Describes motivation process for creativity with emphasis on intrinsic motivation by Corey K Katir

Imagine, one minute driving along the freeway without a care in the world, and the next minute looking in your rear view mirror and seeing nothing but the grill of a semi truck.

Thatas exactly what happened to Carlos Perez of Geneva, New York, on August 21, 2009. Mr. Perez was driving his car with three other passengers, including two children, 12 and 5, on the New York State Thruway. Trucker Ronald J. Constable, Jr. of Earlton, New York was hauling kerosene on the same stretch of road. The trucker came upon Mr. Pereza car which was cruising at 60 M.P.H. in the passing lane. He decided to “coax” Mr. Perez back into the right hand lane by maneuvering his tractor trailer within a few feet of the car. Mr. Perez responded to the tailgating maneuver by reducing the speed of his car. The truck driver then decided to coax Mr. Perez even further by ramming his Kerosene filled truck into the back of the Pereza car several times. Mr. Perez pulled over to the side of the Thruway and Mr. Constable followed. Mr. Constable got out of his truck and approached Mr. Perez who was still seated in his car. He then proceeded to beat and choke Mr. Perez in front of the two children.

At this point a passing trooper saw the incident and stopped. The trucker was charged with felony reckless endangerment, endangering the welfare of a child, and harassment.

If anyone needs a reminder about just how dangerous truck accidents can be to the public, read this. On July 15, 2009 in Hazel Park, Michigan, a tractor-trailer exploded under an overpass causing the overpass itself to literally melt and disintegrate. The driver of a car was on a winding section of Interstate 75 when it lost control and spun into a passing semi. The semi was hauling over 13,000 gallons of fuel. It lost control and flipped, causing a second tractor-trailer carrying produce to crash as well.

The fuel tanker collided with an overpass rail, and fuel began to spew out over the highway. The fuel caught fire, sending the truck into explosive flames which began burning the overpass. The heat was so intense that the overpass began to melt and fell on top of the already burning big-rig. The collapse caused another, even bigger explosion according to passersby. Fortunately all three drivers escaped with only minor injuries and no deaths were reported.

Boy, were they lucky. This could easily have been an awful tragedy.

Because it’s important to keep future wheelchair-using employees in contention for the task of hauling the trash out back, and also because money spent on compliance doesn’t really count as money the way, say, an agency’s budget does. [Patterico] Tags: California, disabled rights Related posts Protest a group home, get investigated for housing bias (6) July 8 roundup (5) Disabled [...]

Because it’s important to keep future wheelchair-using employees in contention for the task of hauling the trash out back, and also because money spent on compliance doesn’t really count as money the way, say, an agency’s budget does. [Patterico] Tags: California, disabled rights

Related posts

As the spring house-buying season heats up, we thought wead check in with some of the unsung heroes behind Washingtonas real estate pursuits: movers.

Omar Soliman launched College Hunks Hauling Junk, a moving and junk-removal company, in D.C. in 2005 with a beat-up cargo truck he borrowed from his mom. Since then, the company has grown to 50 employees and 14 trucks in the Washington area, as well as 40 franchises across the country. Read full article >>

In Tennessee and all across the United States, people can get injured by drivers when they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. When the company that hired those drivers do not insurance and authority to be operating that business then if a person gets injured, the company is likely to be just as responsible for the injury as the driver. According to this case, in 2008, transportation driver, Daniel Clarey, hired by transportation broker Heyl Logistics was driving under the influence of crystal methamphetamine and falling asleep when he plowed into truck driver, Kelly Linhart. Linhart was standing near the highwayas shoulder inspecting his vehicleas brakes when he was hit. The transportation company that Clarey worked for had been hired by Heyl Logistics to haul a load of bottled water. Later, it was found out that the transportation company did not have insurance and had been hauling without operating authority.

A jury determined that Clarey and Heyl Logistics were to blame and awarded $5.2 million to Linhartas adult children. The case seems to the first case to impose punitive damages against a transportation broker based a negligent hiring claim. It was stated that Heyl Logistics did not perform due diligence before hiring the transportation company.
The transportation company had their operating authority revoked for failing to perform drug testing on their drivers as well as for other violations.

Punitive damages are an issue that occasionally arises in my work as a St. Louis semi truck accident lawyer. Punitive damages are monetary payments ordered when a defendant has acted with deliberate malice, reckless disregard for safety or intentional fraud; these are in addition to financial damages ordered for the plaintiffas personal and financial losses. Not surprisingly, punitive damages are not awarded in every case; they are reserved to penalize the most serious wrongdoing, with the goal of deterring future misconduct. But because punitive damages cost more money to an at-fault defendant, and have become a political issue, defendants frequently move to bar the jury from even considering whether to award them. This was the case in Fairchild v. SCDOT, in which the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld an appeals courtas finding of reversible error when the trial court didnat allow the jury to consider punitives.

The accident underlying the case was allegedly triggered by a dump truck owned by the South Carolina Department of Transportation. On March 1, 2001, the truck was attempting to make a U-turn from the southbound lanes of I-95 to the northbound lanes. Unfortunately, the truck was hauling a trailer transporting a backhoe, and its increased length caused the vehicle to protrude from the turnaround into the left lane of southbound 95. Several drivers immediately behind the dump truck changed to the right lane, but Marilee Fairchild slowed down instead, flashing her brakes as she approached the protruding trailer. She avoided the trailer and truck, but was hit from behind by William Leslie Palmer, driving a commercial truck with a motorcycle trailer (totaling eight and a half tons), with enough force to roll her minivan over into the median.

In 2003, Fairchild sued SCDOT, Palmer, and Palmeras construction company over the resulting physical injuries and property damage, seeking punitive as well as ordinary damages. After SCDOT was dismissed as a defendant, the case went to trial against Palmer defendants and the jury eventually returned a verdict of $720,000. On cross-appeals, the South Carolina Court of Appeals found reversible error in the trial courtas refusal to submit punitive damages and a physician negligence issue to the jury, but upheld the denial of Palmeras request for an independent medical exam. Palmer again appealed.

On the punitive damages issue, the appeals court had found that there was indeed evidence of Palmeras recklessness, despite the trial courtas conclusion otherwise, because the jury had been given evidence that he might have been speeding and following too closely. The violation of either traffic law is negligence per se in South Carolina, the high court noted, and negligence is evidence of recklessness or willfulness that requires submission of punitive damages to the jury. Thus, it agreed that the trial court erred in declining to submit the issue, and upheld the appeals courtas order for a new trial. On the physician negligence issue, Fairchild requested jury instructions on determining athe negligence of a treating physician,a which were denied. The Court of Appeals reversed this, finding Palmer had submitted evidence arguing her doctor was over-medicating her. The high court again upheld, finding reversible error. Finally, it upheld denial of Palmeras motion for an IME performed by the same physician serving as his expert witness.

As a Missouri tractor-trailer accident attorney, Iam pleased to see such a pro-plaintiff result. Judging from the facts in this case, there were serious questions about whether Palmer was negligent in driving his large commercial truck. For example, the opinion notes testimony from Palmer that he maintained a speed of 65 to 70 mph to limit his following distance so other drivers wouldnat cut in. Not maintaining enough following distance is a basic mistake of truck driving, and indeed, truck drivers frequently complain that other drivers arenat aware that they need extra following distance. Under that and similar circumstances, I applaud the court for remanding the case for a new trial including punitive damages. The jury may not award them a indeed, it may not find for Fairchild at all a but as a southern Illinois big rig accident lawyer, I believe everyone should get a fair trial.

Personal Injury Lawyer Los Angeles – FREE CONSULTATION by Personal Injury Attorney Los Angeles – Legal Defenders, Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyers – Law Offices of Burg and Brock, who have won over $100 million in verdicts and settlements for clients

Page took 2 seconds to load.