Last year around this time, I gave our Toronto Personal Injury Law Dot Com Blog readers a series of 5 tips for staying safe around the holiday season. That instalment was such a huge success, and got such great feedback, that we’ve decided to hit you again with another series of holiday tips for staying safe around the Holiday Season.
So, without any further adue, here are the Goldfinger Injury Lawyers Top 5 tips for staying safe for the Holiday Season:
1. Don’t drink and drive. Those Christmas and Holiday parties are killers. Seems obvious doesn’t it. I mean, with all the PSAs from group like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Ontario Students Against Imparied Driving (OSAID) and even Taking Action Against Drunk Driving (TAIDD), you would think that Ontario’s drivers would get the hint by now. Driving drunk kills. Driving buzzed, or slightly buzzed kills. It’s against the law. You’re putting your life at risk, the lives of others at risk, and your future at risk. Still, time and time again our lawyers see the devastating impact of drunk driving when we get the call from a tragedy stricken family from hospital asking us to come in and see them for a free consultation. This is never a pleasant trip for a lawyer to make; especially knowing that the car accident was preventable had the fool behind the wheel not driven while drunk.
2. Be nice. Clear your ice! That was a sloggan for a PSA from the City of Toronto. Here’s the original featuring Toronto sports legends Wendel Clark and Lloyd “The Shaker” Moesby”. What can I say? Neither Lloyd or Wendel are personal injury lawyers, but their message was pretty clear. If you don’t clear the snow and ice from your property or from the sidewalk in front of your property in a timely manner, you can get sued of somebody slips and falls. We don’t want that…Or do we? Think about it. Here’s the video. Did I just pull a retro Toronto Public Service announcement to make a point about in my Toronto Personal Injury Law Blog? Yes, I did. How’s that for creative thinking?
3. Get a good pair of Winter Boots. I know; I sound like your father or your nagging mother. We live in Canada. It snows. Don’t believe me? You outta see the snow fall here in London, ON or Peterborough ON. Right now, I can’t see oustide my 4th floor window here at the London office on account of snow accumulation. Seriously. So, how do proper winter boots keep you safe? For starters, they have proper treads so you can properly grip slippery and icey surfaces so that you don’t slip and fall. I can’t tell you the number of slip and fall cases we get around the Holiday Season on account of winter weather. Snow boots also have better ankle support then say…FLIP FLOPS! Yes, I said FLIP FLOPS! We’ve had clients slip and fall and break their ankles on snow and ice while wearing FLIP FLOPS in the snow. One of the first questions insurance companies ask is what footwear were you wearing at the time of the accident. If you tell them FLIP FLOPS, watch the value of your case drop by 25-60%. That really flies well with a Judge and Jury…Did I mention how stylish winter boots have become in the past 2-3 years? You can get some stylish (yet safe) stuff.
4. Spend the $200-$400 and get a pair of winter tires. You can get a good used set from any discount tire retailer. Just like getting a good pair of winter boots, a good pair of winter tires will help your car grip the road better, stop faster, turn better, and reduce skidding/slidding. This can be the difference between getting into a bad car accident, and avoiding a bad car accident. Did you know that in the Province of Quebec, getting snow tires is the law? Here in Ontario, it’s not yet the law, although there is some talk of that changing. You’ll feel more comfortable as a motorist and more confident driving with snow tires. But that doesn’t give you carte blanche to speed during a snow storm and drive wrecklessly. Be careful. Be safe.
5. This last tip is for the middle age men out there. It’s gonna snow. We know that. Your wives are going to ask you to clear the snow. As a good husband, you’re going to get out there and do your best to clear it up. But, when you do, take it easy. Please! You wouldn’t believe the amount of criical illness and long term disability claims we had last year on account of heart attacks for middle age men trying to shovel the snow. Take breaks. Drink water. Don’t lift too much. Don’t put out your backs while trying to shovel. It’s not a race. Less is more. Trust me, you don’t want to be “that guy” making the call to Goldfinger Injury Lawyers asking to speak with one of our lawyers about your long term disability claim because you threw your back out while trying to shovel the snow. Talk about an emabarssing call.
OK. Enough law talk. Has anyone else been as disappointed as I am with Toronto’s professional basketball team who shall remain nameless. At the time of writing this blog post, they have just 4 wins, and have lost 11 of their past 12 games. The funny thing is last season they were supposed to lose a lot so they’d get a better draft pick. Their General Manager has now admitted that the team won too much last year! This team can’t even lose properly. That’s how bad they are.
From all of us here at Goldfinger Injury Lawyers, we wish you a happy, healthly and SAFE holiday season.