Accident Prevention

Published on: March 26, 2013

Research Recommends Drastic Measures to Prevent Distracted Driving Accidents

The distracted driving problem in Georgia and across the country has resulted in federal and state transportation agencies, safety advocates, and Atlanta car accident lawyers pooling in their efforts to come up with ways to reduce the numbers of distracted motorists on the roads.A number of strategies are currently being used to reduce the effect of distracted driving on highway safety.However, a new report released by researchers at West Virginia University recommends some dramatic new ways to reduce the impact of distracted driving.

The report was released by scientists at West Virginia University, and is titled Keeping an Eye on Distracted Driving.The report has been published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

According to the report, there is no doubt that distracted driving is one of the key threats to motorist safety in the United States.Every year, distracted driving causes more than 300,000 injuries on our roads, and as many as 2,600 fatalities.According to the report, the numbers of injuries and fatalities linked to distracted driving increased significantly between 2005 and 2009.

Published on: November 16, 2012

Georgia Committee of Teen Drivers to Advise on Accident Prevention

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The governor of Georgia has announced the establishment of a committee that would consist entirely of teenagers, for the purpose of advising state officials on ways to reduce car accidents in Atlanta and across the state.

Gov. Nathan Deal has announced that the commission, called the Gov.’s Commission on Teen Driving would constitute a panel of teenagers from around Georgia.These teenagers would be selected based on applications received by the state.About 15 to 20 teenage drivers will be included on the panel.

According to the Gov.’s Office of Highway Safety, Gov. Nathan Deal has significant concerns about accidents and fatalities facing many of Georgia’s youngest drivers.The Governor’s Office is encouraging teenage motorists between the ages of 15 and 19 to apply for positions on the panel, because this can present them with a unique opportunity to help formulate laws that affect teenage safety.

Published on: October 15, 2012

Preventing Distracted Driving Accidents Through Example

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A new survey of teenage drivers indicates some disturbing findings, but not ones that our Atlanta car accident attorneys are unfamiliar with.The survey found that some teenage drivers are learning the most atrocious driving habits from their parents.Those habits include failure to wear seat belts, talking on cell phones while driving, and even driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

The survey, which was conducted by Liberty Mutual Insurance and a student youth safety organization called Students against Destructive Decisions, involved more than 1,700 teenagers.These teenagers were surveyed about their driving practices and whether they had witnessed these driving practices among their parents.

It is shocking to note that at least 91% of the teenagers admitted that they had seen their parents talking on cell phones while driving, and 90% self-reported that they did so too.Similar numbers of teenage drivers also reported that they observed their parents speeding while driving, and as a result, approximately 94% of the teenagers also admitted that they drove at excessive speeds.

Published on: August 23, 2012

Seatbelt Reminders for Back Seats Could Help Reduce Injuries, Fatalities

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

If a proposal by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to mandate seatbelt alerts for rear seat passengers is approved and goes into effect, it could mean a much lower risk of injuries to passengers in the back seat.

Rear seat passengers have much lower rates of seatbelt usage compared to drivers and front seat passengers.Nationally, only 74% of backseat passengers buckle up all the time, compared to seat belt usage rates of 83% for front seat passengers. Our Atlanta car accident attorneys agree that higher rear seatbelt usage would help prevent some of the most serious injuries.

The proposal would require that alerts and warnings that are currently in place for motorists and front seat passengers who have not yet buckled up after the car has been put into operation, are also included for rear seat belt passengers.The typically include a chime or beep that continues to sound until the seatbelt it engaged.

Published on: May 29, 2012

Georgia Parents Can Help Prevent Teen Car Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Under Georgia law, several restrictions are placed on teenage drivers. This is done to help reduce the risk of accidents due to inexperience or high risk behavior. A new study indicates to our Atlanta car accident attorneys exactly how important it is for parents to be involved in preventing accidents involving their teenage children.

The study, conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, found that a teenage motorist’s risk of being killed in an accident increases proportionately to the number of young passengers he has in his car. That finding isn’t unexpected, but the study does confirm some frightening facts about teen driver safety.

According to the survey, a teenager’s risk of being killed in an accident increases by 44% when he is traveling with one passenger below the age of 21. That is a staggering increase in risk, and should come as an eye-opener to many parents of teens. Further, when the teenager is traveling with two passengers under 21, his risk doubles, and when he is traveling with three or more passengers under 21, the risk of an accident increases by four times.

Published on: January 9, 2012

Georgia Troopers’ Annual Click It or Ticket Campaign to Minimize Car Accident Injuries

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Georgia State Troopers have kicked off their annual seatbelt enforcement campaign during the holiday season, aimed at making sure that motorists and children are safely restrained in their vehicles to prevent a personal injury in auto accidents.The campaign coincided with the start of the year’s biggest and most accident-prone holiday season.

One of the most frequent questions asked of personal injury lawyers is whether there is an increase in car accidents at any particular time of year. Well, the calls for help to attorneys certainly increase at holiday time. Over the holidays, more Americans travel than at any other time of the year.Largenumbers of motorists drove across Georgia to spend Thanksgiving with their families.Over the following few weeks, holiday traffic increased as people rush to stores to buy gifts, leading to a culmination of holiday travel plans between Christmas and New Years’.

Not only were there more motorists on the roads over the holiday season than during any other time, but many of them were in less than perfect condition for driving.The numbers of intoxicated motorists spikes around Christmas, reaching a peak during New Year’s.Additionally, most holiday drivers are less patient, and in a hurry.Besides, holiday shoppers are less focused on safety, and more focused on finding a parking spot.All of these factors severely increase the risk of car accidents.

Published on: November 1, 2011

Parents Can Do More To Prevent Teen Distracted Driving Car Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Atlanta car accident lawyers strongly believe that parents have a big role to play in setting a good traffic safety example for their teenage children.That’s why the results of a new survey came as a disappointment.The survey claims that many parents are distracted while driving, even while they’re teaching their children how to drive. Distracted driving results in an enormous number of auto accidents involving serious personal injury and wrongful death. Therefore, it is extremely important that new drivers are taught about he dangers of distracted driving by their parents. In order to convey this lesson, the parents must teach by example.

The survey was conducted by insurance company State Farm.According to the survey, 53% of parents admitted that they had been distracted by a cell phone or other device at least once while they were teaching their children how to drive.However, when the surveyors asked teen motorists, they found slightly higher numbers.According to the teen drivers, at least 61% of them had seen their parents being distracted while teaching them how to drive.

The survey also found that parents may not be so aware of the fact that they are displaying undesirable driving practices to their children.The survey found that parents used their electronic devices while driving with their children much more often than they think.About 52% of the teenagers in the survey said that they had seen their parent using a cell phone while driving.However, only 43% of the parents admitted that they used the cell phone when their teenage driver was in the vehicle with them.

Published on: October 20, 2011

FMCSA to Release Bus Safety App as Part of Its Bus Accident Prevention Measures

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has a new weapon in the fight against unsafe bus carriers that place passenger lives at risk of personal injury and wrongful death.The agency is planning to unveil a smartphone application that will allow passengers to determine the safety of a bus carrier before they buy a ticket for a trip. This type of transparency is essential for eliminating the “bad” bus carriers who cause most of the bus accidents. However, passengers should be warned that the information about their past records may be limited to due the limited nature of the enforcement personnel available to police the industry.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will likely unveil the new application in the month of November.The announcement of the app was made on September 23 at a bus safety Summit in Washington DC.The summit, the Motor Coach Safety Summit looked at ways that the federal agency can help reduce the operation of unsafe carriers on our highways. The Motor Coach Safety Summit also considered new hours of service requirements for drivers of passenger buses. All of these changes are welcomed by bus accident lawyers, although they have been a long time in coming.

The app will allow a passenger to check the safety record of a particular bus carrier, before buying a ticket.This allows the passenger to access valuable information about the safety of the carrier.The app won’t just give passengers information about the safety of a bus carrier, but will also allow them to submit safety violations to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s National Consumer Compliant Database.

Published on: September 15, 2011

Hailey’s Law: Car Accident Injury Leads to New State Law, Possibly New Precedent

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

In effect in Washington as of July 22 of this year, “Hailey’s Law” mandates that law enforcement officials must impound the car of a person arrested for impaired driving – in most cases for at least 12 hours.The only exception is if the person arrested for driving while under the influence isn’t actually the registered owner of the car. In cases like that one, the registered owner will be allowed to retrieve their vehicle from the scene. Wrongful deaths and DUI accidents go hand in hand and this law will clearly reduce the number of persons unnecessarily dying due to these accidents.

The circumstances surrounding the incident further explain why the law has been hailed as a breakthrough regulation by many personal injury attorneys, who hope to see the law being picked up by other states and foresee its enforcement successfully increasing the safety of the state’s public highways.

The law is named for Hailey French, a woman who was severely injured in a head-on collision. The driver responsible had been arrested for DUI and released by law enforcement officers less than two hours earlier. The lawsuit brought against the driver and Washington officials alleged that officers failed to install a court-ordered alcohol ignition interlock device in the driver’s car after her previous DUI arrest. Instead, the arresting officer drove her home, and handed her the car keys with a warning to sober up. After he left, the drunk driver took a taxi back to her car, got back on the road, and crossed the center line before hitting Hailey French.

Published on: September 12, 2011

US Could Learn Lessons in Preventing Car Accidents from Other Countries

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The United States lags behind several other countries, including those in Europe and Asia in reducing the number of auto accident relatedwrongful deaths. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, this country could be doing a much better job of saving more lives and reducing the number of personal injuries in accidents every year.

It may seem like there’s been much progress in reducing accident numbers in the United States.After all, auto accident wrongful death numbers in this country have been on the decline over the past decade, and last year, were at their lowest levels since record keeping began.With statistics like this, it’s easy for Atlanta car accident lawyers and motorists to become complacent, and believe that American drivers are much safer than anywhere else.

That’s not true at all.A look at the safety records and accident prevention efforts in other countries indicates just how much more progress the U.S. needs to make.