Seattle can do better when it comes to safe cycling

Seattle has been outed. For a city that prides itself on innovation, forward thinking, progressive ideas, and protective of the environment, it just doesn't measure up when it comes to bicycle safety. And yet the promotion and support of safe bicyling is exactly what progressive, forward thinking and environmentally concerned cities around the world are doing.  To learn more about the benefits of safe urban cycling, I encourage you to check out Rutgers University Professor John Pucher's op-ed piece in the Seattle Times. Professor Pucher explains how we used to be ahead of the pack when it came to promoting safe cycling.  But we've been surpassed by cities all over the globe. It's time we made this a priority in Seattle. Too many cyclists are injured here; many of the serious injuries are preventable if only we provided safe and separate bike lanes on our streets.   To learn more about innovative bicycle safety and the cycling boom around the world, I encourage you to take a look at Professor Pucher's PowerPoint presentation.

It pains me to see a family devastated by a cycling injury.  Anything we can do to promote cycling and to ensure that there are opportunities for safe transport is a step in the right direction. Seattlites and our elected leaders just need to make this a priority.

Seattle bike advocates make a difference

Three cheers to a few Seattle bike activists who took bicycle safety into their own hands.  They placed plastic pylons between their bike lane underneath I-5 and the road. The City of Seattle initially took them down, but after realizing how much safer the pylons make the route, they put them back in place.  Read all about it here.

Seattle bike advocates make a difference

Three cheers to a few Seattle bike activists who took bicycle safety into their own hands.  They placed plastic pylons between their bike lane underneath I-5 and the road. The City of Seattle initially took them down, but after realizing how much safer the pylons make the route, they put them back in place.  Read all about it here.

Fire hazard: Ford recalls vehicles with fuel tank leak

Recall of Defective Ford Fuel Delivery Module:

Ford has issued a recall of a defective fuel leak in its 2013 model cars. Ford has already received over 600 complaints of fuel leakage in these cars. The first complaints came in October of 2012. Ford has spent the next months testing, and have now issued this recall. The recall affects approximately 465,000 2013 Fords worldwide: 390,000 vehicles in the U.S. and nearly 77,000 vehicles in global markets. The recall affects the following Ford vehicles: Explorer, Taurus, Flex, Fusion, Interceptor Utility, Interceptor Sedan, and Lincoln MSK, MKT and MKZ. Ford advises that if you detect the smell of gas or notice a leak, contact your dealer immediately. I say that may be too late. One leak can catch a spark and ignite your entire vehicle. If you own one of these vehicles, better to take it in now.

A fuel leak on brand new cars?  Really? How does this happen?

It's sometimes hard to believe how something like a defective fuel leak can happen today.  You buy a brand new car, you expect it to be safely designed and safely manufactured.  But it's not. Why? How much time did Ford spend testing the failing part within the gas tank that is the cause of the leak versus how much time has Ford spent on marketing the sale of these vehicles. Marketing budgets usually dwarf the budget for testing the soundness of a particular, but crucial, part.

Fortunately, Ford reports no fires from its defective product, at least not yet. Let's hope there will be none.

The risk is high:

We deal with the unfortunate aftermath resulting from defects just like this one. It's often times a horrible scene. One minute you are driving down the road and the next your car is engulfed in flames. We hope that spreading the word about this defect will help to save folks from ever having to experience such an ordeal.

Plaintiffs Attorneys ---Our role before and after disaster strikes:

When law students and younger lawyers  ask me about being a plaintiffs' lawyer, I point to stories just like this Ford recall. I tell them that if reading this story give you a fire in the belly, if you relish the opportunity to go after a big corporation in hopes that they'll do a better job to avoid putting a defective product into the market, and if you welcome the opportunity to try a case against fierce resistance, then this might be the line of work for you. Conversely, I tell them that if you could be equally happy billing hours no matter the issue in dispute, working on cases that are a virtual certainty to never make it to a courtroom, then there are plenty of other types of litigation out there for you.

For plaintiffs' lawyers its much more than that. We represent persons who did nothing wrong. We seek to play our part in making products safer. One way we play our part is by filing a lawsuit when someone gets injured. Another way is to alert consumers about defective products that have yet to cause them harm.

Fire hazard: Ford recalls vehicles with fuel tank leak

Recall of Defective Ford Fuel Delivery Module:

Ford has issued a recall of a defective fuel leak in its 2013 model cars. Ford has already received over 600 complaints of fuel leakage in these cars. The first complaints came in October of 2012. Ford has spent the next months testing, and have now issued this recall. The recall affects approximately 465,000 2013 Fords worldwide: 390,000 vehicles in the U.S. and nearly 77,000 vehicles in global markets. The recall affects the following Ford vehicles: Explorer, Taurus, Flex, Fusion, Interceptor Utility, Interceptor Sedan, and Lincoln MSK, MKT and MKZ. Ford advises that if you detect the smell of gas or notice a leak, contact your dealer immediately. I say that may be too late. One leak can catch a spark and ignite your entire vehicle. If you own one of these vehicles, better to take it in now.

A fuel leak on brand new cars?  Really? How does this happen?

It's sometimes hard to believe how something like a defective fuel leak can happen today.  You buy a brand new car, you expect it to be safely designed and safely manufactured.  But it's not. Why? How much time did Ford spend testing the failing part within the gas tank that is the cause of the leak versus how much time has Ford spent on marketing the sale of these vehicles. Marketing budgets usually dwarf the budget for testing the soundness of a particular, but crucial, part.

Fortunately, Ford reports no fires from its defective product, at least not yet. Let's hope there will be none.

The risk is high:

We deal with the unfortunate aftermath resulting from defects just like this one. It's often times a horrible scene. One minute you are driving down the road and the next your car is engulfed in flames. We hope that spreading the word about this defect will help to save folks from ever having to experience such an ordeal.

Plaintiffs Attorneys ---Our role before and after disaster strikes:

When law students and younger lawyers  ask me about being a plaintiffs' lawyer, I point to stories just like this Ford recall. I tell them that if reading this story give you a fire in the belly, if you relish the opportunity to go after a big corporation in hopes that they'll do a better job to avoid putting a defective product into the market, and if you welcome the opportunity to try a case against fierce resistance, then this might be the line of work for you. Conversely, I tell them that if you could be equally happy billing hours no matter the issue in dispute, working on cases that are a virtual certainty to never make it to a courtroom, then there are plenty of other types of litigation out there for you.

For plaintiffs' lawyers its much more than that. We represent persons who did nothing wrong. We seek to play our part in making products safer. One way we play our part is by filing a lawsuit when someone gets injured. Another way is to alert consumers about defective products that have yet to cause them harm.