Spring is just around the corner — and with increased activity comes an increased potential for accidents.
Unintentional injuries can be life-changing, and Americans absorb a lot of them. According to the CDC, there are 39.5 million physician office visits for unintentional injuries each year. Some of these accidents are quite serious. More than 60,000 people 45 and younger die from these injuries — doubling under-45 deaths from cancer and heart disease combined.
While many these injuries may be accidents, there is often still someone whose negligence or wrongful actions are responsible. And oftentimes, responsibility isn’t as clear as it seems.
You want to avoid accidents. But if you can’t, contact Thistle Law at 215-525-6824.
Our Top Spring Safety Tips
The first step to avoiding injury is prevention. Here are Thistle Law’s best safety tips for the coming months:
- Dispose of flammable and dangerous materials. Look carefully at old paint cans, paint thinners, newspapers and magazines
- Check your smoke alarms. Change the batteries each spring
- Clean dust off carbon monoxide detectors. This prevents false alarms
- Have an emergency escape plan in place. And make sure everyone knows it
- Clean or replace your furnace filter. This is actually very simple — you only need running water
- Degrease your stove hood. This is one way to keep flames from spreading in event of fire
- Check all fire extinguishers. Check all pressure indicators and expiration dates. Visual inspection for clogging is also a good idea
- Clean around your dryer. Look at ducts or dampers for lint buildup
- Check all cords. Frayed wires can cause fires
Staying Safe Outdoors
Transitioning your outdoor space from winter can be tricky. Here are some tips to make the transition smoother:
- Check emergency escapes. Be sure ladders are on level ground and have been secured
- Check outdoor cords for fraying and damage. Electrical fires outdoors can be a danger to the house and the neighborhood
- Check fuel lines on gas-operated equipment. Barbecue season carries special risk
- Secure gasoline for lawn mowers. Make lawn equipment is properly fueled outdoors to eliminate the risk of inhalation
The Special Dangers of Spring
The Thistle Law Firm has extensive experience in all of the ways that unintentional injuries manifest. This experience is especially important in personal injury law, where your interests are often pitted against the interests of powerful opponents, such as employers, corporations and insurance companies.
These are the types of cases that occur more in spring:
- Auto accidents & trucking accidents: Car and truck accidents are responsible for more than half of all unintentional deaths in the U.S. There are many long-haul cars on the road, coming back from wintering elsewhere to their summer homes. Spring break is an especially dangerous time to be on the road.
- Catastrophic injuries: A catastrophic injury is one that permanently stops someone from being able to work, and they occur more in the springtime.
- Construction injury: Construction picks up in the spring, as do accidents.
- Dog bites: It isn’t just humans who get out more during the spring. Dogs take over sidewalks and parks everywhere. This can spell danger when these dogs aren’t socialized, or when dogs interact in an unpredictable way. Dog bite incidents result in $483 million in damages per year.
- Rear-end car accidents: Rear-end car accidents can be complicated when the roads get busy, with multi-car pile-ons resulting. Cars caught in the middle are often blameless for injuries to the car in front’s driver and passengers.
- Slip & fall incidents: Swimming pool slip and falls start picking up in the spring, before the heat slows everyone poolside to less injurious speeds.
- Traffic & municipality cases: Negligence may be attributed to authorities in charge of roadways and other public venues.
- Wrongful death: When the worst occurs, personal injury claims can help to reverse the spillover effects of tragedy.
Source: Pexels.com
How Our Expertise Serves Your Personal Injury Case
At The Thistle Law Firm, we practice personal injury litigation and have represented plaintiffs for many types of claims that have resulted in bodily harm, financial loss and death. We have a compassionate understanding for the injured and their families, who have to deal with the physical and emotional pain in the aftermath of an accident, as well as the medical care that may be involved.
Through our combination of integrity, dedication, sophisticated personal injury investigation techniques and vast knowledge of state and federal laws, our Philadelphia personal injury lawyers have repeatedly obtained high financial awards, winning verdicts and settlements for clients who have suffered from personal injuries.