Protecting Your Child From Playground Concussions

Child Injury Attorneys 317-881-2700

Child Injury Attorneys 317-881-2700

Parents want nothing more than the best for their children, and will go to great lengths to protect them from harm. So when it comes to head injuries, most parents consider the potential risk when signing their kids up for contact sports like football, soccer, and baseball. But many forget that playgrounds are also danger-zone for serious head injuries and concussion accidents. According to a new study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP), more than 20,000 kids under 14 years old suffer a traumatic head or brain injury on playgrounds, EVERY YEAR. With astonishing numbers like these, it is important to regard playgrounds as areas that require adult supervision.

Proper adult supervision reduces risky or unsafe child behaviors, as well as, improve equipment maintenance, playground surfaces, and their surrounding environments. Keeping an eye on our local playgrounds while attentively supervising children at play will help to reduce the risk of playground accidents and head injuries. Continue reading to learn more about protecting your child from traumatic playground head injuries, and what rights you have to compensation as a parent of an injured child.

Playground Concussion Accidents

There are two pieces of equipment on playgrounds that seem to be commonly associated with head injuries, and those are monkey bars and swing sets. These classic activities are fun when done safely, but many kids like to experiment and test their limits. Adult supervision can control risky child behaviors like these, and help to reduce the chances of a serious injury or accident.

Child Injury Attorneys 317-881-2700

Child Injury Attorneys 317-881-2700

However, in the case that playground equipment is poorly designed or constructed, it is difficult to prevent an accident even with safe behaviors. When this happens, parents want to know if they can sue if their child was injured on a playground. The answer is: “Quite possibly, but it depends.” Manufacturers of playground equipment have a duty of care to ensure their products are safe for play, which is why such companies can be held strictly liable if children are injured as a result of a product defect.

If your child was hurt on a playground as a result of defective equipment, it is strongly encouraged to contact an experienced personal injury lawyer to assess your accident and determine if you are entitled to compensation for your damages and losses. You could recover compensation for your child’s hospital bills, medical expenses, pain, suffering, and more.

Indianapolis Child Injury Attorneys

Personal Injury Attorney Indianapolis

Personal Injury Attorneys 317-881-2700

Call the law office of Craven, Hoover, and Blazek P.C. at 317-881-2700 to file a claim child injury claim in Indianapolis, Indiana. Seasoned personal injury lawyers, Daniel Craven, Ralph Hoover, and Keith Blazek retain extensive trial and litigation experience. They will fight for your child’s rights following a serious head injury or playground accident. They offer free initial consultations to discuss your claim, and never collect lawyer fees unless they win your settlement. Call 317-881-2700 to schedule your consultation with an Indianapolis child injury attorney, today.

What Physical Evidence Should I Keep for a Slip and Fall Claim?

Indianapolis Slip and Fall Lawyers 317-881-2700

Indianapolis Slip and Fall Lawyers 317-881-2700

According to the National Floor Safety Institute, over one million slip and fall victims are sent to the ER each year. With numbers like these, it is important to make floor and walking safety a priority. But regardless of how careful you are, there is always a possibility for accidents to happen, especially when another person or entity has been negligent in maintaining a certain duty of care.

In this case, you would need an experienced personal injury lawyer to navigate your case and recover the full and fair compensation you deserve after wrongfully suffering losses and damages as a result of a slip and fall accident. And although your attorney will conduct an in-depth and thorough investigation, it is important to collect certain important pieces of evidence yourself directly after an accident; evidence that your attorney would not have access to days after the incident occurred. These evidences will help prove your case to the courts and the opposing party.

Continue reading to learn what evidence to gather up after being injured in a slip, trip, and fall accident for a stronger chance at winning a fair settlement.

Scene of the Accident Footage

It is understandably difficult to collect footage at the scene of your accident when you are seriously hurt, but it is critical to your case to try. If you are too injured or incapacitated to gather this evidence yourself, you should ask a witness, bystander, friend, relative, or police officer to help you. Take as many pictures and video footage as you can of your injuries and the surroundings.

Include a picture of your entire body, your injuries, the area you slipped, tripped, or fell, as well as, the surface of the floor, nearby signs (or lack of signs), water puddles, snow, liquids, spills, frayed carpeting, unleveled surfaces, poor lighting, dangerous conditions, and more. Collect footage of anything that could have influenced the accident to happen. Video is best, but photos are effective too.

Clothing and Apparel

Another important piece of physical evidence that can help your case is the clothing you were wearing the moment of the accident. This includes your outfit and your shoes, as well as, any outerwear. If you are trying to prove that the floor you injured yourself on was dangerous, you may need to also prove that you were dressed reasonably and that your apparel did not contribute to your accident. Physical photos and clothing can help confirm this. For instance, if a woman was wearing high heeled shoes on a snowy day, this evidence would be used against her in a slip and fall injury case. But if you fell on a dry day wearing sneakers, the evidence helps prove your footwear was not a cause for your fall.

Physical evidence can also include witness statements, video footage, medical records, hospital bills, and more, but it is only a tiny fraction of a victorious slip and fall personal injury case. Fore this reason, it is an important to retain a seasoned accident attorney to recover the full and fair compensation you deserve. They have the knowledge and hands-on experience to obtain the settlement you need to cover all your related losses and damages.

Indianapolis Slip and Fall Attorneys

Craven Hoover Blazek Personal Injury Law

Craven Hoover Blazek Personal Injury Law 317-881-2700

Call Craven, Hoover, and Blazek P.C. at 317-881-2700 to discuss a slip and fall accident in Indianapolis, Indiana. Our seasoned slip and fall accident lawyers, Daniel Craven, Ralph Hoover, and Keith Blazek are eager to recover what’s rightfully owed to you after suffering injuries from a slip, trip, or fall accident. We offer free initial consultations and never collect lawyer fees unless we prevail for you. Call 317-881-2700 to schedule an appointment with an Indianapolis personal injury lawyer, today.

How Indiana Defines a Wrongful Death

Wrongful Death Attorneys 317-881-2700

Wrongful Death Attorneys 317-881-2700

Every state has their own laws that govern wrongful deaths cases and claims. In Indiana, wrongful death is defined as any situation where the death of a person is caused by the wrongful act or omission of another. Loosely described, it is also like a personal injury accident that ends in death. When a person or entity is the cause of another’s death, they can be proven and held legally responsible in a court of law.

If you or anyone you know has been involved in an accident that resulted in the death of another person, you should call a personal injury law firm that you can trust, immediately. Continue reading for more information about wrongful death cases and the laws that surround them.

Wrongful Death Cases

When a person passed away from a wrongful death accident, who steps on to handle their case? The answer is the personal representative of the deceased’s estate. This could be a husband, wife, daughter, mother, son, grandchild, or any other person that is listed as a co-manager, owner, or speaker of the household. Typically, this is whoever retains ownership of the property or is listed in the will. If there is no family or pre-appointed representative for the estate, there may be no one to file suit and handle their wrongful death case.

There is a chance, however, that the state may decide to file a claim instead. For example, if a drunk driver wrecks and kills another drunk driver, the state may decide to file charges for vehicular manslaughter even if the family of the deceased doesn’t want to. If a case involves the death of a young child, it is up to the legal parents, guardian, or caregivers to file a wrongful death claim.

Although the claim for a wrongful death case is filed by an estate representative who also handles the lawsuit, it is the spouse, children, and extended family that receives any awarded financial retribution for their loved one’s death. It is generally up to the courts how the monies will be divvied among the relatives. The following expenses are recoverable if liability is found in a wrongful death case:

• Expenses for Funeral Arrangements
• Expenses for Burial Arrangements
• Hospital and Medical Bills
• Lost Wages and Benefits of the Deceased Had they Lived
• Wages for Lost Time at Work Pursuing the Case
• And More Depending on Individual Circumstances

Wrongful Death Attorneys

Personal Injury Law Firm Indiana

Personal Injury Law Firm 317-881-2700

Call Craven, Hoover, and Blazek P.C. at 317-881-2700 if you r family is a victim of a wrongful death in Indiana. Seasoned personal injury attorneys, Daniel Craven, Ralph Hoover, and Keith Blazek offer professional litigation services for a wide variety of practice areas, including wrongful death claims. We offer free initial consultations and never charge lawyer fees unless we win your settlement. Call 317-881-2700 to schedule an appointment with a wrongful death attorney in Indianapolis, IN today.

Common Carrier Accidents and Liability

When we choose to fly or take a Greyhound bus, we place our trust in the pilots, engineers, drivers, and even manufacturers, to get us there safely and in a timely-manner. But sometimes, common carriers experience problems that can lead to serious accidents and injuries. The term “common carrier” refers to any entity that provides transportation services for the public. Examples of common carriers include commercial airlines, public buses, tour buses, cruise ships, and more. In the case of an accident, common carriers are held to a more stringent duty of care in comparison to private carriers. So when common carrier accidents do occur, such cases are taken very seriously and investigated thoroughly.

Continue reading to learn more about common carrier liability, and who to contact for more information regarding the laws surrounding aviation and public transportation accidents.

Public Transportation Accident Lawyers 317-881-2700
Public Transportation Accident Lawyers 317-881-2700

Common Carrier Liability

Regulatory bodies that set standards for safety and other types of concerns are the authorities that govern common carriers. For example, the governing regulatory body for commercial airlines is the Federal Aviation Administration (FFA). In terms of safety, these standards obligate common carriers to utilize the highest degree of diligence and care for the sake of their passengers and cargoes. And when common carriers fail to adhere to such regulations, they can be held legally responsible for any damages and losses suffered by those affected by their negligence.

Proving Fault

There is a legal theory called “strict liability” that essentially holds people or entities responsible for injuries and subsequent damages regardless of fault. But when it comes to common carrier lawsuits, strict liability does not apply. When a victim chooses to file a common carrier injury lawsuit, they hold the burden of proving the common carrier’s fault in the accident.

In order to prove fault, victims must be able to prove that the common carrier had a duty of care and breached that duty of care, and that the breach of care directly caused their injuries, which caused other damages and losses. Using evidence to show a common carrier’s breach of duty is the strongest method for winning an injury settlement. Viable evidence can include pictures, videos, witness testimony, inspection records, maintenance logs, and more.

Hire a Lawyer

An experienced personal injury lawyer can help victims of common carrier accidents collect and organize all details and evidences pertaining to their case, and look for certain regulations that the common carrier may have directly neglected, which caused your injuries. This is called “negligence per se” and is a common legal strategy used by accident attorneys to prove injury cases. Be sure to trust only experienced personal injury law firm to recover the full and fair amount of compensation you deserve after being injured in a common carrier accident.

The Law Office of Craven, Hoover, and Blazek P.C.

Call Craven, Hoover, and Blazek P.C. at 317-881-2700 to learn your options after a public transportation injury in Indianapolis, Indiana. Attorneys Daniel Craven, Ralph Hoover, and Keith Blazek are seasoned litigators with extensive knowledge of personal injury law. They will stop at nothing to ensure your damages and losses are fairly compensated for. Out law firm offers free initial consultations and never collects attorney fees unless we prevail for you! Call 317-881-2700 to schedule an appointment with a licensed Indianapolis accident lawyer, today.

Indianapolis Personal Injury Lawyers 317-881-2700
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The 4 Elements of Negligence in a Personal Injury Case

Personal Injury Lawyers 317-881-2700

Personal Injury Lawyers 317-881-2700

Every personal injury case is based on the legal principle of negligence. Under this principle, if a person or company’s negligent actions causes another person harm, they can be held legally responsible for the victim’s damages and losses. Most personal injury and accident disputes are adjudicated by using the principle of negligence to determine fault. But the victim holds the burden of proving that a defendant acted in a negligent or careless way. To recover compensation, victims must prove all four elements of negligence: 1) duty of care, 2) breach of duty, 3) causation, and 4) damages.

Continue reading for a closer look at each element of negligence.

Duty of Care

The first aspect of proving negligence is to establish whether or not the defendant owed the victim a legal duty of care in any way. This could be between employer and employee, child and sitter, doctor and patient, school and student, and much more. For instance, an employer has a legal duty of care to provide employees with a clean and safe work environment, while a doctor has a legal duty of care to provide competent medical care for patients. In other examples, a nursing home has a legal duty of care to look after their residents, while drivers have a legal duty of care to drive safely when behind the wheel of a vehicle.

Breach of Duty

Once it is recognized that the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant breached that duty. A defendant can breach their duty of care by either action or inaction. If a person does something, or fails to do something, that a reasonable person under the same circumstances would do, and it causes harm to another, they are acting negligently. For example, if a person is late for work and runs a red light to save time, and in running the red light they strike another vehicle and injure the driver, they will be found negligent in a court of law. In an example of inaction, if an employer fails to keep their premises up to code, and as a result their employees suffer from severe respiratory illnesses from mold inhalation, they can be found negligent.

Causation

It is not enough for a victim to prove that a defendant breached their duty of care. Plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits must also prove that the defendant’s action (or inaction) was the direct cause of their injuries. But there is another aspect to causation. Courts will also assess and determine whether or not the defendant could have reasonably foreseen that their actions would or could injure someone. Accidentally causing someone harm through a random, unforeseen act of nature might not be looked at as negligent. However, if it is found that a defendant should have known that their actions or inactions would or could cause injury, then they can be found negligent in a personal injury case.

Damages and Losses

After proving all of the above elements of negligence, a victim must then prove their subsequent damages and losses. Word of mouth will not hold up in a court of law, so a victim must have proof and evidence of their damages and losses. Damages and losses can include medical expenses, hospital bills, lost wages, prolonged treatment, pain and suffering, mental anguish, permanent disfigurement or scarring, loss of companionship, loss of job opportunity, and much more. These losses can be proven with medical records, doctors’ statements, receipts, bills, witness testimony, and more.

Indianapolis Personal Injury Attorneys

Personal Injury Attorney Indianapolis

Personal Injury Attorneys 317-881-2700

Call Craven, Hoover, and Blazek P.C. at 317-881-2700 for help with your personal injury claim in Indianapolis, Indiana. Our Indianapolis personal injury attorneys, Daniel Craven, Ralph Hoover, and Keith Blazek are eager to help victims recover the full and fair compensation they deserve after being hurt in a serious accident. We offer free initial consultations to discuss your claim, and never collect lawyer fees unless we recover for you! Call 317-881-2700 to schedule an appointment, today.