Billings Personal Injury Law Blog

With the Fourth of July holiday drawing near, chances are that freeways will be clogged again with weekend vacation traffic. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA) more than 40 million people will travel at least 50 miles to a destination, with a majority doing so by car.

If you are looking to take the entire week off in order to avoid holiday traffic, you may already have company. With the holiday being on a Tuesday, many people intend to make it a long holiday weekend by leaving on Friday. As such, the weekend poses a genuine threat to drivers given then large number of distracted drivers, drowsy drivers, and of course, drunk drivers on the road. In fact, the Fourth of July holiday is widely regarded as the dangerous holiday driving period; likely second to only New Year’s Eve.

It is important that truck accident victims in Montana and elsewhere understands the dynamics of a commercial truck accident and how the unique aspects these accidents apply during civil litigation. In order to address federal and state trucking regulations and potential third-party liability, victims of a commercial truck crash need to understand beyond the basics of what happened during the collision. While it is important to immediately initiate an investigation to collect evidence, it is also important to understand where to look and what to look for during the investigation.

In order to establish cause and liability, evidence from the scene and the vehicle involved is necessary. This might mean impounding the vehicles as a means to preserve evidence. It is also important to obtain witness statements. Additionally, Internet and social media searches of the truck driver and the trucking company should not be overlooked. Finally, the driving history of the truck driver, the black box from the commercial truck and the history of the trucking company's Department of Transportation audits should be investigated.

When patients enter a medial clinic or are admitted to the hospital for a procedure or treatment, they likely think that they will receive adequate and reliable care. While this is likely for most patients in Montana and other states, some patients are the victim of medical errors that compromise their health and well-being. When this happens, patients and their loved ones need to be aware of the protective measures and recourses available to those harmed by medical malpractice.

Medical professionals, such as surgeons, doctors, nurses and medical staff, are not immune from committing errors. While this is an unavoidable element in the medical field, the education and training of medical professionals seeks to reduce the occurrence of medical negligence. However, a symptom could be overlooked, there could be oversights in the diagnosis testing process or steps could be missed in a surgical procedure. Any of these medical errors could have catastrophic results, causing much harm to an unsuspecting patient.

Each and every day, residents in Montana and elsewhere visit medical professionals to help with an ailment or an injury. Whether it is a yearly checkup at a physician's office, for the treatment of an illness at a clinic or for medical treatment of a serious injury or ailment in an emergency room, the assistance of medical professionals is necessary. Patients rely on their training and expertise, and even if they are being seen and treated by a medical resident, patients trust the resident and their supervisors to deliver quality medical care.

The unfortunate truth that comes with being treated by a doctor is that they are human and can commit errors. This means that a patient could suffer from a simple or minor error, resulting in significant harm to the patient. And, now that the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education approved first-year residents to work 24-hour shifts from their once limited 16 hours, this could give rise to safety concerns.