–If you have steps leading up to your house, make sure they are free of debris and the handrails are secure.

–Make sure your pathway is also free of hazards that could snag a costume and cause a child to trip/fall.  Most costumes limit mobility and decrease visibility.

–Scaring people in the dark is fun, but make sure there is enough light for people to safely maneuver in this unfamiliar territory.

–Another common sense precaution is to not overload outlets or extension cords while perfecting your haunted house magic. The same concern goes for anything involving fire. Jack O’ Lantern’s seem so harmless but…….

–Fido might be calm, submissive on every other 364 days of the year, but pint-size goblins might turn cuddly Fido into biting Fido.  Beware!

–On Halloween, pedestrians flood the streets.  They could be adults or children, but one thing is for sure:  they think they run the streets on this unholy night and, more importantly, there are many kids that are too hopped up on sugar to remember to look both ways.  If you plan on driving, be a defensive driver and take extra precaution around pedestrians.

–Another pedestrian risk:  Zombie walks are becoming more popular each year.  These are unofficial parades of the undead that traipse around town dripping blood and moaning for brains.  They too will impose driving obstacles.  Word to the wise:  this isn’t Zombieland, so hitting them with your car will not save your life.

–Also, if you plan on driving in your costume make sure you can safely maneuver your vehicle through your Barack Obama mask or those ridiculously long fake eyelashes or your platform heels.

The above precautions are just some of the examples of what could go wrong during this year’s All Hollow’s Eve.  Not everyone’s Halloween is a happy one.  Several years ago, a neighborhood resident decorated his lawn for Halloween.  As part of the decorations, the neighbor scattered the lawn with tombstones describing, in not so nice terms, the downfall of the other neighbors.  These bitter neighbors sued over Halloween decorations!  One man’s joke is another man’s defamation lawsuit.  Still, there are other people our there that want to avoid lawsuits at all costs. Take a look at this trick-or-treat waiver created by the Center for Consumer Freedom (ConsumerFreedom.com):

Halloween Trick-Or-Treat Liability and Indemnification

Agreement

_____________________ (hereinafter referred to as “Trick-Or-Treater”) agrees not to sue, harass, or
trick ____________________ (hereinafter referred to as “Benefactor”) for providing free, delicious
Halloween treats.
Trick-Or-Treater acknowledges and understands that no warranty, either expressed or implied, is
made by Benefactor as to the nutritional content of the goody. This document is offered in order to
duly warn Trick-Or-Treater that unforeseeable risks of harm may lurk in the Tootsie Rolls, Pop Rocks,
Blow Pops, Baby Ruths, chewing gum, Butterfingers, caramel apples, and any or all other
comestibles that may be offered.
Trick-Or-Treater is hereby informed that Benefactor’s snacks may contain any or all of the following:
calories, carbohydrates, sodium (salt), fat, peanuts, sugar, and marshmallow goo.
Trick-Or-Treater acknowledges that overeating may incur risks including, but not limited to, ruining
dinner, tummy aches, nougat stuck in teeth, sticky fingers, and chocolate-stained clothes.
Trick-Or-Treater hereby holds harmless Benefactor from all liability for personal injury suffered by
Trick-Or-Treater — which may be caused, in whole or in part, by any element or agent of Benefactor’s
candies. Trick-Or-Treater agrees that neither he/she, nor his/her parents, little league coaches, or
piano teachers will sue Benefactor or his/her agents for any injury that Trick-Or-Treater suffers, in
whole or in part, from consuming edibles collected from Benefactor’s premises. This indemnification
includes an agreement not to haul Benefactor into court on the basis of:
1) Failure to warn of potential for overeating because candy tastes too good and is provided at no
cost;
2) Failure to provide nutritional information or adequate educational information on exercise options;
3) Failure to state that candy corn is not really corn;
4) Failure to warn the lactose intolerant away from milk duds;
5) Failure to offer “healthier alternatives,” “organic alternatives,” or “lame treats no kid wants”; and
6) Failure to provide information about other venues offering alternative, “healthier” Halloween
goodies.
TRICK-OR-TREATER INDEMNIFIES AND RELEASES BENEFACTOR FROM ALL LIABILITY. TRICK-OR-
TREATER HAS READ THIS DOCUMENT AND UNDERSTANDS IT. HE/SHE IS SIGNING IT FREELY AND
VOLUNTARILY AND WITHOUT DURESS, AND AGREES NOT TO APPEAR AS A WITNESS IN SUPPORT OF
JOHN “SUE THE BASTARDS” BANZHAF, ESQ., OR ANY OTHER PERSONS WITH LAW DEGREES WHO
CANNOT OTHERWISE FIND MEANINGFUL EMPLOYMENT, AT ANY TIME IN THE FUTURE.
TRICK-OR-TREATER: ___________________________               DATE:______________________
BENEFACTOR: _____________________________
WITNESS: ___________________________   WITNESS: _________________________________

Would you sign it??

The article, “A Cross-National Study of Government Social Insurance as an Alternative to Tort Liability Compensation,” written by Dana A. Kerr, Yu-Luen Ma, and Joan T. Schmit from The Journal of Risk and Insurance (2009).  The abstract:  “Litigation rates in the United States have long been considered out of proportion with the remainder of the world, leading to a good deal of economic research trying to understand the causes.  Much of that literature has focused on lawyer compensation rules and availability of general damage awards.  Another possible reason for differences in national litigation rates is the relative generosity of government social programs.  Using a sample of 24 countries over a 12-year period, we test the relationship between the size of the government social program payments and liability costs as measured by liability insurance premiums, and find a strong negative relationship, controlling for income, accident rates, and a variety of other factors.”

In general, the rest of the world views the United States as an overly litigious country.  As I mentioned earlier, because we rely on private entities for health insurance and protections against lost income, we look to be compensated through our legal liability system.  The article points out that many litigation costs in other developed countries are provided through government programs such as national health insurance or health care (381).  Within the article, the authors found the statistical data supported a significant relationship between government spending on social programs and liability insurance premiums (380).  The authors found as spending for social programs increased, the need for costly liability premiums decreased.  If the United States decides to move toward some kind of universal health care program, we could potentially see a decreased need for litigation to recover costs associated with medical malpractice, for example.  Private insurance companies, in a capitalistic society are there to make profits and are not particularly altruistic in nature.  I would argue that a government’s job is to look after the welfare of its citizens, so it only makes sense for the government to create a program that looks after the health of its country.  I do not think this health care debate is as simple as Republican v. Democrat, although many people in the media wish to characterize the issues as such.  It would behoove everyone to keep an open mind and take into consideration articles such as this one when deciding whether to support or object to universal health programs.  Affordable access to health care in our country is a problem.  The sooner we realize that we can find better answers by working together to solve this common problem.  We need better answers than relying on profit-seeking insurance companies.  Maybe government programs are not the answer, but don’t knock it ‘til you try it.

~posted by Jenna.

It is that time again, folks!! It is football season and you know what that means: tailgating!!!  Football fans and party enthusiasts, alike, will head to football stadium parking lots en masse to celebrate their favorite team taking the field.  Most tailgaters expect several key ingredients for a fun and successful pre-game tailgate:  food, drink, music, and friends.  Inherent risks permeate each and every aspect of the tailgate party.  Below, I help all you tailgater’s navigate the waters to a successful tailgate event sure to leave you and your guests safe and happy.  Also, these tips will help you avoid or reduce any liability you might incur during your pre-game festivities.  By acknowledging the risks and taking steps to avoid them, you can focus on the most important subject of the day: FOOTBALL!

Food Safety

DO keep your hot foods hot and your cold foods cold.

DO NOT partially cook meats at home and then finish them off at the stadium.  Not cooking meat to a safe temperature allows bacteria to grow and multiply. Very unsafe!

SAFE MINIMUM INTERNAL TEMPERATURES

All poultry: 165 °F

Ground beef, veal and lamb: 160 °F

Beef, veal, and lamb steaks, roasts, and chops: 145 °F

Leftovers, reheating: 165 °F

DO NOT reuse marinade that has come into contact with raw meat. Can you say salmonella??

DO NOT leave food sitting out for too long.  Food left sitting out is a host for bacteria that can cause unpleasant food-related illnesses.

DO separate your drink cooler from your food cooler.  Separating your beverages from your food (even raw foods from ready-to-eat foods) cuts down on cross-contamination aka bacteria.  Also, keeping the food cooler closed most of the time will help keep the food at a safe temperature.

DO practice safe sanitary habits and Wash Your Hands! A hand sanitizer is great alternative due to the infrequency of running water in stadium parking lots.

Alcohol Safety

DO provide food or encourage your guests to eat.  An empty stomach absorbs alcohol much faster than a stomach with food in it.  And besides, what is a tailgate party without snacks??

DO NOT play drinking games.  Promoting excessive and rapid consumption of alcohol is a recipe for disaster.  Keep the focus on fun, non-alcoholic activities such as Bags or tossing a football around.

DO NOT, under any circumstances, serve minors!  Liability attaches when you knowingly serve intoxicating liquors to minors.

DO stop serving alcohol at a certain point.  The “one for the road” might be one beer to many for that particular guest.

DO NOT be afraid to cut-off certain guests.  No one wants to be the buzz kill, but drunken guests can cause injury to themselves or others.

DO provide an number of non-alcoholic beverages, especially the closer it get to game time

Premises Safety

DO perform a pre-tailgate check of your surroundings so you can warn your guests of any open and obvious dangers, as well as any hidden dangers.  The more stuff you bring to the game (chairs, grills, tents, campers) the more the risk of personal injuries to your guests.

DO NOT assume your homeowners insurance or car insurance covers you for injuries sustained because of your tailgating activities.

DO properly dispose of leftover charcoal briquettes before heading into the stadium.  Without the use of water, charcoal briquettes need 48 hours to cool.  Completely extinguish your grill and NEVER leave your hot briquettes unattended.

DO adhere to any rules and regulations of the parking lot owners.  If you are tailgating in the parking lot of the stadium, be aware of it allows and does not allow before, during, and after the football game.

DO come prepared and pack a First-Aid Kit.  It is always better to be safe than sorry, right?

DO NOT think of these safety precautions as buzz kills.  Some of these tips are common sense, but sometimes in the excitement of football, friends, and family, common sense is thrown out the window.  A little forethought can go a long way in preventing injuries during tailgating festivities! CHEERS!

Although most balloon crews try to adhere to strict safety standards and precautions to keep the trip enjoyable for all, there are many areas where something could go horribly wrong, injuring passengers before, during, or after flight.  Therefore, most balloon companies require its passengers to sign a Waiver of Liability Form acknowledging that hot air balloon rides are dangerous and that the passenger assumes all risks involved in the activity.  To start, it might be instructive to give a brief overview of the components of a hot air balloon and how this aircraft works.  Then, hopefully, this knowledge will help the reader understand the risks assumed when signing a waiver before embarking on a hot air balloon adventure.

Generally, a hot air balloon consists of three main components:  the envelope (the balloon), the basket, and the burner.  First, the envelope is usually made out of nylon and coated with polyurethane for extra protection from leaks in order to retain heat.  The most iconic shape of the envelope is the inverted tear-drop, but special shapes can be created, many times for advertising purposes.  Second, the basket is woven into a rectangular shape to carry as many people as necessary.  The balloon baskets in Lincoln could accommodate up to six passengers, excluding the pilot.  Third, the burner and the source of that big bright flame ignites propane in order to heat the air contained in the envelope.  Making the air inside the balloon warmer than the air around it is the basic concept of a hot air balloon because, as most people know, heat rises.  Once in the air, the balloon travels with the wind currents and there is no real way to steer except to work with the weather.

Because balloons are at the mercy of the winds, you want to choose a balloon company that has taken every precaution available to keep you save.  Balloon companies, on the other hand, realize that no matter how many precautionary measures they take there is still a high risk of injury or death from riding in an air balloon.  Here is a list, not exhaustive, of risks involved in riding in a hot air balloon:

1. Landing too quickly and crashing to the ground

2. Crashing into an object on the ground (tree, boulder, building)

3. Colliding into something mid air, collapsing the balloon

4. POWER LINES!!

5. Strong wind currents making the balloon move in unpredictable ways

6. Falling from a basket

7. Degradation of the balloon, creating instability of the heat-keeping properties.

If the hot air balloon company decides to to through with the ride, it wants to protect themselves by having its customers sign a waiver form.  Note:  Many times, the best way a company decides to reduce its liability is to just not go through with the flight if the weather is not cooperating or some other maintenance issue.  Here are a couple of excerpts from a waiver of liability form used by a North Carolina air balloon company (www.highlifeballooning.com):

“Being aware of the risks involved, I am voluntarily applying to participate in hot air balloon flights and associated activities operated by Company.  I understand that the waivers, indemnifications, releases, and assumptions of risk herein contained are consideration and part payment for the right to participate.”

“I expressly, willingly, and voluntarily assume full responsibility for all risks of any and every kind involved with or arising from my participation in hot air balloon activities with Company whether during flight preparation, take-off, flight, landing, travel to or from the take-off or landing areas, or otherwise.”

After reading these sentences and thinking about how dangerous air balloon rides can be, you might wonder why anyone would willingly sign a waiver.  Although the language of these forms makes it seems like the company would not be responsible for ANY accident, the reality is this is just not true.  Not all clauses in a waiver form are enforceable.  Because the activity of riding in a hot air balloon is dangerous, a company involved in that business still has the duty to maintain the safety of its equipment, use its professional judgment involving the weather, and taking those other precautionary steps.  Therefore, any such measures are ignored, the company may still be found liable.  This could also mean that a part of their waiver may be found unenforceable.  Without wanting to risk losing all the protection they seek with a liability waiver, the company includes this clause in their form (still from highlifeballooning.com):

“I further agree that if any portion of this Hot Air Balloon Agreement (including Assumption of Risk, Waiver of Liability, Covenant not to Sue, and Indemnification Agreement) is held invalid, it is agreed that the balance shall, notwithstanding, continue in full legal force and effect.”

Activities such as hot air ballooning, sky diving, and bungee jumping are very dangerous and carry numerous risks.  Because the companies providing such activities do not want to or cannot bear the risk and cost of you being injured, they try to protect themselves with liability waivers.  As stated above, these waivers are meant to release companies and individuals from any liability for any risk attaching to participation in dangerous activities.  In a world where liability waivers will not go away, it is up to you to balance your desire for daredevil activities where you take responsibility for what happens and your desire to participate in activities where someone else will be liable if you get hurt.

Thanks for checking out the site!

In our current market, there are a lot of foreclosure homes and the owners are looking to sell quickly.  Although there are many high-end homes on the market right now, there are just as many, if not more, fixer uppers. These types of homes are more likely to be unfinished and being sold “as is.”  When you walk in appliances could be missing, wires and pipes could be sticking out of the wall, or the flooring could be uneven.  Basically, the home will be in disrepair and in need of the right buyer for some much needed T.L.C.

If you decided to attend an open house of one of these homes, be cognizant of the fact that the real estate agent invited you onto the premises and wanted you there.  Usually, one thinks of liability to visitors as something only the owner of the property must worry about.  However, in the situation of an open house, the real estate agent is acting on the owners behalf creating a relationship that transfers that liability.  Therefore, the real estate agent has a duty when opening the house to the public to keep visitors safe from obvious hazards and to alert anyone to any discoverable hazard on the premises.  So, if you were to fall or become injured in some way because of the conditions of the premises, you might have a claim against the real estate agent for being negligent and breaching his or her duty of care when inviting you to the open house.

Consequently, as a real estate agent, the best practices to adhere to include trolling the premises and making notes of any potential hazardous areas. Then, find a way to mark those areas in a manner that puts any visitor on notice that they must be careful in that particular area.  Alternatively, a known hazard may affect the chances of selling the house, so fixing the problem might be a better solution. Either way, the real estate agent must secure the premises for guests if they wish to reduce the risk of someone being injured during an open house, thus incurring liability.

Happy Hunting!

This is one of the ads from a recent ad campaign throughout the city of St. Louis.

What this means is that a bicycle belongs in the street every bit as much as a car belongs there and, actually, it is a violation of the law for bikes to be on sidewalks!!  Couched in terms of personal liability, cyclists injured in accidents on the road have the same rights and remedies available to motorists injured in the course of driving.

On one side of the equation lie hostile motorists, similar to the story above, which end up hitting a cyclist because of reckless or negligent behavior.  In order for motorists to avoid being liable for a crash involving a bicycle, they should heed the warning of Bike St. Louis:  “Respect and Be Respected.”  Care should be taken when passing bicycles, especially if the lanes of traffic are particularly narrow or there are potholes.  Keep in mind; cyclists are particularly vulnerable for the obvious reason that they are not surrounded by tons of steel.  Additionally, they travel close to the side of the road that can be made even more dangerous because of debris, and the general disrepair of roads.

Conversely, cyclists must remember that as fellow members of the roadway they, too, must adhere to certain preventative behaviors.  Because many streets in St. Louis can be narrow, it is important for the bicyclist to not be rattled by every noise heard during his or her travels.  Turning to look toward a distraction may cause the bike to swerve into traffic causing an accident with a passing car.  Furthermore, a bicyclist should always give as much warning as to his or her movements as possible.  This includes hand signals for making turns or alerting drivers to hazards the bicyclist must avoid in the road.  Even though St. Louis roadways present challenges to bicycle and automobile harmony, our community has been recognized for its efforts to strengthen such harmony.

In 2009, the League of American Bicyclists awarded St. Louis the Bronze Level as a Bike Friendly Community!  The key criterion was there are 77 miles of dedicated bike lanes and shared traffic lanes throughout metro St. Louis.  To download a map of this bike system or to find out where you can pick up this map, visit www.bikestlouis.org.  Again, although there are many roadways and routes for cyclists to enjoy, many bicyclists using the roadways, to get to work for instance, must still utilize roads that are rather narrow and not bike friendly.  Therefore, as long as motorists and bicyclists respect each other’s right to be on the roadways, the risk of deadly or serious accidents can be reduced.

As we try to survive the dog days of summer, nothing is more relaxing than firing up the grill, sipping on a cold beverage, and getting together with friends and family!  When inviting guests into your home and onto your property, you have a reasonable duty of care to make your property safe for your guests.

Here are 10 tips to keep the party going:

1.  To kids (and even adults), swimming pools and trampolines are simply irresistible.  The use of warning signs and/or fences will help reduce the risk of injuries and possibly limit your personal liability.

2. In addition to drowning dangers, swimming pools create slip and fall hazards. Make your guests aware of any slippery areas!

3. Nothing brings back the memories of childhood like an impromptu game of wiffle ball in your back yard. Before everyone arrives, take time to walk around your yard so you can alert your guests to any obvious or hidden hazards.

4.  Keep the party in your yard.  Do not trespass onto your neighbors’ property with shells from your leftover 4th of July fireworks stash.  Based on the data collected from the 2002 National Fire Accident Reporting System, it is estimated 23,200 fireworks fires caused approximately $35 million in property loss.

5. Although it is hard to believe in this 90-degree heat, the weather will be getting cooler and the idea of sitting around a fire will sound appealing.  A little bit of common sense goes a long way to keep your guest safe and happy.

6.  Another fire hazard is your grill.  Make sure the fire stays in your grill!

7.  If you decide to let your dog mingle amongst your guests, be aware that Fido might respond to new people in an aggressive or attacking manner.  Be a responsible pet owner.

8.  Good tunes and people mix; however, adding water to the situation could have disastrous consequences.  Also, if there are wires or cords involved, your guests will inevitably trip on them!  A roll of duct tape will save the day!

9.  Taking the party out on the water?  Beware; inexperienced drivers cause the majority of boating accidents and wrongful death cases.  Make sure you know what you are doing behind the wheel and, remember, do not drink and drive.

10.  Therefore, if alcohol will be served at your party, make sure those imbibing are of the legal drinking age.  Also, make sure no one leaving your party will get behind the wheel and cause an accident!

Be safe and happy grilling!