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Los Lunas Personal Injury Law Blog

Injuries from Unsecured Equipment on Oil and Gas Rigs

The oil and gas industry continues to boom in New Mexico, and many people go to work and expose themselves to various types of oil and gas rig accidents on a daily basis. Tragic injuries can happen in many ways, and one serious type of accident occurs when equipment on the rig is not properly secured. 

The New Mexico Worker’s Compensation Act Prevents an Injured Worker from Pursuing a Claim Against an Employer if Injured on the Job.

If you sustain an injury while you are working at your job and while you are performing a job duty in the scope of your employment, you may be eligible to file a claim for New Mexico workers’ compensation benefits.

Is Amazon Liable for Defective Products?

Amazon reported more than $280 billion in revenue last year, making the company the top online retailer in the world. About half of all e-commerce in the United States involves Amazon, and people have about 12 million products delivered to their homes each year from Amazon.

At David C. Chavez Law Firm, we will investigate and evaluate if you have a Third-Party Personal Injury Claim for Your Work-Related Injuries

After a job-related injury, your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance will cover your medical expenses and 2/3 of your lost wages.

Have you Sustained a Head Injury as a Result of a Auto Accident?

Many people involved in a traffic accident sustain some type of head injury. In many situations, head injuries can be invisible and are not apparent without diagnostic testing, so it is critical for any car accident victim who might have a head injury to seek a full medical evaluation right away.

How do Vehicle Ejections Happen?

Passenger vehicles come with many safety features, including seat belts, airbags, roll bars, crumple zones, and more. Unfortunately, none of these safety features can protect you from injuries if you are ejected from a vehicle in a crash.

New Mexico Product Liability Lawyer

When vehicle defects cause serious monetary losses for motorists, the resulting legal cases can be drawn-out and contentious. Automakers should be held liable for the harm they cause, but these large corporations will often fight against liability and compensating consumers whenever possible.

You have the Right to See Your Own Doctor When Injured Whether at Work, in a Automobile Collision or in a Personal Injury Claim.

It can be difficult to know what to do after an injury. Those responsible do not want to take responsibility, so they downplay the injuries or ignore them. This is a mistake, as you should always get medical attention and a formal diagnosis of your injuries as soon as possible after a accident. Doing so can help preserve your rights and seeking medical help.

What are Your Rights after Getting Hit and Injured by an Uninsured Driver?

Like all of the 50 states, New Mexico requires every driver to have a minimum amount of car insurance. If authorities learn that the driver does not have the necessary insurance coverage, the New Mexico Mandatory Financial Responsibility Act allows the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) to fully suspend their vehicle registration.

Accidents Due to Distracted Drivers

Distracted drivers often fail to notice when traffic is slowing down or stopping, resulting in collisions on a regular basis. Drivers who are not paying attention also commonly miss people who are walking, jogging, or cycling, and can cause deadly, often tragic injuries.

Before a Surgery, Ask the Surgeon about Concurrent Surgeries

Having any type of surgery is a nerve-wracking experience - even if it’s a “routine” procedure. The truth of the matter is that no surgery is routine from the perspective of a patient, and every time you have surgery you are literally putting your life in the hands of the surgeon performing the procedure and his or her medical team.

Do Truck Drivers Get Background Checks?

Semi-trucks can weigh up to 80,000 pounds (compared to about 4,000 pounds for the average vehicle) and often carry heavy or even hazardous cargo. It makes sense that drivers don’t want just anyone behind the wheel of these large and dangerous commercial vehicles.

Do I Need a Police Report if I was Attacked by a Dog?

A dog attack can be a terrifying experience that can entitle victims to significant compensation for their injuries. If you’ve recently been attacked by a dog , you may be wondering whether you need a police report of the incident in order to file a claim against the dog’s owner.

How Long do I Have to File a Personal Injury Claim in New Mexico?

When personal injuries occur, it can impact every area of your life. You may be unable to work or even perform simple chores around your home, while facing the prospect of endless doctors appointments and medical treatments.

Steps to Take After a Car Accident

Car accidents are an unfortunately common occurrence throughout New Mexico. Even a minor crash or collision can end up causing you serious personal injuries. In the aftermath of an accident, it is important to be aware of what you need to do to protect your rights to compensation.

You should be cautious of truckers experiencing burnout

Each day, countless truckers wake up and don't feel like getting on the road. It's not that they're sleepy or have a fear of driving, but instead that they're just experiencing burnout.

The editor of the academic journal Burnout Research notes that there are three different stages truckers go through before they begin to experience disillusionment with their jobs.

Determining liability in slip-and-fall cases is not always clear

Someone spills a drink on the tile floor of a grocery store and you walk right into the puddle of liquid without noticing it. Or maybe a staircase you take after leaving your doctor's visit is poorly lit and you slip and fall all the way down a full flight of stairs. If you suffer injuries in one of these types of instances, you may want to hold the property's owner liable for your mounting medical costs and lost wages.

Property owners are understood to assume certain risks when they decide to make their facility accessible to others. One of the responsibilities they assume is keeping their premises safe. They're also responsible for taking reasonable precautions to ensure that safety hazards are minimized.

Does drowsy driving equate to drunk driving?

Getting enough sleep can be a challenge for many people here in New Mexico. Between work and family obligations, time for sleep may be limited. When you add in having time to relax and enjoy some down time, the amount of hours left for sleep diminishes quickly.

More than likely, you have experienced days where you feel as though you are on autopilot. You may not even remember your morning or evening commute. Perhaps you even joked, "It's a good thing the car knows the way." You may say that in jest, but you also know that you could be lucky that nothing went wrong while you were driving drowsy.

N.M. 314 and Courthouse Road to be redeveloped to reduce crashes

New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) officials held a hearing for the public recently to hear their thoughts on the redevelopment of the intersection of Courthouse Road and N.M. 314. One of the reasons that they'd scheduled the hearing is to get input from Los Lunas residents about different designs that they'd come up with.

The intersection has long been known to NMDOT to be plagued with safety issues. At the meeting, a department spokeperson noted that the intersection has skewed geometry and that there are too few lanes from which motorists can turn onto N.M. 314. The rail crossing lies too close to the intersection as well.

What is perinatal ashyxia and how will it impact my child?

The birth process can be fairly traumatic for both baby and mother. This is one of the reasons that a large number of babies suffer injuries when they're born.

Physical pressure that a newborn and his or her mother is subjected to as the baby passes though the birth canal is often to blame for these birth injuries. While many babies are able to recover from these without any medical intervention, there are certain conditions that are either permanently debilitating or life-threatening.

Can undocumented workers receive workers' compensation benefits?

While hiring undocumented workers may not been lawful under existing federal law, many employers turn a blind eye when they desperately need help. Because hiring undocumented workers is illegal in this country, you may think that you'd be ineligible to file a claim to receive workers' compensation benefits if you were hurt on the job.

The truth is that your legal status here in the United States doesn't impact your ability to file and receive workers' compensation benefits, though.

What the most common car crash types are and how to avoid them

When it comes to traffic accidents, there are three primary types — side, rear-end and head-on collisions. While drivers can minimize their risk of becoming involved in any of the aforementioned types of accidents by learning and practicing defensive driving techniques, unfortunately they can't control the other drivers on the road.

Most automobile collisions occur between two vehicles despite often hearing media stories about multi-car pileups and single-vehicle crashes. Research also shows that at least one-third of these types of collisions happen while motorists are moving through an intersection.

Who can you sue if you're struck and injured by flying debris?

How many times have you been driving down the road behind a truck with loose debris hanging off its trailer? If it flies off, it's likely that it ends up strewn about the streets. It might even strike your car and cause damage. In some rare cases, this can cause you to suffer injuries.

If you've been hurt, you may wonder who you can hold financially responsible for your injuries. There's no one simple response to the question. There are many different hazards that may enter our paths as drivers that cause damage our vehicle. Potholes and animals are two such hazards.

A fracture could be more serious than you think

Perhaps you were on your way home after a long day at work. All you could think about was relaxing in your favorite chair with an adult beverage. Those plans suddenly disappeared when another vehicle rammed into yours. As the shock of what just happened began to wear off, you realized that you suffered a bone fracture.

After seeing the damage done to your vehicle and the vehicle that struck yours, you may feel lucky that you came away with only a fractured bone. However, what you may realize too late is that bone fractures can come with serious complications that could prolong your recovery period and leave you with permanent damage.

Who can you sue if a neighbor's home fire also engulfs your own?

A fire starts at your neighbor's house and quickly spreads to your own. It quickly engulfs it, destroying everything inside.

While you may be thankful that you and your family members made it out alive, you may wonder what recourse you have recovering the cost of your home and the things that were in it at the time, especially if you didn't have homeowners' insurance yourself.

Ways in which you can avoid falling victim to medical malpractice

A lot of us think of hospitals as a place we go to receive treatment from competent professionals in order feel better. Few of us expect to go there only for our health to decline, resulting in pain and suffering, as well as permanent injury or death.

According to data compiled by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine, around 440,000 Americans on average die each year as a result of having either contracted an infection or fallen victim to a doctor or surgical error while staying at the hospital. It shouldn't come as a surprise that medical malpractice ranks third among the top causes of death in this country.