The following blog entry is written to illustrate an example of an injury case. Reviewing this kind of lawsuit should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.
(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this boating accident lawsuit and its proceedings.)
INJURIES: Jasmine Birmingham suffered lacerations to her scalp, shoulder, hands and neck, a shoulder fracture, mandibular and molar fractures, and C3-4 transverse fractures at the vertebral foramen, the openings through which the spinal nerve root and spinal nerve sheath pass.
Facts:
At approximately 2 p.m. on Aug. 25, 2004 , claimant Jasmine Birmingham, 19, and her cousin, claimant Sandra Birmingham, 18, were riding in an inner tube being towed behind a rented motorboat when the towline became tangled in the boat’s steering mechanism, causing the boat to turn uncontrollably and strike the inner tube. The boat’s hull struck both of them, and Jasmine was struck by the boat’s propeller.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.
ABC, the owner of the rented boat, brought an action to limit or exonerate itself from liability for the accident. The Birminghams responded by filing a claim for damages, alleging that ABC was negligent in the rental of the motorboat. The Birminghams claimed that they informed the rental staff that they had never operated a motorboat before, yet they were given only a cursory 15-minute instruction on the operation of the boat.
The Birminghams also claimed that they were not instructed on how to deploy the inner tube’s towline, and that due to this lack of instruction, they improperly adjusted the towline during the ride, causing the line to damage the steering mechanism.
ABC contended that it provided proper instruction to the group, arguing that the accident was caused solely by the group’s negligence in failing to follow these instructions when they improperly adjusted the towline.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.