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In this morning's Minneapolis Star Tribune there was an article about trampoline park injuries. As these parks have grown in popularity, the number of emergency room visits has also increased dramatically. In the five years ending in 2014 emergency room visits went from 581 in 2010 to 6932 in 2014.Most of these parks require that the user or the user's parent sign an ironclad waiver before using the facilities.

In today's Star Tribune the headline on page 1 read as above. The article went on to note that there was a 21% increase in 2015 in traffic deaths in Minnesota attributed to distracted driving. Perhaps more worrisome is the fact that traffic deaths went up in 2015 over 2014. The good news was that speeding related fatalities were reduced by 17%.

In today's Star Tribune there was a short article noting that a van hit a woman in a crosswalk and killed her.  It happened on Tuesday at about 4:15 PM.  Her name has not been released yet.  Staggeringly, this is the 65th pedestrian to be hit THIS YEAR IN ST. PAUL ALONE! Small consolation can be found for the victim's family in Minnesota's No Fault Act, which will insure that the woman's family recovers for her medical expenses and at least a portion of her funeral expenses.

In yesterday's Minneapolis Star Tribune There was an article reporting that the appeals court had dismantled former governor Jesse Ventura's $1 million + verdict against the estate of Chris Kyle, who had written his autobiography, "American Sniper". Jesse claimed that in the book the author had written certain things about Jesse which were untrue and which harmed his reputation amongst the Seal community.

Three days ago I got a phone call from a gentleman whose three-year-old minivan had been totaled in a crash, not his fault. Because he had financed the vehicle over six years, he still owes over $12,000 on the vehicle, yet has been told that he will only get $9000 for replacement cost because that is all the vehicle is worth.As more and more cars get more and more expensive, and the loans go out longer and longer, this is going to be a very common situation if the crash is severe enough

Following up to yesterday's blog on unfair arbitration clauses, in today's Star Tribune there was an article about a Senate bill introduced by Sen. Franken, cosponsored by 15 other senators, designed to put an end to these stealth arbitration provisions. In the article the senator noted that these clauses are one-sided and effectively eliminate a person's right to sue.

Just last week the New York Times published a very well researched article on the subject of forced arbitration clauses being inserted into contracts by corporate America for the purpose of eliminating a consumer's right to sue. These forced arbitration clauses are in virtually every contract that everyone has to sign to get things like cell phones, credit cards, or a bank account. Naturally the worst offenders are the brokerage houses, credit card companies, and banks too big to fail.

Just last week the Minnesota Star Tribune ran a series of articles concerning the dangers of the family farm. "Farming remains one of the most dangerous occupations in America, with fatality rates above other high risk industries such as mining and construction. Altogether, nearly 5000 people have died in farm accidents since 2003." Farming remains one of the nation's most dangerous occupations, generating an average of more than 400 work-related deaths each year.

About two weeks ago I filed the final brief in a case now pending in front of the Minnesota Court of Appeals entitled Nichols v. Cimbura. In that case the defendant had T-boned Mr. Nichols' almost new vehicle at relatively high speeds, causing a little over $11,000 worth of damage.

In today's Minneapolis Star Tribune there was an article reporting that since this past Saturday four more motorcyclists have died in crashes on Minnesota roads, which increases the fatality total so far this year to 24, which is a 50% increase over this same time a year ago. That's 24 people dead in probably the last 2 1/2 months!