If You Were Involved in a Crane Accident, Speak to a Crane Injury Attorney

Because cranes are so unwieldy and carry such heavy objects, even a slight mistake or miscalculation by a crane manufacturer or operator can be disastrous. Consider these statistics published by the Crane Inspection & Certification Bureau:

• human error accounts for 90% of all crane accidents
• exceeding the crane’s operational capacity accounts for 80% of all crane upsets
• 54% of crane accidents are caused by swinging the boom or lifting the load without having the outriggers fully extended
• almost half of all crane accidents involve electrical injuries caused when the crane makes contact with a power source
• 40% of crane accident victims were struck by an object
• 50% of all U.S. crane idnjuries in 2009 were fatal
• an average of 80 lift- and material-handling-equipment workers are killed annually

A crane injury attorney can help evaluate your case to determine if it was a result of human error (which we in the legal realm call negligence). A crane injury attorney will help you determine whether your Las Vegas crane accident was a result of a careless crane operator, whether it resulted from inadequate operator training or experience (in which case blame may fall on the crane company), both, or neither. It could also be the result of a defective design or manufacture of crane parts. Because Southern Nevada is constantly growing, cranes are a normal part of our landscape, and we are certainly not immune from crane accidents:

• three people died in a Laughlin crane accident in 1994
• two cranes collapsed at the Hoover Dam in 2006
• one person was injured and one killed in a crane accident in Las Vegas in 2007
• heavy winds caused a crane to spin out of control at City Center in Las Vegas in 2008
• one crane had to rescue another crane after its boom hit a pole, causing the crane to fall and hit two other poles, which shut down Lake Mead Boulevard in 2014
• two people were injured when a crane fell on West Charleston Boulevard in 2016
• one person was injured when his boom lift came crashing down onto a passing car in 2016
• a crane knocked over a traffic signal onto a school bus in 2017

Like other kinds of accidents, crane injuries can be prevented when operators and crane companies are careful and establish and follow strict safety protocols. Call H&P Law if you have questions about your rights after a crane injury.