Tami asked:


I was involved in a car accident recently where a woman crossed the double yellow lines while manueurving to make a left-hand turn. She took out my left side of car.

I had my two toddlers in the car with me at the time. The accident seemed minor to me – I checked on my babies immediately while calling the woman who hit me to come back over to the scene of the accident.

She did not and took off and had to be hunted down like a rabid dog by our local and state police.

The police report stated that she went home to call her lawyer to find out if she was in any trouble.

I did not ask for an ambulance because I did not want to make a big deal of the event but I was wrong so very very wrong.

My 15 1/2 month-old daughter was injured. My husband, while preparing her for bed noticed several bruises that would be consistent with where the seatbelt would have been. The very next day those same areas turned into huge welts and they just kept getting bigger and bigger. I immediately
I immediately brought her to our pediatrician and the welts turned out to be hives which I still believe were due to the accident because I tend to do this when I become so overwrought and nervous. He also detected that she had an enlarged spleen. He gave her an anti-histimine for the hives but every since then she throws a fit when I put her in her car seat to go anywhere and she is just so emotional about everything.

To make matters worse, the woman’s insurance company refuses to take responsibility because apparently they don’t have to.

She was arrested after she found because she was driving with an already suspended license.

I called our lawyer who informs me there is nothing that can be done.

I just don’t understand it – I can’t sue her and make her take responsibility and yet people sue and get money over the most supidist of things.

It is obvious to me that unless I force the issue, she will get away scott free with hurting my baby – I cannot tell you how angry
and upset I have been over this whole situation. I cry constantly for fear of my little girl and when the insurance company finally came to inspect the damage, I had to excuse myself to get her because she had woke up screaming and when I came out I found the bastard in my car.

Once again the violation I felt was just magnified.

Do any of you have any advise on what I can do to force these people to take responsibility to make amends.

All I am doing while I even write this is just keep crying because I had to bring my daughter back to her doctor today because ever since the accident her stools have been extremely dark and I am just living in fear, hurt, and anger. I was told by my insurance company that if I go through them, that my rates go up and we are just barely making it as it is.

What do I do? Can I do anything? What would you do? How would you handle it?

PLEASE I NEED YOU HELP!!!!.

P.S. Her company is Allstate, if you have them get rid of them now
For any of those who believe it is okay to enter another person’s vehicle without their permission you are delusional. He did not need to enter my car for any reason – anything he might need to know is on record or could have been asked. Period.

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eag asked:


Photographs taken of Liam Johns’ crib by the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office clearly show where it came apart.

The drop rail had detached from its plastic track, creating a gap through which the 9-month-old boy slipped feet-first. Instead of falling to the floor, Liam got his head stuck between the rail and the mattress. Trapped in a hanging position, the boy asphyxiated.

Liam’s April 2005 death prompted an investigation by a federal watchdog agency and a family lawsuit against the crib’s manufacturer, Simplicity Inc.

Related links
Crib safety — What you need to know Video

Liam Johns died after the drop rail of his crib detached and his head got caught between the rail and the mattress. (Family photo)
Hidden Hazards: Dangerous cribs
What went wrong in the crib
Deadly crib Photo
Dangerous cribs Photos
Photo demonstration: What to look for
Resources: Keeping your kids safe
Recall notice from Consumer Product Safety Commission
Information on crib recall from Simplicity
Deaths spur huge crib recall
Tougher standards could boost safety
What do to
Consumers who have one of the cribs cited in the recall should contact Simplicity (888-593-9274 or simplicityforchildren.com) to obtain a repair kit with new hardware. If the crib already has the newer hardware (see attached graphic), consumers should still check the crib’s drop rail to ensure it is assembled right-side up.

Dangerous cribs

Related items:
• Story: Missteps delayed recall
• Video: Need to know
• Graphic: What to look for
• Photo gallery

For parents:
• Main page
• Deadly toys
• Car seat dangers
• Safety resources
• Latest recall news
• Send in your stories
• More stories

But the company and the Consumer Product Safety Commission didn’t warn parents across the country about the potentially fatal flaw in Simplicity cribs–not after Liam suffocated, not after more complaints about the crib rails and not after two more infants died.

Once the Tribune began questioning the company and the agency this month, a massive recall of Simplicity cribs followed.

On Friday, the CPSC took action on 1 million cribs, including the model that the Johns family used for Liam. It is the largest recall of full-size cribs in the agency’s history.

In its Hidden Hazards series, the Tribune has documented how the understaffed and sluggish CPSC fails to protect children from dangers in toys and other products. The paper’s examination of Simplicity’s popular cribs underscores that, even in the aftermath of a child’s death, the agency can fall short in its watchdog role, leaving children vulnerable to a documented hazard.

Interviews and records show that the federal investigator assigned to Liam’s death failed to inspect the crib in his initial inquiry and didn’t track down the model or manufacturer.

“We get so many cases,” the investigator, Michael Ng, said in an interview this month. “Once I do a report, I send it in and that’s it. I go to the next case. We could spend more time, but we are under the gun. We have to move on.”

Only last week, after inquiries by the Tribune, did Ng return to California to find the crib. It had first been held as evidence by sheriff’s police and later was put in storage by a lawyer retained by the family.

Even with the recall, it remained unclear why it took so long to address the problem. The CPSC often gets bogged down in negotiations with companies over recalls because fedx eral law limits its powers and its ability to disclose details of its investigations into dangerous products.

Nancy Cowles, a child-product safety advocate and executive director of Kids In Danger, called for congressional hearings to look into the delay. “Was it because the CPSC has no power and the company was able to stall?” she asked.

When first presented with the Tribune findings this month, Julie Vallese, spokeswoman for the CPSC, said the agency could not comment about Simplicity. “We have more than one investigation open, and that’s why I can’t answer any questions,” she said.

In announcing the recall Friday, the CPSC blamed a flawed crib design and hardware that allowed parents to install the drop rails upside down, which can cause the rail to detach from the frame. The agency said it was aware of seven non-fatal cases of infants being trapped and 55 other cases of drop-rail problems.

It also linked the Simplicity cribs to three deaths but did not release the names of those children or the dates of the fatal accidents.

One of those children was Liam Johns, records show. Another was 6-month-old Edward Millwood, who died in November 2006 in Georgia. The third was 8-month-old Royale Arceneaux, who died in February in Houston. All three children fell between the mattress and a separated drop rail.

The drop rails in those deaths had been installed upside down. But the agency also found two incidents in which correctly installed drop rails failed to work properly.

Ken Waldman, president of Simplicity Inc., said in an interview Friday that the company makes safe products and works closely with the CPSC to fix any problems. He would not say why the recall did not occur earlier.

“This is the thing to do and that’s why we decided to do it now,” he said.

The Aspen 3 in 1, once Simplicity’s best-selling crib, accounted for the bulk of the recall. About 600,000 of those models, which are no longer made, were recalled.

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