Arizona Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Koplow & Patane Law Firm : Insurance Bad Faith, Personal Injury, Auto Accidents : Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Arizona

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On Sunday June 22, 2008 the Scottsdale Tribune reported on a recent study of motorcycle deaths in Arizona.  According to the Tribune, "in 2006, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 4,810 motorcyclists and their passengers were killed in crashes across America."  In Arizona, 142 people died in 2006. 

However, in 2007 Arizona motorcycle deaths fell to 135.  The Arizona Governor's Office of Highway Safety is pleased that the numbers in Arizona are going down because the reduction occurs in the midst of an increase in the popularity of motorcycles in Arizona, meaning the number of deaths would be expected to increase.   From 2004 to 2006 motorcycle registrations jumped 41% in Arizona to more than 114,000.  The Tribune indicates that the Office of Highway Safety believes the reduction in fatalities may be related to the advertising campaign called "Ride Safe, Drive Aware" which began in early 2007.

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The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced that American Suzuki is recalling over 9,000 MY 2008 GSX1300R motorcycles. Improper routing of the ignition switch wiring harness can cause a bent portion of the wiring harness to flex rather than slide when the handlebar is moved from right to left or left to right. Repeated side-to-side movement of the handlebar, and flexing of the bent portion wiring harness, can eventually cause the ignition switch lead wires to become cut or broken. This can result in intermittent or complete loss of electrical power, which can result in loss of lighting and/or stalling of the engine, increasing the risk of a crash.

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According to a recent press release from the Arizona Department of Insurance, in 2007 the Department responded to 5,020 complaints and assisted thousands of Arizona consumers to recover $7,483,107 in claim settlements and refunds. These figures increased from 2006 when the department received 4,393 complaints and assisted in recovering $3,607,496 for consumers.

The Department of Insurance reports that the majority of complaints involve delay or denial in paying automobile, health or homeowners insurance claims.

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According to consumeraffairs.com, new research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Center for Injury Sciences indicates injuries associated with the use of golf carts may be under-appreciated, suggesting the need for the implementation of new safety measures.

Mark Huffington of consumeraffairs.com recently reported that according to the June issue of the Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection and Critical Care, UAB researchers found that there were more than 48,255 golf-cart related injuries between 2002 and 2005, with the highest injury rates observed in males 10-19 years old and those over 80.

Gerald McGwin, Ph.D., associate director for research at the Center for Injury Sciences says fractures and head trauma are among the most common injuries associated with golf cart-related accidents.  Due to the high risk of rollover and ejection, he recommends the use of helmets and seatbelts, particularly if the golf cart is driven on public roads, as is common in Arizona.

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Consumeraffairs.com recently wrote:

Parents traveling with young children face more challenges than they used to. When they rent a car, for example, they also have to rent a child safety seat. They depend on the car rental agency to offer a safe and reliable seat, but shouldn't just assume they'll get one, as consumer Debbie Dubrow discovered.

Dubrow, her husband and two small children flew from Seattle to San Diego in December, renting a car and two child safety seats from Advantage Rent A Car. The seats, she says, had obvious problems.

"Some seats were obviously missing parts. Some were obviously very old," she told ConsumerAffairs.com. "We installed two of the better looking seats thinking that they were okay only to find that they were not working.

"One was missing the top part of the harness that would secure the child in a crash, the other had a seatbelt that wouldn't tighten enough to secure our child. It took us quite some time to find working seats to install," she said. "The seats were also filthy, with huge black marks on some and dirt or crumbs on others."

Dubrow says that when she complained to the rental car manager, he offered to refund the money for the seats, but otherwise offered no help. It wasn't just a matter of poor customer service, she says, it was a violation of the law.

"In California, there are clear laws regarding child safety seat rental. These old, non-working seats were not only unsafe, they were also against the law," Dubrow said.

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CNN is reporting that an Ohio distributor is recalling about six million Chinese-made tire valve stems after discovering that some of them were improperly made and may increase the risk of accidents.  The CNN story reports:

Tech International, the part's Johnstown, Ohio-based distributor, estimates that just 8,600 of roughly 6 million of those valves are defective.  The valve is a replacement snap-in tire valve -- Model No. TR413 -- manufactured between July and November 2006.

It was imported by Tech International from manufacturer Shanghai Baolong Industries Co. in Shanghai, China, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  According to the recall, the rubber part of the valve may crack after being in use for about six months, causing a gradual loss of tire pressure.

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Ken Alltucker of the Arizona Republic has reported that an insurance-industry practice of retroactively dismissing individual health policies and leaving some people with costly medical bills has come under fire in Arizona and other states.  His article states:

The practice is generating many complaints to government regulators and some lawsuits claiming insurers have improperly dropped coverage.

Insurance companies say such cancellations are a rare but necessary tool to stop consumer fraud and lower costs for all individual policyholders.

Yet, consumers and lawyers who have challenged insurance cancellations say there are many examples of insurers targeting patients who have been diagnosed with chronic or life-threatening diseases that require costly medical care.

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Betty Beard of the Arizona Republic has reported on the recent outbreak.  Her articles states:

That Arizona now has 19 confirmed cases of salmonella saintpaul, a tomatoes food-poisoning outbreak that has sickened almost 170 people in 17 states, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.  Three Arizonans have been hospitalized; none has died. They range in age from 10 to 78.

Apache County has had seven cases, Maricopa County has had four, Navajo County, three, and one each in Pima, Pinal and Coconino counties. The locations of the other two are unknown. The onset dates ranged from May 2 to May 25.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said its investigations suggest that large tomatoes, including Roma and round red, are the source.

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Tami Abdollah of the Los Angeles Times has reported that an environmental organization found high concentrations of dangerous chemicals in shower curtains sold at major stores.  The article states:

Vinyl shower curtains sold at major retailers across the country emit toxic chemicals that have been linked to serious health problems, according to a report released Thursday by a national environmental organization.

The curtains contained high concentrations of chemicals that are linked to liver damage as well as damage to the central nervous, respiratory and reproductive systems, said researchers for the Virginia-based Center for Health, Environment & Justice.

The organization commissioned the study about two years ago to determine what caused that "new shower curtain smell" familiar to many consumers.  "This smell can make you feel sick, give you a headache, make you feel nauseous or [cause] other health effects," said Michael Schade, a coauthor of the report.