After a fatal car accident, a Whitman, Massachusetts, family claims that the faulty component on the 2001 Ford Windstar was the cause of the crash where the father of two young girls was killed after losing control and striking a light pole. The family of the deceased learned that Ford had recalled the Windstar after receiving a letter one week after the fatal October car accident. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also issued a warning for Windstar drivers following the Whitman accident because of rising concerns that the axle failure could ...

Upon graduation, today's students are facing a debt crisis unlike any generation in history. In 2009, those receiving a four-year degree had racked up an average of $24,000 in student loans. Add to that figure the outliers, and the students who continue their education in pursuit of a graduate or professional degree, and debt load can reach truly staggering figures. Especially in a slow economy, paying off even modest debts can be a hardship. For recent grads with particularly large outstanding loans, the outlook may seem grim: bankruptcy usually cannot discharge student ...

In 2010, Governor David Paterson signed a bill allowing no-fault divorce in New York, bringing the state's divorce laws into alignment with the rest of the country. Couples are no longer forced to demonstrate wrongdoing or abuse in the marriage in order to obtain a divorce, and can instead dissolve marriages "when the relationship between husband and wife has broken down irretrievably for a period of at least six months." As Gov. Paterson told the New York post, the change brings the state's divorce laws into the 21st century and offers a solution to "a broken process ...

A truck driver in Polk County killed two women when he was texting on the road, ran a red light and hit eight cars. One was the daughter of Russell Hurd, who was riding with her fiance on the way to plan their wedding at Walt Disney World, where the couple worked. Hurd's daughter was 26 years old. Since the truck accident in January 2008, Hurd has issued a call to legislators across the country to pass laws prohibiting drivers from talking or texting. Texting While Driving Bills in Florida More than a dozen vehicle safety bills regarding talking and texting while ...

White collar crime can take many different forms. Whether it is insider trading, failing to report income taxes or other types of fraud, many of these crimes wind up in federal court. Many of these cases can become high-profile, especially if a significant amount of money was involved. Those who are convicted of a white collar crime could be facing time in a federal prison. Exactly how much time that one of these white collar crimes carries with a conviction has become a major issue for those awaiting sentencing. Federal judges use the Federal Sentencing Guidelines when ...

Distracted driving has made traffic safety a prominent national issue with those driving commercial trucks and buses. With new regulations focused on the largest and most dangerous vehicles on the road, the emphasis now shifts to protecting the most vulnerable drivers: motorcyclists. Last November, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) proposed a new regulation mandating that everyone riding a motorcycle in the United States wear a helmet. Historically, helmet law proposals have always been controversial. Proponents commonly refer to accident statistics showing ...

There's a festering problem in Florida's criminal justice system: some state prosecutors are misusing our state's racketeering laws to wring guilty pleas out of innocent people and petty criminals afraid of spending decades in prison for crimes they didn't commit. Abuse is rampant of Florida's version of the federal government's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act; known more commonly by its acronym, RICO. The federal version was created 40 years ago to fight the Mafia and the businesses and labor unions it controlled. Today in Jacksonville and elsewhere ...

In a new campaign, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is cracking down on drunk drivers who pose a higher risk. These drivers fall into one of two categories: - Those with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .15 percent or more - Those who have a prior DUI/DWI arrest in the past 10 years NTSB data estimates that up to 70 percent of all alcohol-related car accident fatalities involved these types of drivers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) provides more insight: roughly 8,000 of the nearly 11,000 road deaths last year were ...

Accidents that kill or injure very young children are particularly troubling. Children who are not yet school age are highly vulnerable to all sorts of dangers -- including being run over by a car that is backing up. The federal data on the prevalence of back-up car accidents is eye-opening. According to estimates by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 228 people are killed in car accidents each year and 17,000 people are injured. The agency's data indicates that almost half of these deaths -- about 100 -- are of children under 5 years old. Children ...

Elderly and infirm residents are made more vulnerable if the facilities they inhabit are made unsafe by nursing home negligence. Medication errors, abusive employees and inadequate security can all cause immediate injuries and other harm to people who most deserve society's protection. In some cases, the harm takes longer to develop. Nursing home malnutrition may take months to detect and respond to if staff fails to heed subtle signs of inadequate food intake or physical decline. Other evidence of nursing home mistreatment includes bed sores, which can develop as a ...

Everyone has read stories about a divorce that is spiraling out of control, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars as the couple fights over every single thing. Custody of the children, spousal support and property division can be extremely expensive and time-consuming if the parties are focused on going to court. Parties who can resolve these issues on their own can remove most of the stress from the process while saving those thousands of dollars. Many divorces involve issues which need attention. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of any divorce is the child custody ...

In Florida, red light cameras have been used since 2008 to enforce traffic laws at intersections 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In practice, red light cameras create difficult legal issues and unfair outcomes; for example, notices of infraction are mailed to the registered owner's vehicle whether or not the owner was driving, meaning that the registered owner is held responsible for the ticket regardless of guilt--and if the registered owner fails to pay the ticket within 30 days from when it was mailed, the notice becomes a bonafide traffic citation with license ...

Certain employees can face the potential for serious injury every time they go into work. At a construction site, many different occupations are present, and any mistake can have severe consequences. When an injury happens, employees may not know what remedies are available to them, or how to begin the process of recovering compensation for their injuries. New Jersey Workers' Compensation System For those injured on the job in New Jersey, the legislature has set up the workers' compensation system to provide a way for employees to recover compensation quickly for ...

At the close of Florida's 2010 legislative session, a comprehensive bill aimed at revamping the state's child support and alimony schemes was passed. The new changes did not go into effect immediately, however. Instead, target dates were set, determining when each set of updates to the family law code would take effect. The alimony provisions and certain aspects of the child support statute have already been tested to an extent: they went into effect in July and October of 2010, respectively. However, several significant changes to Florida's child support guidelines only ...

While safety features like airbags and anti-lock brakes come standard on many vehicles, one of the most beneficial safety systems is still lacking on some vehicles. Electronic stability control systems (ESC) help drivers maintain control of the vehicle. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, ESC systems use sensors to detect the speed and direction of the wheels. During a turn, if the car drifts in a direction different from the orientation of the wheels, the system can reduce acceleration and brake individual wheels to help the driver regain control ...

Recent Tragic Queens Construction Accident Illustrates Problem Just days ago, a job-site accident in Queens tragically killed a young, Latino construction worker. The 26-year-old man was helping construct a 65-foot wall when the cinder-block wall suddenly collapsed, killing him and seriously injuring three others. Early reports indicate that the wall failed as scaffolding collapsed and fell onto the wall. Sadly, the victim was a father, survived by his pregnant wife and two children. The Queens construction accident is still under investigation, but presumably there ...

Safety on the road is a pressing concern for almost all Americans. Considering the sheer volume of large trucks and other commercial carriers populating the nation's highways, the federal regulations governing operators could vastly impact any driver or passenger. Everyone wants the highways to be safer for both motorists and commercial truck drivers, so one might think newly proposed trucking safety regulations would be universally praised. Yet, new trucking regulations proposed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) meant to allay certain safety ...

Though the great recession officially ended more than a year ago, far too many individuals and families continue to experience the long-lasting effects of a difficult economy. National unemployment rates remain near 10 percent, and even those who are able to find jobs are often overqualified and underpaid for their work. According to the Chicago Tribune, one in four homeowners owes more on a mortgage than their homes are worth. These challenges have left numerous people unable to meet their existing financial obligations and looking for alternatives. In many cases, those ...

Lottery.co.uk has launched a redesigned version of its website in order to provide a better user experience for visitors. The site was first launched in 1996 and has since grown to include a lot more content and functionality which could not have been foreseen last Millennium, leading to the decision for a complete overhaul. The redesign has focused on user experience, with a completely new navigation to make everything easier to find for lottery players. Features on the site such as the lottery results, the lottery numbers generator and the news section are all ...

Cruise Amour has announced the launch of its new technology, Search Your Way, which will be available on its website. The technology is designed to make searching for a holiday easier by allowing customers to search for their next holidays the way they want to rather than forcing them to go through the process of researching every cruise line available. Cruise Amour has created two new search criteria Cruise Type and Formality. These options means customers can pick from cruise options such as Friends & Family, Couples Getaway and Adults only, with Formality Options ...

Littlewoods Europe has launched its new season collection for Spring 2011, including their own brand Savoir range which has been restyled to suit the modern mature woman. The Savoir range features 400 ladies fashion lines, available in sizes 10 to 32, including petite and standard fit options. Following extensive research and consultation with customers aged 50 and over, Littlewoods Europe has changed the blocks and patterns used to create the Savoir range. The hem lengths, cut of the waist and the width of the shoulders in the garments have been adjusted to better suit ...

Bupa Care Homes in Yorkshire are preparing to enjoy a number of storytelling events in support of National Storytelling Week (29 January to 5 February 2011). This year, Bupa has teamed up with charity The Reader Organisation, which has been working with care homes since 2006, promoting the links between reading and wellbeing. Members of the local community and local school children have been invited to take part in the events, which are also designed to celebrate the art and value of story telling. Residents in Bupa's care homes will be reading and will be read ...

Valued Opinions has revealed the latest views on the willingness of the UK public to upgrade to 3D technology. Since the release of James Cameron's Avatar in late 2009 the 3D concept has boomed. In the last year 3D movies have been rolled out on a regular basis and nearly all cinemas now show at least one 3D movie at a time. The next stage in 3D technology was released in September, roughly a year to date since the release of Avatar; it is of course 3D TV. Since then, paid subscription TV services have been battling it out to be the one to raise the stakes by releasing ...

Lottery.co.uk has announced the launch of its mobile website. The mobile version will reside on the same URL as the main site and will automatically detect when a mobile user connects to the site and display the pages specially formatted for the device. The new mobile site has been fully optimized for mobile users with completely redesigned pages making it easier to use on a mobile phone. The launch of the mobile site marks Lottery.co.uk as the first big lottery site to launch a dedicated mobile site. The Lottery.co.uk mobile site is more convenient for users who ...

UK Gear Limited are set to steal a march on their competitors with the launch of the new PT-1000 - an ultra durable road and trail running shoe that promises to redefine the athletic shoe market. The first shoe in the world designed to last 1,000 running miles, the PT-1000 features UK Gear's classified Force Dynamic System technology which has taken over 8 years to develop with the Royal Army Physical Training Corps (RAPTC). This, combined with an extensive durability test programme at SATRA laboratories, underpins the company's confidence in its 1,000 mile claim. Comments ...