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Hardesty, Tyde, Green & Ashton, P.A. blog

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Social Security Disability, Failing the Disabled

Every time we get a paycheck we also see the deduction for Social Security taken out of our bottom line. Suddenly you are stricken with a terrible illness or injury rendering you unable to work. You have treated with a host of doctors for months or even years and the prognosis is the same, you are not able to work. You apply for Social Security Disability and you are DENIED! That is the result of over two thirds of all applications for disability. Never mind the volume of medical records documenting the treatment and condition by qualified physicians substantiating permanently disability, your claim nonetheless is denied. The result is that many people who should prevail do not and become so frustrated that they give up. Others hire qualified attorneys and demand a hearing thereby forcing the issue and more often than not prevail. To learn more about the Social Security Administrations culture of denial see the following CBS news report.

posted by Attorney W. Marc Hardesty at 8:15 PM

Friday, April 25, 2008

Truck Loading Critical to Safety

Just imagine 80,000 pounds coming at you at 70 miles an hour and you have just imagined driving on any interstate highway. This scenario is not a problem if the semi
trailer is properly loaded and secured. Many precautions are necessary to safely transport materials and products on our highways. Virtually anything you can think of is transported by tractor trailer (18 wheelers). The item transported dictates the type of securing or loading measures necessary to safely transport. For instance hauling liquids such as gasoline or milk require special tanker trailers with baffles inserted in order to reduce "sloshing" or movement of the load to cause the weight to shift causing steering or control difficulty. Flat bed trailer hauling pipe must be secured using dunnage which works much like a door stop to keep the pipe from rolling while chains and straps are used to tighten the load onto the trailer. The failure to use adequate loading or securing procedures regularly cause catastrophic accidents often claiming lives or causing terrible injury. Not only can shifting of the load cause the truck to go out of control but the load falling or rolling off the truck can kill too. There are specific safety procedures required for truck loading and those must be investigated in order to fully understand the cause of these types of accidents. To learn more regarding truck safety contact us.

posted by Attorney W. Marc Hardesty at 4:50 AM

Friday, April 18, 2008

Driving While Texting Causes Accidents

Accidents caused by not paying attention to driving while text messaging on cell phones is quickly becoming a leading cause of automobile crashes that range from minor bumps to multi vehicle fatal accidents. Many states are studying laws to prohibit text messaging commonly called texting while driving. Regardless of whether or not new specific laws are created there are currently laws applicable such as careless or reckless driving. If you are hit by someone it is always important to accurately notice the time of the impact because that may very well coincide with texting or cell phone usage of the at fault driver at the time of the crash. This information may at least raise a question as to whether the at fault driver was distracted and negligently caused the accident. Texting and driving do not mix. Most drivers would not consider reading a book or writing a letter while driving. Unfortunately, the buttons and screen of cell phone devices seem to make that acceptable to some. Many safety experts are concerned that texting and cell phone distraction while driving may be even a greater risk on our roadways than DUI or driver fatigue.

For more information see this link from MSN.com:

posted by Attorney W. Marc Hardesty at 4:39 AM

Thursday, April 17, 2008

St Johns River Top Ten Endangered River

The St. Johns River has the dubious honor of being rated as one of the top ten most endangered rivers in the United States of America. In fact, it ranked number six due to the initiatives of the St Johns River Water Management Districts (SJRWMD)to issue permits for pumping millions of gallons out of the river daily for Seminole County Florida consumption while simultaneously issuing permits to dump millions of gallons of polluted industrial water back into the river. The organization tasked with protecting the watershed of Central and Northeast Florida has abandoned its mission to look the other way while big money takes over. The annual report of American Rivers has placed the St Johns on this list due to the actions of the SJRWMD and the reckless disregard the for the health of the river. As a member of the legal board of the St Johns Riverkeeper we are waging a legal battle to save our river and the health of our community.

To read more about the American River 2008 Endangered River list see this link:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/americanrivers/endangeredrivers/

posted by Attorney W. Marc Hardesty at 6:21 PM

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Allstate Insurance Suspended For Misconduct

The Florida First District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee upheld the suspension of Allstate Insurance Company from obtaining new business in Florida for failing to produce witnesses and documents to the Office of Insurance Regulation. Allstate refused to adequately provide documents and in fact undertook a systematic scheme of removing documents that should have been turned over and providing witnesses that had little or no knowledge of the subject matter being investigated. Allstate's problems began with their cover up of a computer program that the company uses to cheat people injured in automobile accident claims by reducing the values of their claims by 20% across the board. Allstate has utilized this underhanded practice in other states to include Missouri where the company chose to defy a court order and pay a per day fine of $25,000 which now totals $2.4 million dollars. Apparently it is profitable continuing this practice of cheating injured parties rather than producing the evidence of their activity. To read the entire opinion of the Florida court upholding Allstate's suspension and details of their scheme and tactics see this link:
http://opinions.1dca.org/written/opinions2008/04-04-08/08-0275.pdf

posted by Attorney W. Marc Hardesty at 1:38 PM

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Veterans Require Fair Disability Ratings

Thousands of life changing injuries and events have been suffered by our wounded service members. The disability rating process is one that is daunting to our injured warriors. All too often there are the misdiagnosis' regarding traumatic brain injuries (TBI)and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Both injuries can be difficult to diagnosis but are none the less serious and can alter the cognitive abilities, coping mechanisms and quality of life of the service member and their families. The service member has the burden of proof regarding these injuries and in most cases must rely on a military medical system that is over committed and often lacks adequate diagnostic equipment and sufficient quantities of experienced medical clinicians. Furthermore, the rules for disability ratings and their application varies among the services which leads to skewed results that fail to assign the appropriate disability rating and consequently further harm the military member. It is extremely important for the service member to secure all their medical records and for friends and family members to assist the service member in demanding the appropriate care despite the resistance from the medical system and consequently the physical evaluation board (PEB) who assigns the disability rating.

For more information see this link to the military times.

posted by Attorney W. Marc Hardesty at 7:11 PM

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