restrictions and safety standards

Restrictions and Safety standards

by Khalil Flowers

I think that relaxing restrictions and safety standards would be a unwise idea that would result in many events of death, unfairness and unpunished negligence.

    Truck driving requires more road safety rules than normal cars or motorcycles simply because that the size and presence of a truck calls for many rules just for the safety of others. The deaths that are caused by truck driving can be a simple matter of driving to fast in a area that made with a very specific slow speed limit.

    In the article “Father Files Lawsuit Over Trucking Safety Violations” It gives an example of why restrictions and safety standards should are needed. “When the accident occurred, Pankiv vehicle was traveling too closely to the Yaris. It was also traveling at an excessive rate of speed. These factors combined within the narrow corridor of the construction zone and the tanker truck impacted the Yaris, killing Stepanov instantly and seriously injuring his passenger. Following the initial impact, Pankiv’s tanker continued its forward momentum until it slammed into Buck’s vehicle. The impact caused Buck’s Pilot to spin out of control and into the median where it continued its forward movement until it slammed into the rear of another semi-trailer driven by Boguslaw Leja out of Elmwood Park, Illinois. At some point during the collision, the cooking oil within the tanker caught fire and quickly engulfed all three vehicles. It is believed that the fire was the cause of death for Buck, her sons, and for Pankiv”.

    Not only do the restrictions and safety standards try to create a accident free road environment they also get truck companies to take liability and responsibility when if an accident did occur. Truck companies will sometimes not acknowledged the fact their in the wrong if there’s nothing pressuring them to. The article “Father Files Lawsuit Over Trucking Safety Violations” an example can be seen. “Buck and his attorneys believe the company willfully ignored safety regulations set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration governing the amount of hours drivers may operate their vehicles during the week. To help determine this, they have requested Pankiv’s driving record and log books from Illini State Trucking. The company has refused to provide them even as they have publicly pledged cooperation with the investigation. With their lawsuit now filed, Buck’s lawyers can subpoena this information as they seek to prove that the company was continuing a pattern of willful negligence and flagrant violation of established safety regulations that could have been contributing factors to the crash. Of paramount importance, they are seeking to determine whether or not Pankiv had been personally cited and/or disciplined for violations of FMSCA regulations that are designed to protect both truck drivers and the drivers of passenger vehicles”.

“Paul Buck’s lawsuit comes as Congress is considering relaxing many of the restrictions and safety standards put in place to prevent these types of accidents from occurring. Among changes they are considering are provisions that would increase to 82 the number of hours drivers can operate their vehicles during an 8-day period; this would represent an increase of 12 hours per week. Furthermore, Congress is considering removing company safety ratings from the internet. This information shows a company’s driving record and history of past abuses. Should such a change take place, it will make it considerably more difficult for individuals like Paul Buck to prove that a company has an established pattern of willful negligence”.

    Another reason for deaths caused by trucks is the driver not be fully awake when driving the car. The article NHTSA: Regulate Sleep Apnea For Truck Drivers says “The FMCSA and the FRA jointly proposed the rule in an effort to study the effects of sleep apnea on commercial truck drivers and railroad workers. If the rule becomes law, then truck drivers would be required to undergo testing for sleep apnea. The condition causes multiple interruptions in sufferers’ breathing while they are asleep, resulting in poor sleep quality. People then feel fatigued during their waking hours. A study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania found that 28 percent of drivers suffer from sleep apnea. The agencies believe that by identifying and treating truck and railroad workers who have sleep apnea, fatal accidents could be reduced”.

    So the lack of sleep can be a reason why a truck driver should not be driving at a uncontrollable speed but rather a slowly and less harmful speed. Another example of this can be seen in the article “Trucks Are Getting More Dangerous And Drivers Are Falling Asleep At The Wheel. Thank Congress”(https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/congress-made-trucking-deadlier_us_56fd6f92e4b0a06d58052ee8)

    To summarize getting rid off or relaxing safety standards and restrictions can result in many unfortunate outcomes for all people.

Sources

https://stromlawyers.com/blog/2015/11/father-files-lawsuit-over-trucking-safety-violations/

https://stromlawyers.com/blog/2016/08/nhtsa-regulate-sleep-apnea-truck-drivers/

An act of self defense

  An act of self defense

By Khalil Flowers

  Do you agree with Minnesota’s laws regarding the use of deadly force in self-defense? Explain why. If you disagree with them, discuss what you would want to change?

    I do agree with Minnesota's laws regarding the use of deadly force in self -defense solely for the reason of knowing how complexe self laws are in any state. The use of deadly force be used as a last resort not the first option you consider. The laws of self defense are always complexe and it's hard to know what was on purpose or just for self defense. In the article Does Minnesota Have a Stand Your Ground Law? It says that “Minnesota law imposes a “duty to retreat,” which means that if a person feels threatened, he or she may only use deadly force as a last resort”.

    I say that there are many different obstacles that might come up in the case of self-defense events, “Self-defense laws – whether stand your ground, duty to retreat, or castle doctrine – are complex and difficult to understand. Self-defense laws frequently arise in cases involving charges of murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, domestic violence, assault, and weapons violations”, I think it should always be a last resort except during curtin moments.

Sources

https://kellerlawoffices.com/minnesota-stand-ground-law/

Resident Safety

    What should nursing homes do to make their residents safer?

    There are many factors that one can consider for when taking care of people in a nursing homes, the medication, the living environment, the patients themselves and many more.

    First way is to make a person feel more comfortable while in a nursing home. Nurses spending time with their patients for specific amounts of hours can tell the patients that they care for them and they can come to them on any issue that is bothering them. This method has been used by some other nursing homes, like ones in Nevada. “Families for Better Care, which grades each state's’ nursing homes, is a Florida based non-profit advocacy group. It describes itself as being “dedicated to creating public awareness of the conditions in our nation’s nursing homes and other long-term care settings and developing effective solutions for improving quality of life and care.”

“In its assessment of Nevada’s nursing homes, Families for Better Care highlights some of the significant areas of improvement”:

• Staffers providing direct care spend an additional 10 minutes with each resident on a daily basis compared to 2013.
• In five of the eight areas that are measured, Nevada’s nursing homes showed improvement.

    The bonds between nurse and patient can show marvelous results because the tension can be lifted a little bit.

Sources

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK384628/

https://mattsharplaw.com/news/nevada-nursing-homes-cleaning-up-their-acts/

https://mattsharplaw.com/news/nursing-homes-often-administer-antipsychotic-drugs-without-consent/

Internet advertisers

    Should internet advertisers be subject to the same advertising requirements as those who advertise offline?

    Yes I do believe that internet advertisers be subject to the same requirements all for the purpose of having rules that keep things in check and from spiraling out of control on the internet. There are so many different kinds people on the internet now a days who are so eager to take advantage of other people through the means of false advertisement or through other means.

    The requirements would try to prevent the following situations:

• “Don’t make false claims.
• Paid promoters, influencers, and affiliate marketers who promote brands in exchange for money or products must conspicuously disclose this material relationship. If they don’t, the brand can be held responsible.
• Don’t make scientific claims without substantive proof to back them up”.

    There are many ways that you can fight when you are wronged by false advertisement and one of the ways would to do a lawsuit against the false advertiser. People on the internet sometimes lack a sense of integrity when they are in the wrong, some will try to prevent you from getting any money back on an item that they bought from them.

    “The lawsuit asserts that RevGuard, et al. deceptively billed people who bought a tooth-whitening product.[1] A negative option plan generally refers to transactions in which a seller interprets the customer’s failure to take an affirmative action — typically cancelling an offer — as consent to be charged for goods or services on a recurring basis.”

“In the FTC v. RevGuard case, the FTC alleges that the defendants’ checkout pages were structured so that once a customer made a purchase, they were instantly redirected to another page that displayed a large yellow “complete checkout” button. The commission further alleges that when customers clicked to “complete checkout” they were enrolled in a second negative option plan for additional products. According to the FTC, the offending checkout page looked like an order confirmation”.

“Though the FTC commonly cracks down on negative option schemes, this case has significant implications for merchant transaction companies. Specifically, the FTC’s co-defendants list included: (1) service providers that perform the fraud’s “back office” functions; (2) intermediate holding companies that obscure financial transactions; and (3) merchant entities that obtain merchant accounts, web domains, and credit-card settlement bank accounts.[2] In essence, this case raises concerns for entities that did nothing more than open merchant accounts”.

“Furthermore, and far more troubling, is that the asset freeze applied to the aforementioned three groups of co-defendants, not just the affiliate marketers who actually profited from the scheme.[3] In particular, the Ex Parte Temporary Restraining Order issued by the Court declared that the asset freeze applied to “. . . [d]efendants and their officers, agents, employees, and attorneys, and all other persons in active concert or participation with any of them, who receive actual notice of this Order, whether acting directly or indirectly . . . .”[4]

If the the online world do not follow the same rules as the offline world there will be many people who will be un protected from the evils of false advertisement. Another evil can be the stealing of someone’s else work and passing it as their own or making up their own facts and giving people that its real facts. “The POM Case began in 2010 when the FTC filed an administrative complaint alleging that POM Wonderful, LLC (“POM”) and related executives had made false, misleading, and unsubstantiated representation in violation of the FTC Act.

In May 2012, a judge found that nineteen of POM’s promotional materials violated substantiation rules by improperly implying that products treated, prevented, or reduced the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer, and erectile dysfunction.

The Court held that POM parties were liable under the FTC Act and ordered the company to cease and desist from making further claims about the health benefits of any food, drug, or dietary supplement — unless the claims were non-misleading and supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence.

Advertising requirements were made for a reason, to protect people from losing money or keep people from making false claims and passing them on as real claims.

Sources

https://www.gordonlawltd.com/internet-advertising-campaign-regulations/

https://www.gordonlawltd.com/ftc-charges-online-marketers-merchant-account-entities/#_ftnref1

[1] FTC v. RevGuard, LLC et. al. Complaint at 21.

[2] FTC v. RevGuard, LLC et al. Emergency Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order at 12.

[3] FTC v. RevGuard, LLC et al. Ex Parte Temporary Restraining Order Granting Asset Freeze, Appointment of a Temporary Receiver, and other Equitable Relied, and Order to Show Cause Why a Preliminary Injunction Should Not Issue § 5.

[4] Id. at § V(A).

https://www.gordonlawltd.com/ftc-v-pom-wonderful-lessons-for-affiliate-marketers/

The Rainy Seasons of April The Cenozoic Era:The miocene epoch

Miocene Epoch, earliest major worldwide division of the Neogene Period (23 million years to 2.6 million years ago) that extended from 23 million to 5.3 million years ago. It is often divided into the Early Miocene Epoch (23 million to 16 million years ago), the Middle Miocene Epoch (16 million to 11.6 million years ago), and the Late Miocene Epoch (11.6 million to 5.3 million years ago). The Miocene may also be divided into six ages and their corresponding rock stages: from oldest to youngest these ages or stages are the Aquitanian, Burdigalian, Langhian, Serravallian, Tortonian, and Messinian. The Miocene followed the Oligocene Epoch of the Paleogene Period and was succeeded by the Pliocene Epoch.

The Rainy Seasons of April(A EARTH DAY SPECIAL)The Cenozoic Era:The Neogene

PLANT LIFE DURING THE NEOGENE PERIOD

There were two major trends in plant life during the Neogene period. First, plunging global temperatures spurred the rise of massive deciduous forests, which replaced jungles and rain forests in high northern and southern latitudes.

Second, the worldwide spread of grasses went hand-in-hand with the evolution of mammalian herbivores, culminating in today's familiar horses, cows, sheep, deer, and other grazing and ruminant animals.

The Rainy Seasons of April The Cenozoic Era:The Neogene

MARINE LIFE DURING THE NEOGENE PERIOD

Although prehistoric whales started to evolve in the preceding Paleogene period, they didn't become exclusively marine creatures until the Neogene, which also witnessed the continuing evolution of the first pinnipeds (the mammalian family that includes seals and walruses) as well as prehistoric dolphins. Prehistoric sharks maintained their status at the top of the marine food chain; Megalodon, for example, had already appeared at the end of the Paleogene, and continued its dominance throughout the Neogene as well.

The Rainy Seasons of April The Cenozoic Era:The Neogene

TERRESTRIAL LIFE DURING THE NEOGENE PERIOD

Reptiles
 A large part of the Neogene period was dominated by gigantic crocodiles, which still never quite managed to match the size of their Cretaceous forebears. This 20-million-year span also witnessed the continuing evolution of prehistoric snakes and (especially) prehistoric urtles, the latter of which began to reach truly impressive proportions by the start of the Pleistocene epoch.

The Rainy Seasons of April The Cenozoic Era:The Neogene

TERRESTRIAL LIFE DURING THE NEOGENE PERIOD

Birds
While birds never quite matched the size of their distant mammalian cousins, some of the flying and flightless species of the Neogene period were truly enormous (for example, the airborne Argentavis and Osteodontornis both exceeded 50 pounds.) The end of the Neogene marked the extinction of most of the flightless, predatory birds of South America and Australia, the last dregs being wiped out in the ensuing Pleistocene. Otherwise, bird evolution continued apace, with most modern orders well- represented by the close of the Neogene.

The rainy seasons of April The Cenozoic Era:The Neogene

Climate and geography

Like the preceding Paleogene, the Neogene period witnessed a trend toward global cooling, especially at higher latitudes (it was immediately after the end of the Neogene, during the Pleistocene epoch, that the earth underwent a series of ice ages interspersed with warmer "interglacials"). Geographically, the Neogene stood out for the land bridges that opened up between various continents: it was during the late Neogene that North and South America became connected by the Central American Isthmus, Africa was in direct contact with southern Europe via the dry Mediterrean Sea basin, and eastern Eurasia and western North America were joined by the Siberian land bridge. Elsewhere, the slow impact of the Indian subcontinent with the underbelly of Asia produced the Himalayan mountains.