Unfortunately new technology and ride designers push the safety envelope in an attempt to deliver what the consumer demands as the ultimate thrill ride. However, in the United States, there is no official source which keeps a complete national record of theme park accidents and in many U.S. states, including Florida, theme parks are not legally required to report accidents involving injury to anyone. In the case at hand, our client did not have medical insurance and the amusement park operator told him that he is responsible for his own medical treatment.

The amusement park accident and water park accident attorneys at Reiff and Bily believe that there should be stricter regulation concerning amusement water park safety and that operators of amusement and theme parks who put profits over safety should be held accountable for the injuries that occur at their theme parks. The experienced Philadelphia amusement park and water park accident attorneys of Reiff and Bily offer a free no obligation consultation have successfully represented thousands of personal injury clients with a successful track record since 1979 recovering hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. Let our aggressive legal team bring the wrongdoers to justice and achieve the best result for your family. For a free, no obligation consultation, please contact us at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

In Pennsylvania over 70% of all seriously injured dog bite victims are children. The Philadelphia dog bite attorneys at Reiff and Bily have a successful track record holding dog owners responsible for injuries caused by their dogs. We recently achieved a successful outcome for an 11-year old boy who was bitten in the face by a neighbor’s dog causing permanent scarring. Not so surprisingly, at the outset when the claim was presented, the insurance company stated that the dog owner was not responsible and that the case was being tagged as a no pay, no liability case. We were able to hold the dog owner liable under Pennsylvania law and prove that he was negligent and irresponsible in the handling of his dog which was the cause of the client’s injury and permanent scarring.

Many of the nation’s leading insurance carriers are reviewing and changing their approach to handling dog bite liability issues and now more than ever if you or a loved one has suffered injuries as a result of a dog bite, you need aggressive legal representation with an experienced dog bite lawyer.

Last year, there were approximately 17,000 dog bite claims in the United States which is a small percentage of the 4.5 million individuals who are bitten by dogs annually with more than 300,000 visits to U.S. hospital emergency rooms according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The highest rate of dog bite related injuries was among children ages 5 to 9. The Pennsylvania dog bite lawyers of Reiff and Bily offer a free consultation with a no recovery no fee guarantee. For more information please contact us at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

The first thing an experienced and particularly novice diver should do before each dive is check the dive gear, particularly when it is rental gear. Although diving accidents are extremely rare, a faulty regulator or BC rented from a cost cutting dive operator can lead to catastrophic injuries or a fatality. Of course, these are not issues that are frequently discussed. However, when I questioned a prominent dive guide last week why so many people died in the blue hole off of Dahab, Egypt, he answered a simple “bad equipment.” I was told stories of failing regulators and buoyancy compensation devices which failed to inflate when necessary, causing the diver to plunge precipitously to an underwater death. Never assume that all rental equipment is in good order. Test it yourself. Do not be afraid to ask the dive operator when the equipment was purchased and if it is in proper working order and when and if it was tested. Always search for the most reliable and responsible dive operator and I recommend not seeking the cheapest rental or operator in the locale.

If you or a loved one has been involved in a swimming pool accident, diving accident, or other water accident, please contact one of our experienced diving and water accident attorneys for a free no obligation consultation. Our record of success speaks for itself.

Surprisingly, fall down accidents while boarding aircraft or while in flight are not so uncommon and often result in catastrophic injuries. The experienced aviation accident and premise liability lawyers of Reiff and Bily have successfully represented individuals injured while getting on and off of planes, traversing through airports, and who have been injured during a flight. Many times injuries occur on the tarmac or in the airport lounge or on buses that transport an individual on or about airport property.

It is generally clear cut than an airline is responsible for accidents that occur on its own planes. However the accidents that occur in an airport terminal itself or on a tarmac or airport lounge require careful investigation. It is very important to contact an experienced airport premises liability and airport accident lawyer or aviation accident lawyer to make sure that the proper entity or person is sued for injuries.

The experienced Philadelphia aircraft accident lawyers of Reiff and Bily salute Ryanair’s attention and update of safety procedures after authorities concluded that the gap between the extendable hand rail and upper platform from the Boeing 737 stairs represents a “hazard to small children boarding or disembarking aircraft.” It is particularly important that airlines and airport personnel follow proper safety guidelines and make assistance available to passengers accompanied by children or those with special needs. It should also be noted that the FAA in the U.S. has investigated four similar incidents.

If you or a loved one has been involved in an aviation accident or airport accident, please feel free to contact one of our experienced Philadelphia aviation accident and airport premises liability lawyers at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com for a free evaluation of your claim. Our record of success speaks for itself.

The main cause of trailer claims seems to be a disconnection between the towing vehicle and the trailer. As an experienced Pennsylvania trailer accident and defective trailer attorney, I am well aware that many times rental dealers do not provide adequate training and safety information verbally and in writing for rental equipment. Many times, the equipment is rented and used for purposes other than the operation for which it was designed. It is important that all rental agencies inspect and service the rental equipment before renting to users and do not modify the equipment without the manufacturers consent. All rental equipment should include new equipment with the latest industry safeguards. Old, out of date equipment, even if it is in working order, should be replaced. Obviously it takes a lot of rental income to make up for one significant loss.

As experienced trailer accident and defective trailer attorneys, we have investigated claims where rental companies have rented trailers to individuals with vehicles that were not strong enough to pull their loads. In other situations the rental company failed to properly hook up a trailer to a tow vehicle (or to instruct the renter) causing the unsecured trailer to come loose during towing, then separate and strike innocent pedestrians or passersby. Such failures led to accidents resulting in catastrophic injuries and fatalities.

If you or a loved one has been involved in a defective or unsafe trailer accident, please contact one of our experienced defective trailer accident attorneys at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com. For more information concerning the study, please click on Rental Claims Study.

If you or a loved one has been involved or injured in an amusement park accident, please feel free to contact one of our experienced Philadelphia amusement park accident lawyers at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com for a free evaluation.

Another incident involved a friend of mine who fractured his hip as a result of a collision with another jet ski. To this day he has a permanent disability. Most jet ski injuries are caused by collisions with other boats, other jet skis, or other objects. Many times over summer weekends there is a good chance that many jet ski operators have had one too many alcoholic beverages to drink prior to operating these complex pieces of equipment. Rider error and over-confidence is the cause of most jet ski injuries and deaths. Unfortunately, most of these catastrophic watercraft accidents involve younger operators.

In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania if the maximum speed of a vessel is less 25 mph, the operator is not required to successfully complete a PA Fish and Boat Commission approved boating course. We have found that many businesses in New Jersey and Pennsylvania rent jet skis, Sea-Doos, WaveRunners, Tigersharks, and other personal watercraft to individuals who do not possess boating safety educational certificates and frankly are not aware of any of the safety regulations and potential for danger and harm concerning the operation of a personal watercraft. Simply stated, there are many accidents waiting to happen and at high speeds. These often preventable accidents many times result in catastrophic injuries and wrongful death.

If you or a loved one has been involved in personal watercraft, boating, or jet ski accident, please feel free to contact one of our experienced Pennsylvania jet ski and watercraft accident attorneys for a free no obligation consultation at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com. Of course, the best watercraft and boating accident attorneys always offer a free no obligation consultation.

The Virginia Graeme-Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act was passed as a federal child safety act designed to prevent the tragic and hidden hazard of drain entrapments and eviscerations in swimming pools and spas. Despite the fact that the law became effective on December 19, 2008, we have noticed that many swimming pools, hot tubs, public pools, and water parks are non-compliant. The law has had poor exposure to most pool operators.

A recent poll indicates that over 25% of respondents have no idea of what the Act is. 27% indicate that they are non-compliant. This raises additional concerns for the safety of children. Believe it or not many pool operators continue to place profitability over safety and claim that they cannot afford to repair a defective drain or pool. The cost of the repair for the new improved drains ranges from $30 for small drains to approximately $1,000 for large drains at theme parks or kiddie pools. There are many excellent resources available explaining the law and how to safeguard against injuries. These websites include www.safekids.org, www.nrpa.org, and www.youtube.com/poolsafety.

If you or a loved one has been involved in a swimming pool, water park, or hot tub accident, it is best that you contact an experienced swimming pool or water park accident attorney to investigate your rights. The best swimming pool accident attorney will always offer a free no obligation consultation. Please contact us at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

Vice President of The Coalition of Airline Pilots Association, Jeff Skiles, stated that the standards for pilots with regional carriers have been lax in the past decade. He stated that 15 years ago aspiring pilots needed thousands of flying hours and at least five or ten years in the airline business before piloting a commercial flight. Right now “they are hiring literally right out of flight college, where you might have 2 hours of flying time,” Skiles said. “And all you have ever flown is a small propeller airplane that maybe travels at 100 mph. You are hired under a regional affiliate and go through a training process and simulator and your very next flight is in a corporate jet flying at 500 mph at some 30,000 feet in a high density traffic environment that you have never been in before with 50, 70, or even 100 passengers in the back.”

According to an investigation by the NTSB, the pilots for Colgan Air Flight 3407 to Buffalo were undertrained and fatigued. The flight transcripts revealed were not paying attention to signs that the flight was in trouble and they reacted incorrectly when the emergency safety devices were activated. For the past 18 months, the families of Colgan Air Flight 3407 have worked to get Congress to enact higher standards for regional pilots.

Typically we expect that air travel represents one of the safer modes of transportation. However, when an aviation accident occurs, the resulting injuries can be catastrophic. Investigating aviation accidents is a complex process. Pilot error and mechanical difficulties are often common causes.

The law firm of Reiff and Bily maintains an established relationship with airline accident experts and we know how to properly investigate plane accident cases. We have over 31 years of experience in handling complex personal injury claims and understand federal aviation rules and regulations. If you or a loved one has been a victim of an aviation accident or an unsafe incident on an airline that has caused injuries, you may be entitled to compensation to offset your expenses and make you whole as well as compensatory damages for pain and suffering. The experienced aircraft accident lawyers at Reiff and Bily are familiar with the investigation and prosecution of airplane disaster claims. For a free no obligation consultation, please feel free to contact one of our attorneys at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

As an experienced Pennsylvania personal injury attorney with more than 30 years of experience handling boat accident and jet ski accident cases and after having my leg almost amputated in a jet ski accident, I am well aware of the normal dangers of operating watercraft even while in a non-intoxicated state. So far the number of personal injury accidents involving watercraft has increased substantially over last year. Jet skis make up only 3% of all watercraft but account for more than half of the accidents. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has planned a crackdown on under the influence boating violators. The operation of watercraft has its own inherent dangers, and when you add alcohol into the mix, the dangers are multiplied significantly. Most of the catastrophic boating and jet ski death accidents we have investigated have been directly related to DUI or operating a watercraft while under the influence of alcohol. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission commenced a program to “crack down” on DUI over the July 4th holiday weekend. A total of 62 people died in boating related accidents in Pennsylvania last year.

If you or a loved one has been involved in a boating, jet ski, or other watercraft accident, please feel free to contact one of our experienced Pennsylvania jet ski accident or boating accident lawyers for a free no obligation consultation at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

As an attorney who has investigated and prosecuted hay ride cases, I am surprised that there are no stringent regulations concerning who can operate farm vehicles. In this case, Dale Dobson, head of the Farm Safety Program for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture stated that Kentucky has no regulations concerning who can operate farm vehicles. “There are no laws and we don’t need any laws,” he stated.

Ron Melancon, a former medical emergency technician from Richmond, Virginia, has been a stalwart consumer advocate promoting stringent safety regulations to prevent injuries and deaths resulting from defective trailers. Ron regularly collects information regarding deaths and accidents involving trailers and farm vehicles and knows that people operating hay rides or trailers often don’t even know how to work the lights or connect the trailer properly. Ron states, “a lot of trailers out there are just in bad condition.” For more information go to Ron’s website at www.dangeroustrailers.org or visit our website www.reiffandbily.com and click on our dedicated subsections devoted to defective trailers and hay ride accidents.

Many trailers are homemade and do not require licenses to operate. Nobody is there to verify that it is safe. Unfortunately, many of the laws being used in 2010 are from the 1920's and 30's. Not so surprisingly, in excess of 400,000 people a year are injured in trailer accidents in the United States and many of these unfortunately involve children and unsuspecting patrons at Halloween hay rides. We recently concluded a case where a young man and his mother were run over by the wheels of a Halloween hay ride amusement ride.

If you or a loved one has been involved in a hay ride, amusement, or defective trailer accident, please contact one of our attorneys for a free no obligation consultation at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

As an experienced Pennsylvania swimming pool and hot tub accident lawyer, I recommend the use of gates, alarms, and extra supervision as well as following the guidelines set forth in the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s public safety campaign on pool and spa safety.

If you or a loved one would like more information on swimming pool safety or have been involved in a swimming pool, hot tub or water park accident, please contact one of our experienced lawyers for a no obligation consultation at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

Middletown Township police say the man was left in the van on the Woods Services campus for five hours after a trip to Sesame Place. A spokeswoman for Woods Services stated that a staff person has been suspended, but the investigation continues.

Our hearts and prayers go out to the family of Brian Nevins who was a vulnerable and defenseless victim.

If you or a loved one has been injured as the result of negligence in an assisted living facility or nursing home, please contact one of our experienced Philadelphia lawyers for a free consultation at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

Forty-four people were on the Space Journey amusement ride, which has a capacity for 48 at the time of the accident. The dome-like device offers a thrill of a rocket launch spinning 360 degrees while going up and down with a 24 meter wide screen providing space scenes. The simulated journey was coming to the end of a five minute routine when all went wrong in this newly designed thrill feature. The ride was designed to hold 48 thrill-seeking riders circularly on a simulator 4 to a row after which the simulator spins while taking riders up and down a height of 12 meters. An engineer thought that the accident was caused by “high acceleration due to gravity.” He explained that the dropping of the simulator can create an extremely high impact force of twice the weight of its five tons.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Pennsylvania amusement park accident or water park accident, please feel free to contact one of our experienced Pennsylvania amusement park accident lawyers for a free no obligation consultation at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

Unfortunately, one can suffer changes in vision and sometimes total blindness after a major surgical procedure. In particular, multilevel surgery on the lumbar spine is known to be associated with visual loss. Although the incidents of POVL ranges from 0.05% to 4.5% in surgical cases, the common cause of POVL is a decrease in blood and oxygen to the optic nerve, known as ischemic optic neuropathy. A duty to maintain adequate blood circulation oxygenation during surgery falls on the anesthesiologist. Blindness from poor anesthesia administration or technique is one of the top patient safety concerns among anesthesiologists but is often not routinely discussed with patients before surgery. Typically during a multi-level spinal surgery, the patient is placed face down and in this position, the patient’s abdomen is pushed in putting pressure on the diaphragm and lungs, causing decreased ventilation.

If you or a loved one have awakened from surgery with a visual deficiency or blindness, it is important to consult an experienced Pennsylvania malpractice attorney in order to fully investigate and protect your rights. It is important to investigate and obtain expert opinions from anesthesiologists or ophthalmologists in order to establish breach of standard of care, as well as causation. The defense will always try to argue that POVL is a rare, unpredictable, and unpreventable problem. Retaining an experienced medical malpractice attorney who has conducted a proper investigation both legally and medically would be a prudent step to take.

If you have sustained harm as a result of medical negligence, the experienced Pennsylvania medical malpractice lawyers at Reiff and Bily have been representing clients who have been injured by preventable medical errors for over 31 years with a successful track record. If you or a loved one is a victim of medical malpractice, please feel free to contact one of our experienced Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyers for a free, no obligation consultation at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.