddler by pushing it out of the way, then is stuck underneath car as it rolls over her.

Posted on June 17, 2009
We've been talking about pedestrian safety. I've not finished yet with all the mail box news alerts and already they are coming in with new alerts. In this one we have a 5 to 6 year-old and a 23 year old pedestrian or bystander from Cedar Rapids, Iowa finding themselves in danger of being run over...

YAMAHA and the ATRA might ask: Why are there so many personal injury lawyers?

Posted on June 17, 2009
This is the headline the American Tort Reform Association would write: Iowa motorcyclist, out for a Sunday driver in Cedar Rapids clocked on radar at over 164 mph! Greedy trial lawyers to blame! Poor Yamaha being put out of business by greedy trial lawyers who blame everything from bullets causing a few deaths to cigarette smoking causing lung cancer! Who will they sue next? Poor Bernard Madoff? Help us to help Bernie! Kill a trial lawyer! Okay, enough foolishness from me, but it gets me angry to have to listen to the tort reform associations preach about injured people taking responsibility and yet you never hear those same organizations talk about corporate responsibility...

American Tort Reform Association, Part I, building a new America with their partners including the American Chamber of Commerce

Posted on June 17, 2009
I wrote a post about the face of tort reform that the Chamber doesn't want you to see. It was a post about pit bulls and other vicious animals mauling small children and how tort reform neuters the law and justice. The point of that article was pit bull owners don't follow the law and don't seem to care about civil liability; thanks to the Chamber and the American Tort Reform Association...

Iowa Mixed-Martial Arts Fighter Paralyzed in Fight - Tort Reform put the bills in your mailbox.

Posted on June 16, 2009
The MMA slogan is 'Ready, Connect, Fight' and so they did. Zack Kirk landed a fight for May 23, 2009. He connected, fought for a bit and then fought his way into a broken neck. The story is pretty simple, at least as far as the fight goes. After landing on his head Zack Kirk broke his neck...

Beer in hand, mother searches for father while leaving 3 children home alone in Iowa City

Posted on June 16, 2009
Another disturbing news item of children being left home alone. It's being reported that Shannon Lynette Mather, age 27, was arrested Tuesday, June 2, on drunken driving charges, driving on a suspended license and three counts of child endangerment. The woman was arrested around 9:30 p...

Elevator Inspections and Maintenance - Were they performed? What is going on in Ames, Iowa?

Posted on June 16, 2009
I reported about an elevator incident in Ames, Iowa and today we post a follow-up about this elevator shaft fall and 'accidental death' at Campustown in Ames, Iowa. First let's look at an elevator incident in Las Vegas and then a CNBC Report that discussed elevator maintenance and inspections...

Bus vs. Motorcycle, which will normally win?

Posted on June 16, 2009
A bus and a motorcyclist have the odds in favor of the bus. And that's what happened on the morning of June 8, 2009 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at around 7:30 A.M. on Mount Vernon Road and 19th Street. The motorcyclist was taken to the hospital. No children on the bus were injured...

Just the Facts: Elevator door collapse investigation in Ames, Iowa still open. Why?

Posted on June 15, 2009
Why aren't the investigative reports from the Ames, Iowa elevator death case not being released? We reported earlier on this matter. See our post at Ames, Iowa: 19-year-old falls seven stories down elevator shaft of working elevator, June 8, 2009. A request for the investigation report into the Ames, Iowa death by plunging seven stories down an elevator shaft through a closed elevator door was refused by the City of Ames Police Department...

Iowa: It's not always the young who are distracted while driving.

Posted on June 15, 2009
In this crash we have two cars entering the same intersection at once. The northbound vehicle has to stop and yield, but doesn't. It enters the intersection striking the westbound car and is struck. The offending vehicle then entered the ditch, rolled and caught on fire...

Mike, a 390# gorilla takes a stroll outside his containment at S.C. Riverbanks Zoo

Posted on June 14, 2009
A family from Greenville, in town to attend a pony show, visited the zoo and got the surprise of their lives. What they saw was a gorilla, "Mike", on the loose. This woman describes a another mother with young boy in a stroller coming face to face with the escaped gorilla...

Another deer avoidance maneuver causes a loss of control and a death

Posted on June 14, 2009
Favian Guerra was driving a 1997 Toyota Avalon in Scott County on I-80 at the 278 mile marker in the eastbound lanes of traffic. A deer ran out in front of his car. Guerra is reported to have swerved to miss the deer, then drove across the median and into eastbound traffic where he came into contact with a semi-truck being driven by Dennis Edelman from Sunset, Texas...

Boating Safety Training in Iowa - 90% of water related deaths don't have a life vest on

Posted on June 13, 2009
The State of Iowa Safe Boating Course is taught by members of Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 4.The last class was held at the Lake Red Rock Visitors Center near Pella, Iowa. They will also inspect your boat. Other Boating Safety Course: Iowa Department of Natural Resources...

911 Call Captures drowning woman's plea for help.

Posted on June 13, 2009
In this case a single vehicle collision caused by what the Iowa State Patrol says was a loss of control killed the two adults but sparing the 1 year old child. Later reports indicate the child did die. The car is said to have rolled into a ditch that was partially filled with water...

H1N1...Full Blown Pandemic, Alert raised to Level 6

Posted on June 12, 2009
H1N1…..Full Blown Pandemic, Alert raised to Level 6 World Health Organization officials met with flu experts today (June 11, 2009) in Geneva to evaluate the spread of H1N1 and to raise the Alert to Level 6, the highest level possible. H1N1 is the first official influenza pandemic in more than 40 years...

Rural Iowa driveway ditch crossings can be very dangerous

Posted on June 12, 2009
In this crash a 23-year-old young man was killed in a one-car crash. He was driving a 1996 Pontiac Bonneville northbound on L48 in O'Brien County. The speed limit is 55 mph in this area, the time of the accident was 6:55 PM, he was wearing his seat belt, he was not ejected and his car movements were essentially straight...

How often does an infant get run over by a lawnmower?

Posted on June 11, 2009
Two-year-old infant injured by lawnmower How does a 2-year-old boy get hurt by a lawnmower? There aren't many details but that's exactly what is reported by KCRG in a Scott County Sheriff's Report. The child was taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City for treatment...

The Face of Tort Reform - The one the Chamber won't show you.

Posted on June 10, 2009
The Des Moines Register reports that Daniel McAfee, 29, is the caretaker of a pit bull that is owned by Cody Pendleton, age 27. The dog is reported to have had 'a history of aggression toward people…' . On May 28, 2009 police officers are called to the neighborhood when the dog attacks a neighbor (Heidi Wiseman, 26) in the 800 block of East 27th Street...

Iowa, A three car crash took the life of the first collision driver.

Posted on June 10, 2009
A rear end collision propelled the offending car across the center line and into the path of an oncoming car. Those two collided for a second collision sending both off in different directions. The 47-year old driver of the offending vehicle was Theresa Hynous who died from the impact...

Wrong-way drivers on I-80 Interstate are a problem

Posted on June 09, 2009
At the 104 mile marker east bound on I-80 a Honda Civic being driven by an unidentified driver was driving westbound and struck a 2005 semi-truck driven by Mann Ravinder of Bay Point, California. Mr. Ravinder is 36-years old. The driver of the Honda died in the collision...

Release snake owners into the Everglades if they can't account for their Python.

Posted on June 08, 2009
I took up the suggestion of Bob Mooney, a person who commented on yesterday's post concerning the Burmese Snakes invading the Florida Everglades and looked up Dr. Mazzotti. Releasing exotic wildlife in Florida is a first-degree misdemeanor with a penalty of up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine...

Air France Flight AF-447, Just the facts

Posted on June 08, 2009
Of the 228 people aboard the Air France flight that crashed, it is reported 15 more bodies of passengers have been recovered. Four bodies were men and four women. Brazil reports 17 bodies have been recovered so far from jet crash The plane: an Airbus 330...

Pedestrian Safety News Roundup Continues ... Firefighters and heavy construction equipment

Posted on June 08, 2009
Today we continue with several more pedestrian-car-truck-bus-train collision news items. There are too many pedestrian collisions just since the first of the year. After reading too many pedestrian-accident reports I suggest that both drivers and pedestrians pay more attention to what's ahead or what's coming...

Ames, Iowa: 19-year-old falls seven stories down elevator shaft of working elevator

Posted on June 08, 2009
The police are calling it an accident and that's fine from a criminal standpoint, but not from a civil standpoint. I agree with no criminal charges being filed against the friend who playfully shoved him, but not against others. What company maintains this elevator? Elevators are not supposed to just open when someone falls into the doors...

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