by ggvp on August 31, 2010
Unfortunately, there have been many terrible accidents in the New Orleans area involving large trucks. While some of these accidents have other causes, the National Transportation Safety Board has found that driver fatigue contributes to 30 to 40 percent of large truck accidents.
The federal government strictly regulates the number of hours a truck driver may spend on the road and how long they may remain on duty – even if they are not driving. For example, truck drivers are not supposed to spend more than eleven hours driving after having completed ten consecutive hours off duty.
Drivers are required to maintain a logbook documenting time spent driving, as well as their time off duty and in the sleeper berth. An accurate logbook may help your lawyer determine if the truck driver was fatigued at the time of the collision.
Even if the driver was “cheating” and not keeping an accurate logbook, the information in the logbook may still be helpful to your case. If the entries in a logbook look suspicious, your lawyer may be able to examine issues such as whether it is realistic for the truck driver to have covered the distances driven in the time claimed in the logbook. False entries in the logbook would help establish that the driver knew he was fatigued, but chose to ignore the law and continue driving
If you have been injured in a collision with a truck and have any questions, please feel free to call us at 504-581-6411 or 877-581-6411.
by ggvp on August 24, 2010
The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry’s Office of Animal Health and Food Safety has announced the recall of approximately 500,000 pounds of “ready to eat” sausage and hog head cheese produced by Veron Foods, LLC, a Prairieville, Louisiana. These products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, and New Orleans residents who have purchased these foods should immediately check the product to protect their health.
Eating food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes may lead to listeriosis. While listeriosis is rarely contracted by healthy people, it can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in people with weak immune systems. This includes infants, the elderly, and those with HIV. The infection may spread to the nervous system, causing high fever, headaches, neck stiffness, nausea, confusion and convulsions. Listeriosis also can cause miscarriages and stillbirths.
The recalled products include Veron Hot Smoked Sausage,Veron Mild Smoked Sausage, Martin Hot Smoked Sausage, Martin Mild Smoked Sausage, Veron Andouille Sausage, Martin Andouille Sausage, and Veron Hog Head Cheese. They bear date codes 010110 through 111310 and have the establishment number “LA 22″ inside the LDAF mark of inspection.
The LDAF has classified this as a “Class I” recall, which it defines as a recall based on a “reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death.”
If you have questions regarding this recall, Veron Foods LLC should be contacted directly at Veron Food LLC, at 225-622-3262. If you or a family member has suffered long term health problems or wrongful death from eating contaminated food, please feel free to call my office at 504-581-6411 or 877-581-6411 with any questions regarding your rights.
