Childrens Injuries | Utah Law Talk

Archive for the ‘Childrens Injuries’ Category

Feds Seek to Dismiss American Fork Bear Attack Case

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

Arguments were heard today, November 19, 2008, over the federal government’s motion to dismiss the case stemming from a bear attack in American Fork Canyon. As we learned last year, 11-year old Samuel Ives was killed in American Fork Canyon, just above the Timpooneke campsite, from injuries he suffered when a bear dragged him out of his tent and into the forest.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

According to court records, the family filed two cases: one in federal court against the U.S. Forest Service and one in state court against the State of Utah and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. The family has accused the forest service of failing to adequately warn them that a bear was spotted earlier in the day in that area. The hearing today involved the case filed against the federal government. At the hearing, according to KSL.com, attorneys for the federal government argued that the government is immune from suit in this case and that adequate warning was given campers of the dangers of bears in the area. They also added that the family was not camping in a developed campground but rather, in a remote area of the forest.

It seems that most of the comments on this story challenge the family’s decision to sue over the death of their son. I won’t voice my opinion on whether this case should have been brought, but I will say that in my opinion, it will be a very difficult case to win. They will have to establish that a duty arose to close the campground or to warn campers that a bear was seen in the area. But the fact remains that there are a number of signs announcing that this area is bear country. Given the numerous signs, and the family’s decision to camp away from the established Timpooneke campground area, it would seem that they assumed the risk that a bear might pay a visit them anyway.
I think because reasonable minds could differ on this, that the court would probably allow the jury to consider whether the park should have done something.

Ron Kramer is a Utah personal injury lawyer and a frequent visitor to the Timpooneke trail head area, where he enjoys mountain biking and hiking in this fabulously beautiful area.

Published by: Ron Kramer

Posted in Childrens Injuries, Personal Injury, Wrongful Death | No Comments »

St. George Student Killed by School-Provided Gun

Sunday, November 16th, 2008

A student attending Deseret Hills High School in St. George, Utah, is dead after a gunshot from a gun loaded with blanks inflicted a severe head injury on him. According to KSL. com, the student, Tucker Thayer, was involved in his school’s production of Oklahoma and had the school-provided gun because of his involvement with the musical’s tech crew. Students and staff preparing for the night’s production reported hearing a loud bang and they rushed to find him lying on the ground unconscious. St. George police Sgt. James Van Fleet said that the injury was caused by the explosive pressure coming out of the gun and the close range that it was to its user’s head. He also told the media that “it was determined that a responsible adult would be supervising the use of the weapon at all times.” An investigation is ongoing as to exactly how this could have happened and why there wasn’t adequate supervision in this case

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

It is no secret that real guns shooting blanks can kill people. Once such high-profile death was to Jon-Erik Hexum, a star of the early 1980s series “Cover Up.” Back in October 1984, he placed a gun loaded with blanks to his head and pulled the trigger.

See what happens when a gun fires blanks.

Because staff had determined that there would be adult supervision at all times, they then obviously knew of the possible dangerous nature of this gun.

While many see this as just an unfortunate accident, some are asking why a real gun was allowed at school in the first place. Others questions include: where was the responsible adult that was supposed to be supervising the proper handling of this weapon? Was there any training given to this child about the dangerous nature of this weapon? And although Thayer was certified as a scout firearm instructor, was he aware and trained as to the lethality of guns carrying blanks? There are a lot of questions that need to be answered. Ultimately, and sadly, this firearm accident should never have happened. Although it appears that young Tucker pulled the trigger, he should never have been left alone with this dangerous weapon. The school district bears a good portion of the responsibility here and should be held accountable for what happened.

Ron Kramer is a Utah personal injury attorney practicing in Salt Lake County, Utah.

Published by: Ron Kramer

Posted in Childrens Injuries, Personal Injury | No Comments »

Substitute Teacher Jailed for Sex Abuse of Child

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

After four hours of training by Utah’s Granite School District, 19-year-old Christopher Page was deemed sufficiently qualified to stand in as an “emergency substitute” at Churchill Junior High in Sandy, Utah. Somehow, during Page’s brief tenure as a Granite School District substitute, he was able to get the cell phone number of one of his female 13-year-old students. Thus began a relationship that culminated with Page being discovered in his car, in the middle of the night, in the topless company of one of his junior high school students. According to a report in the Salt Lake Tribune, Page allegedly told officers that he had kissed the girl and that she had offered him oral sex.

Page was arrested on suspicion of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and is being held without bail in the Salt Lake County jail.

It seems that most of the outrage in this case centers not on what this 19-year-old allegedly did, which of course is completely inexcuseable, but on what the Granite School District didn’t do. In other words, they failed to properly screen and qualify those that would be teachers in their classrooms. I doubt there is even an “emergency substitute”policy on the books for the school district. From what I can discern, school policy is that substitutes have at least 48 semester hours of college. Not four hours of training in some back room. What about other administrators filling in? It seems that the principle would be appropriately qualified. Others in the career development and/or administrative office may also meet these minimum qualifications. Maybe they were busy? Was this 19-year-old honestly the best person available? It seems to me that if they are that desperate for substitute teachers, and there is no suitable and qualified teacher to instruct, then they should send the students home!

The way I see it, the District was negligent in allowing this pedophile to come onto campus and have access to impressionable junior high students. As a parent of a 13-year-old girl, I would be outraged if my child were put in this situation. Luckily, the 19-year-old was caught and arrested before the encounter developed into something much more serious. I can only hope that Utah’s school districts take a lesson from this and never allow this to happen again.

Ron Kramer is a Utah personal injury and accident attorney in Draper, Utah, with e xperience in bringing claims against negligent school districts.

Published by: Ron Kramer

Posted in Childrens Injuries, Medical Malpractice | No Comments »

Utah Dog Owners On Hook For Dog Bites

Monday, November 10th, 2008

Utah law imposes strict liability on the owners of dogs who injure others. Even if the dog has never bitten before, and the owner has no advanced notice that their dog may bite, the dog owner is still responsible. Claims against these dog owners is covered by Utah Code section 18-1-1. This statute says: “Every person owning or keeping a dog shall be liable in damages for injury committed by such dog, and it shall not be necessary in any action brought therefor to allege or prove that such dog was of a vicious or mischievous disposition or that the owner or keeper thereof knew that it was vicious or mischievous.”

Under the statute, the dog doesn’t even have to sink his teeth into his victim for the dog owner to be responsible. If the dog startles the victim to the point that they injure themselves trying to get away, the owner is still liable under the statute. For example, a postal worker trying to get away from a snarling dog, who twists then his ankle, would have a claim against the owner of the dog.

One reason why a dog owner may not be responsible is if the dog bite victim provoked the dog by yelling at him, taunting him, teasing or tormenting him. Children, however, can’t be blamed for merely petting or playing with a dog, unless they were warned not to do so. At any rate, children cannot be expected to appreciate the dangers of a dog like an adult can.

If a dog’s owner is responsible for the dog bite, they can be expected to be responsible for the victim’s medical bills, including future plastic surgery revisions, for the pain, suffering and emotional distress as well as having to live with scars and scaring that may never go away.

The problems that arise in these cases don’t come from being unable to hold the dog owner accountable – this usually is not a problem. The problem come from not being able to find money to pay for the often serious injuries that can arise from a dog bite. The most common scenario in this situation is that the dog owner is a renter, who doesn’t have renter insurance. The reality is that unless the dog owner has home owners or some other insurance, it will usually be very difficult to get proper compensation for the dog bite.

Dog bites can have devastating effects on their victims and be very traumatic for young children. Kids who have been bitten are often terrified about dogs for many years afterwards and can have trouble sleeping, interacting normally with others and be afraid to go outside.

A personal injury lawyer who has experience dealing with dog bite claims and home owners insurance companies, who has experience in presenting the damages the victim has suffered and who has a track record of obtaining favorable results, should be sought when dealing with these types of claims. The author, Ron Kramer, is an attorney and has handled a large number of dog bite cases and is familiar with the trauma that they can cause in his clients’ lives.

Published by: Ron Kramer

Posted in Childrens Injuries, Dog Bites | No Comments »

Utah Bus Drivers Should Hang Up and Drive

Monday, November 10th, 2008

This is a follow-up blog to the one I posted yesterday about the Utah State Board of Education “looking in to” cell phones and text messaging by its bus drivers. I suggested that a ban should be a “no brainer” and that the Board doesn’t need to wait until there is a bus accident or serious personal injury before acting decisively to prohibit bus drivers talking on phones or texting while driving. Now, according to KSL, the Board is wondering “if there is a problem” with bus drivers being on cell phones while they are driving and they are asking their administrators to “investigate immediately.”

I think some of the comments to this news story on KSL capture the appropriate public response to this:

One poster, Lowell F., in a comment entitled “this is a no-brainer,” said: “hey bus driver…. you have 40 school age children of ours in your care…. stay off the cell phone and watch the road closely. Or get another carreer like telemarketing. How can there even be any question in a school districts mind as to what the policy should be?”

Another poster, Ben D., in a comment entitled “Oh Brother!!!, said: “This is one of those “Well, DUH” stories that comes along every so often. JUDAS!!! Yes, school bus drivers should not be talking on the phone while on the job, nor should they be texting while they drive. This should be common knowledge, but so many people in today’s world need everything spelled out to them.”

I echo this sentiment. An ounce of prevention is surely worth a pound of cure.

Ron Kramer is a Utah personal injury attorney who represents victims of car accidents who have been injured because of the negligence of those who use a cell phone and/or text message while driving.

Published by: Ron Kramer

Posted in Childrens Injuries, text messaging | No Comments »

Utah Board Recommends Bus Driver Cell Phone Ban

Sunday, November 9th, 2008

The Utah State Board of Education, Law and Policy Committee, meeting in Salt Lake City, proposed this past week to enact a policy that would prohibit school bus drivers from using cell phones while on the job. According to Deseret News, the policy would require school districts in Utah to set guidelines for cell phones and other electronic devices.

According to Rhonda Rose, the state PTA community involvement commissioner, state PTA officials have been receiving e-mails and phone calls from concerned parents ever since the California train wreck where an engineer, distracted by sending and receiving text messages, missed a signal and ran into a freight train. Rose reported that school bus drivers in Utah currently have no restrictions on cell phone or texting use. For now, the Utah State Board of Education will issue a memo asking district officials to immediately look at the issue of bus drivers using cell phones while driving. Some of the committee members felt that this matter should be deferred to the legislature to enact a law governing the use of cell phones/ text messaging by bus drivers while on the job.

My take: given the proven distraction that cell phones are among drivers, it is a no-brainer that these devices need to be prohibited by bus drivers while they are driving. I am not sure why anyone needs to wait until there is a law disallowing this. Surely the State Board doesn’t want to wait until there is a situation where people are injured because a bus driver was distracted by his phone. To prevent future injuries and to reduce liability for the state, there needs to be an executive decision now banning cell phone use by bus drivers while on the job. This kind of decision is in the best interests of children who ride these busses as well as other motorist that they share the road with.
This article was written by Ron Kramer, a personal injury lawyer/attorney who represents victims of accident and car wreck cases who have been injured because of the negligence of cell phone-using motorists.

Published by: Ron Kramer

Posted in Childrens Injuries | No Comments »

Stove Tip-over Burns 6 Year Old

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008

In Ogden, Utah, a six year old boy, John Robinson, is recovering from personal injuries and burns caused when a big pot of boiling water tipped over on him. Turns out that it was his little brother, Jacob, who should have been the injured one because he was the one who climbed up on the stove, causing it to tip. When John saw what was happening, he rushed in to get his brother out of the way and was the one in harm’s way when the stove tipped and splashed scalding water all over him.

According to his mother, Amber Robinson, she heard a crash and saw that the entire oven was tipped over. It turns out that Jacob had used the oven door as a step to climb up to check on the corn cobs that his mom was cooking on the stove. On camera, Mrs. Robinson showed reporters just how little effort it takes to make the stove tip away from the wall.

In these kind of situations, there is no question that the stove should have been anchored to the wall to prevent if from tipping and preventing personal injury. This was an accident waiting to happen. Most stoves have instructions advising home owners to make sure this happens. In Utah, a landlord has the responsibility to make sure the units they rent out are safe for adults and for children. This would include making sure the stove didn’t tip over. In my view, it was completely foreseeable that this would happen. Children climb on things all the time, such as dresser drawers. In a situation like this, a reasonable and prudent landlord would have made sure that items that are considered fixtures in the house, such as the oven, are safe for their intended use and will not tip over if a child stands on the oven door. In my view, in a case like this, the landlord and/or the property manager is completely responsible for John’s injury. Although Utah state and donations may pay for John’s medical treatment, they may not pay for the cosmetic treatment he will need to lighten the scarring on his body. I would recommend that the Robinson’s contact an attorney to explore what legal options against the landlord might be available. Often, personal injury/accident lawyers will be able to resolve these kind of claims without going to court.

Published by: Ron Kramer

Posted in Childrens Injuries | No Comments »