Hardwick & Pendergast – Seattle Personal Injury and Car Accident Attorneys

The Super Bowl offers the chance for one of the biggest parties of the year, even when both teams’ “home turf” is all the way across the country. If you plan to watch the game and celebrate with friends this Sunday, you can help protect yourself and others from car accidents caused by drunk driving by following a few simple steps.

First, decide on a sober way to get home before you leave for a party or sports bar. Choose a designated driver, arrange for a cab, or make sure you can get home on public transportation or by foot. Not only will you help protect yourself by staying off the road, but you’ll help protect others by keeping one more impaired driver off the streets if you end up having one drink too many.

If you’re drinking alcohol, pace yourself. Have non-alcoholic drinks, and snacks as well, to help your body absorb the alcohol. Take breaks between drinks. It’s no fun to watch the Super Bowl if you can’t remember what happened.

Finally, if you have a designated driver, show that person how much you appreciate his or her help by offering to pay for gas or pick up the tab. Buckle your seatbelt when you’re riding along as it’s your best protection in a crash.

If you or someone you love has been injured in a car accident caused by a drunk driver, the experienced Washington drunk driving accident lawyers at Hardwick & Pendergast, P.S. can help. Call us today at (888) 228-3860 for a free and confidential consultation about your case and the ways we can help you protect your legal rights.

Washington state loses more residents each year to prescription drug overdoses or misuse than it does to traffic accidents. Yet, according to a recent article at Crosscut, many pharmaceutical companies still oppose the state legislature’s attempts to set up an unused prescription medication “take-back” program that would give people a safe place to dispose of prescriptions, instead of exposing them to possible misuse or abuse.

The proposed program would require pharmaceutical companies to pay a small fee to run a statewide prescription medication disposal program. Researchers estimate that some 33 million bottles of prescription medications – nearly one-third of all medication prescribed in Washington each year – go unused. However, some pharmaceutical companies oppose the measure, saying that it unnecessarily duplicates a similar federal program and that it simply isn’t necessary.

When not properly disposed of, these prescriptions can wind up polluting water systems and other natural resources. Worse, they can wind up in the hands of children, mixed inappropriately with other medications, or used past their expiration date – all of which can cause serious injuries or even death.

Prescription drug misuse can have serious consequences, and it may not be obvious what has happened until symptoms start to appear. Malpractice in prescribing or giving medications, or in filling prescriptions, can all cause serious injuries. At Hardwick & Pendergast, P.S., our dedicated Seattle personal injury lawyers fight for compensation on behalf of each of our clients, so that they can focus on getting well and returning to the jobs and hobbies they enjoy. To learn more about how we can help you, call us today at (888) 228-3860 for a free and confidential consultation.

California Innovations, Inc. and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently recalled about 248,000 of the company’s “Expandable Insulated Lunch Box With Freezer Gel Pack” products. The gel pack can be damaged, causing the gel to leak out. This creates a poisoning hazard for children and adults who might try to eat food stored in the box because the gel contains chemicals that are harmful if ingested.

So far, the company has not heard of any individuals being injured by the product. However, at least two dogs in two separate households chewed on the gel packs and suffered poisoning. One of the dogs recovered, according to the CPSC, but the other lost its life.

The lunch boxes were sold at Costco, Leon Korol, and Cost U Less stores between May 2007 and September 2008 for about $10 apiece. The three-piece set includes the lunch box, thermos, and freezer gel pack. The lunch boxes are covered in nylon and have the product code “1-61731-99-57” printed on them. The boxes were sold in black, red, navy blue, and denim blue.

Consumers who own one of these lunch boxes should stop using the freezer gel pack immediately. The lunch boxes can be returned to Costco stores for a full refund.

We expect the products we buy to be relatively safe, especially if we give them to our children. If you’ve been injured by a defective product, the experienced Washington personal injury attorneys at Hardwick & Pendergast, P.S. can help. Call us today at (888) 228-3860 for a free and confidential consultation.

A spinal cord injury is any type of injury that damages the spinal cord, which is the bundle of nerves that travels inside the spine from the brain down the back. Even a relatively mild spinal cord injury can cause permanent pain, trouble with movement or coordination, or other disabilities. In recent years, researchers have begun to understand more about these devastating injuries, but they still know little about how to cure them.

According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC), Americans suffer about 12,000 new spinal cord injuries each year. An additional unknown number of spinal cord injury sufferers lose their lives due to the injury, often before rescue workers can respond to the scene of their accident. Car accidents cause about 40 percent of new spinal cord injuries each year, and slip and fall accidents account for about 28 percent.

The NSCISC estimates that only 0.9 percent of spinal cord injury sufferers actually make a complete recovery. For the rest, the extent of recovery and the disabilities they must still live with depend on a number of factors, including where the damage occurred in the spinal cord and how bad it was. Many severe spinal cord injuries result in partial or total paralysis. These patients often need life-long care.

At Hardwick & Pendergast, P.S., our dedicated Seattle personal injury lawyers focus on fighting for the compensation our clients need to heal as fully as possible and to continue living their lives after an accident. If you’ve suffered a spinal cord injury, please don’t hesitate to call us at (888) 228-3860 to learn more about your legal rights and options. The call is free and completely confidential.

Four 17-year-old boys and one 16-year-old girl traveling down Interstate 5 near Tukwila suffered injuries when a driver heading the wrong way on the interstate crashed headfirst into their car. Investigators say the wrong-way driver may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the head-on collision.

The four teens were driving south on I-5 near the I-405 intersection near Tukwila when the accident occurred. Their car, a Hyundai Elantra, was hit by a Honda Accord driven by a 26-year-old man from Seattle. The older driver had apparently gotten on I-5 heading in the wrong direction, and was speeding northward when he slammed into the teenagers who were on the southbound side of the highway.

All of the adolescents riding in the Elantra, including the driver, were taken to local hospitals to be treated for their injuries. The hospitals say the boys’ injuries were minor, but have not commented on how the 16-year-old girl is doing. Investigators have not said whether the wrong-way driver was injured and if so, how seriously. He may face vehicular assault charges. Both vehicles were totaled in the crash.

Most of us rely on cars to get around, making car accidents a constant risk. When an accident does happen and it is caused by the negligent actions of a drunk driver, however, it can change lives forever and result in serious and life-threatening injuries. At Hardwick & Pendergast, P.S., our experienced Washington drunk driving accident victim attorneys are dedicated to helping those who have been injured in a crash caused by a drunk driver. We fight for the compensation you need so that you can focus on healing. To learn more about how we can help, call us today at (888) 228-3860. The call is free, and any information you share with us is kept confidential.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is considering changes to its five-star crash test rating system that would include ratings for crash avoidance technologies installed in vehicles, according to a recent article in Motor Trend magazine.

The proposed changes to the system consider technology like forward crash avoidance and lane-change signaling systems when rating a vehicle’s safety. These technologies use sensors to tell how close the vehicle is to one in front of it or whether the vehicle is drifting out of its lane and warn the driver if distance or drifting are likely to cause an auto accident.

Currently, the crash test rating system does not give credits for vehicles that contain these technologies. It does, however, give credit for vehicles that contain electronic stability control systems, another type of crash-avoidance technology that helps prevent rollovers.

The NHTSA has proposed combining the changes in its rating system with a media campaign that would help drivers and vehicle purchasers to understand how these new systems work and how they can help prevent accidents if used correctly. The NHTSA is also supporting the creation of systems that would help vehicles communicate with each other and speed up or slow down to avoid accidents when necessary.

Car accidents can cause serious injuries. Often, the difference between avoiding a crash and being the victim of one depends on decisions made or not made in a split second before the crash. At Hardwick & Pendergast, P.S., our experienced Seattle car accident injury lawyers are dedicated to helping those injured in car accidents seek the compensation they need. To talk to us about your accident, call us today at (888) 228-3860 for a free and confidential consultation.

An “I brake for animals” bumper sticker can be a cute way to express your love for our four-legged friends. But always braking or swerving to avoid hitting an animal can increase your risk of a serious accident, according to a recent article in The Washington Post.

If you don’t have time to check for traffic before you brake, try not to swerve, recommends the Washington State Highway Patrol. If you can swerve safely into another lane instead of hitting an animal, you should do so; but, if you can’t swerve safely or you don’t know if you can or not, it may be safer for you and for other drivers on the road to risk hitting the animal instead. This is especially true for smaller animals that aren’t taller than your car’s hood.

Larger animals pose a bigger risk of injury to you and damage to your car, but hitting the animal may still be safer than swerving into traffic and causing a serious car crash. It may also be safer than swerving off the road and hitting a tree or other obstacle, or swerving so sharply you cause a rollover accident.

Most injuries in accidents caused by animals occur when a driver’s attempts to avoid an animal cause a second crash. Most injuries from car-animal collisions are usually minor for humans, and many can be avoided altogether by wearing your seatbelt or your helmet if you are on a motorcycle.

It can feel sad to accidentally take an animal’s life. But a serious injury can permanently change the course of your life or someone else’s. If you’ve been injured in a car accident, the experienced Washington car accident attorneys at Hardwick & Pendergast, P.S. can help. Call us today at (888) 228-3860 for a free and confidential case evaluation.

Low back pain is the second most common neurological condition in the United States, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). Men and women are equally affected by low back pain, and they are more likely to develop the condition between the ages of 30 and 50. Car accidents are a major source of low back pain.

In a car accident, the body may be thrown violently forward, backward, or to the side, causing a number of different auto accident injuries. Although wearing a seat belt can decrease the damage caused by this force, it is often enough to cause stress to the complex structures in the low back. Muscles, nerves, soft tissue, spinal vertebrae, and the cartilage discs that cushion the vertebrae can all be affected. Some of these structures, especially the discs and soft tissue, may take a long time to heal or may be permanently damaged, especially in older people.

Low back pain is often treated without surgery. Anti-inflammatory medications and muscle relaxants may be prescribed. Patients may also see a physical therapist who can help build muscle strength and teach pain-relieving techniques. Often, rest is required in order to avoid re-injuring the back or making it worse. If the condition is particularly severe, surgery may be required, but it is usually not used until non-surgical methods have been tried and proved ineffective. In many cases, low back pain becomes a chronic condition, and a person who has it may need to change or limit many life activities to accommodate it.

Car accidents can cause any number of injuries, including serious back injuries. If you or someone you love has been injured in a car crash, the experienced Seattle car accident injury lawyers at Hardwick & Pendergast, P.S. can help. For a free and confidential consultation, call us today at (888) 228-3860.

A new regulation from the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) went into effect on January 3, banning commercial truck and bus drivers from using hand-held cell phones while driving.

The regulation is based on studies the FMCSA conducted over the previous year showing that truckers who hold onto their cell phones to make calls or look up information while driving sharply increase their risk of causing an accident. It follows a regulation imposed by the FMCSA last year which prohibits drivers from texting while behind the wheel of a semi truck or bus. Drivers are still allowed to use hands-free devices to talk on cell phones while driving, and they may pull over to use a cell phone or send a text message.

According to the FMCSA, drivers who are reaching for a cell phone, thus taking their eyes off the road and their hands off the wheel, are three times more likely to cause a commercial vehicle accident at that moment. Drivers who are dialing a number into a cell phone are six times more likely to cause an accident. Under the new rule, drivers could face fines of up to $2,750 for using a handheld cell phone and employers could face fines of up to $11,000.

If you or someone you love has been injured in a truck accident, the experienced Washington truck accident attorneys at Hardwick & Pendergast, P.S., can help. To discuss your case with us, give us a call today at (888) 228-3860. The call is free and confidential.

Washington State has several rules and requirements for construction site workers who are injured on the job. Workers’ compensation payments and other benefits may be available to many of these workers. Workers can help protect themselves and their coworkers by knowing what steps to take when an injury occurs, according to the Washington state Department of Labor and Industries.

1. Call an ambulance. If an employee is injured and the situation is an emergency, call 911 immediately. The Department of Labor and Industries will reimburse employers for emergency transfer and care, if the request is made in writing.
2. Call the department of Labor and Industries if the injured person is killed by the accident, is near death, or is hospitalized as an in-patient due to the severity of his or her injuries. The department requires employers to call within eight hours of these severe injuries. Employers can report these types of injuries by calling 1-888-423-7233.
3. Have employees see a doctor even if the injury does not require emergency care. Workers’ compensation pays the costs of most doctor’s visits, and employees can file their claim by seeing a doctor. Injured employees in Wisconsin have a right to see a doctor and to choose who will accompany them to the doctor’s office.

Getting medical care promptly can prevent more serious re-injuries or complications from occurring down the road. It gets an injured employee on the road to healing more quickly and maximizes the injured person’s chances of recovery.

If you or someone you love is injured in a construction or other workplace accident, please don’t hesitate to call the experienced Seattle personal injury attorneys at Hardwick & Pendergast, P.S. Our phone number is 888-228-3860. Call us today for a free and confidential consultation.