What’s New in the News – Aronberg & Aronberg

A couple of recent developments in the news have led to increased scrutiny in the field of personal injury law. Each story deals with a separate area of personal injury law, and thus the approach to each issue must be different. The first one that we will discuss is the avalanche that occurred over the weekend in the state of Washington, resulting in the death of 3 people, including experienced skiers.

The avalanche occurred in Skykomish, Washington on Sunday, where about a dozen veteran skiers were enjoying the slopes on a certain part of the mountain. The sudden avalanche struck some of them in an out-of-bounds area, and three were hurled down the mountain with the avalanche, unable to make it to safety or to remain in a position where a rescue would have been possible. This tragic event reminds us that even the most skilled skiers can be put in compromising positions on the mountain. Similarly, in a more relevant form of interpretation, even the most experienced drivers can be tossed into a dangerous situation on the road.

So, who is responsible for the horrific events that happened on the west coast? Well, to begin with, the skiers should not have gone out-of-bounds; had they stayed within the designated skiing boundaries, they might not have lost their lives. Furthermore, looking at the avalanche itself: who—or what—is to blame? It’s safe to say that the avalanche can be classified as what is referred to, by lawyers and insurance companies, as an “Act of God.” An Act of God includes natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, etc. Surely, an avalanche will fall into this category, thus diminishing the opportunity for some individual, or some entity, to be found guilty of negligence. This is unless, of course, it can be proven that the ski resort in Skykomish was negligent in grooming the mountain in a way that might have prevented the avalanche. Either way, we’ll keep you up to date on this story.

The other recent issue was brought to light by the federal government’s Department of Transportation (DOT) this past Thursday. Late last week, the DOT called on auto manufacturers to take the lead in helping to reduce auto accidents by installing devices which would limit motorists’ abilities to use their mobile devices, such as cell phones, while driving. In addition, the DOT has asked auto manufacturers to rework navigation systems that would prevent drivers from inputting information while the car is in motion. All of these are efforts by the DOT to decrease the high levels of distracted driving. As of now, these measures have been referred to as “proposed voluntary guidelines” by a press release coming from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

For any information of these stories, or any other legal matters, please contact the Law Offices of Aronberg & Aronberg at 561-266-9191 or email us at daronberg@build.simple.biz.

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