The Trial Lawyer is the quarterly journal of the National Trial Lawyers (“NTL”) Top 100 Trial Lawyers. Its issue for Fall 2014 features two articles on motor vehicle accidents.
The first is “Fatalities from Truck Accidents are Rise, Yet Industry Wants Congress to Relax Safety Standards”. During 2009-2013, truck accident fatalities increased 17%, killing 3,964 people in 2013 alone, while automobile accident fatalities decreased 3%. But The Trial Lawyer reports that toward pursing profits, the trucking industry wants to : (1) decrease the minimum truck-driver age from 21 to 18; (2) allow longer and heavier trucks; (3) increase the maximum truck-driver work week hours from 70 to 82; and (4) eliminate the current required 2-day rest period for truck drivers. Id. at 21-22.
The second MVA article of The Trial Lawyer’s Fall 2015 issue is “FIXING THE BROKEN AND OUTDATED AUTOMOTIVE RECALL SYSTEM”. The pending “Motor Car Safety Act of 2015” legislation stands to be expansive recall reform. That initiative requires: (1) “all new vehicles to have a warning system to notify the driver about safety recalls”; (2) “authorized dealers to check for and repair defects pursuant to open safety recalls when vehicles are taken in for maintenance”; (3) “used car dealers to repair safety defects prior to selling the vehicles” and (4) “elimination of the 10-year limit on free auto defect repairs”. Id. at17-18.
The Trial Lawyer also marqueed an article on potential medical malpractice. It is “Hospital Infections are Killing 75,000 Americans Every Year”. Id. at 23.
Mr. Waterman is a charter member of NTL’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers in Virginia. His practice focuses on vehicle accidents, medical malpractice, and other cases of wrongful death, brain injury, and serious personal injuries.
