Samsung's Latest Phone Is Literally Blowing Up

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7, praised for its bigger battery which could power the phone for an impressive nine hours, was supposed to be the next great phone for Samsung. According to The Washington Post, the company advertised that the phone was "designed to be a key that opens the door to new experiences on the go." Since its August 19, 2016 release, the Note 7 has indeed become known for all of the above, though not in the way Samsung had hoped.

On Thursday, September 15, 2016, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall of the new Samsung phones, saying that defective Note 7 batteries had been linked to "26 reports of burns and 55 reports of property damage, including fires in cars and a garage." The recall followed numerous reports, including one where police officers responded to a report of a car on fire in a residential neighborhood in a southern Florida beach town. Officers found a vehicle "fully engulfed in flames." The driver, who was unharmed, told police he had been charging his Samsung 7 phone when it burst into flames.

The first lawsuit related to the phone was believed to be made by a Florida man, who filed a claim against Samsung on September 9, 2016, alleging that his Galaxy Note 7 exploded and caused him severe burns on his right thigh and left thumb, Reuters reported. In the lawsuit, Jonathan Strobel claimed that his Note 7 exploded in his front pants pocket while he was at a Costco on September 9th. The explosion was intense enough to burn through his pants and also severely burn his left thumb when he reached in to try to remove the phone. "He has a deep second-degree burn, roughly the size of the phone, on his right thigh," Strobel's attorney, Keith Pierro, told Reuters.

Similar reports have continued to plague Samsung, since they first issued a voluntary recall of its Galaxy Note 7 phones because of a "battery issue" on September 2nd and offered to give replacement phones to customers who had bought the devices. The lithium-ion batteries in the phones could overheat and pose a safety risk, the company said after it had received a few dozen reports of Note 7 batteries catching on fire. "To date (as of September 1) there have been 35 cases that have been reported globally and we are currently conducting a thorough inspection with our suppliers to identify possible affected batteries in the market," the company said in a statement. "However, because our customers’ safety is an absolute priority at Samsung, we have stopped sales of the Galaxy Note7."

According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), in September, Samsung recalled around 2.5 million phones after complaints of exploding batteries. After having a replacement program in place to replace the recalled Note 7's, Samsung insisted that all replaced devices were safe. However, that was followed by reports that those phones were catching fire too. A Kentucky man said he woke up to a bedroom full of smoke from a replaced Note 7, days after a domestic flight in the US was evacuated after a new device started emitting smoke in the cabin.

Now, Samsung has permanently stopped production of the Galaxy Note 7. They had already reduced the Note 7 production volumes, but now, they have made the decision to completely stop producing the Note 7. Owners are expected to be able to return the phones for a refund or an exchange for a different Samsung phone. "We recently readjusted the production volume for thorough investigation and quality control, but putting consumer safety as top priority, we have reached a final decision to halt production of Galaxy Note 7s," the company said.
"For the benefit of consumers' safety, we stopped sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note 7 and have consequently decided to stop production."

Consumer Tech Analyst Caroline Milanesi of Creative Strategies told the BBC that Samsung should "call it a day" on production of the Galaxy Note 7 to limit long-term risk to the brand.
However, South Korea's finance minister had warned that the country's exports would be hurt if the phone model was scrapped. In the end, Samsung decided that the safety of it's customers is what is most important.

Phones which set themselves on fire has the potential to cause several accidents. Whether a phone charging in a car causes the car to explore or a pedestrian with a smoking pocket walks into oncoming traffic, it appears that the Samsung Note 7 is a dangerous device. If you or anyone you know has been injured in a car accident due to the faulty manufacturing of a product such as the Samsung Note 7, call The Michigan Law Firm, PLLC today. Our attorneys are highly experienced in dealing with all types of personal injury cases and will fight to get you the help you need. Call us today, at 844.4MI.FIRM, for a free consultation.

How To Share The Road With A School Bus

It’s an average Tuesday morning, and you're in a hurry to get to work on time. Unfortunately, you are now driving behind a school bus which is stopping every 50 yards along its path to pick up students on their way to school. Many drivers flirt with the temptation of driving around and passing the bus, even as the lights begin to flash and the STOP sign comes out. Not only is passing a school bus while it’s stopped and picking up students illegal, it’s extremely dangerous. DriveSafely.net estimates that 50,000 motorists illegally pass a school bus every single day. While a good portion of these drivers make the decision to pass the bus because of a lack of patience, there are many drivers that pass a bus because they are not familiar with the local laws pertaining to school bus safety. 

The Michigan State Police (MSP) have outlined how driver’s should react when driving near a school bus, as well as the possible consequences for breaking the law. 

School Bus Safety Tips for Drivers: 

  • Prepare to stop when a slowing bus has its overhead yellow lights flashing
  • Stop at least 20 feet away for buses when red lights are flashing, unless driving in the opposite direction on a divided highway
  • Slow down in or near school and residential areas
  • Look for clues such as safety patrols, crossing guards, bicycles, and playgrounds which indicate children might be in the area
  • Watch for children between parked cars and other objects

The MSP suggests that drivers treat school buses as regular traffic signals. When the overhead lights are flashing yellow, drivers should prepare to stop. If the bus lights are flashing red, stop immediately and do not attempt to pass the bus. When hazard lights are flashing, it is okay to proceed around the bus with extreme caution. The MSP also encourages parents to have a talk with their children about what they can do to stay safe when boarding and exiting the school bus. Children should stay in sight of the bus driver at all times, and always walk around the front of the bus, not the rear. Children are also advised to not hurry off the bus, and make sure that there is no oncoming traffic before crossing the street.

Governor Rick Snyder signed a bill into law in 2012 which made it illegal to pass a school bus while it is unloading students under any circumstances. Violators of the law could pay a fine between $100 and $500, as well as serve a required 100 hours of community service. 

No matter how frustrating it may be to get stuck behind a school bus, there is no excuse for breaking the law and endangering school children. If you find yourself getting stuck behind a bus on a daily basis, it may be best to find a different route to work. If you or somebody you know has a child injured due to a car attempting to pass a school bus, please call The Michigan Law Firm, PLLC. Our firm will work hard to get you any financial support for medical services and any other expenses you may experience, that you may be entitled to under Michigan law. Call us today, at 844.4MI.FIRM for a free consultation. 

Playing Pokemon Go While Driving May Cause Accidents

Pokémon Go has come under fire recently due to several accidents that have been caused by people who are playing the game. For those who don’t know, Pokémon Go is a location based augmented reality game for mobile devices. The game, which is available on both Android and iOS devices, works by using the GPS in a user’s phone to determine that user’s location. Based on the user’s location, the game then causes Pokémon appear around the player's character which the player can try to catch. In the past, people who played other Pokémon games were able to catch Pokémon only within the game, on the devices screen, but Pokémon Go lets users try to “catch ‘em all” in real life, which has been appealing to millions of users.

For those who don’t know what Pokémon is, it started off originally as a video game for the Game Boy device. The name Pokémon is believed to translate roughly to Pocket Monsters. Basically, Pokémon are virtual creatures that the player, or "Pokémon Trainer" attempts to catch by throwing a "pokeball" at it. Once caught, the Pokémon then belongs to the Trainer who caught it.

The reason Trainers want to catch Pokémon is so that they can train them to become more powerful, with the intent of battling other Trainers. Originally, there were two main goals or premises of the game. One was to travel around the virtual Pokémon world to defeat all eight Gym Leaders, who were very skilled Trainers. After defeating the Gym Leaders, Trainers would face off against the four best Pokémon Trainers in the game, known as the Elite Four. Once the Elite Four were defeated, there were no real goals left to achieve, except to complete the Pokédex, by catching one of every single Pokémon in the game.This was the second main goal of the game. 

Pokémon Go takes the same basic premise as the original video games, except it allows players to feel like they are actually catching these Pokémon in real life, because they only appear based on the player's location and surroundings. The application also allows players to take pictures to show the Pokémon actually appearing in their surroundings. 

While this game has been enjoyed by millions of people since it's release, it has also been causing dangerous car accidents. Since Pokémon only appear the GPS location is moving in real life, and certain Pokémon only appear in certain locations, some users are playing Pokémon Go while driving. This dangerous distracted driving has led to many accidents due to users not paying attention to the road. These accidents have ranged from single-car accidents, to multiple-car accidents, to pedestrian acciddents, and have caused a lot of people to be upset with Niantic, the company that created Pokémon Go.

In response to the complaints, Niantic has tried to put out measures in to prevent users playing Pokémon Go while driving, such as displaying an alert message whenever a user opens the app, which says “Do not play Pokémon Go while driving.” More recently, Niantic also has created a pop up message which appears when the application believes a player is going to fast, and which blocks the user from playing unless they agree that they are a passenger in the vehicle.

In addition to the safety reasons for not playing Pokémon Go while driving, Click On Detroit reports that drivers playing Pokémon Go could also face jail time and fines if caught catching and driving. Michigan has laws against reckless driving. Motorists are likely to be pulled over by law enforcement if they are a threat to themselves or others on the road.

Using Pokémon while driving is very dangerous and may result in motor vehicle collisions. If you or anyone you know has been involved in a car accident caused by a distracted driver, call The Michigan Law Firm. Whether you were hit by a driver playing Pokemon Go or any type of distracted driver, our attorneys can help you. Call us today, at 844.4MI.FIRM, for a free consultation.

Ford Invests $150 Million In Velodyne

Driverless cars are a concept that many have been dreaming about for years. However, we are now in an age of technology where driverless car features are not only possible, but actually exist and are starting to gain steam with big time auto manufacturers like Ford and GM. In addition to some driverless features, companies like Ford are wanting to develop a completely autonomous car. According to the Detroit Free Press, Ford is aiming to have such a car available by the year 2021.

In an effort to work towards their goal of having a completely driverless car by 2021, Ford, along with web services company Baidu, recently invested $150 million in Velodyne. Velodyne is a Morgan Hill, California based company that was founded in 1984 which produces high-end audio systems, but it is now on the forefront of the driverless vehicle frontier. Velodyne received $150 million from Ford and Baidu to continue development and production of Lidar, which is the 3-D light-powered radar that helps self-driving cars see where they are going.

Mike Jellen, the company's president and COO, said the investment will help expand development and manufacturing operations and also speed the advancement of Lidar technology. "We ship Lidar today, we have thousands of them in the field, but what automakers are really looking for are longer-range sensors and higher-resolution sensors at a lower cost," Jellen said.

Until recently, Velodyne's Lidar systems cost about $8,000 — too high to be cost effective for an automaker trying to sell to individual customers. Later this year, Velodyne will begin producing a system that could cost as little as $500 for each unit, if a high enough volume is ordered. This is good news for Ford, because it means that their goal of trying to bring a completely driver-less car to market by 2021 is starting to look like a goal that can be reached. 

One concern for customers and manufacturers of driverless cars is the issue of how safe the technology of the autonomous car is, and whether or not these cars will be involved in more or less crashes than a normal automobile. Until autonomous cars become mainstream however, we won't know exactly how safe they are. In the meanwhile, drivers should be careful while operating human controlled vehicles on the road. If you or somebody you know has been injured in a car accident, call The Michigan Law Firm, PLLC. Car accidents can cause a lot of stress which our attorneys hope to alleviate by working hard to help you. Call us today, at 844.4MI.FIRM, for a free consultation.

NFL Takes Precautions Against Concussions

The 2016 National Football League (NFL) regular season started  on Thursday, September 8, 2016. This is an exciting time of year for many NFL fans, as it is a brand new season full of hopes and dreams for their favorite NFL team.

Another exciting thing that comes with the start of the NFL season is the start of fantasy football. For many who play fantasy football, the hope for a new fantasy season can match or even sometimes exceed their excitement for the actual NFL season. Of course, one of the concerns that comes with fantasy football every year, as well as with NFL teams, is injuries to athletes that play this game. This year in the NFL, a new rule change is being implemented that is thought to help with reducing injuries. This year when a team receives the ball on a kickoff, and the play results in a touchback, the receiving team will be awarded the football at the 25-yard line.

In previous years in NFL history, teams were given the ball on only the 20-yard line after a touchback. The main reason behind this change is believed to be to try to cut down on concussions across the league. On a kickoff, players are usually moving faster than on almost any other type of play, and with 22 total players running full speed at each other on the kickoff, many injuries have resulted on kickoffs in previous years. The NFL has been trying to find ways to cut back on concussions in previous years, changing many rules and details of the game to try to avoid concussions as much as possible.

According to ESPN, The NFL says reported concussions in regular-season games rose 58 percent from 2014 to 2015, the highest number (182) in any of the past four years. Jeff Miller, the NFL's Senior Vice President of Health and Safety Policy said during a conference call, that the league will study what might have caused the incidence of head injuries to rise so much this season. Among the possible explanations Miller mentioned were a doubling in the number of players screened for possible concussions, "unprecedented levels of players reporting signs and signals of concussions," and that trainers who work as spotters or independent neurologists on sidelines "are much more actively participating in identifying this injury." As the season is already underway, it will be interesting to see if the new rule helps to decrease concussions from 2015 to 2016.

Brain injuries from concussions can be very serious injuries, but it isn't just NFL players who deal with concussions and the lingering issues that can stem from concussions. Concussions can also occur when involved in a motor vehicle accident, even if the accident wasn't a major one. If you or anyone you know has suffered a concussion or any other injuries from a car accident call The Michigan Law Firm today. Our attorneys are highly experienced in dealing with all types of motor vehicle accidents and will work hard to get you the help you need. Call us today, at 844.4MI.FIRM, for a free consultation.

Coming Soon: Regular Software Updates For Your Car

Just like your smartphone, your car may soon be able to get regular software updates to fix problems, improve performance, and to add new features. According to The Detroit Free Press, by 2022, more than 200 million vehicles around the world will be able to get over-the-air software updates according to ABI Research, a company which studies technology trends.

Nearly one-third of the defects that lead to recalls might be fixed with an over-the-air software update, resolving problems without having to make a trip to the dealership, which saves the car owner money, while also saving automakers up to $6 billion a year. “Streaming updates to cars is going to be a big play for the auto industry,” said Scott Frank, marketing vice president of Airbiquity, a Seattle-based company specializing in connected-car services. “It’s central to a lot of new things we’re working on. Phones and TVs are already updateable. Your car will be, too.”

The number of features that could possibly be affected are suprising. According to The Detroit Free Press, the first steps will include connecting to the cloud for entertainment and security functions, but Frank says nearly every aspect of how vehicles operate will be affected. Many updates that now require a trip to the dealer for a software flash, like the addition of Apple CarPlay in a car that was originally sold without it, will be handled by beaming new software to the vehicle. Software-only recalls, which would be the perfect candidates for streaming updates, affected 3.3 million vehicles in the U.S. last year. That’s nearly 5 times the number of vehicles that were affected in 2014, which is a trend that is likely to continue as vehicles add more software and electronics. Updates will include fixes, new security to keep up with would-be hackers, and adding new features.


“Adding features and improving performance post-purchase is a game-changer for the industry,” Frank said. Potential examples include new transmission programming to increase fuel economy, updated navigation information, and new infotainment apps."

The service will also make new levels of service and repairs possible. A good example would be how to deal with going over a nail or something sharp in the road. This of course would be seen as a negative inconvenience to any driver, but Frank sees an opportunity to build customer loyalty. “First, the car sends a warning message that you’re losing tire pressure,” he said. “The car could look for nearby service dealers and centers, download coupons, make an appointment and tell you that service is waiting for you 20 minutes down the road. The car is made intelligent by the data and analytics we can offer through the cloud. It improves your experience as an owner.” Frank says that vehicles capable of all these functions should be available by 2020.

These software updates could help prevent many accidents by fixing issues and bugs that could prevent your vehicle from not working properly. However, just as software can be updated, it can also malfunction or be hacked. Have you or anyone you know has been injured in a car accident due to faulty car software? If so, call The Michigan Law Firm today. Our attorneys are highly experienced in dealing with all types of motor vehicle accidents. Call us today, at 844.4MI.FIRM, for a free consultation.

Tired Driving Can Happen To Anyone, Even Professional Athletes

Tired driving is a bigger issue than most people realize. Sleepy drivers pose many risks that don't seem to be as talked about as drunk or distracted driving. According to the National Sleep Foundation’s Sleep in America poll, 60% of Americans have driven while feeling sleepy and 37% admit to actually having fallen asleep at the wheel in the past year. These statistics include all Americans, even professional athletes. Recently, former University of Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson drove his car into a pond.

Robinson, who is currently a National Football League (NFL) running back for the Jacksonville Jaguars, drove into a pond while asleep at the wheel over the past 4th of July. According to NBC Sports, The Florida Times-Union reported that Robinson was found asleep behind the wheel of a car by police responding to reports about a car crashing into a pond early on Sunday morning. Luckily, neither Robinson nor his passenger were hurt. According to the report, Robinson was screened by two officers and found not to be intoxicated. In a post to Twitter, Robinson indicated that he fell asleep at the wheel.


“I just wanted to let everyone know that I was involved in a single-car accident on Saturday night, and thankfully, everyone was safe and remained unharmed,” Robinson said. “I thank God every single day for the opportunities he has presented me with and I’m grateful every morning to wake up healthy. I should not have been driving that late or when I was that tired, but again, I’m just glad that everyone was safe. God Bless."

In this scenario, Denard Robinson knew he was tired but felt as though he could continue driving without danger. The problem is that many people cannot tell if or when they are about to fall asleep. Others may believe that if they pinch themselves or drink coffee, that they will not fall asleep. Many others shrug it off and attempt to drive anyway if sleepiness comes on while driving. What these people don’t realize, however, is that when you are tired, or even just a little bit drowsy, you are putting yourself and others in danger.

When To Stop And Rest 

Here are some signs provided by the National Sleep Foundation that when experienced should tell a driver to stop and rest:

•    Difficulty focusing, frequent blinking, or heavy eyelids
•    Daydreaming; wandering/disconnected thoughts
•    Trouble remembering the last few miles driven; missing exits or traffic signs
•    Yawning repeatedly or rubbing your eyes
•    Trouble keeping your head up
•    Drifting from your lane, tailgating, or hitting a shoulder rumble strip
•    Feeling restless and irritable

 

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), an estimated 1 in 25 adult drivers (aged 18 years or older) report having fallen asleep while driving in the previous 30 days. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that drowsy driving was responsible for 72,000 crashes, 44,000 injuries, and 800 deaths in 2013. However, these numbers are underestimated and up to 6,000 fatal crashes each year may be caused by drowsy drivers.

It is important for people to realize that no matter how much of a rush they are in, that if they are tired in any way, that they should not get behind the wheel of a vehicle. When taking long road trip, drivers should periodically stop, rest, and refuel as often as possible. It would even be beneficial to take long road trips with at least one other driver, so that each driver will be able to rest and take turns. Most importantly, if a driver become tired during a drive, they should immediately pull over and stop driving until they are 100% awake and energized. By following these steps and by being able to recognize tired driving, thousands of people will be able to avoid being involved in motor vehicle collisions.

Have you or anyone you know been injured by a driver that was driving tired or asleep at the wheel? If so, call The Michigan Law Firm today. Our attorneys are highly experienced in dealing with all types of motor vehicle accidents including those involving tired drivers. Call us today, at 844.4MI.FIRM, for a free consultation.