Lowell Steiger's Los Angeles Law Blog

Born To Be Wild! 29 Celebrity Motorcycle Injuries & Deaths (and 10 Safety Tips)

    There's a daredevil in all of us.  Steppenwolf's Born to Be Wild (from Easy Rider) accompanies the video below  which is a compendium of celebrities who have been injured or killed in motorcycle crashes.  The video also includes 10 Motorcycle Safety Tips!

    Click on the photos below the video to find out how the celebrity was injured or killed.  Most importantly, if you ride, ride safely and be defensive.  Other drivers may not be looking out for you!

Click on Each Picture Below

For Details of Their Motorcycle Crash

    

 

  

   

The video has yet more celebrities involved in motorcycle accidents.  Here's a complete list of the celebrities included in the video:

George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dean McDermott, Lauren Hutton, Jeremy Lusk, Ben Roethlisberger, Daryl Mitchell aka Chill, Kerry Von Erich, Duane Allman, Berry Oakley, Ann-Margaret, Kellen Winslow, Jr., Takeshi Kitano, Steven Tyler, Erik Estrada, T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). Adrien Brody, Bob Dylan, Don Rich, Gerard Depardieu, Ken Wahl, Seal, “Big” John Studd, Brad Pitt, Billy Idol, Gale Harold, Peter Fonda, Gary Busey, Luc Bourdon

Drive Safely!

 

 

Freud to Winehouse: 47 Alcohol & Drug Related Celebrity Deaths

 

 

   

Who are these celebrities whose pain was numbed, and eventually silenced, by drugs or alcohol? Watch the video below. They're all in there along with 35 other tragic personae.

   The tragedy of Amy Winehouse's death has eaten away at me over the last week. Why? Well, not because I was a great fan of Amy Winehouse. In reality, I wouldn't know her music if it bit me on the...  However, it got me to thinking about all of the celebrities who have died at the hands of alcohol and/or drugs.  So I Googled the issue and came up with too many to list here - but not too many to put into a short video of many of these celebs with pictures, year born, year died and age at death.  I added a bit of music "Somewhere Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World" by Israel Kamakawio'ole.

    As a point of clarification, Sigmund Freud's drug related death was actually an assisted suicide as the pain of cancer became too much for him. Betty Ford's picture is included in the video to remind people that help is available to those who need it (click here for the Betty Ford Clinic).

Please watch the video and click here for some relevant links

Please share this video on your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or other social media accounts. Of course, you can also share it the old-fashoned way: Via e-mail!!!  Maybe it will help to save at least one person's life

Female Celebrities In Trouble

Just for fun - we love to follow the train wrecks.  Why?  Well, here's a cute presentation with your favorite female celebs in trouble.  Jane Fonda, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Dawn Wells, Foxy Brown, Jennifer Capriotti, Mrs. Snoop Dogg, Carmen Elektra, Heidi Fleiss, Martha Stewart, Joyce DeWitt, Tanya Harding, Paris Hilton, Winonna Ryder, Naomi Campbell and, of course, Lindsay Lohan!

 

O.J.'s "Acquittal Suit" to Go On Display in Washington - Lowering the Bar

Sources report that the suit O.J. Simpson was wearing when he was acquitted of murder will be going on display at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.  Officials said they hoped the tan Armani suit would be ready for display by October, which would be the 15th anniversary of the acquittal.

Read the Associated Press Article

via www.loweringthebar.net

Michael Phelps Apologizes For The Bong Hit: I Say Leave the Guy Alone

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Whether or not this is actually Michael Phelps taking a hit from a bong is uncertain.  It would, however, appear so since he just came out with a statement apologizing for his inappropriate behavior.

Reuters reports that Phelps said "I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment."  Phelps went on to say  "I'm 23-years-old, and despite the successes I have had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner that people have come to expect from me," Phelps added.

"For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public - it will not happen again."

People need to lighten up (pardon the pun).  The fact that Phelps may have smoked marijuana should not, in my opinion, detract from his incredible achievements, the pride that he has brought to the USA for his 14 Gold Medals. 

If I'm not mistaken, many of our great leaders have smoked marijuana in the past. The Los Angeles TImes published an editorial in April 2008 stating that Obama, Gore, Bush (the "W" not the dad) and Newt Gingrich all smoked marijuana at some point in their lives.  Apparently, in so doing, their future careers were left unaffected.  Read the L.A. Times editorial here.

Bottom line: Leave the poor boy alone.  He's done nothing that a plethora of other young people haven't done.  Putting himself in a position to be publicly chastised for his transgression was foolish.  Coming out and apologizing will hopefully diffuse the harsh reaction of people who themselves have more than likely have taken a bong hit or two in their own lives.

I'm not advocating marijuana use.  What I am saying, though, is that Michael Phelps has done wonderful things to bolster the morale of our fellow Americans and to elevate us in the esteem of the rest of the world.  The transgression of this 23 year old should not detract from his lifetime of hard work and the achievements that came with it.

Read the USA Today Reader Comments which, for the most part, are very supportive of Michael Phelps.

If you, or someone you know, has been injured, please call me immediately at

(323) 852-1100 or send an e-mail to me at [email protected]

"Treated With the Respect That You Deserve"

Jett Travolta: The Tragic Death of John Travolta's Boy

  It was with great sadness that I read the news of the tragic and untimely passing of 16 year old Jett Travolta, son of John Travolta and Kelly Preston.  Apparently, the boy suffered from Kawasaki Disease which is a childhood ailment.  

    How did he die?  No one really knows yet but the current conventional wisdom is that young Jett suffered regularly from seizures and that, on this occasion, he fell and hit his head during one of those seizures.  Various news reports state that he was attended to by nannies but was left unattended this one time.  Again, we do not know the details yet and all of the conventional wisdom is actually only conventional conjecture.

    The family is suffering enough without having to look for blame.  Was negligent supervision or training of the nanny involved?  Did someone breach their duty to the boy and to the family?  These are painful questions that will undoubtedly be investigated in the coming months and, quite possibly, years.  Will we ever know the answer?  Maybe not but here's what we do know: An innocent boy has died and, with that death, is the excruciating pain that John and Kelly, his loving parents, will suffer for the remainder of their lives.

    What is negligent supervision?  It is a legal concept that forms the basis of many of the cases that I handle.  It usually appears in situations wherein someone is injured or killed as a result of someone failing to supervise the activities of those in their charge (i.e., employer/employee, teacher/student, doctor/nurse, lawyer/paralegal).  We plead negligent supervision in lawsuits when, but for the actor being improperly supervised, the injured person would not have been injured.  This can occur in a plethora of situations such as automobile accidents, assault & battery by a security guard against a customer, slip & fall incidents and medical malpractice matters.  

    Likewise, negligent training occurs when a person carries out an activity for which he/she has been improperly trained by the employer and, but for that poor training, someone is injured as a result.  A gruesome example would be a paramedic who was improperly trained in the art of CPR and, as a result, a heart attack victim succumbs to the coronary.

    Again, my heart goes out to the Travolta family.

If you, or someone you know, has been injured, please call me immediately at

(323) 852-1100 or send an e-mail to me at [email protected]

"Treated With the Respect That You Deserve"

 

Poll: Shia LaBeouf, Injured While Driving Drunk - Does He Have a Right to Sue?

According to Sandy Cohen of the Associated Press, "Shia LaBeouf could have a long road before him as he recovers from the accident that crushed his hand, his lawyer says.

"LaBeouf, 22, was injured in a late-night crash last Sunday in West Hollywood that flipped his truck. The "Indiana Jones" star was cited for drunken driving, but authorities have since said he was not at fault, and that the other driver apparently ran a red light.

"Michael Norris, LaBeouf's attorney, said in a statement Friday LaBeouf underwent four hours of surgery. His left arm remains immobilized from the elbow down.

"He will need regular medical supervision until his doctors clear him to return to work," Norris said in the statement. "His doctors remain hopeful that he will fully recover, but due to extensive surgery and the nature of the injuries, there remains a substantial risk of both infection and other complications."