Polk County Legal Blog

Brain injuries are very complicated. The signs and symptoms differ from one incident to the next, making them a challenge to diagnose and treat uniformly. This is especially true for children, since they cannot always express their symptoms accurately — or, in some cases when they are very young, they are unable to describe their symptoms at all.

Choosing caution

Your teen, along with his or her friends, can legally get a driver's license at 16. That may feel way too young to you; as a parent, you still feel like it was only yesterday that you brought that little baby home from the hospital. But lawmakers have decided that 16-year-olds are mature enough to handle these 3,000-pound machines.

Unfortunately, teen drivers do pose a lot of risks, primarily because they do not have experience behind the wheel. Some would argue that they're not as ready to drive as lawmakers believe they are.

Hazards present at construction sites are very serious and can kill or cause significant injuries. It is imperative that construction workers keep an eye out for these hazards and that employers take a proactive stance to address them. Without both approaches, workers can have accidents with horrifying outcomes.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) keeps track of on-the-job injuries and accidents. Here are some points to remember based on the information OSHA has gathered for the construction industry.

Accidental poisonings are one of the leading causes of death in the United States. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention note that nothing causes more accidental injury deaths overall, year in and year out. For anyone older than 25, nothing is a greater danger.

Surprised? Other common causes of injury-related deaths are car accidents, unintentional drownings and things of this nature. But many people feel shocked to see poisoning at the top of the list.