Tailgating Accidents

On July 17, 2009, In Automobile Accidents, By admin

Not to be confused with parties held in the parking lots of sports areas, tailgating is when one vehicle follows too closely to another vehicle going the same direction. This is often a symptom of road rage. In Florida, the violation is called “Following Too Closely” and it comes with a $60 fine and 3 points on your license. It includes individual vehicles, Tow/Truck, and Motorcades.

This is very dangerous behavior because it increases the risk of a collision by reducing the amount of reaction time for the second vehicle. Drivers who are being tailgated feel menaced by the other car. There is never a good reason to tailgate another car, even when there is a slow driver in the left-hand “fast lane”. There are many people on the road, and tailgating is the traffic violation that increases the danger to other drivers the most.

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Jacksonville Tops List for Fatal Teen Auto Accidents

On December 4, 2008, In Automobile Accidents, By admin

Parents, talk to your teens about safe driving. I know you’ve already had those conversations, but do it again. As the holidays approach, so does the liklihood that your teen could be involved in a car accident.The Jacksonville Times Union and the Associated Press are reporting that the roads in three Florida metro areas — including Jacksonville — are tops nationwide for fatal car crashes involving teens around the holidays.The Tampa Bay area, Jacksonville and Orlando rank first, second and third in the study by Allstate Insurance Co.

One reason may be that all three of these cities are spread out geographically, meaning that teens do more driving. There is also always an increase in drunk drivng because of the holidays.Allstate’s study reported 29 total fatal crashes in Jacksonville during the past eight holiday seasons. The Tampa and Orlando areas had 59 and 39, respectively, for the same time period.

There have been about 5,000 teen-related traffic accidents nationwide during the last eight holiday seasons, according to the study.It goes without saying that it is better to revent a teenage driving accident that having to hire an experienced personal injury lawyer.

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NHTSA’s Seatbelt Rule Blocks Consumer Rights

On November 11, 2008, In Product Safety, By admin
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is the nation’s agency for monitoring motor vehicle and highway safety. NHTSA is responsible for recalling defective products in the automobile industry, but lately decision making seems to favor the manufacturers and not the consumers.
The NHTSA is at it again with another proposal that seeks to protect Auto manufacturers from being held responsible for their products. On October 8th, the NHTSA released a final rule on seatbelt safety and designated seating positions. The language used by the NHTSA essentially prohibits consumers involved in automobile accidents from legally claiming they were unable to wear a seatbelt due to lack of a sufficient number of seatbelts or their placement in the vehicle.
The President of the American Association for Justice, Les Weisbrod states that “NHTSA has taken every opportunity to eliminate citizens’ basic right to hold vehicle manufacturers accountable when they have made a defective product,” and that “We have seen this time and again from NHTSA; they put manufacturer costs and profits ahead of consumer protections. This time, NHTSA’s seatbelt rule straps consumers of their basic civil right—the right to a justice system.”
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Fewer Accidents Linked to Vision Test in Older Drivers

On November 10, 2008, In Uncategorized, By admin

 

Older drivers represent the fastest growing segment of the driving population. As this group expands, so too have public safety concerns, given older drivers’ increased rate of motor vehicle collisions per mile driven.

Florida in 2004, passed a law requiring all drivers 80 and older to pass a vision test before they could renew their driver’s license. Since that time, research shows that death rates from car collisions decreased 17% among drivers 80 and older, Gerald McGwin Jr., Ph.D., of the University of Alabama, and colleagues reported in the November issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

Although this is good news, the results do not appear to actually be linked to the vision acuity of the driver.

Accidents in this age group may be partly attributed to medical, functional, and cognitive impairments, but there is little evidence for an association between visual acuity and motor vehicle collisions.

While the the law removed visually impaired drivers from the road, 93.3% of those who sought license renewal were successful.
Of the older drivers who failed the test, 77% of the 12% , sought vision care and were then able to pass the test.

Some of the elderly drivers who considered themselves to have poor vision may have chosen not to seek renewal believing they could not pass the vision test.

It is also possible that the observed decline in fatalities may result from a variety of other factors, none having anything to do with removing visually impaired drivers from the road, or improving the vision of those who still drive.

Since driving is important to the well being of older adults, future research is needed to find the true mechanism responsible for the decline in accidents.

It is important to ensure that such laws do not remove visually impaired, yet potentially safe, older drivers from the road when in fact the responsible mechanism may not be vision-related, the researchers said.

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Traumatic Brain Injury in Childhood Automobile Accidents

On November 2, 2008, In Uncategorized, By admin

Automobile accidents are a common cause of brain injury in a young child. Because a child’s brain is undeveloped, it may take years to realize the impairments that the child faces as a result of a brain injury. Here are some facts surrounding children and brain injuries.

  •  New research shows that younger children, especially between birth and five years may experience more long-term challenges than an older child.
  • Measures commonly used to evaluate brain injury severity were developed for adults, not children.
  • Children do not lose consciousness as easily as adults.
  • Motor function is not a direct indicator of cognitive or behavioral recovery.
  • Intelligence tests often are unreliable measures of a child’s learning ability after TBI. Most intelligence tests measure prior learning.
  • The majority of brain injuries occur to children under 10.
  • A child’s different brain lobes maturate at different periods of time.
  • In examining the long-term effects of traumatic brain injury on children it is important to look as to whether the child has any pre-existing learning disabilities, pre-existing neurological or psychiatric problems and whether there is a history of family problems.

All these issues are factors for poor outcome for children who have suffered a traumatic brain injury. If the injury is a result of a car accident, it is important to choose an attorney that understand Daubert issues in traumatic Brain injury cases.

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Common Mistakes of Florida Car Accident Victims

On October 16, 2008, In Uncategorized, By admin

One of the most common questions an attorney hears from people is “what should I do if I’m in a car accident?” A better way of looking at this question would be to remember what not to do. The most common mistakes that accident victims make can turn an easy case into a much more difficult one. Here is a list of mistakes most commonly faced:   

1)      Client failed to report the accident to their insurance company and Police.

2)      Client failed to document injuries to Rescue, Police, and Insurance.

3)      Client failed to go to a doctor to document injuries.

4)      Client made a signed or recorded statement to his or her own insurance company without first seeking legal advice.

5)      Client made a signed or recorded statement to the party at faults insurance company without first seeking legal advice.

Although these might seem like easy things to remember and avoid, it is often the stress of the accident that causes people to make mistakes. If you remember to document all information and seek legal advice, it will help in resolving the case as quickly as possible.

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Who is at the Wheel?

On July 25, 2008, In Trucking Accidents, By admin

There is no person in this country whose life is not in some way affected by the interstate system. From work commutes to the fruits and vegetables found in every grocery store, the interstate is vital for our way of life. Just about everyone has driven the interstate next to those huge semis and other large commercial trucks. This means that absolutely everyone of us is at risk.According to the most recent safety study, the Associated Press claims that “Hundred of thousands of drivers carry commercial licenses even though they qualify for full federal disability payments”[1]. If one wished to look through the Transportation Department’s data from 2006 (the latest available) truckers have been caught violating federal medical rules in every state. Not only that, but a federal safety study from last year concluded that physically impaired truckers were a leading cause of serious crashes.Scare tactics are not necessary here. We have all imagined that huge behemoth of the roadways veering into our traffic lane. We have seen the wrecks in the deep medians of the highway. And while sleep deprivation has been identified as a threat to our safety and our lives, this news of disabled drivers at the wheel is exactly that: News.The AP study found that 563,000 commercial drivers are eligible for full disability benefits because of health problems. This has come from the Labor Department, Social Security, and yes, the Veterans Affairs Department.Now, qualifying for disability benefits doesn’t automatically make one incapable of driving. There is nothing wrong with men and women trying to earn a living after being disabled by age, accident, or war. In fact, it is commendable. But when over a thousand truckers have vision, hearing, or seizure disorders which should prevent them from obtaining a commercial license, one has to wonder what is going on.The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is given the task of regulating this crucial aspect of our daily lives, as befits their title. And yet, this agency acknowledges that they haven’t completed any of the eight recommendations proposed by the National Transportation Safety Board in 2001. Let me repeat that. In seven years, the agency whose only task is to prevent this kind of News hasn’t completed a single goal.

You might be wondering what these eight proposals are about, and how are they going to fix the problem. I will be examing these eight proposals over the next few days.


[1] Yen, Hope and Frank Bass, “Thousand of bus and truck drivers qualify for disability” Star-Telegram.com 22 Jul. 2008., Nation ed.

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