Accident Prevention

Published on: July 27, 2021

Past Driver Behavior is a Major Accident Indicator

Drivers who have a history of rash or negligent driving practices are very likely to continue indulging in these practices in the future, increasing their risks of an accident.

According to researchers at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, past driver behavior is a very good indicator of future accident risk. In other words, drivers who have a history of poor driving, including speeding, drunk driving, driving under the influence of drugs and distracted driving are very likely to continue to engage in these practices. According to the researchers, this is the reason why we saw increased traffic accident fatalities in 2020 in spite of a reduction in traffic volumes. Even with lower volumes of traffic, Atlanta roads saw a higher number of traffic accident fatalities last year, with distracted driving, speeding and drunk driving pushing those numbers upward.

Past behavior is a reliable indicator of future driving. For example, a motorist who has a history of driving at high speeds will continue to be at risk of speeding. If anything, the behavior of such drivers is only exacerbated when the roads are less congested. In 2020, the streets saw lower traffic crash traffic volumes, but the empty streets only encouraged drivers who were already very prone to speeding to drive at very high speeds.

Published on: July 1, 2021

Study Confirms Role of Ride Share Apps and Reducing DUI Accident Rates

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Yet another study confirms the significant role that ride sharing apps like Uber can play in helping reduce injuries from drunk driving accidents in areas like the metro Atlanta region. The study finds that these apps help lower injury risks, and that the drop is even more significant in the case of younger drivers.

The results of the study were published recently in the JAMA Surgery journal, and explored the role of rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft in reducing injuries caused by accidents, specifically accidents involving impaired drivers. The advent of services like Uber has been a boon for intoxicated persons looking for a ride home that is safe, responsible cheap and convenient. Before Uber, drivers would actually have to designate sober motorists to take them home, or even worse drive themselves in an intoxicated condition. However, these apps make it easier for intoxicated motorists or their friends to ride home safely. The hope is that more people will use ride sharing apps during the upcoming Fourth of July weekend to prevent a spike in drunk driving related accidents.

The study focused on drunk driving accident rates after 2014 when Uber was introduced in the country, and compared those with accident-related injuries from before that time. They found that after ride sharing apps like Uber became available, accident injuries over the weekends in the area studied dropped by as much as 24%. The drop was the steepest – as much as 40% – in the under-thirty category. This is the group that is most likely to use ride sharing apps.

Published on: June 22, 2021

Safety Groups Fund Project to Prevent Speeding Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Concerned at the increase in the number of auto accidents caused by speeding motorists, a coalition of safety groups has launched two new pilot projects in two separate states aimed at designing strategies to prevent these devastating crashes.

The coalition consisting of the Governors Highway Safety Association, the National Safety Foundation and the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety are funding two separate pilot projects to study ways to reduce the impact of high speeds on motorist safety. The two states are being granted $100,000 each to design and develop speed management strategies to prevent these crashes. The programs are meant to focus on a combination of engineering design and enhancements and infrastructure improvements, as well as other proven methods of reducing speeding- related accidents, including education and awareness as well as public outreach. One state is expected to implement the program in a rural setting, while the other will implement the program in an urban area. The goal of the initiative is to design appropriate speed management strategies that can help reduce the impact of speed on highway safety.

Speed has always been a harmful factor in car accidents in the metro Atlanta region. Unfortunately, over the past year, the role of speeding related car accidents that resulted in fatalities has actually increased. Approximately, nine thousand people die annually in accidents caused directly by speeding motorists. Those numbers increased in 2020 when lower traffic volumes led to an increase in the number of motorists driving at excessive speeds, leading to a spike in the number of related accident deaths recorded last year. Speeding related accidents and their resulting injuries disproportionately affect teenage drivers more due to their relative lack of skill and maturity behind the wheel.

Published on: June 2, 2021

Bills Target Traffic Safety, Accident Prevention

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Every year, over 36,000 people are killed in motor vehicle accidents on our nation’s roadways. On top of that, 3 million people are injured every year as a result of a car crash. Lawmakers are introducing a system approach to help reduce these injury statistics. A set of 4 new bills that have been introduced in the US Congress tackle serious problems facing American motorists, and cover a range of subjects including auto safety and distracted driving.

The set of bills has been introduced by Senator Richard Blumenthal (Democrat-Connecticut) and Senator Edward Markey (Democrat -Massachusetts) who both sit on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. All 4 bills are specifically focused on improvements in traffic safety strategies and infrastructure. The bills cover issues that significantly impact the safety of Georgia motorists, including distracted driving, the speed with which auto recalls are initiated in the United States as well as the safety and stability of car technology.

The first bill aims to understand more about the problems of distracted driving and solutions that can help resolve this menace. The bill is called the Stay Aware For Everyone Act, or the SAFE Act, and it will require the Department of Transportation to conduct studies into how auto technologies like driver monitoring technology can reduce the incidence of distracted driving by reducing driver distractions. The bill requires the DOT to specifically study driver disengagement as well as the possible irresponsible use of auto technology that could cause distractions.

Published on: May 27, 2021

NTSB Recommendations to Reduce Traffic Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Summer driving season will be upon us soon, and with more people out and taking road trips this summer, the number of automobile accidents is bound to increase. The National Transportation Safety Board last month released its list of transportation safety recommendations for 2021, and tackled critical areas like distracted driving, speeding and drunk driving.

Every year, the National Transportation Safety Board releases its much awaited Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements. In the recent 2021- 2022 list, the National Transportation Safety Board gave its recommendations on a number of critical traffic safety areas that are responsible for causing thousands of accidents every year.

As expected, and as on most of its annual lists, the National Transportation Safety Board calls on state and federal authorities to invest in the prevention of accidents caused by the use of alcohol and drugs. Accidents involving alcohol and drug- impaired driving are far too common, even in 2021. The Board has drastic recommendations for the prevention of drunk driving accidents and recommends that states, like Georgia, roll back their minimum blood alcohol concentration limits to 0.05%, and require all motorists convicted of drunk driving to have ignition interlock devices installed in their vehicles.

Published on: May 12, 2021

Avoid Drowsy Driving on Long Drives this Summer

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Summer vacation season is fast approaching, and many Atlanta families are preparing to make trips out of town. Many of these trips will involve long drives to faraway destinations. These long drives, unfortunately, can come with an increased risk of fatigued or drowsy driving.

The Better Sleep Council is marking the month of May as Better Sleep Month, and is encouraging Americans to practice the good sleeping habits in order to avoid feeling the effects that fatigue and lack of sleep deprivation can cause. For motorists, sleep deprivation is just as dangerous as drunk driving. Several studies have indicated that a motorist who is driving after having had little sleep in the previous 24 hours, is as much at risk of being involved in a car accident as a person who’s driving under the influence of alcohol.

Maintaining consistent sleep patterns is key to getting sufficient sleep every day. Ideally, you should be sleeping at the same time every day. Avoid scrolling through your mobile phone or exercising before you sleep. Relaxing activities like reading will help put you in a better mood for sleep. The Better Sleep Council also recommends that you avoid alcohol and smoking before bed.

Published on: April 7, 2021

How Georgia can Reduce Risk of Wrong Way Driving Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

According to a new report by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, the number of wrong-way driving accidents in the U.S. increased by almost 35% in recent years. Most wrong way driving accidents are the result of drunk driving, but they can also be caused by mistakes by older drivers or drowsy drivers. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety recently issued a list of guidelines for state transportation agencies to prevent these kinds of accidents.

Wrong-way driving accidents are some of the most devastating accidents that occur on Atlanta roads. These accidents typically involve head-on collisions that occur at high speeds that result in fatalities. Driving under the influence of alcohol is a primary cause of wrong-way driving accidents. Drunk driving – specifically, driving while excessively intoxicated – is strongly linked to wrong-way driving. Excessive alcohol intoxication or a blood alcohol concentration level that is between 0.8 and .15%, or close to double the legally permitted blood alcohol concentration level in Georgia, is often linked to these devastating driving errors.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety advises that state transportation agencies increase their implementation of DUI checkpoints or sobriety checkpoints. The Foundation also advises states like Georgia to strengthen laws requiring the installation of ignition interlock devices on the vehicles of motorists who are convicted of drunk driving. An ignition interlock device determines the level of intoxication of the motorist, and activates to prevent the motorist from starting the car if those intoxication levels are above a pre-set limit. Many states, including Georgia, require the installation of ignition interlock devices in the cars of motorists who are convicted of repeat DUI offenses. Several safety advocates have called for the application of these laws to all drunk driving offenders, even first – time offenders. A stringent application of the law would significantly reduce the number of intoxicated motorists on our streets.

Published on: January 28, 2021

Calls for New Administration to Prioritize Traffic Safety, Zero Accident Deaths

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Traffic safety advocates are calling on the new Biden administration to prioritize road safety, especially the vision of zero traffic deaths by the year 2050.

Road accidents can have a tremendous human cost. The new administration has a personal link to the kind of tragedy and pain that result from a car accident. The President lost his first wife and daughter in a tragic car accident in 1972.

Road to Zero is the nation’s largest coalition of traffic safety organizations. The coalition along with a number of other organizations, including Vision Zero Network, and Toward Zero Deaths, has called on the Biden administration to prioritize the saving of American lives in traffic accidents and the strengthening of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Road to Zero and the other organizations are partnering with a single goal in mind – to reduce the number of preventable traffic accident fatalities to zero by the year 2050. The new Secretary-designate of Transportation as already begun meeting with lawmakers. There is hope that the new administration will prioritize road safety even as it grapples with other more pressing issues including the pandemic.

Published on: August 18, 2020

Auto Technology Alone May Not Be Sufficient to Prevent Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Self-driving cars are being held up as the way of the future, but may not be able to prevent all types of accidents, especially the majority of accidents that can be linked to driver error. Those findings came from a recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

According to the researchers, auto safety design and advancements in technology will help self-driving vehicles identify and avoid many of the hazards that drivers are susceptible to, but this ability, by itself, would not be sufficient to prevent the majority of accidents that occur on American roads.

The data for the study came from the National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey. The researchers identified accident factors that were specifically linked to driver error, and categorised these accidents into 5 types.

Published on: August 11, 2020

Technology Key to Preventing Trucking Accidents in the Future

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The use of safety technologies has helped reduce the number of people being killed in auto accidents across the country. Federal transportation safety officials believe that the same goals can be achieved in the field of trucking safety as well.

Officials representing various federal transportation safety agencies are of the opinion that advanced driver assistance systems that have been so useful in helping reduce the number of accidents killing motorists in the United States, can be of great help if these are applied to heavy vehicles as well.

During a recent virtual trucking safety summit, representatives of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Highway Administration as well as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration voiced their belief that the use of improved safety technologies in commercial trucks could help bring about the same kind of safety results as has been seen in automobiles.