Seasons Greetings and Happy New Year!
The Responsibility of Landlords to Maintain Smoke or Carbon Monoxide Detectors
According to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control, more than 430 people die in the United States every year from unintentional, non-fire-related carbon monoxide poisoning. In addition, approximately 3,000 people die every year from home fires, with about 75% of those deaths resulting from smoke inhalation. Officials say that the installation of functioning smoke and carbon monoxide alarms could eliminate a significant number of those fatalities. If you are a homeowner, the … [Read more...]
The Responsibility of Railroad Owners to Prevent Accidents
When a train is involved in an accident, the outcome is often disastrous, whether it's a derailing, a collision with a vehicle at a crossing, or a collision with another train. What are the duties of railroad owners and operators to minimize the risk of accidents to passengers, railroad workers and motor vehicle operators? The Duty with Respect to Passengers Under traditional "common carrier" laws, the owners and operators of a train or railroad have a duty of "utmost" care to any passenger on … [Read more...]
The Downside of Lower Gas Prices – More Mayhem on the Roads
After flirting with four dollars a gallon (and exceeding that benchmark is some cities), gas prices have declined precipitously, and have remained at or below about two dollars a gallon for nearly 18 months. That's great news for everybody, right? With lower gas prices, people have more discretionary income to spend elsewhere. The economy seems to have benefited significantly as a result. More people are traveling, making new home purchases, buying other non-essential items. But there's a … [Read more...]
What is the New Jersey Approach to Comparative Negligence?
For centuries, the law has recognized the concept of contributory negligence—the idea that someone who causes or contributes to his own injury may be limited in his recovery for losses. For many years, though, any proof of contributory negligence could be a total ban from recovery of damages. Because of the perceived harshness of this approach, and because many defense attorneys were successful in arguing some miniscule amount of contributory negligence to a jury, most states have replaced the … [Read more...]
