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This afternoon, the Army West Point football team will meet arch-rival Navy for the 119 th installment of the greatest rivalry in all of sports.  Although the Army-Navy game is always important, this one is particularly special to me because Army will be honoring the soldiers of the 1 st Infantry Division, better known as The Big Red One. The Big Red One has a long and storied combat history extending back to World War I, when it marched into battle under the command of General John “Blackjack” Pershing (West Point Class of 1886). In fact, the Army Team is honoring the 1 st ID as part of the effort to commemorate the 100 th anniversary of the end of that war. I had the honor and privilege of serving in The Big Red One during my deployment to Bosnia as part of the Division’s cavalry squadron, the 1st Squadron of the 4th US Cavalry. As the First Infantry Museum describes it: Organized on June 8, 1917, for duty on the Western Front in World War I, this first permanent division in the regular Army has seen action in all American wars since 1917, except the Korean, and has performed magnificently in all of its service. Often the first unit of the Army to deploy and engage the enemy, the division has been characterized by an ability to learn systematically from experience and to distill this learning into techniques and methods to improve battlefield performance. Central to this learning has been the training of soldiers and the development of competent leaders at all levels. In the process the “Big Red One” (so called for the red numeral that has adorned its shoulder patch since 1918) has also been characterized by a remarkable esprit that has remained with the veterans long after their active service has ended. https://www.fdmuseum.org/about-the-1st-infantry-division/history-of-the-first-division/ Apart from the remarkable history of The Big Red One, the uniforms to be worn by Army are excellent. https://www.againstallenemies.com/2018/12/2/18122996/army-black-knights-unveil-the-big-red-one-uniforms-ahead-of-army-navy-game As a proud graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and as an equally proud Veteran of The Big Red One, I hope you all get a chance to watch the game. Go Army!  Beat Navy! No Mission Too Difficult. No Sacrifice Too Great. Duty First! Image courtesy of Big Red One Football.

One of the main tasks that attorneys do on a daily basis is to give clients an update on where their case stands after a lawsuit has been filed. After filing a lawsuit and receiving an opposing party’s responsive pleading to the lawsuit, the parties will engage in the discovery phase of litigation. What is the discovery phase you may ask? Discovery is the process wherein each side attempts to gather and obtain more information regarding the facts surrounding the subject lawsuit. One way to gather this information is through “discovery requests.” These discovery requests often include three parts: (1) Interrogatories; (2) Requests for Production of Documents; and (3) Requests for Admission. Interrogatories are questions posed in a written document to the other party and are aimed at gathering information on certain topics that are relevant to the lawsuit at hand. Requests for Production of Documents are requests that require the other party to produce certain documents that your attorney believes may contain certain information that would be helpful or informative to the matter at hand. Lastly, Requests for Admission ask the other party to admit or deny certain facts. As you can tell, all of these three discovery mechanisms are aimed at gathering additional information surrounding the claims and defenses involved in the lawsuit. Another part of the discovery process which many find to be the most important mechanism to fact finding is the taking of depositions. A deposition is a legal proceeding wherein attorneys have the ability to question witnesses in regard to facts or circumstances surrounding the lawsuit that has been filed. During the deposition, the witness is under oath and a court reporter is there to transcribe everything that is said. Often times the deposition will be videoed as well. The purpose of the deposition is again to find out additional facts and information relating to the case so that the parties have all the pertinent information needed to evaluate the case and determine the next step in the process. Sometimes this next step will be to depose another individual with information whose name was brought up in discovery responses or a deposition. Other times, the taking of a deposition will lead to the necessity of serving more discovery requests directed towards specific topics or areas which the attorney believes needs to be further developed. In sum, there are many discovery mechanisms out there that can be used by your attorney to strengthen your case and progress your case to resolution – whether that be through settlement or trial. Therefore, when you hear from your attorney that your case is in the discovery phase – know that your attorney is working hard to move your case along and to obtain all the information necessary to successfully represent you. Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Whatever happened to sending out thank you cards after a bridal or baby shower, graduation, wedding, or just a special gift from someone?  Is this to old fashion for the younger generation? In the past few years, I’ve sent out cards with a check in it or a gift for these events and never received a thank you by the way of a thank you card, e-mail, phone call or text just to let me know that the card or gift was received. But man, oh man they cashed that check in no time flat, and that’s how I knew they did receive my card in the mail. The gifts I’ve sent I have no way of knowing it they every received them or not. Maybe the parents didn’t know their child received a card from someone for their graduation, I get that one, that’s on the child, but for all other events people who receive gifts from a bridal or baby shower or a wedding should know that they need to send out a thank you card. I’m just surprised by how many people these days don’t do this. Growing up my Mum taught all her children that sending a thank you card was the proper thing to do and if you didn’t do it in a timely manner, boy was there heck to pay from Mum. God help you if your dad became involved. I’m not perfect and I’m sure I’ve missed a person or two over my life time with a thank you card, but I’ve always tried to remember to say thank you. Maybe sending a thank you card is out dated, just saying thank you to a person lets them know you received their gift  and you appreciated it and that can make all the difference in the world. Rock on People, Rock on Please spayed and neuter you pets. Please remember dog fighting is not a sport it is abuse and needs to be reported to the local authorities.

If you were to go to your “important papers” file at home and pick up a copy of your auto insurance policy, chances are that you will see all sorts of coverages and endorsements that could not be more confusing if they were written in ancient Greek. Folks may have a very basic understanding of phrases like “underinsured motorist”, “bodily injury liability”, or “personal effects”, but if they are asked how those terms apply to the insurance coverage available to them, most people are in the dark. The purpose of this article is to provide a basic understanding of “medical payments” coverage, and to caution the reader about handling claims under that coverage. Medical payments coverage, or “med pay” as it is known in the industry, is coverage that will reimburse the insured party for medical, hospital, and similar expenses incurred as a result of an injury sustained while riding in a car covered by the policy. The coverage is optional and can range from as low as $500 to as much as $50,000 or more. In general, it doesn’t matter how the accident that caused the injuries happened, or who was at fault. If I am driving home in my car while eating a sandwich and talking on my cell phone and I end up running off the road and into a tree, the expenses I incur for treatment of my injuries are going to be reimbursable under my med pay coverage. All I have to do is send a copy of the bill to my insurance carrier, and they should send me a check. Sounds pretty simple, right?  In most cases, it is. However, there are some common pitfalls that most folks aren’t aware of. I’ll talk about one of those pitfalls in this article, and another in a subsequent submission. First, you need to keep in mind that if you are paid med pay benefits because of an accident that was caused by someone else’s negligence, the insurance company has a right of subrogation. Subrogation means that if you recover damages from the party who caused the accident, you are obligated to reimburse your insurance company the money that they paid you under the med pay coverage. Here is an example. Joe Blow runs a red light and plows into your car, resulting in you being taken to the emergency room. You incur a $5,000 bill, so you collect $5,000 in med pay benefits from your own insurance company. You then file a claim against Joe Blow and reach a settlement with his insurance company. At that point, you are obligated to repay your insurance company the $5,000 they paid you under the med pay coverage. In essence, and subject to one or two exceptions, the insurance carrier gets its money back. In nearly 40 years of practicing law, I have yet to have a case where a client was not surprised by the fact that after collecting benefits for which he has paid a premium for years, the insurance carrier is entitled to be repaid. There is sometimes a way to minimize what you have to repay your insurance carrier under these circumstances. In WV, an auto insurer is required to bear its fair share of the expenses you incurred in order to make your recovery against the guy who caused the accident. Generally, those expenses will be attorney fees, which most often amount to a percentage of the overall recovery. Thus, if you paid your attorney 1/3 of the amount you recovered in settlement from the guy who caused the wreck, you can reduce the amount you are required to repay your auto insurer by 1/3 as well. At Bordas & Bordas, we don’t charge our clients a fee against money they recover under med pay coverage, so our clients benefit by collecting 100% of the benefits they are entitled to receive, and only paying back 2/3 of what they collected in the end. That benefit can amount to an extra $5000 or more in our client’s pocket in the end. Watch our blog for a second article about med pay benefits coming soon. Until then, feel free to contact any of our attorneys if you have questions about your medical benefits coverage.

A Standard Flood Insurance Policy under the National Flood Insurance Program (“NFIP”) pays only for the physical damage to your insured property that is “directly” caused by a flood. The amount of payment is determined by either the replacement cost or actual cash value of the damaged property, up to the policy limit. The NFIP offers two types of coverage for homeowners: building property coverage up to $250,000 and contents coverage up to $100,000. Replacement cost is the cost to repair or replace that part of a building that is damaged without regard to depreciation. Actual cash value is the replacement cost value, less depreciation for physical wear and tear. In order to qualify for replacement cost, your home must be a single family dwelling; your home must be your principle residence at the time of loss, meaning you live there 80 percent of the year; and your amount of flood insurance for building coverage must be at least 80 percent of the full replacement cost of your home, or be the maximum amount of insurance available for the property under the NFIP. Personal property is always adjusted at the actual cash value. The following items are covered under a standard building property policy: the insured building and its foundation; the electrical and plumbing systems; central air conditioning equipment, furnaces, and water heaters; debris removal; refrigerators (unless located in a basement), cooking stoves, and built-in appliances; permanently installed flooring (including carpet), paneling, wallboard, bookcases, and cabinets; window blinds; and detached garages (up to 10 percent of building property coverage). All other detached buildings require a separate policy. Personal property coverage protects personal belongings such as clothing, furniture, electronic equipment, curtains, portable air conditioners, portable microwave ovens, portable dishwashers, washers, dryers, food freezers (and the food in them), and certain valuable items such as original artwork and furs (up to $2,500). Neither type of policy covers precious metals, currency or valuable papers such as stock certificates. There is also no coverage for outside belongings such as trees, plants, wells, septic systems, walks, decks, patios, fences, hot tubs, and swimming pools. Likewise, there is no coverage for living expenses such as temporary housing or financial losses caused by business interruption or loss of use of insured property. Unfortunately, there are number of exclusions to consider as well. For example, there is an exclusion for “loss caused directly by earth movement even if the earth movement is caused by flood.” Similarly, damages caused by a sewer backup is only covered if the backup was a direct result of flooding. Many items located in a basement, including bookcases, window treatments, carpet, TVs, and audio systems are not covered. Perhaps, most importantly, damage caused by moisture, mildew, or mold that could have been avoided by the property owner is excluded from coverage. Therefore, a property owner must take prompt action to mitigate damages following a flood. Keep in mind if you feel you have not been treated fairly by your insurer following a flood, you have only one year from the date a notice of disallowance or partial disallowance of your claim was mailed to you to file a lawsuit in federal court. Caution should be taken even if you are having ongoing discussions with your insurer as this time limitation is likely to be strictly enforced by the courts. Accordingly, you should contact counsel promptly after receiving a notice of disallowance that you believe is unfair.

Recently, I have become very humbled by a couple acts of kindness that I witnessed first-hand. It was a nice reminder that kindness, even among strangers, does still exist. The day before Thanksgiving I was a part of the “Rocking the Kettle” at the Mt. DeChantal Kroger for the Salvation Army. It was humbling to see how many people made it a point to give. Some even shared a quick story or two, and one particular gentleman told me how the Salvation Army provided for him and his family when he was growing up countless times and now that he is able to give back, he makes it a top priority. Acts of giving passed through in those few hours countless times… from the elderly to the very young, all walks of life. I had a very nice surprise when a very young boy and his father brought us out a hot coffee to warm us up for volunteering our time to help out. Nothing more humbling than a warm coffee and a hug from a very young kid as an act of kindness. A few days later, a gentleman paid for my order at a local drive thru. When I reached the window to pay, the employee told me the man in front of me had paid for me. On a day when I was rushing, not in the best mood and my commute to work was not going so good, it was just what I needed to turn my mood around and be reminded that the littlest acts of kindness go a very long way. You can believe I will pay it forward and I hope those of you reading this will have your faith in kindness restored and pay it forward too!

According to the World Health Organization (“WHO”) the basic act of breathing is killing 7 million people a year and harming billions more. Calling air-pollution the “new tobacco”, the WHO is sounding the alarm bell for over 90% of the world’s population who suffers the harmful effects of breathing toxic air. Rich, poor, young, old, the toxicity of our biosphere cares not, and virtually no one can escape air pollution in this day and age, creating a needless epidemic of preventable deaths and disability. Study after study is showing further harms from toxic air, including a “ huge reduction” in intelligence, millions of diabetes cases and the first direct evidence of pollution particles in mothers’ placentas. With smoking on the decline globally, air pollution now causes more deaths annually than tobacco according to the WHO. And the cost of the lost lives and ill health is a gargantuan economic burden, calculated to be an eye-popping $5 trillion (with a “T”) dollars a year, according to a World Bank report. The most vulnerable segment of our population is children, who are at the greatest risk of air pollution’s harmful effects, which include respiratory diseases, heart attacks, cancer and brain damage. The source of these harmful diseases stems largely from the very small particulates put into the air through various industrial processes, including transportation and energy production. These micro-pollutants can penetrate the body’s lungs and enter the body’s circulatory system where these particles can be transported and deposited throughout the body and cause all sorts of harm. Unfortunately, some of the most harmful sized particulates are also the smallest and can evade the body’s natural defense mechanisms. Although, globally-speaking, the U.S. fairs relatively better than many other countries, locally, we Ohio Valley residents face some of the greatest risks of any Americans from air pollution, due in large part to the heavy concentration of coal-burning power plants that line the Ohio River Valley, along with the added burden of benzene, a potent carcinogen, from natural gas drilling being injected into our air at levels well-above those considered safe. It is beyond unacceptable for West Virginians to be forced to pay the price for energy operations where the vast majority of the economic benefits are enjoyed by out-of-state, multibillion-dollar corporations while the real costs of such operations are foisted upon the public at-large. But unfortunately, there appears to be no legislative momentum to responsibly regulate the practices that pollute the air and cause such needless suffering amongst populations of all stripes. Here’s hoping that our elected officials soon recognize the danger and act to protect those they were elected to serve. Until then, if you believe you have contracted leukemia, cancer, or some other illness from polluted air, you should contact an experienced attorney right away to explore the matter further. Image courtesy of Unsplash.

As the colder weather starts kicking in so does my excitement for the season…SOUP SEASON!! When I was a child, soup consisted of chicken noodle and tomato. That was it, just those two soups. Now that I am an adult, I have ventured wayyyy out of my element by adding so many vegetables, beans, pasta and meats to my base; the options are endless! Not to mention chili! Turkey chili, white chili and sausage chili. These scrumptious meals-in-a-bowl coupled with buttered crusty bread are more than just dinner or lunch. They are comfort foods to warm us up on a cold day. They are good for our health when you add veggies. You can basically feed an entire family a healthy satisfying meal with minimal cost. So grab your slow cookers and recipes, the season is upon us! Image courtesy of Unsplash.

Every time I am writing my monthly blog there seems to be some holiday or special event that has some importance or memory in my life that I write about. So with it being November, and recently Thanksgiving, it might be natural for me to talk about my memories of Thanksgiving parades, the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special, or eating turkey until I passed out on the couch from all the amino acid tryptophan. However, what I have decided to write about is my ex father-in-law, Ed Wagner, who passed away this past Friday. At first glance Ed was, like many people, not an extraordinary man in any way to the general public. His likes and interests were not extra ordinary. He loved sports, reading the newspaper and scratch off lottery. He was not the president of any business or country, he was not a financially wealthy man, and he never was in a newspaper for some heroic event. Nevertheless, he was an extra ordinary man. If one was to learn about who he was to his family and loved ones, he might appear to be an extra ordinary man. He was a loving husband for 53 years. This in itself makes him extra ordinary person to many people. In today’s world where the divorce rate is between 40 to 50%. To remain happily married for over 50 years is extra ordinary. To be committed to work through the ups and downs of a marriage and remain happily married to his death, made him and his wife, Pat, extra ordinary people. After both of his daughters divorced, he continued to have positive and friendly relationships with his ex son-in-laws. Many father-in-laws may never get along with their son/daughter in laws, even when the same remain married to their child. To still have the ability to keep a positive relationship with the ex in laws after a divorce is extraordinary. He taught his grandchildren how to ride a bike, swim, play games or some other childhood activity with full vigor and love. The tears that flowed at his funeral was evidence he was an extraordinary man to his family and loved ones. What makes me understand in my eyes that he was an extraordinary man was an event with one of my sons. I was up late, around midnight, and getting ready for Thanksgiving, when I heard one of my boys, Aaden, in his bed. I walked in to see what was going on; I realized he was crying. I thought he was not feeling well and asked him what was wrong. Aaden, who is 9, turned to me, with tears in his eyes and said “I miss Pap Pap.” At that point, I realized that Ed Wagner, who may never have been a president of any business or country, was not a financially wealthy man, never was in a newspaper for some heroic event, was an extraordinary man. Image courtesy of Unsplash.

Recently, in the case of Swanger v. Warrior Run School District, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania addressed the duty of school officials to warn third parties of potential harm. Plaintiff Bobbie Jo Swanger was a mentally challenged student in Warrior Run School District's special education and life skills program. Defendant Duane Mattison was also a student in the special education and life skills program, and under the legal and physical custody of the Tioga County, Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. Prior to being placed at Warrior Run, Defendant Mattison had a history of inappropriate sexual behavior. During his time as a student at Warrior Run, Mattison was alleged to have made an inappropriate sexual advance against another student. The allegations were unfounded, however, because Mattison was found to have had sexual contact with a chicken at his foster home, he was removed from Warrior Run, and placed in an alternative education program (“DTA”) to complete the 11th grade. Warrior Run was not notified of the specific events giving rise to his removal from school since they did not involve school students or personnel. After successfully completing the 11th grade at DTA without incident, Mattison was permitted to return to Warrior Run. Warrior Run was not provided any records from DTA. Prior to the events leading to the subject claim, and while Mattison was a student at Warrior Run, he was again admonished for allegedly making a comment about touching a girl’s breasts, but he was not disciplined. Instead, Warrior Run noted that teachers were keeping a “watchful eye” on Mattison. Soon thereafter, Mattison, after allegedly securing Bobbie Jo’s consent, touched her private areas during class while the teacher was assisting other students. Another student observed and reported the incident and Mattison was removed from Warrior Run that day. After completing its investigation, Warrior Run determined that it would not proceed with disciplinary action since Mattison was to return to DTA. The District Court dismissed plaintiffs’ Title IX claim for sexual discrimination because she could not establish that Warrior Run was "deliberately indifferent to sexual harassment, of which they have actual knowledge, that is so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it can be said to deprive the victims of access to the educational opportunities or benefits provided by the school." Davis Next Friend LaShona D. v. Monroe Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 526 U.S. 629, 650, 119 S.Ct. 1661, 143 L.Ed.2d 839 (1999). Moreover, the Court found that Warrior Run School District's response to the likelihood of peer harassment was not "clearly unreasonable.” In other words, the plaintiffs could not show that Warrior Run’s actions in keeping a “watchful eye” on Mattison were unreasonable. The Court held that for Plaintiffs to succeed on their Title IX claim and establish that the school was deliberately indifferent, there would have to be evidence in the record to demonstrate that a school official either knew that Mattison was a substantial danger to the other female students or knew that Mattison was sexual harassing Bobbie Jo or other students at Warrior Run, and took insufficient, or no, measures to attempt to remedy the situation. Plaintiffs also filed a claim under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which provides: No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States . . . shall, solely by reason of his or her disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. . .29 U.S.C. § 794(a). To establish a violation of Section 504, a plaintiff must show that "(1) he is `disabled' as defined by the Act; (2) he is `otherwise qualified' to participate in school activities; (3) the school or the board of education receives federal financial assistance; and (4) he was excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subject to discrimination at, the school." Andrew M. v. Delaware Cnty. Office of Mental Health & Mental Retardation, 490 F.3d 337, 350 (3d Cir. 2007) Here, Plaintiffs asserted that Warrior Run knew was a sitting duck for this sexual predator who was repeatedly acting out in the classroom setting and, that her disability of mental retardation rendered her most vulnerable to his predations. However, the Court determined that plaintiffs failed to point to any causal relationship between Bobbie Jo's disability and Mattison's misconduct towards her or shown that her disability affected the decisions of Warrior Run. More specifically, the Court found no record evidence that the Warrior Tun discriminated against female students in special education classes in any way, nor is there evidence that Warrior Run took any actions based on the special education students' disabilities that rendered them more vulnerable to Mattison's potential sexual misconduct. In sum, there was no evidence to suggest that Bobbie Jo was treated differently than any other student, disabled or not. Plaintiffs also brought a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, wherein the plaintiff must demonstrate a violation of a right protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, committed by a person acting under color of state law. Nicini v. Morra, 212 F.3d 798, 806 (3d Cir. 2000) (en banc). To meet the requirements of a state-created danger claim, a plaintiff must show (1) the harm ultimately caused was foreseeable and fairly direct; (2) a state actor acted with a degree of culpability that shocks the conscience; (3) a relationship between the state and the plaintiff existed such that the plaintiff was a foreseeable victim of the defendant's acts, or a member of a discrete class of persons subjected to the potential harm brought about by the state's actions, as opposed to a member of the public in general; and (4) a state actor affirmatively used his or her authority in a way that created a danger to the citizen or that rendered the citizen more vulnerable to danger than had the state not acted at all. Bright v. Westmoreland Cty., 443 F.3d 276, 281 (3d Cir. 2006) The Court determined that the Plaintiffs failed to establish that Warrior Run’s teachers and administrators were deliberately indifferent to Bobbie Jo's needs by "consciously disregard a substantial risk of serious harm" posed by Mattison. Kaucher v. Cty. of Bucks, 455 F.3d 418, 427 (3d Cir. 2006) The Court reasoned that only one school official who arguably had any knowledge of Mattison's "propensity" for sexual misconduct did in fact take some action to remedy and address every specific situation each time he was made aware of an issue with Mattison. Furthermore, it is undisputed that this school official did not know of any inappropriate sexual contact between Mattison and any student at Warrior Run prior to the Bobbie Jo’s incident. Therefore, the Court held that none of the individual school defendants' conduct, in light of the circumstances known to them, could be reasonably found to be conscience shocking, nor do their affirmative actions, if any, bear a direct causal relationship to foreseeable and fairly direct harm suffered by Bobbie Jo, such that she was rendered more vulnerable to danger than had the Defendants not acted at all. Finally, the Plaintiffs filed a breach of fiduciary duty claim alleging that the defendants owed Bobbie Jo a duty to use reasonable care in carrying out their duties" and that they willfully failed to provide her with an environment that is reasonably safe from the intentional harmful acts of other students. Defendants contend that they are immune from suit with respect to this claim under the Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act, 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 8541 et seq. ("PSTCA"). Pursuant to the Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act, 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 8541 et seq. ("PSTCA"), a local agency cannot be held "liable for any damages on account of any injury to a person or property caused by any act of the local agency or an employee thereof or any other person." 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 8541. The Act provides for eight exceptions to this rule: (1) vehicle liability; (2) care, custody or control of personal property; (3) real property; (4) trees, traffic controls and street lighting; (5) utility services facilities; (6) streets; (7) sidewalks; and (8) care, custody or control of animals. 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 8542(b) The Court found that none of the eight exceptions to the PSTCA applied, therefore, in order to proceed, the Plaintiffs must have presented evidence to create a material factual dispute as to whether the individual school defendants' conduct could amount to actual malice or willful misconduct. On that issue, the Court determined that there was insufficient evidence upon which a reasonable jury could find actual malice or willful misconduct on the part of any of the defendants. Image courtesy of Pixabay.

You have seen it before, sometimes a closer call than others: A tractor-trailer combination that had been stopped on highway shoulder attempts to pull back onto the highway from a stopped position or slow rate of speed. To complicate matters, sometimes these dangerous driving maneuvers are at nighttime when it is almost impossible to see, never mind react to such a dangerous driving action. Visibility of tractor-trailers merging from a highway shoulder, to the travel portion of a busy highway at nighttime is a huge national problem.  All large commercial motor vehicles are required to have red and white reflective tape and/or conspicuity sheeting to make them visible to oncoming traffic. All too often that tape becomes dirty and/or worn, making it less effective and in certain circumstances, not effective at all. Moreover, it loses effectiveness when viewed at an angle, such as when a truck is merging from the roadway’s shoulder and back onto the travel portion of the roadway. The million-dollar question is at what distance an operator of a motor vehicle recognizes such a hazard on a dark road and the time react to same. In most nighttime circumstances it is nearly impossible for a motorist traveling at the posted speed limit to perceive, react and avoid a poorly illuminated tractor-trailer combination that is merging slowly from a shoulder back onto the travel portion of the roadway. Many times, a driver is unable to avoid a tragic crash caused by the much larger merging commercial motor vehicle. With any vehicle that stops on a highway shoulder, it must eventually merge back onto the highway. It goes without saying that for commercial motor vehicles, because of their great size and weight, this is very dangerous situation. Close your eyes and think about how much time it would take a fully loaded tractor-trailer to accelerate and get up to highway speed, in comparison to your personal car! That is why truck drivers are typically trained not to use the shoulder unless it is a necessity. Is there a safe way for tractor trailer to merge back onto a busy highway? Is there a safe way for a tractor trailer to merge back onto a busy highway at nighttime? Some experts suggest that once a truck is ready to move from the shoulder back into the flow of traffic, a driver should deactivate his emergency hazard flashers, activate his left turn signal and begin to accelerate his truck up to highway speed while still completely positioned on the shoulder. Specifically, a truck driver should reach a speed close to that of traffic and watch for a safe space to merge back onto the travel lanes. A truck driver must always ensure that he can safely merge without causing an accident. Activating the left turn signal notifies approaching motorists on the travel portion of the roadway that the commercial vehicle has gone from a stopped condition, to a mobile condition and intends to merge back into traffic. The left turn signal should not be activated until the truck is ready to move — while the truck is immobile the emergency lights should always be on. What else can a truck driver do to be safe in these situations? We always look to the Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Manual in the state in which the truck collision occurs, the state in which the truck driver is licensed and the state in which the company is based. CDL manuals instruct drivers on many useful topics to complete this driving maneuver as safely as possible: A driver needs to be aware of what is always going on around his vehicle, specifically, not keeping a proper lookout is a major cause of accidents; A driver needs to be aware of what is always going on down the sides of and the rear of his vehicle. A driver needs to understand what is happening behind and to the sides of his vehicle, and to regularly check his mirrors, and more often in special situations; A driver needs to check their mirror adjustment prior to the start of any trip and that can only be performed accurately when the trailer is straight. Doing this provides the driver with a reference point for judging the position of others using the roadway; A driver needs to constantly check their mirrors for vehicles on either side and/or behind their vehicle. In an emergency, a truck driver needs to understand whether he can make a quick lane change. A truck driver needs to also use their mirrors to spot overtaking vehicles, to know where other vehicles are in relation to the vehicle and to see if another vehicle may have moved into your blind spot; There are special situations that require a truck driver to check his mirrors more often, specifically lane changes, turns, merges, and tight maneuvers; Lane changes require a truck driver to check their mirrors to make sure no one is alongside their vehicle and/or about to pass; To check mirrors before changing lanes to make sure there is enough room to do so safely and without incident; To check mirrors again after signaling a lane change to ensure no vehicle have moved into a blind spot; To check mirrors right after they begin the lane change to double-check the path is clear; To check their mirrors right after they complete the lane change; To use mirrors whenever merging to ensure the gap in traffic is large enough to enter another lane safely; and To signal driving intentions so that other drivers can know what driving actions the much larger commercial vehicle will make. Commercial motor vehicle operators learn these basic principles when obtaining their commercial driver’s licenses. They are typically retrained in these principles by their employers and they must utilize them whenever operating a commercial motor vehicle. As you can image, an 80,000-pound tractor trailer does not take off with great speed from a standing/stopped position when entering the highway. Thus, a professional truck driver must utilize the principles they learned in obtaining their CDL and allow plenty of time and space to enter traffic lanes from the highway shoulder. Bordas & Bordas has handled many commercial trucking accidents where truck drivers decided to pull into a traffic lane when it was not safe to do so. Please call us to discuss if you or a loved one has been affected and/or harmed in such a circumstance. Image courtesy of Pixabay.

It is so easy sometimes to talk about negative things, challenges, and hardships in our lives that we forget to count our blessings. Most of us have many blessings each day that we simply take for granted. Some of these include waking up, having a bed, having water, having something to eat, having clean clothes, having a toothbrush, and having somewhere to live. I have not yet even mentioned things like having a family, a car, or a job. And these are just our things! Many of us also have people to love and people who love us. We have parents, children, spouses, siblings, cousins, and friends. And most of all, we have God. How many times do we just stop and thank God for being there for us? So, the next time you are having a bad week, a bad day, or even just a bad moment, take a few minutes and grab a piece of paper. Start writing down your blessings. You just might be surprised at how they outnumber the challenges in your life. It will almost surely make you feel like things aren’t quite as bad as you thought they were. Sometimes we need to literally count our blessings and then, give thanks!