Personal Injury

Childhood Injuries During COVID-19

May 19, 2020 | Tapalian Law

As families spend more time quarantining at home during the coronavirus pandemic in Rhode Island and beyond, there is no doubt stress levels have hit a high for everyone, including parents. The demands are constant and it’s not an easy feat for parents to work from home, especially with young children, and simultaneously provide proper supervision for a child or multiple children, work, cook, clean, help with online schooling, and keep up with the news about the latest virus precautions. As a result, doctors expect more childhood injuries to occur during the coronavirus pandemic amidst stay at home orders. As a personal injury lawyer in Rhode Island, Attorney David Tapalian knows that an injury to a child can be particularly scary during normal times, but even more so now during the Covid-19 outbreak. Many are fearful of visiting the emergency room or walk-in medical clinic for fear of leaving with germs worse than the injury they came in for. As a parent himself, Attorney Tapalian understands and empathizes with this predicament, and there may be alternative options to visiting a doctor’s office with your child during this precarious time.

Why are More Kids Getting Hurt During the Coronavirus Outbreak?

One of the main reasons more kids are getting injured at home during the pandemic is a lack of supervision. Parents are busy working from home, or at an essential job outside the home, stressed out, and short of childcare options. Naturally, kids are curious and bored with the lack of normal everyday activities, lack of sports, school, and play dates. Due to the fear of germs during the virus outbreak, there are more cleaning supplies and chemicals around the house, like bleach, and therefore, young children are at a higher risk than usual for accidental poisoning from household chemicals. As the weather warms up, kids of all ages are out riding bikes and bicycle accidents in Rhode Island are unfortunately a side effect of some of these trips. As a Rhode Island personal injury attorney, David has witnessed a number of bike accidents that have occurred over the past few months. Adults and children alike have more time to spend outdoors cycling, which is positive, but the mistake of choosing not to wear a helmet, forgetting to wear a helmet, or wearing an ill-fitting helmet, can be deadly. If a child sets out on a bike ride, skateboard, or scooter without a helmet, the results can be tragic.

Another Reason Why Texting & Walking is a Bad Idea in Providence

February 29, 2020 | Tapalian Law

The great majority of us use a cell phone on a daily basis and most of us walk someplace too, whether to pick up a child at the bus stop, a lunch break to pick up a sandwich, or walking the dog. Often, this walking time is used to check email, peruse social media, or send a quick text. A good way to multi-task while getting some exercise? Perhaps. But lately it’s become riskier as a recent study shows that using your phone as you walk is more dangerous, and likely to cause an accident, than listening to music or even talking on the phone. As a personal injury lawyer in Rhode Island, Attorney David Tapalian sees this as a safety concern that isn’t going to disappear anytime soon. Given our ever-present cell phones and the need to always feel connected, it’s an issue that effects everyone, adults and parents alike, and needs to be addressed.

Be Alert as a Pedestrian

Over 6,000 pedestrians were killed in the U.S. in 2018. This is the highest number in more than 20 years, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA). While this recent study may be small and need more in-depth research, the issue of distracted walking and distracted driving is big. While innovations in safety technology have increased the survivability of victims in automobile crashes, pedestrians still remain susceptible to critical, or fatal, injuries when hit by a vehicle.

Feet Up on the Dashboard? Think Again. X-Ray Shows Horrific Car Accident Injuries

January 30, 2020 | Tapalian Law

A picture floating around the internet recently will make you think twice next time you drive with a passenger in the front seat of your car. The photo shows the x-ray of a female victim who suffered severe and permanently disabling injuries in an auto accident. In comparison, the other passengers in the same crash suffered only minor scratches and bruises. Why? The woman had her feet up on the passenger side dashboard. The force of the collision deployed the passenger side airbag, throwing her foot into her face. As car accident lawyers in Rhode Island, it’s not uncommon to see one passenger in a car crash injured more severely than another. However, the extent of this woman’s injuries from a minor crash were expansive enough to be life-changing, while her fellow passengers were basically unscathed. This is all due to her positioning with her feet on the dash. The impact of the collision snapped a femur, broke a hip in its socket, and dislocated the other hip far where it should be located. In addition, she broke her nose, arm, and ankle.

Injuries from Airbags

We’ve seen a number of clients at Tapalian Law who likely would not be here with us today if not for the life-saving effects of an airbag. As a Rhode Island Car Accident Attorney David Tapalian has seen first-hand the undeniable advantages of airbags when a person is involved in a car crash. In most cases, airbags deploy at a powerful speed of 100 to 220mph. Unquestionably, some people are hurt by the airbag when it deploys. Yet, the safety benefits of airbags far outweigh the risks.

E-Scooter Injuries: Riders at High Risk for Personal Injury

January 21, 2020 | Tapalian Law

After a short reprieve, electric scooter rentals returned to Providence at the end of the year, following the city’s approval to allow e-scooter rental companies Spin and VeoRide, a combined total of 600 scooters. As the prevalence of electric scooters has increased in cities like Providence RI, so have the scooter injuries in these cities. As personal injury lawyers in Providence, at Tapalian Law we have seen scooter accidents result in serious injury when a rider collides with a car or truck, especially if the victim is not wearing a safety helmet.

As the availability of electric scooter rental programs increased, rentals nearly doubled from 2017 to 2018. Emergency room physicians across the U.S. saw a corresponding uptick in the number of patients suffering injuries as the result of a scooter accident, and scooter injuries jumped an alarming 82%. This sharp increase in e-scooter trauma was reported in a recent study by the University of California, San Francisco. Unlike car accidents, data on scooter injuries is still in its relative infancy. However, other studies have reported similar, striking results, as shown in our Rhode Island Accident Lawyer Blog.

An easy, low-cost transportation option, e-scooter rentals can certainly be a useful tool to get around the city. However, as Providence personal injury lawyers we can’t stress enough how imperative it is that operators, especially novice users who are particularly prone to getting hurt, wear a safety helmet and take the time to familiarize themselves with the operation of the vehicle and its rules for use to prevent injury. Providence’s E-Scooter Share Program, as well as the individual rental company websites, provides information on proper use.

Should Rhode Island Require Bicyclists to Wear a Helmet?

November 14, 2019 | Tapalian Law

Having personally seen the crucial, life-saving consequences of wearing a helmet while riding a bike, Rhode Island Personal Injury Attorney David Tapalian cannot underestimate the importance of this simple, yet essential, safety measure. At Tapalian Law, we have a number of bike accident clients who wouldn’t be here today if not for the critical decision they made to put on a bike helmet. Wearing a helmet is the single, most effective way for a bike rider to reduce their risk of suffering a serious, and sometimes fatal, head injury in a bicycle accident.

A number of states, including Rhode Island, require mandatory helmets for particular age groups, but there are no statewide laws that require bicyclists of all ages to wear helmets. The National Transportation Safety Board wants to change that. The NTSB issued a recommendation this week “that all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, require that all persons wear a helmet while riding a bicycle.” The question remains- should RI require all bicyclists to wear a helmet?

What Do We Know About Helmet Safety?

Rise in Bicycle Accidents Feared Amidst Dismantling of Providence Bike Lane

October 23, 2019 | Tapalian Law

The City of Providence’s decision to remove a recently installed bike lane on Eaton Street has cyclists in Rhode Island up in arms. Providence’s first two-way bike lane, newly completed in early September of this year at a cost of over $63,000, will be dismantled amid concerns and complaints by local residents, for an additional cost of $64,000. Rhode Island bicyclists may have good reason to be upset. The majority of bike accidents occur in urban areas and as bicycle accident lawyers, we know one of the best ways to ensure safety for bicyclists is to have designated, safe cycling lanes. Clearly identified and designated bike lanes are essential to ensure safety for vulnerable cyclists and were included in the City’s “Great Streets Initiative” which proposed 60 mikes of bike lanes, including the new lane on Eaton Street.

When Bikes & Cars Collide

When a bicycle and motor vehicle collide, as expected it’s the person on the bike who bears the brunt of the impact and suffers serious injuries, which are sometimes fatal. Across the U.S., 783 cyclists were killed in traffic accidents in 2017. Despite what many Rhode Islanders feel is a step in the wrong direction with the removal of the Eaton Street bike lane, many cities including Providence are developing plans to make bicycle and pedestrian travel safer in urban areas. Bicycle traffic will increase with these safety initiatives while drivers of cars are more distracted than ever; this makes it more important than ever to have access to an experienced Providence bicycle accident attorney if you are injured. Municipalities across Rhode Island are encouraging more bicycle traffic and designated bike lanes are becoming clearly marked throughout the state making it apparent that bicycles are welcome. Cities and towns will need to do more to make bicycling safer for everyone throughout Rhode Island.

New Spinal Cord Injury Treatments in RI on the Horizon

October 8, 2019 | Tapalian Law

As a Rhode Island personal injury lawyer, Attorney David Tapalian is aware that a spinal cord injury is one of the most devastating types of injury one can encounter in a car accident. An acute injury to the spinal cord can leave a person without function, movement, or sensation in their body and primarily confined to a wheelchair. The leading causes of spinal cord injuries in Rhode Island are motor vehicle accidents and injuries due to trauma, such as a serious fall or sports-related injury. A spinal cord injury due to a car accident can affect multiple neurological systems throughout the body and partial paralysis of certain organs and limbs is not uncommon. The psychological impact due to such injuries can be equally devastating.

Typically, treatment options are few and far between. However, there is hope on the horizon in Rhode Island for spinal cord injuries as a local team researches novel possibilities. Injury Attorney Tapalian’s alma mater, Brown University, and the Carney Institute for Brain Science, have teamed up in an effort to find innovative treatments for significant spinal cord injuries.

What is a Spinal Cord Injury?

Slip & Fall Law in Rhode Island

September 17, 2019 | Tapalian Law

A recent change to the law in Rhode Island will make slip and fall cases easier for injured plaintiffs to recover. Prior to the passage of this 2019 law, insurance companies would use the argument of an “open and obvious” danger, as a total bar to the plaintiff’s recovery. With the new slip and fall law in Rhode Island, passed on July 15, 2019, this barrier to recovery on a slip and fall accident in Rhode Island, is forever removed. For instance, prior to this law a landlord that had an “open and obvious” defect due to its size or location, such as a violation of the state’s building code, may have been able to claim the person injured on their property was negligent due to the “open and obvious” nature of the danger. Many Rhode Island personal injury attorneys are in support of the new law, while others feel it will create issues such as compromising the court’s ability to resolve cases in a timely manner and generate pressure on landlords.

How Changes Will Affect the Rhode Island Slip & Fall Law

Prior to the enactment of the new law, insurance companies were able to keep plaintiff’s slip and fall cases away from the jury. Landlords and their insurance companies would be able to skirt any responsibility for your injury, if they could convince a judge that the danger was open and obvious. That is, defense counsel would file a motion to dismiss your case with an argument that plaintiff should have been aware of the danger, since it was an open and obvious defect. With the removal of this barrier to slip and fall cases in Rhode Island, more claims will now be able to proceed to a jury for their findings of defendant’s negligence.

Providence, RI Car Accident Settlement: $85,000

September 13, 2019 | Tapalian Law

Providence Car Accident Lawyer David Tapalian recently recovered $85,000 for a Tapalian Law client involved in a rear-end collision accident where the impact caused significant damage to the client’s GMC Sierra pickup truck. Our client, a local resident, was stopped in traffic on Allens Avenue in Providence, RI when he had the unfortunate luck to be struck from behind by another vehicle with substantial force enough to bend the metal rear bumper downwards.

The crash resulted in damage to both vehicles, as noted on the police report, and the victim consulted with Tapalian Law shortly after the accident. Despite the significant bumper damage, we knew immediately upon reviewing the pictures of the damaged truck, that the defendant’s insurance company would argue that the impact was not considerable enough to cause physical damage to the plaintiff, our client. If the insurance company can argue that an impact was not sizable, they then argue that there is no causation to our client’s injuries when it comes time to settle the car accident claim. However, we knew from the accident reconstruction experts that our personal injury firm in Rhode Island deals with, that this was a significant rear-end hit.

Although our client complained of pain at the scene of the crash, he did not want to be transported by rescue to receive medical assistance. As a car accident attorney in Providence, David Tapalian always urges clients to seek immediate medical care after an auto accident, regardless of how you feel at the time. As expected, the day following the vehicle crash our client was experiencing pain and visited an urgent care center with reports of pain in the lower back, radiating down the left leg, as well as tingling and shooting pain down his left arm. As recommended by the urgent care physician, our client tried a significant course of physical therapy. Even with the physical therapy, his symptoms remained. He then treated with a pain specialist with his chief complaint being lower back pain. Our client articulated that the pain occurred after the accident and his Rhode Island physician administered two sets of therapeutic and diagnostic right lumbar facet medial branch blocks. Our client then treated with a different modality of treatment, namely chiropractic care. Even upon discharge from all medical care, he had residual pain and his health was not returned to pre-accident status.

$205,000 Awarded in North Providence Car Accident Settlement

July 14, 2019 | Tapalian Law

Tapalian Law is pleased to announce a $205,000 award in a recent settlement for a North Providence, RI car accident client. Our client was awarded the compensation for injuries sustained in a rear-end collision that took place on Douglas Avenue. The settlement was proudly accomplished by our dedicated North Providence car accident lawyers. Attorney David Tapalian and his personal injury team worked diligently on the claim to pursue maximum monetary recovery for the injured man. For over 20 years, Tapalian Law has helped victims of car accidents in North Providence, and all over Rhode Island and Massachusetts, seek just compensation for their injuries and get back on the road to recovery.

The crash occurred when our client was stopped on Douglas Avenue facing northbound and his car was struck from behind by another vehicle, operated by the defendant. The resulting impact of the rear-end crash pushed our client’s car into the vehicle in front of him. Though this impact was forceful enough to cause significant personal injury, the insurance company argued otherwise.

You may be surprised to learn that some insurance companies use a computerized system to analyze photographs of the impact to vehicles. These insurance companies use the computerized data to place a monetary value on the injured person’s claim, comparing the vehicle damage to the clients resulting injuries. In this case, almost immediately the insurance company began their game of arguing that our client’s injuries could not be caused by the accident. Based on the relatively minor impact to his car, the insurance company claimed his injuries couldn’t be that serious. However, as an experienced North Providence car accident attorney David Tapalian knew differently and could see that liability was clear-cut in this case.