In the wake of a fatal crane collapse on Manhattan's Upper East Side, Mary Alexander was interviewed as an expert on construction accident law by San Francisco's KTVU Channel 2 News.

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) Aoril 17, 2008 -- In the wake of a fatal crane collapse on Manhattan's Upper East Side, Mary Alexander was interviewed as an expert on construction accident law by San Francisco's KTVU Channel 2 News.


In a report that aired March 17, Ms. Alexander discussed changes in California law after a 1989 accident in which a crane fell more than 16 stories in San Francisco's financial district, killing five people. Both the California and New York collapses, Ms. Alexander told Channel 2, had occurred during a process known as 'jumping' the crane, when the crane is extended to enable construction of upper-level floors. It is a particularly dangerous process, she said, because the crane is less stable at this point and crews need to be vigilant in taking the proper safety precautions.

Since the San Francisco accident, Ms. Alexander told Channel 2, California law has been amended to require more training - through in-the-seat sessions and written exams - for crane operators. Drug tests are now mandatory, and all crane operators must be licensed, which wasn't the case in 1989. The new law, which wasn't passed until 2005, had faced heavy resistance from the construction industry.

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