New York Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

A recent decision in a Jefferson County, Pennsylvania Court should provide a strong wake up call to personal injury plaintiffs who are on social network sites such as Facebook and MySpace. The case, McMIllen v. Hummingbird Speedway, Inc.,, involves a stock car racer who claimed that he was permanently injured when his car was rear ended in a stock car race in July of 2007. The defendants that he sued reviewed the public section of McMillen's Facebook account and found that he had commented on a recent fishing trip and attendance at a Daytona 500 race. They then requested that the Court order Mr. McMillen to provide user names and passwords for his Facebook and MySpace accounts. They did this, of course, so that they could access wall posts, photos and other non-public information to determine if these entries contradicted his claims of being permanently impaired and unable to enjoy his usual activities as a result of the July, 2007 accident.

McMillen's attorneys fought the request by the defendants, claiming that McMillen had a right to privacy with regard to his Facebook and MySpace accounts which would be violated if the Court ordered the disclosure requested by the defendants. In response, the Court reviewed what is privileged information under Pennsylvania statutes, and noted that the only inviolable privileges include those against self incrimination under the 5th Amendment of the Constitution and the attorney-client privilege. Pointedly, the Court noted that there is no "social network site privilege". It also declared that the purpose of the social network sites is to connect with friends and meet new people, and that it would be "unrealistic to expect that [such] disclosures would be considered confidential." Additionally, the Court reviewed the privacy policies of both Facebook and MySpace, and found that they clearly envision a scenario in which these sites would divulge information directly in response to judicial requests: For example, Facebook's policies state that: "Users are informed that Facebook's operators may disclose information pursuant to subpoenas, court orders, or other civil and criminal requests if they have a good faith belief that the law requires them to respond."

In summary, the Court in McMillen ordered that the plaintiff has to provide his user name, log in and password so that the defendants' lawyers could access his Facebook and MySpace accounts to determine if in fact he was engaging in activities which would contradict his claims of permanent injury and limitation of his previously actively lifestyle. It may have been that the fishing trip and trip to Daytona were aberrations and that Mr. McMillen is in fact permanently disabled from his July, 2007 accident. However, the moral of this story is that if you are involved in a personal injury case, the wisest course of action is to avoid posting information, photographs and other entries on your Facebook and other social media accounts which might later be used against you to contradict your claims of injury.

Continue reading "Facebook Updates Fair Game In Injury Lawsuits?" »

In a study published in the Accident Analysis and Prevention journal, it was reported that teen drivers are involved in four times as many fatal car crashes as adult motorists. Researchers reviewed data regarding 800 accidents with teen drivers and determined the three most common errors which were responsible for almost half of all the serious crashes:

1. A lack of scanning to find hazards, which led to 21% of the accidents;

2. Driving too fast for the traffic conditions, resulting in 21% of the crashes; and

3. Distracted driving (with text messaging a substantial percentage), leading to 20% of the accidents.

Surprisingly, factors including poor weather, vehicle malfunction, aggressive driving and drowsy driving were not found to be significant factors in most of the car accidents which were analyzed. According to the authors of the study, scanning surroundings far in front of the car and from side to side is a higher level skill that more seasoned drivers develop over many years.

Continue reading "The Three Most Common Errors Causing Teen Driver Accidents" »

Earlier this month, the New York State Senate voted in favor of a law which would strengthen New York's texting while driving ban. Presently, texting while driving is a secondary violation, meaning that in order for a ticket to be issued, the police officer must first observe the motorist commit a separate driving infraction, such as speeding or passing a traffic control device. Under the Senate version, which was promoted by Senator Fuschillo, Chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, texting while driving would become a primary offense.

Distracted driving has become a major safety issue across the United States, and texting while driving is a large part of this problem, with the major increase in text messaging as a means of communication. In a study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, it was found that a motorist is 23 times more likely to have an accident while text messaging. The American Automobile Association (AAA) has reported that any activity which diverts a driver's attention from the road for more than 2 seconds can double the risk of an accident. John Corlett, the AAA Legislative Committee chair noted that "

The secondary nature of the current New York State law dilutes its deterrence value...there is overwhelming public consensus on the unique threat of text-messaging while driving...

The Senate bill has now been sent to the New York State Assembly, which has in the past been supportive of a primary texting while driving prohibition. We will monitor the progress of this legislation and report on any major developments.

Continue reading "NYS Senate Passes Tougher Texting While Driving Law" »