Mississippi Accident Lawyer Blog

Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks is offering a free boater safety course this spring.

The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks will offer boater safety courses this spring, with specific dates to be announced. Pre-registration is required, and more information is available by contacting the MDWFP Boater Education Division at 1-800-354-5033.

"Even if you're just going to be riding in a boat with someone these are good classes to have, "Believe me when I say it could save your life."
 The site also has links to qualifying boater safety courses that can be taken online anytime.

Boating accidents can be caused by a number of different reasons,inattention,speed too fast for conditions,untrained driver,driver distraction, driver drinking,and boat defects.

Continue reading "MDWFP offers free boating safety class" »

A unnecessary head-on collision between a Mercedes and a pickup truck caused the truck to burst into flames burning the occupants beyond recognition. An eyewitness saw the driver of the Mercedes cross over the centerline and hit the truck head on. He also said that the Mercedes was speeding.

The heat from the explosion was so hot that it melted the tires on the truck. The impact was so severe that it knocked one of the tires way down the street. Remember that two vehicles going 60 mph that hit head-on is like someone going 120 mph and hitting a tree. One person stated that "horrific" was too light of a word to describe this accident. Local residents heard loud explosions.

Some witnesses reported that the Mercedes was speeding and a Jackson Police cruiser had been following her with its blue lights on. Shortly thereafter, the accident happened.

Was the driver trying to get away from the cops because she had been drinking? Only time will tell after the investigation is completed.If the driver had been drinking and was visibly intoxicated, then the families of the Doctors in the truck may have a claim against the alcohol seller for contributing to the accident. This is what is know as a Dramshop case.

In order to recover in a Dramshop case, the family of the victims must prove that the other driver was visibly intoxicated and that the alcohol provider sold at least one more drink to the other driver who was the one who caused the car wreck. Alcohol is involved in about 40% of the car crashes in MS.

 

Continue reading "Jackson, MS Accident Kills Two Doctors In Pickup Truck" »

Employees of the company involved in the oil spill on the Mississippi River testified that their employer often allowed low-level mariners to work for higher-ranking crew.

 On July 23, a towboat piloted by an inexperienced mate turned the barge into the path of an oncoming ship, casuing  280,000 gallons of fuel to be dumped into the  Mississippi river in New Orleans,LA.

 The pilot assigned to the Mel Oliver towboat, left the vessel days before the accident, leaving an apprentice mate at the helm, but his license prohibited him from steering a towboat without the supervision of a licensed pilot.  Officials at DRD Towing asked apprentice mates to substitute  because the company was short-staffed.   Daigle  warned the owners of DRD Towing that allowing apprentice mates to work unsupervised could cause problems for the company. "If something happens, we're going to get in trouble," he recalled telling DRD Towing executives.  

DRD Towing shut down its operations shortly after the oil spill.  

The Coast Guard will incorporate their testimony into a report meant to determine the cause of the accident and recommend possible sanctions against any of the guilty parties.

When companies try to cut corners like this one,then something usually goes wrong. Luckily, no one was injured or killed in the accident.The company was putting the dollar over safety like many of them do.

Oil Spill Hearings, The Times-Picayune 

Continue reading "OIL SPILL IN NEW ORLEANS, LA." »

Three Bruce, MS residents were seriously injured in a two vehicle accident at the intersection of Hwy. 32 and 341. A passenger was airlifted to a hospital in Tupelo, MS. The accident caused the GMC to overturn when it was hit by a truck driven by Jack Pastis,Jr.

Looks like speed or failure to keep a proper lookout was the cause of this accident.

 

Bruce Citizens Injured In Wreck, Calhoun County Journal

 

Continue reading "Bruce, MS Accident Injures Three " »

The driver of an 18 wheeler log truck turned over on I-55 in Jackson, MS causing traffic to stop for hours.This accident happened during rush hour, so why was this truckdriver going so fast that he could not control his big rig in rush hour traffic.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations require that all 18 wheeler truckdrivers must reduce their speed and take special precautions where certain hazards exist. I guess this truckdriver was speeding in order to deliver his load so he could make another run because these guys get paid by the amount of runs they make in a day.

Continue reading "Jackson, MS Accident Involves Logging Truck" »

Two 18 wheelers were driving side-by-side when one of them rear-ended a man driving a horse-drawn homemade vehicle on Highway 45 near Meridian,MS. It is legal to drive a horse-drawn vehicle on a MS highway. It appears that both 18 wheeler drivers were at fault for causing this accident: either they were going too fast under the circumstances or failed to control their big rig before the accident.

This accident could have been avoided if the big truck in the left lane would have slowed down and let the other truckdriver get over to avoid the collision.

Continue reading "Meridian,MS 18 Wheeler Accident Injures New Hampshire Man" »

A Petal,MS man was killed in a one vehicle accident when his car crashed into a pole and then rolled over several times causing him to be ejected along with his passenger. The accident happened at 2:45 a.m. which means to me that he may have been fatigued or may have been drinking.

The passenger not only has a claim against the driver for running off of the road,but also has a claim against the alcohol provider if the driver were visibly intoxicated when the alcohol was sold.Cases like this are called "Dram Shop" cases under old English law concerning a dram of beer.

Continue reading "Petal,MS Man Killed In One Vehicle Accident" »

 

 26 states including Alabama, Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington D.C., Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, the Virgin Islands, Washington, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have primary seat belt laws on the books in their states.

 22 states including Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming have secondary laws on the books in their states.

Continue reading "Mississippi Has Primary Seat Belt Law" »

A logging truck was unable to stop in time causing an accident in New Augusta,MS on Tuesday. These truck drivers are paid by the load,so they drive as fast as they can to deliver their load so they can go pick up another load. The more trips they make in one day,the more money they make.

This logging company may be liable for punitive damages for speeding in an area where children were getting on a school bus. Everyone knows that you should not speed where children are present and especially if you are driving a heavily loaded truck which takes extra time to stop.

Continue reading "Logging Truck Rear-Ends Car Knocking Car Into School Bus In New Augusta,MS" »

A Jackson,MS jury awarded a  contractor a large verdict against Trustmark Bank in a bad faith breach of contract case. The bank gave the contractor's money to the State of Mississippi claiming that the contractor was in default in numerous projects on college campuses throughout MS.

We handled a case similiar to this one against the bonding company for a developer of a subdivision. The jury returned a million dollar verdict;thereafter,the trial judge awarded interest of $90,000.The jury found that the actions of the insurance company constituted "bad faith" and awarded actual and punitive damages.

Continue reading "Hinds County,MS Jury Awards Multimillion Dollar Verdict" »

Charlesy Collins was killed by a drunk driver on April 26th,2008 in Starkville,MS. Alcohol is usually involved in about 40% of all car accidents in MS. Most authorities who investigate these accidents do not discover who sold the alcohol to the drunk driver. Under MS law,if someone sells alcohol to a minor or an intoxicated adult,then they can be held liable for contributing to the accident along with the drunk driver.

Sometimes lawyers handling accident cases do not even think about suing the bar,package liquor store, or grocery store that sold the alcohol to the drunk driver. This is exactly what happened in one of my cases. The lawyer who was contacted by the family told the family that the only amount of money the family could collect was from the drunk driver's car insurance company. The victims was seriously injured and the car insurance was not nearly enough to cover the medical bills.

When my lawfirm reviewed the case, we realized that a minor was the one who caused the accident and accocding to the accident report,had been drinking. We discovered that the minor bought beer from Kroger and Super D drugstore before the accident. We settled the case for $4,500,000 in a structured settlement with guaranteed payments for life to the injured victims.

Continue reading "Starkville,MS Man Gets 35 Years For Killing His Passenger While Driving Drunk" »

A 40,000 gallon asphalt tank ignited and exploded at Blacklidge Emulsions on Friday.The explosion was so severe that it rattled homes in the Gulfport area for miles. The industrial fire was glowing red and 19 different units were sent out to contain the damage. Investigators from the State FIre Marshall,Gulfport Fire Department, and Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality are trying to figure out what caused the tank to explode.

Usually these kind of explosions are caused by some fumes being ignited by a spark or heat source. My lawfirm was lead counsel for an explosion that happened at Partridge-Raleigh in Raleigh,Mississippi. We worked on the case for over a year,hired the best experts in the country,took numerous depositions,and finally settled the case about a week before trial. Three workers were killed and a welder was injured. The fumes from one tank caused the initial explosion which caused a second explosion. The proof showed that the owner/operator of the oilfield put oil in one of the tanks and failed to notify the workers that oil was in the adjacent tank. When the welder lit his torch,the fumes from the tank ignited causing the explosions. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board invested this accident. See videotape at their site www.chemsafety.gov.  

Continue reading "Tank Explosion in Gulfport,Mississippi" »

The insurance research council found that one in six drivers have no insurance. It is expected that those numbers will get worse from 13% in 2007 to 16% in 2010. Mississippi has 28% of uninsured motorists,one of the highest in the country. What does that mean to you?  It means that if you are in an accident in MS, you have a high chance that the other driver probably will not have any insurance. The bottom line is that the only insurance you will be able to make a claim against is your own insurance company. Your claim and the damages amount will be directly affected by the amount of uninsured motorist coverage that you buy from your own insurance company.  All insurance companies know that in MS there will be alot of uninsured claims,so the insurance companies ask their insurance agents to sell the lowest amount of coverage available. This is not fair to you and your family. You should tell your insurance agent that you want your uninsured motorist limits to be equal to your liability limits. For example,if you have $100,000 of liability limits,then you should ask your agent to give you $100,000 of uninsured limits. It usually only costs a small amount to increase your uninsured limits. Look at it this way,it is a cheap way to buy life insurance if you or a loved one is killed in an accident. A bonus,if you have more than one vehicle on your policy,you may stack your uninsured coverage,i.e., if you have $100,000 of um limits and have three cars on your policy,then you can stack limits for a total coverage of $300,000.

Continue reading "Mississippi Uninsured Motorist Coverage" »

A large truck overtuned on Thursday,Jan.29th,2009, which was carrying butane;about 15 homes and businesses were evacuated when officials found a leak.Butane is a highly explosive substance and has to be regulated by the U.S. Government.

I handled a case one time in Central Mississippi when a faulty leak of butane caused an explosion at a Dairy Queen restaurant.One of the workers' face was almost burned off.We sued the manufacturer of the valve that caused the leak.After five days of trial, the defendants settled the case for a large amount.

Continue reading "Large Truck Carrying Butane Overturns Near Forest,MS" »

On Jan.26th,2009, Johnny Calcote of Natchez,MS was struck and killed by a truck driven by Antonio Thomas.Bertha Young,Johnny's sister, said her brother was walking home from visiting his two children.She said that Johnny always had a smile on his face for everyone.

When victims are killed by someone else's negligence,then the family may collect damages for loss of income and loss of their loved one,pain and suffering and other damages allowed by law under the wrongful death statute.

Continue reading "Pedestrian Killed By Truck In Natchez,Mississippi" »