California Personal Injury and Insurance Blog

New California Organization Created to Certify Safety of Consumer Products

According to the Wall Street Journal, a new nonprofit institute, Green Products Innovation Institute, has recently been formed to help establish product safety standards to be used by California’s regulators. The regulators will use these standards when enforcing a California law that requires state manufacturers to find safer ways to manufacture consumer products.

 

The law was passed in 2008, and will begin being enforced in 2011. The work of the Institute is based on “Cradle-to-Cradle” principles that were designed in 1995 by an architect and a chemist. The principles illuminate ways that products can be redesigned so that they end up becoming recyclable instead of pollutants. The institute is aiming to serve as a clearinghouse for chemicals in the state and hopes to advance a seal of approval to be used in manufacturing. 

 

However, the Cradle to Cradle process takes so much time to put into practice that some companies who have been trying for years still haven’t completely transitioned their product lines. One problem is that safer alternative materials are not always readily available. The Institute hopes to collaborate with manufacturers and retailers to identify sources of safe raw materials and manufacturing techniques.

 

Governor Schwarzenegger hopes the certification process will lead to fewer carcinogens and other hazardous substances being present in consumer products, including toys, skin lotions, and candy.  The Governor acknowledged that over 600 wells in California are contaminated, primarily due to decomposing plastic products.

Avoiding Injuries at Amusement Parks

Last month, a state investigation into a 2009 roller coaster accident at Knott’s Berry Farm that injured two riders has concluded that the accident could have been prevented with proper maintenance. The accident was captured by a video camera and shows a cable snapping loose on the coaster’s zero to 80 m.p.h. launch. The coaster descended back towards the station, sending passengers scrambling to get off. 

 

Cal/OSHA blames both the theme park and the roller coaster manufacturer. The state found that the manufacturer’s maintenance manual for the ride was unclear as to whether the cable that snapped should be inspected monthly or every six months. Knott’s was at fault because it was 19 days late on the six-month inspection of the cable at the time of the accident. Although this accident was the fault of the amusement park and the coaster manufacturer, amusement park owners say most injuries that occur on rides are the fault of the passengers.

 

So how do you keep your family safe on roller coasters this summer? According to saferparks.org, the majority of accidents involving amusement park rides involve kids. Saferparks.org recommends the following tips to help make amusement park rides safer for your child:

 

• Always obey height, age, weight and health restrictions.
• Don’t put children on rides they are scared of. Younger children frequently will attempt to get off the ride.
• Be aware of the limitations of the ride’s safety equipment, including the lap bars.
• Watch all extremities.
• Watch the ride with your child before boarding.
• Be cautious when choosing rides for your child.

 

Stay safe this summer!

California Ranked Third in Staged Auto Accident Claims, Causing Premiums to Rise

Insurance claims from crashes that appear to be staged rose 46 percent between 2007 and 2009, according to recently released statistics from the National Insurance Crime Bureau. California had the third highest number of staged accidents in the U.S. between 2007 and 2009, with a total of 1,619. Only Florida and New York had more.

 

Ordinarily, these accidents are set up by criminals who work in groups. They sometimes involve several drivers and passengers who claim injuries, paid witnesses, and even medical providers who claim to have provided treatment for the false injuries. According to a recent article, some of the most common types of crashes include luring innocent drivers into crashes, scammers crashing into each other, and completely fabricating non-existent accidents.

 

According to an expert with the NICB, a non-profit organization that is funded by the insurance industry, a staged accident that results in a payout to victims, including medical and legal expenses, can average between $80,000 and $100,000. Not coincidentally, insurance premiums nationwide have risen an average of 24 percent over the past three years.

 

Experts recommend that in order to avoid getting scammed, be sure to maintain sufficient distance between your car and the car in front of you. If you are in an accident, take notes on the names and number of passengers in the other car or cars, and pay careful attention to how they are acting. Use your cell phone’s camera to carefully document damages to your car and the other car or cars. Get a police report, even for minor accidents. If someone tries to steer you to an unknown body shop, doctor, lawyer or chiropractor, take notes, and contact the California Department of Insurance’s Fraud Division if you have suspicions.  

Is Life Insurance for Stay at Home Parents Necessary?

When evaluating their life insurance, many couples assume they only need life insurance for an employed spouse. After all, stay at home parents, caregivers for elderly parents and other non-employed spouses typically don’t contribute financially to the household. In addition, many U.S. companies offer life insurance benefits to their employees, which typically aren’t available to a non-employed spouse.

 

However, often the contributions a non-working spouse makes to the family can be tremendous, and those contributions should be valued. In fact, a recent survey from Salary.com determined that a stay at home mom’s salary, if she got paid for the 10 most common tasks she performs, would be just over $117,000 per year. Because there is not an income to be replaced, many factors must be taken into account to determine the amount of life insurance needed, instead of simply calculating annual salary and multiplying it by a factor determined by the insured.

 

Some factors to consider when deciding how much life insurance to purchase for a non-employed spouse are:

 

• How much would it take to hire extra support people, such as housekeeping help and childcare providers?
• Will the surviving spouse have extra expenses to cover associated with his or her spouse’s death?
• Will the surviving spouse have to cut back on hours at work in order to assume duties formerly provided by the non-employed spouse?

 

I strongly encourage my clients, when shopping for life insurance, to consider not only replacing the employed spouse’s income, but also to get an amount to replace the non-employed spouse’s family contributions.