Zachar Law Blog

10 Tips To Keep Your College Student Safe This Spring Break

Spring break is just around the corner and we know that many college students will be found on beaches in the warm and sunny weather venues. With that relaxation being the main priority of most, many tend to forget the simple things to remember in order to keep themselves safe. Below are 10 tips to help you stay safe while on vacation during spring break:

1. Book a hotel in a central location to limit the need to drive. The closer your hotel is to the beach, downtown or other areas where you plan to spend most of your time, the less likely you'll be to get lost or to be involved in a car crash. Avoid unlicensed taxi cabs by asking your hotel, restaurant or club to summon a ride for you, and if in doubt, pass up the car and wait for another one.

2. Avoid going out and/or traveling alone at night. There really is safety in numbers, and you and your friends can watch out for each other. Walking alone or even clubbing alone can make you a vulnerable target to people whose intentions are less than pure. Even a two-minute walk can be dangerous when you're alone at night - especially if you've been drinking.

3. Never go off with a stranger. Spring break can be a great time to meet new people, but that doesn't mean you should leave your group of friends to spend time with people you don't know. Even if your new acquaintances just want to walk down the street, stick to your group or at least bring along someone you know and trust.

4. Limit alcohol consumption to a reasonable level. Overdoing it on alcoholic drinks impairs your judgment, making you more susceptible to accidents and crime. Pace yourself, and avoid drinks with high alcohol content, like shots. Not only is it safer all around, you'll feel a lot better in the morning. If you plan to drink, always designate a sober companion in your group who can make executive decisions about everyone's safety.

5. Buddy System Yes, it sounds a little like summer camp in the third grade. However having an appointed buddy while on spring break is the number one best safety precaution. Especially if you are traveling in a large group, this person should help to make sure you get from place to place and keep tabs on you at clubs and when drinking. This works both ways, so you should keep an eye out for them too.

6. Remember that sun exposure and alcohol don't mix. Spring break often involves lots of time lounging in the sun and in hot tubs, both of which can intensify the effects of alcohol in the body. Take it easy, and remember to slather up with sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15, even when it's cloudy.

7. Use appropriate safety gear for sports and other recreational activities. Whether you're driving a scooter, skateboarding or just riding on a boat, protect yourself with any necessary equipment like helmets, knee pads and life jackets. 

8. Don't Drink and Drive No kidding, but when you’re under the influence in a foreign place, people can make bad decisions. Best bet? Just take a cab.

9. Know what to do in an emergency. It's easy to forget that in foreign nations, the phone number for emergency response is not 9-1-1. A State Department website called Students Abroad provides a list of these numbers along with detailed tips for health emergencies, evacuations, natural disasters, crime victims and assistance to U.S. citizens arrested abroad.

10. If you're traveling abroad, sign up online for the U.S. Department of State's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). The STEP program enables the State Department to contact you in case of a family emergency, or to notify you of a crisis near your travel destination. You can also download a Smart Traveler iPhone App that provides additional tips and information.

Remember, staying safe should be the main priority of anyone. Especially those who are going on vacation or just taking a break from the same routine and heading out of town for some recharging time. Be safe everyone and have a great spring break!

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Fan violence, unruly behavior and drinking excessively: Our national past time?

Going to the ball game isn’t what it used to be. Not only because the rising costs of tickets, but also because of the rising incidents that occur because of alcohol. A recent study conducted by the University of Minnesota, 362 adults exiting 13 baseball games and three football games were asked to complete a survey and submit to a breathalyzer test to determine their Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC).  This study was the first ever conducted to measure blood alcohol content immediately after professional sporting events in the United States.

Results of the BAC revealed:

• 60% of participants exiting the game had zero BAC
• 40% showed a positive BAC
• Nearly 8% were legally drunk

The study also showed that people under the age of 35 were eight times more likely to be legally drunk than other fans, and those who "tailgate" before the game were the worst offenders. Tailgaters were shown to be 14 times more likely to leave a game intoxicated.  In an anonymous survey following the breathalyzer test, one in four tailgaters admitted to consuming at least five alcoholic beverages. Those with the highest BAC range consumed an average of 6.6 drinks.

The study also showed that one out of every 12 fans attending a football or baseball game will leave the stadium legally drunk. Let’s do the math. If 60,000 people show up to a football game and one out of 12 leaves drunk, that’s 5,000 intoxicated people on their way home.  The most alarming thing is a good percentage of these intoxicated fans will probably get behind the wheel and drive home.

In an effort to minimize alcohol related incidents many sports stadiums and arenas have set their own policies. For example at the University of Phoenix Stadium, where the Arizona Cardinals, play they strongly encourage all fans to exercise responsible consumption of alcoholic beverages.  A few of their rules include:

• Any fan that shows signs of impairment and/or intoxication will not be allowed to enter or will be removed from University of Phoenix Stadium and subject to arrest.
• Any attempt to bring alcohol inside the stadium or possession of an alcoholic beverage not purchased from the University of Phoenix Stadium concessionaire may result in ejection.
• Concessionaire staff members reserve the right to deny service to fans that show signs of impairment and/or intoxication.
• A maximum of two alcoholic beverages or 32 ounces of beer will be sold per person per transaction.
• Alcohol sales in the general seating areas of University of Phoenix Stadium will stop at the conclusion of the third quarter.

Angel Stadium of Anaheim, home of the Los Angeles Angels, takes it a step further by not even allowing people to bring alcohol into the parking lot or consume it there.  They also stop the sales of alcohol inside the stadium at the conclusion of the 7th inning.  Indeed, MOST professional baseball ballparks cease sales of alcohol at the end of the 7th inning.

Unfortunately not all sports facilities have strict policies regarding alcohol. As a Phoenix Personal Injury Lawyer, they all should have them.

THE QUESTION: 

If someone drinks too much at a game, and causes an accident later that hurts someone, who is liable?

THE ANSWER:

In addition to the at-fault party, the stadium authority, the team and the vendor ALL may be at fault. At these stadiums, just like every restaurant and bar, a liquor license is needed to sell alcohol.

In selling liquor with a license, the same rules exist for all:

You cannot sell to a minor;

You cannot sell to a person who is intoxicated, or obviously intoxicated;

You cannot sell more than a certain amount to any one person.

The sale of alcohol, as all things, requires observation and common sense.

Question: Well, what if the person who got drunk and caused the accident didn’t make the actual purchase—they had someone else buy it all for them?

Under the Arizona liquor laws, it makes no difference. If they obtained and consumed alcohol on the premises of a liquor licensee, got drunk and later caused harm, there is liability on the licensee.

What would be the contrary result? The “I didn’t know” defense?

Too convenient and too easy. The burden rests on the liquor licensee.

Alcohol is a drug. Those who consume must be responsible, and those to make a living selling it must be responsible. 

The contrary result is scary… 

Man Bites Into Needle Found in Sandwich on Delta Flight

One of the airline passengers who bit into a sandwich containing a one-inch needle earlier this week has now been put on antiretroviral drugs used for the treatment of HIV, and says the FBI is investigating the incidents aboard four Delta Air Lines flights as a criminal case.

James Tonges said he was placed on the drug Truvada, which has recently been approved by the FDA, following the incident aboard a Delta flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis-St. Paul. Half a dozen sewing needles have now been found in sandwiches on four separate Delta flights, and Tonges, who was sitting in his flight's business elite cabin, was unfortunate to have bitten into one of them.

"It was on the second bite into the sandwich, it actually poked the top of my mouth. It was about one inch long, straight needle," Tonges told "Good Morning America." "Since it punctured the top of my mouth, I had to be put on medication, and we're waiting to see if there's any type of substance on the needle. They're doing their examination right now."

Tonges and another passenger sustained minor injuries after biting into the sandwiches and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)officials found a third needle after confiscating the sandwiches, according to an official report. Dr. Jack A. Drogt, a passenger Tonges had coincidentally met aboard his flight over to Europe, also found a needle in his sandwich.

Federal authorities including the FBI are investigating who had access to the food for flights originating out of Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport bound for the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Drogt also told "Good Morning America" Tuesday that his teenage son, who was travelling from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on a different flight, was also a victim, and authorities are investigating.

"That was the uncanny thing," Drogt said. "When I landed I spoke to the FBI, then I called my wife to let her know what had happened. She said something happened to our son on a parallel flight from Amsterdam to Atlanta."

The teen would not surrender the needle to authorities, who noted he told them that he planned to use it as evidence in a lawsuit.

Although federal air marshals were aboard the Minneapolis-St. Paul-bound flight, they were not notified of the incident by the crew, authorities said, until deplaning. At that point the air marshals turned the incident over to the FBI, which was working with CBP and local police to investigate how the needles were put in the meat.

Delta airlines released a statement saying it "has taken immediate action with our in-flight caterer at Amsterdam to ensure the safety and quality of the food we provide onboard our aircraft."

The sandwiches were prepared in the kitchen of the Gate Gourmet catering company at Schiphol airport. All such sandwiches have now been removed from flights and replaced with pizzas.

Gate Gourmet operates in 28 countries and serves an average of 9,700 flights every day of the year -- and over 300 million passengers annually.

"You can't check every sandwich that goes aboard a plane," former FBI special agent Brad Garrett told ABC News. "This demonstrates to people who want to do bad things … this is a gaping hole."

In a statement Gate Gourmet said, "We take this matter very seriously. Gate Gourmet immediately launched a full investigation to determine the root cause of this disturbing incident, and we are treating this as a criminal act."

Weird case.  Is the airline liable?  

Under a theory of "strict products liability", the airline cold be liable.  The law places the burden of providing for safe products on the person/entity that sells them in the course of business.

But did the airline do anything wrong?  It is possible the needle was there when the sandwich came on the plane.  Does the airline have a duty to "inspect" every sandwich?  Of course not.

Regardless, the airline looks bad, and likely will settle the case quickly to avoid the negative publicity.

France now requires breathalyzers in all cars, should we follow suit?

July 1^st was the enforcement date for all vehicles in France to be equipped with an electronic breathalyzer.

More than 10,000 people a year are killed in drunk driving crashes in the United States.

In France that number is far lower, but it's gotten large enough that the government there has taken action.

Those who fail to do so risk the equivalent of a $14 fine each time they are pulled over.

Reaction in France has been mixed.

Supporters say the move could help save lives by keeping drunk drivers off the road.

“I find it absurd to be booked for that. But it’s the law, so I’ll be subject to it,” said Hamou Louachiche, 38, who still does not have a test in his car.

He believes that such tests would be more useful in bars or nightclubs.

Others however welcome the measure, saying it would reduce drunk driving.

We hear it all too often in the news where a car accident in phoenix has taken place and “alcohol is possibly a factor” in the crash. Many lives are lost on a yearly basis across the nation due to stupid drivers.

Is this the way to solve the drunk driving epidemic? There will surely be supporters of something like this as well as opposition. Whatever the reason being, if this won’t be the answer for drunk drivers, we surely need to find something.

Let's give Thanks for not Choking on a Turkey Bone!

   Scenario:  You are at a nice restaurant eating your dinner.  You order a meat or fish product, after all, who wouldn’t.  Then, as you take a bite, you feel something lodge in your throat, and you begin to choke.  At once, you sense a sudden and extreme fear.  You cannot breath.  You gesture wildly, but no sound comes out.  Some one runs up behind you and performs the Heimlich, dislodging the foreign object, and leaving you feeling embarrassed and exhausted.  You may require medical attention, which brings with it medical bills. 

 Question:  Is the restaurant at fault, and does the law require them to pay for the medical expenses? 

 Thanksgiving is here and Christmas is right around the corner.  Along with the coming end of year panic comes the end of year gorging ourselves with food (everyone say “YES!!!!”).  During the holidays, turkey bones are not thought of as pesky, but rather, are sought out by young children like buried treasures.  However, as exciting as finding one at home may be, finding one in your food at a restaurant may bring a little less excitement (see paragraph number one above).

 Choking can be very scary for anyone and with good reason.  Over 17,000 children under the age of 14 are treated for choking every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention.  Keep in mind this number only includes children. 

 Adults don’t often worry about choking on their food until after it happens.  We don’t go to a restaurant prepared to find something in our food large enough or sharp enough to hurt us.  But what happens when we are caught off guard by an unexpected object in our food at a restaurant?   Is the restaurant responsible?  Is it a restaurant employee’s duty to help us in any way they can, including performing the Heimlich Maneuver? 

 The answers are “maybe” and “no”.  In fact, none of the 50 sates has a law compelling a restaurant employee to perform the Heimlich Maneuver on a choking patron.  Only one state, Connecticut, has a law that requires restaurant employees to know the maneuver, although they are not required to perform it should the need arise.  (What?!)

 What do restaurants have to do to protect us from encountering a choking hazard in the food they provide to us?  Well, according to the Uniform Commercial Code a restaurant provides an “implied warranty” that their food is “merchantable”.  A warranty is a promise by the seller that the goods being sold will conform to certain qualities, characteristics, or conditions.  This means they have to serve food that is fit for human consumption.  (“Fit for human consumption” has nothing to do with the nutritional value of the food or the taste of the food.) 

 When it comes to objects in food, some states use a Foreign/Natural Test in deciding liability in some cases.  This means they look to whether the object found was foreign or natural to the food.  For example, a turkey bone is natural to turkey whereas a marble is not.  If the object found is not natural, than a restaurant may well be liable to the injured patron under the “product liability” laws.  Medical bills, pain and suffering, all can be claimed under this scenario.  .

 Many states are leaning more to the Reasonable Expectation Test, which asks the question, “Should the consumer reasonably expect or anticipate the specific object in the food?”  One would think that the same conclusions would come from this as the Foreign/Natural Test, however apparently “reasonable minds” can differ quite a bit.  A good example here is one person finding part of a peach pit in a peach pie may think, “Oh, there is no way to avoid that,” whereas another person may think “I would never expect to find a pit in something that has been so processed.”  What would you expect?

 When it comes down to it, an injured victim must prove that the object was foreign or unexpected, and caused their injuries.  They then must prove the nature and extent of the damage they have suffered as a result of the object.  As a personal injury attorney who has experience with product liability cases, I know what it takes to be successful with cases like this.  However, these cases can be very difficult, and it is hard to predict which will be successful because of the non-uniformity of which test to use and the span of what is considered “reasonable” to different people.

 Regardless, why are we talking about “personal injuries so close to the holidays?????  We need to be careful about what we eat, but we also need to enjoy ourselves.  Happy “hunting” this holiday season, and here’s wishing you a bone free hunt!!