“Dog bites man” does not get a lot of attention in the news, but it costs insurance companies hundreds of millions in claims every year.

State Farm Insurance, one of the nation’s largest home insurers, paid more than $109 million on about 3,800 dog bite claims nationwide last year, spokesman Eddie Martinez said Wednesday. In 2010, there were about 3,500 claims and $90 million in payouts.

The Insurance Information Institute estimated that nearly $479 million in dog bite claims were paid by all insurance companies in 2011, spokeswoman Loretta Worters said. In 2010, it was $413 million.

It’s no surprise that California — home to more dogs and people than any other state — led the way in 2011.

Martinez says 527 claims were filed in California and victims received $20.3 million, a jump of 31 percent over 2010.

State Farm is still working to determine reasons for the spike, Martinez said.

About 4.7 million people are bitten by dogs each year and more than half of the victims are children, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. About 800,000 people seek medical attention for the bites. Less than half of those people require treatment, and about 16 die, the agency said.

Children ages 5- to 9-years-old are the largest at-risk group. Seniors represent the second largest at-risk group, followed by letter carriers.

Nationally, in each of the last two years, about 5,600 U.S. Postal Service letter carriers were attacked by dogs, said Los Angeles spokesman Richard Maher.

In California, a carrier was attacked in March and died of complications four days later, after she suffered a stroke likely caused by trauma, Maher said.

Los Angeles carriers recorded the most bites with 83; San Diego was second with 68; followed by Houston at 47; and Cleveland at 44.

Medical expenses from dog attacks cost the Postal Service just over $1 million last year, officials said.

The third full week each May is National Dog Bite Prevention Week and State Farm, the U.S. Postal Service, the American Veterinary Medical Association and CDCP release dog bite statistics and launch campaigns to promote dog safety.

Despite the large number of attacks on letter carriers, the Postal Service decided to focus on children for their campaign, because a child is 900 times more likely to be attacked than a letter carrier, Maher said.

Heredity, training, socialization, health, and the behavior of humans around it can all contribute to a dog’s tendency to bite, Martinez said.

The ASPCA predicts half of all children in the United States will be bitten by a dog before age 12. The majority of bites will be from the family dog or the dog of a neighbor or friend.

People across the country own about 78.2 million dogs, according to the American Pet Products Association.

State Farm’s figures listed the top 10 states by number of claims, claims paid and claim average.

California was at the top in the first two categories, then Illinois: 309 claims, $10 million; Texas: 219 claims, $5.1 million; and Ohio: 215 claims, $5.4 million.

Maine, New Mexico, Montana, Hawaii and South Dakota were at the bottom of the claims per state list, Martinez said.

The average cost per claim nationally in 2011 was $28,799, Martinez said.

California had a per-claim average of $38,500, but New York came in first because the company paid an average of $45,900 per claim in the state. Michigan was second with an average $38,700 per claim.

In 2010, California led the way with 369 claims and $11.3 million in total payouts. The average cost per claim in the state was $30,000, placing it second behind Florida, where the average cost per dog bite claim was $38,400. Florida had 146 claims, for a total of $5.6 million.

There are ways to help a child avoid dog bites, the ASPCA says.

A youngster should never stare into a dog’s eyes, tease a dog, approach a chained dog, touch an off-leash dog, run or scream if approached by a loose dog, play with a dog while it is eating, or touch a dog while it is sleeping. If a loose dog comes close, children should stand very still and be very quiet. Always ask a dog’s owner for permission to pet it, and let the dog sniff your closed hand before you start touching it.

Food poisoning and food borne illnesses can result in serious illness and devastating consequences. Some food borne illnesses are potentially life-threatening and can lead to kidney failure, among other things. The most common food borne illnesses we see are E. coli, salmonella, hepatitis A, botulism and listeria outbreaks. People most at risk for serious illness include children, the elderly, and women who are pregnant.

If you have suffered any illness due to food poisoning, then you may have a legal case. The manufacturer of the food that may you ill — whether it was bought in the grocery store, bought by a vendor or bought in a restaurant — should be held responsible for this accident.

Symptoms of Food Poisoning

Food poisoning results in a number of serious and painful symptoms; from dizziness, nausea, stomach cramps and diarrhea to weakness, jaundice and even death. There have been known cases where young children have been hospitalized, but unable to survive the illness; where elderly patients have been too weak to fight back against the food borne illness; and where pregnant women have lost their unborn child due to food poisoning outbreaks. Regardless of your age or your situation, food poisoning can come with devastating and often tragic consequences.

Food Poisoning Litigation

At TSR Injury Law Firm, we understand how hard this is for you. We are here to fight for your legal rights so you can concentrate on recovery and moving forward. When handling a food borne illness case, we look at a number of factors including microbiology, epidemiology, sanitation, food safety and agricultural aspects, and look closely to find a link between contamination, causation and damage to the victim. If your food borne illness is the fault of a manufacturer, then you could be looking at a product liability or wrongful death case.

Food Borne Illness Lawsuits

Food poisoning can occur in a number of different types of food. Dairy products, such as cheese, milk, yogurt and egg, carry a high risk of listeria; while meats often come with recall notices of salmonella or E. coli. Just recently, there was a large recall for hazelnuts and mixed nuts containing E. coli. Even foods like alfalfa sprouts, sandwiches and cantaloupes have been recalled for suspected causation of food poisoning in consumers.

The harsh reality is: you never know what foods could make you sick. However, what you can do is contact an experienced food borne illness lawyer as soon as possible. We have worked with several clients suffering from food borne illnesses, including a recent man suffering from food poisoning after the hazelnut E. coli outbreak.

Food Borne Illness Lawyers

At TSR Injury Law Firm, we know how serious food borne illnesses can be. Not only could you be physically suffering, but you may also need to take time off work, lose out on income and face serious aftermath due to this illness. We believe our clients deserve fair compensation for their suffering and we won’t stop until you get it. Don’t let food poisoning stop you in your tracks. Contact the leading MN injury lawyers at TSR Injury Law Firm at (612) TSR-TIME today.

A mother is mourning after the death of her three sons when they were in a plane crash with their father in Wyoming. Now she is suing the air traffic control company that provides services at the Jackson Hole Airport.

Michelle Bucklin’s ex-husband was a pilot and was the pilot of the plane that carried their three sons. He was given clearance to fly although the weather was bad and lost control of the plane over the Wind River Range.

As a result of this crash, Mrs. Bucklin is suing Serco Inc based out of Virginia, claiming that the negligence of the air traffic controller was the cause of the crash.

The victims were 41-year-old Luke Bucklin of Minneapolis, 12-year-old Noah, and 14-year-old twins Nick and Nate. They all died when the plane crashed in October 2010 in the Wind River Range of Wyoming.

Luke Bucklin was the ex-husband of Michelle Bucklin and he had remarried since their divorce. He was the co-founder and president of Sierra Bravo Corp, a Minnesota-based web development company in Bloomington.

Bucklin and his sons were flying to a family function in Jackson Hole in the 1977 Mooney. A snowstorm was about to hit the area, so he tried to book a commercial flight home, but the commercial flight was cancelled. This is when he decided to go ahead and fly his own plane home.

A voice recording originating from the doomed flight shows that he had difficulty achieving elevation over the Wind River Range in the snow storm right before the crash occurred. This caused him to descend rapidly. Bucklin was heard in the recording saying there were “severe mountain waves,” which was a reference to the wind currents over the mountains.

The wreckage was found by mountaineers and so were the bodies of all four victims after search parties searched for a week.

The lawsuit says that the airplane that was piloted by Bucklin was flying too low, resulting in the collision with the mountain.

The National Transportation Safety Board says in their report that Bucklin had made phone calls to the Jackson Hole Airport twice to talk to flight services to get the weather briefings for the day of his flight. It is said that the reports for the day said that there was turbulence, icing, and mountain obscuration. This has caused the National Transportation Safety Board to determine that it was Bucklin’s decision to fly the heavily loaded plane in the bad weather conditions that caused the crash.

However, the NTSB noted that the air traffic controller that was handling Bucklin’s flight gave him clearance when he shouldn’t have, leading him on a path that would have him flying over some of the highest mountains in Wyoming. They also noted this as a contributing factor.

In addition, the report said that the plane was at or near maximum certified weight. The information was available to Bucklin, but he may have discounted that fact or was unaware of it, especially since the route that he was assigned required an altitude that was near the altitude limits of the plane. The altitude of that route was higher than he had requested.

It seems that there were a great deal of factors that contributed to the crash.

The driver of a school bus in Monticello is under investigation after several students on her bus say that she choked a 7th grader.

Travis Walker told the media that he is healing, but that he is afraid to get on another school bus again because of what happened to him in November 2012.

Walker said that the bus driver dove on him and put her hands around his neck, hitting him. He said he tried to reach for his phone. He says that the driver became upset because he had answered a cell phone call from his sibling while on the bus. It turned out his sibling was locked out of the house.

There were dozens of students on the bus at the time and some of them called the police, while others called Walker’s sister, who met them at the next bus stop.

Hailey Walker, Travis’s sister, stated that the bus driver started to pull off at the next stop, but she stepped in front of the bus and stood there. She then asked Travis what happened and saw the hand prints around his neck. Travis then pulled down the front of his shirt to show his sister his red chest. Hailey Walker further stated that the side of Travis’s face was red as if he had been punched.

Travis Walker’s mother says that her son has gotten into trouble with the driver before, but she says that gave the driver no reason to choke her child.

One student was noted as saying that the driver spit in the boy’s face and called him stupid. The student said Travis said some curse words back at her.

The family said they want to file charges, but investigators state that there are two sides to the story. Even so, the case is expected to be handed over to county prosecutors.

School officials have said that the driver will remain on suspension until a total of four investigations are completed. The investigations are being conducted by the bus company, the Wright County Sheriff’s Department, The school district, and by the Department of Education.

A spokesperson for the bus company, Hoglund Transportation, issued a statement saying that they were saddened over the situation and they have interviewed the driver. They say that she has been a driver for them for approximately eight years and had never even been written up before.

This is the first time that Hoglund Transportation has had to deal with allegations against a bus driver committing assault.

If you are the victim of a serious injury that is the result of the actions of another individual, you may be eligible to file a damages claim and hold them responsible for their actions. Contact a Minneapolis injury attorney at TSR Injury Law today by calling (612) TSR-TIME. Your initial consultation is free.

An 85-year-old man died in a late January apartment fire in Minneapolis.

The three-story brick building had a fire that broke out on the second floor, but firefighters were able to quickly put it out.

The site of the now-closed Roundup Beer Hall, police officers said that the man lived in a second floor apartment and was found dead when firefighters conducted a search of the building after the fire. Several neighbors said the man’s name was Donald A. Morgan, whom they said lived in the building for many years and used to be the caretaker of the building before it was sold a number of years ago.

A woman, Pamela Boyd, who lives in a third floor apartment with her son, called 911 before fleeing outside with her son and dogs. She had smelled the smoke for about 10 minutes before making the call. She said she was unable to save her cat.

Boyd had lived in the building for over a decade and told police that only two apartments were occupied and those were hers and Morgan’s. She said she didn’t see any fire, but she did see the smoke. Fortunately, her smoke alarm went off and her dogs came running to her.

Boyd said she heard noises before the fire, but she was not sure if they were related to the incident.

Right now, the cause of the fire is unknown. The building on 35W and E. Lake Street is easily seen by the nearby freeway, as it is the site of a digital billboard on the roof that is owned by Clear Channel.

If you or a loved one has become the victim of an incident that may have been preventable, those negligence parties may be held responsible for their actions. To learn more about the options that may be available, contact a licensed injury attorney in Minneapolis at TSR Injury Law for a free consultation. Ph: (612) TSR-TIME.