Christmas time, mistletoe and... personal injury claims?

Christmas trees

They look lovely all lit up and decorated, but Christmas Trees are the root cause of a number of accidents during the festive season. According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, 2007 saw around 1,000 people injured in incidents involving Christmas Trees, including pine-related eye injuries as people reached for presents. Last year, one man even received £35,000 in personal injury compensation from the Czech Supreme Court after he was crushed by a 101ft Christmas Tree in the nation’s capital of Prague.

But it’s not just people suffering at the hands/branches of those pesky firs. Numerous accident claims are made to insurance companies for furniture that has been damaged by a fallen or irresponsibly handled tree.

Read More - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/sponsored-features/8899827/Christmas-time-mistletoe-and...-personal-injury-claims.html

Hybrids Have Lower Injury Odds Than Conventional Vehicles

On average, the odds of being injured in a crash are 25 percent lower for people in hybrids than people traveling in nonhybrid models.

Hybrids have a safety edge over their conventional twins when it comes to shielding their occupants from injuries in crashes, new research by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, shows. On average, the odds of being injured in a crash are 25 percent lower for people in hybrids than people traveling in nonhybrid models.

"Weight is a big factor," says Matt Moore, HLDI vice president and an author of the report. "Hybrids on average are 10 percent heavier than their standard counterparts. This extra mass gives them an advantage in crashes that their conventional twins don't have." He notes that other factors, such as how, when, and by whom hybrids are driven, also may contribute. Researchers included controls to reduce the impact these differences may have had on the results.

Read more - http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/49772/