Nitro Legal Blog

Let's say you're driving down a West Virginia highway and your cellphone rings. It's not just any ring either; it's the one you customized for your mother, who recently had major surgery and is recovering at home. What if she needs something?

Perhaps you think you've found a legitimate compromise by putting your phone on speaker so you don't have to hold it while you're driving. Reaching down quickly to grab and answer it won’t really “distract” you from the road, right?

Railroad workers in West Virginia and the rest of the country have certain protections under the Federal Employers Liability Act in the event they are injured while performing their job duties. The steps they take immediately following their workplace injuries can impact their rights and claims under FELA.

The injury should be reported as soon as possible to the worker's supervisor. The worker should also fill out an injury report form if their injuries allow them to. When completing the form, accuracy and details should be used when addressing the injuries as the form is likely to have a significant role in the later stages of the FELA claim. Information such as the conditions, causes and factors the workers believes contributed to the accident should be included.

West Virginia motorists share their roads with thousands of commercial trucks every day. There are roughly 15 million big trucks in regular use on American roads, and 70 percent of all freight transported in the United States makes at least some portion of its journey by truck. A fully loaded tractor-trailer can weigh up to 80,000 pounds and traveling adjacent to one puts regular commuters in passenger vehicles at risk due to the enormous disparity in size and weight.

In the last decade, the number of commercial truck accidents in the United States has increased by 20 percent. A recent study examined data from 120,000 truck accidents to ascertain the most common causes of big truck crashes. The Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS) was a joint project of the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The latter is responsible for promulgating safety regulations for all large commercial vehicles used for interstate commerce while the former deals with all categories of highway safety.

Property owners in West Virginia and throughout the country are required to take steps to remedy issues that can result in an accident on their premises. If steps are not taken, they may be liable for damages a slip-and-fall victim may incur. Such accidents that occur indoors may be caused by wet or otherwise slippery floors. Floors could be dangerous if too much wax is applied or it is applied in an uneven fashion.

At a minimum, a property owner may need to post a sign warning an individual that a floor is wet or close off the wet area entirely. If floors are treated with a slippery substance or not treated evenly, that may also result in a person falling. Stairs can also create dangerous conditions that could lead to a fall. For example, a stairwell could be missing a railing or be covered by debris.