Steps to Avoid Motorcycle Accidents

Did a Motorcyclist Too Old to Safely Ride Cause Your Crash?

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Although they get more press, vehicle drivers who are too elderly or disabled to drive safely are not the only gray threat on the roads. A motorcycle that’s unsafely driven can kill or severely injure others when ridden by someone no longer physically and or mentally capable of doing so. Riders who don’t know when to stop or refuse to do so are accidents waiting to happen.

A Revzilla article by Dr. Lewis Kaplan discusses issues that should concern any of us using public roads. Though motorcycles are often the victims of negligent drivers, they can also cause problems for drivers, fellow motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians.

Medical Conditions That Should Force Motorcyclists Off Their Bikes

Many physical limitations and medical conditions should end the careers of drivers and riders alike. They include the following:

  • Active seizures
  • Untreatable brain tumor
  • Lack of balance or dizziness
  • Legal blindness
  • Syncope (passing out)
  • Unstable diabetes mellitus (high blood sugar)
  • Poorly controlled heart rhythms requiring electrical shocks to maintain a regular rhythm
  • Loss of essential limbs
  • Certain psychological or psychiatric conditions causing inattentiveness or aggression that create a clear and present danger to themselves or others

Motorcyclists should stop riding if they can’t safely get on or off their bikes or breathe normally while riding. Issues that may arise that should cause them to stop riding at least temporarily include the following:

  • Using new opioid pain medication
  • Using chemotherapy or radiation to treat cancer because it can make you very tired
  • Unhealed abdominal or chest surgery
  • A recent traumatic brain injury

These limitations may not be written into law, but they are common-sense precautions (not that that means much to some people).

Warning Signs of Aging and Frailty to Motorcyclists

Some of us are so obviously frail that driving a car would be dangerous. Given the extra challenges of motorcycling, motorcyclists should stop riding long before their frailties are obvious.

Frailty is a syndrome (a group of symptoms), and scoring systems are used to identify those at risk of frailty (pre-frail) and those who currently have it, as well as its severity. There isn’t a hard number for when someone should stop riding. However, some events and signs indicate safety problems that shouldn’t be ignored. They include:

  • Feeling uncomfortable, fearful, or nervous if riding or preparing to ride
  • Frequent and or unexpected “close calls” that didn’t happen previously
  • Slowed response to unexpected situations
  • Unintentionally getting lost while going to a familiar place
  • Difficulty staying in a lane or maintaining a line
  • Difficulty concentrating while riding
  • Trouble paying attention to road signs, signals, and pavement markings
  • Difficulty judging gaps in traffic
  • Frequent traffic tickets or warnings
  • Increasing weakness and tiredness despite getting sufficient sleep

If a motorcyclist faces these issues, riding a trike with two wheels in the front or back will not make them a safe rider. It may give them a false sense of security, putting them in situations they’ll have difficulty handling.

Practical Advice from Older Motorcyclists

The author interviewed several riders, from the young to the very old. He asked them when they thought they should stop riding and how they would know it was their time. Here are some of their thoughts:

  • I can’t pick up my bike
  • I lose sight of the road at night
  • I can’t get my leg over the seat
  • I fall getting off my bike on level ground
  • Friends won’t ride with me because my riding scares them
  • I can’t even go the speed limit without fearing I won’t react in time to an emergency
  • Motorcycle insurance becomes unaffordable
  • I can’t read the street signs at the speed limit

Any of these issues should prompt a doctor’s visit to determine whether the rider should continue or if they have a treatable condition that can improve and make riding safer.

Speak To a Louisville Motorcycle Accident Attorney Today

If you or someone you love is injured in a Kentucky motorcycle accident, contact us. We want to help you recover the full and fair compensation you deserve. Whether a motorcyclist injured you or you were injured while riding a motorcycle, we can be your boots on the ground and guide you through the process ahead.

Contact our Louisville office to schedule a free initial consultation with an experienced Satterley & Kelley, PLLC motorcycle accident attorney. Call toll-free at 855-385-9532. You may also reach us through our online contact form.

Longer Nursing Home Shifts, the Greater Risk of Mistakes

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Nurses in Kentucky nursing homes are working some of the longest shifts in the country, according to recent research. The longer nurses work, the more likely care will suffer, mistakes will be made, and residents will be harmed because management is not filling necessary jobs. If a loved one is injured because of nursing home negligence, Satterley & Kelley, PLLC can help your loved one get the compensation they deserve.

A quarter of US nursing homes report “critical” staff shortages while there’s a growing demand from a rapidly aging population for nursing home and assisted living care, reports the Shelbyville Times-Gazette. This according to research by Vivian Health, which looked at payroll data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The information shows that nurses at Kentucky nursing homes, especially those in more rural areas, worked, on average, some of the longest shifts in the nursing home industry in the first three months of 2024.

A Growing Number of Elderly Americans While Nursing Home Staff Shrinks

The country’s nursing home workforce has shrunk while the need for long-term care increases. There were 8.4% fewer residential and nursing home care workers in January 2023 in the US compared to the same time in 2020. The reasons include the following:

  • Burnout
  • Occupational hazards
  • Long shifts
  • Workplace violence
  • Low pay
  • High workloads

In 2019, half of nurses surveyed reported working overtime, and about 10% stated they had a second job. Nurses commonly work 12 hour shifts plus voluntary or mandatory overtime. Many nurses working in nursing homes leave for better-paying, less stressful work in other healthcare areas.

Kentucky is in the Top Five States for Longest Nursing Shifts

Information from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services shows nurses working in Alaska, Utah, Nevada, Montana, and Kentucky, on average, have the longest shifts in the US.

Alaskan nurses work an average of 11.9 hours per shift. There are more than 1,500 reported registered nurse vacancies in the state. That’s expected to exceed 5,000 by 2030. There were about 3,000 open jobs in Kentucky’s nursing homes during winter 2022, reports WKYT.

Not only are residents getting older and reaching retirement age, but nurses are, too. Nurses in Utah nursing homes work an average of 11.77 hours per shift. About 20% of nurses in the state are approaching retirement age.

States with large rural areas, like Kentucky, Nevada, and Montana, have significant challenges because there’s an uneven distribution of workers. There are fewer nursing home job vacancies in urban and suburban areas and greater needs in rural areas.

Longer Shifts, Worse Care

Long work shifts and staffing shortages are bad for employees and lower patient quality of care. Nurses working longer shifts may be more tired, which can cause errors that impact patient safety and health. Staff shortages are also associated with higher patient mortality rates.

Thirteen years ago, the Joint Commission issued a warning to the healthcare industry about the dangers patients and nursing home residents face when nurses work long hours:

“The link between health care worker fatigue and adverse events is well

documented, with a substantial number of studies indicating that the practice of

extended work hours contributes to high levels of worker fatigue and reduced

productivity. These studies and others show that fatigue increases the risk of

adverse events, compromises patient safety, and increases risk to personal safety and well-being… longer shift length increased the risk of errors and close calls and were associated with decreased vigilance, and that nurses suffer higher rates of occupational injury when working shifts in excess of 12 hours. Still, while the dangers of extended work hours (more than 12 hours) are well known, the health care industry has been slow to adopt changes, particularly with regard to nursing.”

Although short staffing has long been a problem, nursing home management has failed to effectively resolve it. After many years of finger-pointing and shrugged shoulders, there’s more federal regulation to try to force the nursing home industry to change.

In April, the Biden administration issued new staffing requirements for nursing homes to address worker schedules and staff shortages. Most nursing homes can’t meet the new standards, but deadlines vary from 90 days to three years from the announcement. Several parties, including Kentucky’s attorney general, are challenging these new rules in federal court.

Speak To a Kentucky Nursing Home Injury Attorney Today

Satterley & Kelley, PLLC lawyers will fight for your loved one to obtain the respectful care they need and compensation for injuries they deserve. To contact our Louisville office and set up a free initial consultation with an experienced nursing home attorney, call toll-free at 855-385-9532 or contact us online.

You’re the Lab Animal Testing Your Medical Device’s Safety

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You expect a medical device recommended by your physician and approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) to be safe and effective. That may be showing too much faith in how our system of medical device approvals works. A device you expect to keep you alive or improve your quality of life may have undergone little or no safety testing before it was surgically implanted.

Satterley & Kelley, PLLC helps people victimized by defective medical devices that severely harmed them. We also represent families of those killed by these devices in wrongful death legal actions. If you want to learn more, contact us at 855-385-9532.

Insulin Pump Causes Problems for Thousands of Users

One such device is a Medtronic portable insulin pump, featured in an article by KFF Health News. People with diabetes use it. The pump is supposed to push insulin from a reservoir into the user when needed.

One user was Carlton Gautney, Jr., of Alabama. He died in 2020 when he was 59, and his family is suing Medtronic in a wrongful death lawsuit. They claim the device is defective and gave him a fatal insulin dose.

What he used was one of about 200,000 Medtronic insulin pumps that were recalled in 2019 because a part was defective and could “lead to an over or under delivery of insulin,” which could “be life threatening or may result in death.” The recall was expanded two years later.

During an inspection at a Medtronic plant, FDA personnel discovered the company received more than 74,000 complaints about the part from 2016 to the November 2019 recall. More than 800 of them weren’t investigated by the company.

Medtronic faces more than 60 lawsuits by injured patients and their families. Last August Medtronic stated in a Securities and Exchange Commission that they expect thousands more of these legal claims.

A Loophole in Federal Law Allows Products to Bypass Safety Testing

It sounds good on paper. If a device is substantially equivalent to one the FDA has already approved, why incur another $500,000 in costs to sell it? This process was part of legislation passed in 1976, known as 510(k) clearance.

A 2011 Institute of Medicine report stated this was “not intended to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of medical devices.” It stated, “(A) move away from the 510(k) clearance process should occur as soon as reasonably possible.” That advice has yet to be heeded.

The FDA now approves about 3,000 what are considered low- to moderate-risk devices annually through the 510(k) review process. That’s a hundred times as many as the roughly 30 annual approvals through the agency’s stricter premarketing requirements. Many doctors and patients don’t know devices that may mean the difference between life and death (like the one used by Carlton Gautney, Jr.) haven’t undergone clinical trials to prove they’re safe.

The FDA can convince a company to fix defective devices or force them to do so through a recall. However, a critical part of that step is for companies to investigate complaints and tell the FDA about them. Several medical device companies have been found to have kept bad news to themselves and didn’t tell the agency about complaints.

New and Improved But Substantially Equivalent to Something Approved in the Past?

Are these devices truly equivalent to what’s been approved in the past? Rochester Institute of Technology researcher Sandra Rothenberg told KFF, “We can’t get detailed data…It’s very hard for researchers to determine the basis on which substantial equivalence is being made and to analyze if there are problems.”

While companies take advantage of the safety shortcut, they also market the same devices as having new and exciting features.

Defective Products are Impacting Patients

Two Medtronic sales executives turned whistleblowers exposed problems with one machine that got 510(k) FDA approval. The Puritan Bennett 980, or PB 980, is a ventilator approved in 2014 based on the company’s claim it was substantially equivalent to an older mechanical ventilator, the PB 840, made by a Medtronic subsidiary.

Though the PB 980 works differently, Medtronic claimed it was substantially equivalent. For years, the PB 980 ventilator suffered many dangerous malfunctions before it was recalled in 2021 because of a “manufacturing assembly error” that, according to the company, may cause it to become “inoperable.”

The whistleblowers claim that:

  • Smoke billowed out of one ventilator in an intensive care unit
  • The ventilator cart’s wheels may fall off during transport
  • Batteries could fail without warning, forcing staff to suddenly try to keep patients alive manually
  • Monitor screens would freeze repeatedly or otherwise break
  • Alarm bells warning of an emergency rang constantly and were only stopped when the unit was unplugged from a wall socket and the batteries removed

Medtronic denies the PB 980 is defective.

Schedule A Free Consultation — Contact Us Today

If medical device producers are selling dangerously defective products and the FDA is unwilling or unable to stop them, a product liability lawsuit can hold responsible parties accountable if you or a loved one are injured while using one. You may be awarded compensation for the pain, suffering, medical bills, and lost income you’ve endured.

Schedule a free initial consultation with a Satterley & Kelly, PLLC attorney, to discuss what happened, why the device may have caused the injury, and how Kentucky law may apply to your situation. To reach our Louisville office, call toll-free at 855-385-9532 or contact us online.

The Dangers of Dump Trucks

The Dangers of Dump Trucks for You and Your Passengers

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Dump trucks are potentially hazardous heavy commercial trucks. They are especially dangerous if they have an inexperienced driver, are improperly loaded, and travel too fast or slow. When you see one on the road, keep a safe distance away or pass it as quickly and safely as possible.

What is a Dump Truck?

It’s a heavy-duty vehicle transporting and unloading loose materials like gravel, sand, dirt, or debris. Its body may be raised and tilted so what’s on it can be emptied onto the ground, in a specific area, or another vehicle. This reduces the need for manual labor, and the unloading process takes less time.

What Accident Risks Do Dump Trucks Pose?

Some hazards are obvious, while others are hidden. They include the following:

  • Blind spots: They are much larger than those of passenger vehicles. They make it difficult for truck drivers to see other vehicles, pedestrians, or cyclists, increasing the chances of an accident, especially when the truck changes lanes or turns. It may be tough for the driver to see what’s behind the truck, whether backing up or traveling on the road. Be aware of and try to avoid these blind spots, and stay a safe distance from them to cut the risk of a collision
  • Rollovers: These trucks have a high center of gravity, especially when improperly loaded. Sharp turns, sudden movements, or an uneven road, especially at high speed and in the presence of other traffic, can lead to rollovers. If this happens, given the weight of the truck, anyone in a vehicle it lands on has a good chance of being severely or fatally injured
  • Unsecured cargo: A dump truck’s cargo should be properly secured so it doesn’t fall onto the roadway or strike another vehicle behind it. Depending on what’s inside the bed, it should be covered. The material coming off the truck may damage following it, create dangerous obstacles on the roadway, or distract a driver trying to get away from the oncoming mess and collide with another vehicle
  • Failure to follow applicable rules, regulations, and laws: The driver may be fatigued, impaired, or unqualified. The driver may travel above the speed limit to finish the job as soon as possible, making the truck more difficult to control. Overloaded trucks may travel far below the speed limit going up hills, frustrating other drivers, who may pass it when unsafe. They may speed down hills after reaching the top, potentially rear-ending another vehicle or striking one in the opposite lane head-on. The truck’s owner may skimp on maintenance or repairs to lower their costs, making the dump truck more likely to have a mechanical problem that can cause an accident. Tires that should be replaced are still used, or brakes are pushed extra miles to delay the replacement costs. The bed may be overloaded, or its contents may not have been properly loaded, or they shifted, making a rollover more likely

  • Poor weather conditions: Darkness, rain, and snow cuts how well the driver can see. Wet or icy roads, especially if combined with worn tires, make it more difficult to stop and steer the truck, increasing the risks of a rollover

Each situation is unique. Accidents often have multiple causes, such as an overloaded truck with bad brakes or a speeding and fatigued driver.

Should I Hire Satterley & Kelley, PLLC, if I’m Injured by a Dump Truck?

A critical step to protecting your rights to compensation for your injuries is investigating the accident. This is something few people know how to do well, and we do it for every one of our cases. With an investigation, you may have enough evidence to make an insurance claim or carry your burden of proof at a trial.

Depending on the situation, several parties may be involved, each with their own insurance coverage. A trucking company or someone else may own and maintain the truck. The driver may be a trucking company employee or an independent contractor. We will find out who’s involved, what they did or failed to do to cause the accident and determine which one’s at fault and how much. Is that something you can do?

We’ve negotiated settlements and taken commercial truck accident cases to trial for decades. They can be very complex and challenging, but we’ve represented hundreds of clients in truck accident cases and can also help you.

Talk To a Dump Truck Accident Attorney Today

If you or a family member is injured or killed in a Kentucky dump truck accident, our law firm can and will help you handle legal matters. Put boots on the ground with help from Satterley & Kelley, PLLC.

Call toll-free at 855-385-9532 or complete our contact form to schedule a free initial consultation at our Louisville office.

PAUL J. KELLEY NAMED A KENTUCKY SUPER LAWYER FOR THE FIFTH YEAR IN A ROW

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The Law Office of Satterley & Kelley PLLC is pleased to announce that Paul J. Kelley has been named for 2025 as a “Kentucky Super Lawyer in Personal Injury,” marking the fifth year in a row that Paul has been recognized in this way.

Fewer than 5% of the lawyers in Kentucky are selected as Super Lawyers.

Satterley & Kelley PLLC is known for handling complex personal injury and wrongful death cases.

Attorney Paul Kelley

For attorney Kelley’s bio, click here.

Attorney Kelley has been practicing law in Kentucky since 2001, and was also chosen as a 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 Super Lawyer. Paul represents injury victims in a wide range of cases, with a special focus on asbestos and mesothelioma lawsuits.

To view the online version of Super Lawyers 2025, click here.

Congratulations Paul!

Football Injury Case

Messages May Have Sunk Defenses in Football Injury Case

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This story concerns football, severe brain injuries, and unheeded warnings. Negligence cases often turn on whether a defendant took reasonable care of something to prevent injuries. That can be based on their knowledge of a situation, how potentially dangerous it may be, and what they did (or didn’t) do about it.

When an investigation finds many warnings, insufficient action in response, and a life-altering injury, a jury could find liability and make a substantial award in a personal injury case.

Unsafe Field + Fall = Foreseeable Traumatic Brain Injury

Emanuel “Manny” Garcia got good grades in his freshman year at Corona del Mar High School in Orange County, California, in 2021. He played football, too. He fell during a practice in March of that year on a natural turf field. Despite wearing a helmet, Garcia suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, reports the Los Angeles Times.

It caused bleeding in his brain, and he suffered severe cognitive loss and emotional harm. He went into a coma, and his grades dropped dramatically. Due to his brain injury, he was considered a special education student. Despite his setbacks, Garcia graduated in June.

The focus of a 2022 lawsuit filed on Garcia’s behalf was the field’s condition, what the school knew about it, and whether it did enough to make it safe to play on. Garcia’s attorneys claim the school district failed to adequately maintain the fields despite repeated warnings of dangerous conditions that could lead to head injuries from parents and coaches in multiple sports.

The Times asked the school district for a comment on the case. They responded by stating the district:

  • Regularly tests its fields
  • Performs routine safety assessments and soil compaction tests
  • Makes substantial improvements to their fields and athletic facilities
  • Is dedicated to ongoing maintenance

Warnings the school system received about the fields’ safety paint a less rosy picture. Garcia’s attorney states that evidence obtained during the discovery included a 2016 email from the school’s lacrosse coach to the then-high school principal and athletic director. It states in part:

“I wanted to reach out and express my deep concerns for the current condition of our athletics field on our campus…Frankly, the surface on which we are asking our student-athletes to practice and compete on a daily basis is bordering on unplayable. Our fields have steadfastly become a safety concern, a liability issue and an extremely poor representation of our school.”

The high school principal received other verbal and written warnings over many years. Garcia’s attorney says they were credible, clear, and consistent.

School District Blames Student, But Later Settles Case

The response to the lawsuit would be familiar to any attorney representing injured plaintiffs. The law firm representing the school district denied Garcia suffered any injuries. If there were any, the 15-year-old’s negligence caused them because he didn’t use the “care and caution” that a “reasonably prudent” person would’ve used under the circumstances.

Despite all the negligence Garcia may have committed, the school system settled his case in August for $31 million. We’ll never know what a jury would’ve decided in this case. But chances are good the school district and its attorneys feared the verdict against them would’ve been far higher. Defendants and their insurers don’t give away that kind of settlement.

Same Story. Different Settings and Characters

Satterley & Kelley, PLLC has represented clients in personal injury cases for more than 30 years. We’ve had cases where defendants had clear warnings of dangerous situations that they ignored or failed to do nearly enough to respond.

Management may have doubted the problem was that bad. They wanted to spend resources elsewhere, other things were priorities, or they didn’t care. Others’ safety wasn’t a priority, and someone got seriously hurt as a result.

As much satisfaction as we get from righting wrongs in these cases, our clients were severely injured, sometimes with lifetime disabilities, in preventable and senseless accidents. These incidents shouldn’t have happened, but they did, and we did our part to make our clients’ lives easier and better.

Speak To a Satterley & Kelley Personal Injury Lawyer Today

If another party injured you or your child due to their negligence, Satterley & Kelley, PLLC lawyers can protect legal rights to compensation for your harm. Call our Louisville office at 855-385-9532 to schedule a free initial consultation. We can discuss the accident and your injuries. If it’s more convenient, you can complete our contact form.