The following article was pulled off of the web today. It is especially of interest to us here at Hickey Law Firm, P.A. because we a maritime/cruise ship injury law firm located in the cruise ship capital of the world, Miami, Florida. We are in fact currently representing a crew member in his claim against Royal Caribbean Cruise Line for injuries when a life boat released in mid air some 90 feet above the sea. The boat fell with 7 men aboard. The lifeboat crashed onto the sea and was cracked from stem to stern. Some of the people onboard suffered severe injuries. To make matters worse: the same type of failure of a lifeboat release had happened on a Royal Caribbean ship a year before.

Unfortunately, injuries do happen on cruise ships. We represent passengers and crew members in their claims against the cruise lines. Our offices are here in Miami, Florida, right where the cruise lines in your ticket require you to file a claim against them in Court. We can and will represent you no matter where you live. In fact, you are required to file suit against the cruise lines in the place where the ticket requires. That is called a venue selection clause. (For Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruise Lines, and Norwegian Cruise Lines, the place they require is Miami, Florida). So, call us today toll free at: 1.800.215.7117.

If you have had an accident on a cruise ship or on the tender or boat which takes you to and from shore, do not delay; the time limit, called a statute of limitation, is one year from the date of the accident. The only way to beat that is to file suit in the place required in your ticket. Here is the article:

Lifeboat hooks not fit for purpose - Worldwide
The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), through a recently published Marine Information Notice (MIN), recommends that a system should be introduced whereby maintenance shackles are rigged to by-pass lifeboat on-load release hooks during the lowering and recovery stages of lifeboat drills.

Marine Information Notice (MIN) 315 published December 2007describes MCA research project 555 which is a study into the safety of davit-mounted, side launched ships’ lifeboats and their launching systems. The primary objective of the study was to make proposals for measures to improve the hardware performance of lifeboats and contribute to the prevention of accidents.

The project found that:

All on-load release hooks should be designed and constructed to be stable, i.e. self-closing, when supporting the weight of the lifeboat
A safety case regime should be introduced specifically (and only) for lifeboat on-load release hooks, so as to achieve this aim
The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea should be amended to include both this safety case requirement and additional safe design requirements for lifeboat launching equipment
An interim measure of by-passing on-load release hooks during drills should be considered.
Notwithstanding the contributory factors noted in the IMO Circulars, this study has found that many existing on-load release hooks, whilst satisfying the current regulations, may be inherently unsafe and therefore not fit for purpose.

This situation arises because some designs of on-load hook can be described as unstable, in that they have a tendency to open under the effect of the lifeboat’s own weight and need to be held closed by the operating mechanism. As a result, there is no defence against defects or faults in the operating mechanism, or errors by the crew, or incorrect resetting of the hook after being released.

The research project concluded that this was the principal reason for almost all of the more serious accidents that have occurred. Furthermore, it considered that the solution lies not in training or maintenance, but in radical re-design of the hook types involved. Improved maintenance, whilst desirable, is unlikely to be a sufficiently effective risk reduction measure because of the harsh operating environment and dwindling levels of skilled resource on board a ship.

Improved training is similarly unlikely to be a sufficiently effective measure. This is because human error is inevitable, particularly under the difficult working conditions (time pressures, language barriers, fatigue, cold, dark, wet, etc) which typically prevail on board. Given the reality of this context, it is entirely inappropriate for a safety critical system (i.e. an unstable design of on-load hook) to be catastrophically susceptible to single human error.

Unstable designs of on-load release hook are to be identified with the intention that they be withdrawn from service on all ships and replaced with stable designs. The necessary development of new hooks should be undertaken urgently and the transition made at the earliest possible time.

In view of the serious nature of the hazard, only as an interim risk reduction measure to avoid further unnecessary fatalities during mandatory lifeboat tests and trials, a system should be introduced whereby maintenance shackles are rigged to by-pass the on-load release hook during lowering and recovery, but are disconnected at all other times.

Noting the difficulties with on-load release for twin fall launching systems, consideration should be given to adoption of single fall capsules for ships carrying small numbers of persons.

Source: UK P&I Club,

Maritime & Coast Guard Agency

STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS AND VENUE;
WHEN AND WHERE YOU HAVE TO FILE A CLAIM FOR PERSONAL INJURIES AGAINST A CRUISE LINE

It has happened again. I got a call this last week from a young lawyer who blew the statute of limitations in a case against the cruise line. (I am a maritime lawyer located in Miami, Florida and have 28 years experience with claims against the cruise lines. For the first 17 years of my career, I represented the cruise lines; for the last 11 years, I have represented the injured passenger against the cruise lines).

Anyway, this lawyer’s client had a slip and fall accident on a cruise ship and was injured. The lawyer who called me was located in Miami but was not experienced in cruise ship claims. He did not know about the one year time limit. He dealt with the adjuster for the cruise line himself. The adjuster kept writing the lawyer saying that the lawyer needs to send more documentation of the claim. Then time passed and it was more than one year after the accident. Then the adjuster said the cruise line did not have to pay anything because the deadline had passed. That is called “Gotcha”. Now the cruise line can refuse to pay anything at all. And that is just what they do.

I get calls like this from lawyers all across the country. (I am a Board Certified as a Civil Trial Lawyer by The Florida Bar and by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. I lecture on maritime law and on personal injury claims around the country and get a lot of calls from attorneys in other states). I want to help them and their clients but most of the time I cannot if they have gone over the one year time limit.

Here are the 5 things to know about any claim against the cruise line for personal injury, slip and fall, trip and fall, or sexual assault or rape:

1. When you are injured on a cruise ship, maritime law applies. Maritime law is a specialized area of the law. Maritime law applies to personal injuries on any vessel (like a cruise ship or gambling boat or tanker or freighter) on a navigable waterway (like the Atlantic Ocean, the Inter-coastal Waterway, any river, or the Caribbean Sea). It applies to Jones Act seaman, that is the people who work on ships, and it applies to passengers on cruise ships.

2. Most lawyers around the country do not know maritime law and have little if any experience with it. Maritime law is something most lawyers around the country do not do and do not know. Most lawyers just do not know the law in this area. They operate assuming the law is just like the law in New York or Illinois or California or Florida, or any other state. It is not. That can be fatal to your claim if a mistake like the one above is made. That passenger will get nothing from the cruise line.

In fact, most maritime lawyers do not handle claims of passenger against the cruise lines. Passenger claims is also a specialty within the maritime law. The law for claims of passengers against the cruise lines is different than the law for claims of the ship’s employees against the cruise lines. In both situations, maritime law applies. But there is a different set of laws which apply to claims brought by the employees (seaman) than for claims brought by the passengers.

Many maritime lawyers around the country know about claims by the ship’s employees (called “seaman” even if the employee is a deck hand or an engine room cleaner or a waiter onboard the ship for example) but know little or nothing about passenger claims. Not knowing the cruise lines and not being a lawyer who represents passengers against cruise lines can also result in you recovering a lost less in your claim. Why? Because if your lawyer does not know what he or she is doing, if your lawyer is not a maritime lawyer who takes these cases to trial here in Miami, Florida, the cruise lines will know this. They will take advantage of this. You may receive nothing as in the case above or you may receive only a fraction of your claim as the cruise lines will know who the experienced lawyers are.

3. YOU PRESERVE YOUR CLAIM ONLY BY FILING SUIT IN THE RIGHT CITY AND STATE. Filling out an accident report and writing letters to the cruise line do not preserve your claim. Writing a letter to the cruise line does let them know about you and your claim. It does not preserve your claim. If you filled out an accident report on the day of the accident on the ship, and if you wrote a million letters to the cruise lines, but you do not file suit within one year, YOU HAVE NO CLAIM AND THE CRUISE LINES WILL PAY YOU NOTHING. This is not to say that you cannot get a settlement in the right case before filing suit. Sometimes you can. But you need to right lawyer in the right city and state to do this.

4. THE CRUISE LINES REQUIRE THAT YOU FILE SUIT AGAINST THEM IN A CERTAIN CITY AND STATE SPECIFIED IN YOUR TICKET. This is called in the law a “venue selection clause”. Buried in the fine print of your Passenger Contract Ticket, back many pages, there is a paragraph about where you have to sue them. It is usually toward the end of the ticket. No matter where you are from, no matter where you bought the ticket, no matter where you got on the ship, this rule applies.

 In all cases against Carnival Cruise Lines, you must file suit in Miami, Florida.
 In all cases against Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, you must file suit in Miami, Florida.
 In all cases against Norwegian Cruise Lines, you must file suit in Miami, Florida.

Other cruise lines specify other cities and states.

5. The right lawyer for your claim against a cruise line is a lawyer who is experienced at bringing claims against the cruise lines, who is located in the city and state where you have to file against the cruise lines, and who is a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer. If you have been injured on Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, or Norwegian Cruise Lines, you need a maritime lawyer with experience in passenger claims against the cruise lines and who is located in Miami, Florida. This includes all cases of personal injuries, slip and fall, trip and fall, and sexual assault and rape. Look for the one with experience (with maritime passenger claims against the cruise lines), location (in Miami, Florida), and Board Certification (as a Civil Trial Lawye

Home / News / Local
Brain-injury survivors come to grips with new lives
Email|Print| Text size – + By John Dyer
Globe Correspondent / November 18, 2007
Raymond Burns nodded his head as Peggi Robart spoke, his face expressing relief and gratitude.

more stories like this”We’re no longer what we used to be,” said Robart, a Newton resident, addressing 14 others around a table at the MetroWest Wellness Center in Framingham. “You’re not going to get back to yourself again. That self is gone.”

Raymond Burns was nodding his head in enthusiastic assent. “Yes!” he agreed.

It was the first time Burns, also a Newton resident, had attended the support group, which is organized by the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts. It was also the first time he had heard someone else articulate what he had been experiencing for more than a year. In March 2006, Burns was in a car accident that briefly knocked him unconscious. He woke relatively unscathed, though his head had jerked back and forth violently. He thought he was all right, but he was wrong.

“I started doing irrational things right away,” he said. “For example, I refused to go to the hospital. It was stupid.”

The nonprofit Brain Injury Association, based in Westborough, celebrated its 25th anniversary recently. It describes itself as the state’s foremost advocate for brain-injury survivors, which it says is the largest category of disabled people.

Each year, around 44,000 Massachusetts residents suffer traumatic brain injuries, with the causes including falls, car accidents, assaults, sports concussions, and shaken baby syndrome, the association says.

Many of those survivors suffer not only from physical wounds but from the dawning realization that while they often look normal, and retain motor functions and many cognitive abilities, they also are disabled in ways that can strike at the heart of their identities.

“We all have problems people can’t see,” said Muffi Brown of Ashland, a support group participant who installed computers in stores in the 1970s but can no longer type after suffering a stroke 10 years ago. “Some of us can’t read,” she said. “Some of us can.”

Robart joined the support group four years ago, after an electronic sign in an airport shuttle bus fell on her head.

Joining was one of the first steps Burns has taken in accepting that his life has changed dramatically and probably permanently. “I knew I needed to get some help. I’m finally coming to terms with this, but it’s very tough.”

Before his accident, Burns was the CEO of a software development company with 20 employees. In the weeks after the crash, he started losing his train of thought in conversations. He couldn’t organize papers on a desk. Sometimes, reading his own handwriting was impossible. Eventually, he realized that while the rest of his body had recuperated from the accident, the violent jerking had injured his brain.Continued…

Through its support groups and other programs, the Brain Injury Association seeks to educate the public about brain injuries, and how to prevent them, said Arlene Korab, the association’s executive director and a Westborough resident. Her son suffered a brain injury in a car accident in 1980.

“In a split second, lives can change,” she said. “We need to understand the consequences of risk-taking behavior and the importance of prevention.”

Improved expertise in detecting and treating brain injuries has radically changed the nature of the problem, Korab said, adding that doctors know much more about how the brain works than just a few years ago. As a result, brain injuries today are less likely to be fatal than they were a decade ago.

“The medical treatment is so much better. But if you have no quality of life once you survive, you’ve got to do something.”

The association, which counts 6,500 members, regularly lobbies and testifies before Beacon Hill lawmakers on behalf of brain-injury survivors. In 1985, it pushed officials to create the Statewide Head Injury Program, which provided funds and other resources to almost 1,000 brain-injury survivors last year, according to the program’s website. Ten years ago, the association created Brains at Risk, a course that state judges sometimes require people convicted of drunken driving to take to learn about brain injuries resulting from car accidents.

The association also organizes events such as the Oct. 30 Sports Concussions Conference in Marlborough, where doctors and professional football players met to educate high school coaches and others about head injuries among young athletes. It is now organizing veterans groups to help deal with brain-injury survivors coming home from Iraq.

“We never saw brain injuries in Vietnam and the Persian Gulf,” said Carol Callaghan, with the Veterans Outreach Center - MetroWest, a Marlborough-based nonprofit group that provides services for returning troops. “They didn’t know how to look for it.”

Of the 40 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans Callaghan oversees, six suffer from brain injuries, she said. She expects more such injuries to come to light, given that many soldiers have been injured by explosive devices blowing up near or under vehicles, jostling the passengers and creating perfect conditions for head injuries.

One of the first hurdles that survivors and their loved ones have to face is that victims may exhibit symptoms that make them seem mentally ill, such as not being able to concentrate or perform multiple tasks. In reality, however, these are the symptoms of their injuries, and it often takes time to identify them as such.

“There’s a stigma,” said Barbara Webster, a Hopedale resident whose injury resulted from whiplash sustained in a 1991 car accident. “People think you’re crazy.”

Webster learned to write shopping lists in the order items appeared on her route through the supermarket. She explained to her husband that certain sounds, like his rustling a bag of potato chips, were excruciatingly distracting. Over time, her condition steadily improved as she learned how her injury affected her behavior and discovered helpful coping mechanisms. She now leads the association’s group in Framingham.

“I can do quality work, but I can’t do as much. I need to pace myself and use certain strategies,” she said. “You’re re-creating this life you took 20, 30 years to build.”

© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
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This just in about the bus accident which happened on January 7, 2008 on Interstate 595 in Broward County Florida. See commentary and questions after the facts:

Shortly after 9 a.m., paramedics, police and deputies from Davie, Plantation and the Broward Sheriff’s Office responded to the accident scene just west of the State Road 7 exit. They set up a triage area where they treated 42 tour bus passengers, said Braulio Rosa, spokesman for Davie Fire Rescue.

In all, 32 people were transported to Broward General Medical Center, in Fort Lauderdale, and Memorial Regional Hospital, in Hollywood, Rosa said.

There were no deaths, but one person in serious condition was flown to Broward General, Rosa added.

Traffic was shut down for more than an hour in both directions of the highway after the accident. Both the tour bus and the black Mustang had been heading west on the rain-slick road when Davie resident Omar Abu-Jabir, the driver of the Mustang, apparently lost control of his vehicle and hit the tour bus, said Sgt. Mark Wysocky, spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol.

The bus, driven by Gustavo Orduñez, 62, of Hialeah, swerved across the road, broke through the median railing and crossed the eastbound lanes, eventually stopping on a grassy shoulder against the wall of the S.R. 7 northbound exit ramp.

The Mustang, partially crushed and charred from the impact, came to rest on the median. Abu-Jabir, 34, was hospitalized in critical condition, according to Wysocky.

“The Mustang was in really bad shape,” Rosa said. “It looked pretty much totaled.”

Relatives of Abu-Jabir could not be reached to comment Saturday night. Records show his driving history include citations for speeding, improper lane changes, driving with a suspended license, failure to pay traffic fines and driving with an expired tag.

As paramedics rescued passengers from the tour bus, many retrieved their luggage and hugged each other, Rosa said.

Many drivers along Interstate 595 got out of their cars as they waited in gridlocked traffic. The road was reopened about 10:30 a.m.

Doctors at Broward General said they received 19 accident victims. Two remained in critical condition Saturday afternoon, one with severe injuries and bleeding in the brain, “but not the kind that surgical intervention might help,” said Dr. Moshe Stav, a trauma surgeon in the emergency room.

Five other passengers suffered serious wounds that weren’t considered life-threatening, and the rest were treated for soft-tissue injuries and knee fractures, as well as bumps and bruises, Stav said.
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Questions and comments:

1. What is the driving history of the driver of the mustang? Who owned the car he was driving? Was it a rental car? What made him lose control?

2. What was the driving history of the driver of the bus? For how long had he been with the company? Did he in fact have his seatbelt fastened? If not, did he lose control because he did not have the seatbelt on and then he was thrown from his seat? Why was there not a shoulder harness for him? If there was, why was he not wearing it? Did the bus driver over react to this Mustang coming into his lane?

It seems like both drivers were at fault in this accident. The investigation into these personal injury cases and the bus and car accident should not ignore these facts and these questions.