The Latest News from Mundy & Singley, L.L.P. - Personal Injury Lawyers in Austin

According to a Reuters news article, a survey of workers on the Deepwater Horizon rig conducted before the explosion revealed  significant safety concerns from the point of view of the workers.  The article reports that workers often saw unsafe behaviors on the rig but feared reprisals if they reported mistakes or other problems.

The Deepwater Horizon rig explosion is yet another tragedy that highlights the need for effective government regluation of worker safety to ensure that big companies put people, not profits, first.

The Reuters article is here: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66L2D220100722

The tragic BP offshore oil rig explosion and pipeline leak strongly highlight the need for stricter safety regulation and government oversight in this area, as with so many others, both to protect worker safety and the environment.  The companies are now focused on their legal positions, pointing fingers of blame at one another, and by the public accounts of some rig workers they were pressured into signing legal documents before they could contact their families who wondered if they were dead or alive.

As concerned citizens, we must all be must be focused on safety and the changes that must happen to prevent another tragedy like this from happening.  This news article gives a good description of the companies’ attempts to avoid blame for this tragedy, as well as the problems with ineffective government oversight in this area that essentially punted the decisions to the companies to police themselves:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126721481

The National Safety Council (NSC) recently announced that 1.6 million car wrecks per year are caused by drivers using cell phones or sending text messages while driving.   The NSC reported that this number amounts to 28% of all car wrecks.  The NSC has called for a ban on cell phone use and texting while driving to reduce the number of car crashes.  The NSC reports that  cell phone use causes more crashes than testing, due to the larger number of people who use phones while driving.  However, the NSC notes that texting is more of a distraction and thus a larger risk for causing crashes.  The NSC hopes that state and local governments will recognize the danger posed by texting as well as cell phone use, and take appropriate action to protect all drivers on the road.  If you or someone you know has been involved in a car crash caused by the other driver using a cell phone or texting, please consult one of the Mundy & Singley attorneys regarding your legal rights and a potential case for compensation for your injuries and damages.

In auto safety news, Toyota today announced that it would broaden a recall to fix potentially faulty accelerator pedals in various car models due to the potential for dangerous unintended acceleration caused by the pedal becoming stuck in a part-way down position or slowly returning to idle due to pedal wear.  The recall applies to 2.3 million vehicles.  This recall comes on top of a previous Toyota recall aimed at the potential for accelerator pedals to become stuck in floor mats, which applied to 4.2 million vehicles.  The federal government had received a number of reports of runaway acceleration in Toyotas at the time of the first recall.  Runaway acceleration due to design defects in automobiles poses a significant risk of injury or death from auto accidents.  If you or a family member  has been injured or killed in a car wreck due to a faulty accelerator pedal or other dangerous condition of an automobile, please contact one of the attorneys at Mundy & Singley, LLP for a free consultation.

Texans and Texas truck accident lawyers are especially concerned about trucking safety due to the number of trucks on the freeways in Texas, for example on US IH-35, which has large amounts of trucking traffic through Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas.  Houston sees significant trucking traffic through US IH-10 and IH-45.  Fortunately, 2009 brought good news for truck safety in Texas, which came from the U.S. Government’s Department of Transportation.  The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which regulates trucking safety, recently began to enforce a new rule requiring higher safety standards for newly registered truck and bus companies.  This is especially good news for Texans due to the number of truck accidents involving injury and death that occur in Texas.  The safety standards covered by the rule include drug and alcohol testing, hours of service rules, driver qualifications, and vehicle condition.  A company that violates any of 16 essential safety standards will automatically fail its safety audit.  A link to the FMCSA press release on the rule is here:

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/news/news-releases/2009/Safety-Requirements-for-Truck-Bus-Companies.aspx

As our office is in Austin, Mundy & Singley, LLP is especially concerned about truck accidents and the resulting injuries and fatalities due to the many truck wrecks and truck accidents that take place on IH-35 in and near Austin, Round Rock, and San Antonio.  If you have questions about a truck accident or wish a free consultation about a potential truck accident case in Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, or anywhere in Texas, please contact one of the lawyers at Mundy & Singley, LLP.

A statewide poll commissioned by Texas Watch indicates that Texans favor insurance reform measures due to significant concerns about the power and influence of insurance companies.   See the poll results here:

http://www.texaswatch.org/temp/ts_941141FE-BD7D-56A9-49302B73ACE613939411420E-EAD4-9519-DB4E94556AF478F6/Pollnew.pdf

The attorneys and staff of Mundy & Singley LLP wish you a safe and joyous holiday season, and we cherish the memories of family and friends who are no longer with us.

On Tuesday, February 3, 2009, Mundy & Singley partner Michael Singley presented argument in the Texas Supreme Court on behalf of client Debra Kirwan in her suit against the City of Waco arising from the death of her son Bradley McGehee in 2004.   Ms. Kirwan has not yet had her day in court because the City filed a pre-trial motion for dismissal, arguing that Texas law shields the City from accountability for Mr. McGehee’s death even if the jury were to find gross negligence on the part of the City.  On appeal of the trial court’s decision, the Waco Court of Appeals agreed with Mundy & Singley’s arguments and ordered that Ms. Kirwan is entitled to a jury trial.  The City appealed that decision to the Texas Supreme Court.  Now that the Supreme Court oral argument has been completed, the Court will issue a written decision at a future date.

The Waco Court of Appeals’ opinion in in favor of Mundy & Singley and their client Debra Kirwan is available here: http://www.10thcoa.courts.state.tx.us/opinions/htmlopinion.asp?OpinionId=8716

In honor of our clients, Victor Davis, John Robinson, and Garry Miller.

The Austin Court of Appeals recently issued the following opinion holding unconstitutional the Crown Cork & Seal asbestos law giving the company immunity from asbestos suits in Texas:
http://www.3rdcoa.courts.state.tx.us/opinions/HTMLopinion.asp?OpinionID=17293

The opinion was issued in the case of our deceased mesothelioma client Jerrold Braley.

The Texas Supreme Court is considering the same issue in the case of our client John Robinson, but has not yet issued an opinion.