Buckle Up Your Child. Car Seats Help Save Lives
The state of Oklahoma reports that 80% of children are not as secure in their car seats as they need to be. A big part of the problem is because the car seats, booster seats, and combination seats aren’t being used correctly or according to state laws. According to Oklahoma’s research, “Properly installed car seats…
Read MorePayne County Sheriff Thinks Bigger Trucks Are a Bad Idea
Payne County Sheriff, R. B. Hauf, recently wrote an op-ed in News OK about the dangers of increasing the weight and/or length of commercial trucks. His concern, which he raised as the president of the Oklahoma Sheriffs’ Association and a member of the National Sheriffs Association Traffic Safety Committee, was in response to current lobbying…
Read MoreFDA Altering Approval Process of Medical Devices Due to Numerous Defects
The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates more than just food and drugs. It also regulates the product safety of medical devices. Manufacturers of medical devices are generally required to obtain FDA approval of their devices before selling them to hospitals and medical practices for use on patients. According to Fortune, the FDA is…
Read MoreAm I Liable if Someone Borrows My Car and Then Crashes It?
When a car accident happens, the injured victims have the right to hold a careless driver responsible for their medical bills, lost income, physical pain, emotional suffering, scars, and any other damages. Many times, others may be also be liable for their driver’s negligence. If the driver of the vehicle did not own the car,…
Read MoreThe Dangers of Work Zones in Oklahoma
Over the past few years, there has been an influx of people moving to Oklahoma for work. More people and more jobs mean more construction: both of buildings (residential and professional) and on roads. Work zones are dangerous places for construction workers and drivers; in 2016, there were 158,000 work zone crashes in the U.S.,…
Read MoreWell Drilling, Earthquakes, and Oklahoma’s New Normal
In early November, a drilling site operated by Roan Resources was shut down after a 3.4 magnitude earthquake. According to News 4, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission got involved, and since then, Roan “has decided to permanently end all hydraulic fracturing operations at its well completion operation in the Bridge Creek area where earthquakes have recently…
Read MoreAir Ambulance Prices Keep Increasing – and Legislators Can’t Help
$547,725. That’s how much is cost a Michigan family to fly their dying father home from Arizona. That number is extreme, yes – but one Florida family was charged $31,253.33 to fly one man from Winter Haven to Orlando – a distance of around 46 miles. Air ambulances, or medevacs, are helicopters used to transport…
Read MoreCan Oklahoma Firefighters Collect Workers’ Compensation?
The wildfires in California have proven to be the deadliest on record. As the firefighters on the coast do whatever they can to keep residents safe, our minds turned to our own First Responders and firefighters, who faced similar conditions this April against the 34 Complex and Rhea megafires. In Oklahoma, we have both paid…
Read MoreRidesharing Services – Are They Actually Increasing Accident Rates?
The use of ridesharing services has swept across the nation in recent years with Uber and Lyft as two of the major players in the industry. All that is required to use these services is an easily downloadable application, your credit card information, and a simple request for a ride at any time. While there…
Read MoreDetermining Liability as the Victim of a Truck Accident in Oklahoma
The sheer size of big rig trucks gives them the potential to inflict devastating and even fatal injuries when they are involved in a collision. In 2016 alone, nearly 4,000 people in the U.S. died in large truck crashes. Some 17 percent of these fatalities were occupants of the truck itself, 16 percent were bicyclists,…
Read MoreWhat Kinds of Compensation Are Available for Catastrophic Injuries?
When an injury is catastrophic in nature, its severity can leave an individual with long-term medical conditions such as permanent disability, or a reduced life expectancy. Additional consequences of these injuries can include long-term stays in the hospital, multiple surgeries, long-term treatment protocols, recurring health problems, and extensive rehabilitation. What causes a catastrophic injury? The…
Read MoreCongratulations, Ryan Cunningham, for Being Named to the 10 Best List!
Cunningham & Mears is proud to announce that firm co-founder Ryan Cunningham has been named, by the American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys, to the “2018 10 Best Personal Injury Attorneys for Client Satisfaction” list for Oklahoma! The AIOPIA publishes its 10 Best list every year, based on a rigorous evaluation process. The AIOPIA was…
Read MoreLawsuit Claims Oil Company’s Effort to Save Money Led to Five Worker Fatalities
According to a recent lawsuit filed in District Court, attorneys for the family of a man killed in a drilling rig explosion in January 2018 claim that the operator of the oil well at the site of the accident utilized a risky drilling method in order to save money. In that accident outside of Quinton,…
Read MoreResearchers Discover a New Path to the Brain When Brain Injuries Occur
A recent story, reported by CBS Chicago, showed that new research may help victims of traumatic brain injuries. A traumatic brain injury (TBI) can change a victim’s life forever. Victims often need to see a range of doctors such as neurologists, psychologists, physical therapists, speech therapists, vocational therapists, and many other health care providers. Many…
Read MoreWhy Extinguishing Well Oil Fires Requires Years and Years of Experience
Station KGOU (an Oklahoma NPR affiliate) recently conducted an interview with Sarah Terry-Cobo, a senior reporter for the Journal Record, about her story on a special group of oil field workers, known as “Hellfighters.” Hellfightersare frequently called in to handle well explosions. Ms. Terry-Cobo explained that a great deal of training is required to respond…
Read MoreSelf-Driving Vehicles to Deliver Groceries in Oklahoma City Soon
Venturebeat reported recently that Udelv, a startup self-driving vehicle company, is teaming with two other companies to provide food to and from local supermarkets. The other investors are Esperanza Real Estate Investments and Narnia Road. The partnerships plan to have operate 10 of these autonomous vans by the end of 2019. The first van will…
Read MoreTwo Train Crashes on One Day? Time to Reevaluate
A train and truck collision on SW 29th St forced shutdowns of roads for days. The accident happened around 8:30 am on the morning of September 9th. The BNSF Railway train struck a truck. Fortunately, the driver of the truck was not severely injured, and the 60 passengers onboard the train were uninjured. No reason…
Read MoreReasons for the Severity of Truck Crashes
In 2016, truck accidents in Oklahoma injured or took the lives of 1957 people, according to the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, Highway Safety Office. Of this number, 118 persons were killed in a crash involving a large truck, an 18 percent increase in fatalities from the previous year. But why? Driver errors is the…
Read MoreThe Dangerous Business of Oil Field Drilling
The practice of onshore and offshore oil extraction is a dangerous business in Oklahoma and other parts of the nation. The risks associated with tasks performed in and around oil drills are considerable. The work involves heavy equipment, combustible materials, and intense pressure. According to information gathered by OSHA, workers in the oil and gas…
Read MoreDeaths Due Red Light Running on the Rise
Every day, pedestrians, vehicles, and bicyclists cross intersections on busy city streets in Oklahoma City and across the nation. As a result, some of the most dangerous locations for crashes to occur are at these very intersections where a traffic light is typically installed to control the flow of traffic. One of the most common…
Read MoreTo Cunningham & Mears, Community Matters
When we opened up Cunningham & Mears in 1996, we did so because we wanted the people of Oklahoma to have a place they could go when they were hurt. We wanted our friends and communities to know that we would be on their side when they needed help. That support extends past our professional…
Read MoreMajor Indicators That a Car Accident Victim’s Life is in Danger
Every car crash is serious. After all, we refer to minor crashes as “fender benders,” yet the impact is enough to bend a fender. While not all car accident victims will sustain injuries, many do – and those injuries can be life-threatening. Getting proper care as quickly as possible can be the difference between healing…
Read MoreFive Workers Unaccounted for after an Oklahoma Oil and Gas Field Explosion
Reuters news service reported in January 22, 2018, that five workers were missing after an explosion occurred in an eastern Oklahoma oil and gas drilling site. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. was drilling the well for Red Mountain Energy. Gas from the well was feeding the fire preventing a full search of the area. The fire was…
Read MoreTruck Rollovers – Causes and Myths
According to ATBS, a business and accounting firm for the trucking industry, there are three basic myths about truck rollovers that drivers, the industry, and the public should understand. Rollovers are largely caused by bad driving conditions. ATBS claims that: Under four percent of truck rollovers are caused by poor roads 56% of truck rollovers…
Read MoreMistakes That Workers Often Make in Workers’ Compensation Cases
Oklahoma workers who are involved in a workplace accident should immediately consult with an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer. Without strong representation, you could lose out on your claim for benefits, be denied the medical help you need, or lose out on additional benefits you should be entitled to receive. Employees who act without counsel often:…
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