Personal Injury

Published on: November 14, 2022

Newer Cars Better Protect Women Motorists Against Personal Injuries in Car Accidents

New automobiles that come with advanced safety technology have reduced the disparity between male and female motorists in the kind of injuries caused in car accidents.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently released the results of a new report which finds that newer automobiles, particularly those of model years 2010 and later, do a much better job of protecting female motorists against personal injuries and reducing the disparity in injuries between female and male drivers.

These findings were published in a report titled Female Crash Fatality Risk Relative to Males With Similar Physical Impacts. Traditionally, there has been a discrepancy between male and female motorists in the outcomes of auto accidents. Women are almost 40 percent more likely to suffer injuries in car accidents.

Published on: November 9, 2022

Feds Launch School Bus Accident Prevention Campaign

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

With children back at school, the federal administration is turning its attention to the critically important subject of school bus safety, starting off with a media campaign to specifically warn drivers about the most common mistakes that many of them make when encountering a stopped school bus. Unfortunately, these mistakes often result in the wrongful death from pedestrian accidents.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched a school bus safety campaign that warns motorists about the risk to child pedestrians when they illegally pass a stopped school bus. The campaign is expected to last through the entire month of October and also coincides with National Pedestrian Safety Month which is marked in the month of October. It is child pedestrians, specifically school children getting on or off school buses, that the campaign wants to raise awareness about.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the greatest accident threat to school children is manifested not when they are riding on a school bus, but getting on or getting off the school bus. Georgia, as every other state in the United States, has laws that specifically prohibit motorists from passing a stopped school bus. Motorists are required to stop their car for as long as the school bus stop arm is extended. However, many motorists fail to do so every year, and these failures have devastating results. They cause pedestrian accidents that cause serious injuries to children.

Published on: October 24, 2022

Highway Safety Group Gives Georgia Good Ranking

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Auto safety group Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety has released its annual report on performance and highway safety measures. This year, Georgia has been ranked well, notching up a Green ranking, the highest on the list, a finding that is encouraging to the Atlanta car accident attorneys at our firm.

The 9th annual Roadmap to State Highway Safety Laws compares all 50 states and grades them based on their adoption of 15 basic traffic safety laws. The 15 laws include everything from seatbelt and motorcycle safety to graduated driver’s licensing programs and distracted driving measures.

Georgia received a Green ranking, and the report found that the state performed well by implementing at least 11 of the laws the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety recommends. However, many feel Georgia could do better. One of the ways that the state could improve its highway safety record is by raising the minimum age for getting a learner’s permit, and enacting stricter nighttime and passenger restrictions on graduated driver’s licensing programs for teen drivers. Sadly, teenage drivers are some of the biggest victims of auto accidents every year. Stronger graduated driver’s licensing laws in Georgia may help save more teen lives in accidents every year.

Published on: October 11, 2022

Report Finds Widespread Drugged – Drunk Driving

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A new study finds that a significantly high number of people who consume alcohol and drugs go ahead and operate a motor vehicle after doing the same, raising their risks of being involved in an auto accident.

According to the study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, as many as two-thirds of persons who consumed alcohol and imbibed marijuana also admitted to driving within 2 hours after the fact. The results of the study are disturbing because each of these behaviors is dangerous on its own. Your risk of being involved in a car accident increases substantially even if you are only under the influence of alcohol or only under the influence of drugs. A combination of the two, however, would be lethal behind the wheel.

As many as 7 out of 10 drivers in the study admitted to driving after consuming alcohol. Only about one in 10 drivers admitted to driving after having ingested both alcohol and drugs. However, among these, 33% admitted to operating a motor vehicle within 2 hours after ingesting alcohol and marijuana.

Published on: September 23, 2022

Georgia’s High Speed Limits Likely A Factor in Rural Auto Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Motorists in rural areas in states like Georgia that have higher speed limits in these communities are likely to be at a much higher risk of car accidents compared to motorists in those states where the speed limits in rural communities are lower. However, speed is not the only factor in the high rate of auto accidents in rural areas.

More insight about the risks of travelling on rural roads is contained in a new report by the Governors’ Highway Safety Association and State Farm. The report titled “America’s Rural Roads : Beautiful and Deadly” focuses on the high rate of car accidents in rural roads and analyses the factors in these auto accidents.

Motorists in rural Georgia may drive at a speed limit of 70 mph on most roads. That speed limit is on the higher end as the report suggests. Out of the 12 states with the lowest per capita rate of car accidents on rural roads, 7 were states with a maximum speed limit of 65 mph or less. Only two states had a maximum speed limit of 75 mph. This seems to be a clear indication that high speeds – which are very easy to achieve on low trafficked rural roads – can be a factor in these auto accidents.

Published on: September 15, 2022

Broader, Strongly Worded Anti-distracted Driving Laws Can Help Prevent Auto Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

While many states like Georgia have enacted laws targeting the prevention of car accidents caused by distracted driving, some states have found more success in the use of these laws than others. A new study finds that the secret to the success of these laws lies in their nature as well as the words used to define them.

Georgia’s laws that ban the use of cell phones while driving specifically prohibit a motorist from using his or her hand to hold a cell phone or other device while driving a vehicle. A new study conducted by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety finds that laws that are specifically worded to prevent motorists from using their hands to hold a cell phone or other device might be more successful in preventing these behaviors and reducing the risk of car accidents caused by distracted driving, compared to laws that do not have such specifically designed language. The most successful laws, the study finds, are those that limit the use of hands to hold a cell phone for just the barest minimum possible interaction.

Many states have found it challenging to draft laws to reduce distracted driving. Part of the challenge has been the fact that over the past decade, cell phones have gone from being devices that people used to call people and have phone conversations with them and to send text messages, to mini personal computers. Cell phones now act as cameras and GPS systems, and most Americans use them as payment portals. Most of us check emails on cell phones rather than on computers. In an environment like this, it becomes challenging to define the kind of activities that are prohibited while using a cell phone.

Published on: September 13, 2022

These Three Road Design Changes Could help Prevent Senior Pedestrian Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Senior pedestrians are at a higher risk of being involved in auto accidents when they are out walking. However, a new study finds that simple improvements to road design can help significantly reduce the risk for older pedestrians.

Seniors between the age of 65 and 74 have some of the highest pedestrian accident rates. In 2021, more than 700 pedestrian accidents involved persons in this age group.

In the study, researchers specifically focused on walking safety for seniors above the age of 65. They thoroughly reviewed four years worth of crash data involving elderly pedestrians involved in car accidents, and found in their analysis that specific changes made to road design could help lower the risk for senior pedestrians.

Published on: September 9, 2022

Driver Assistance Technologies Linked to 400 Car Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is reporting on close to 400 auto accidents involving cars equipped with driver assistance technologies.

Driver assistance technology is often touted as the way forward for motorist safety, and collecting data on any crashes involving these self-driving cars can be a means to help identify and prevent the kind of car accidents that result in serious injuries and wrongful deaths. As we move towards a world in which most vehicles on the road will be driverless or autonomous cars, it is important to track and identify data about auto accidents involving these cars.

In the first large -scale report of its kind released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the agency has confirmed that it has received data on close to 400 auto accidents involving driver assistance. A total of 392 car accidents involving self-driving cars have been reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Out of these, 273 involved Tesla’s Autopilot feature. Tesla was by far the most featured car in the accident data, but these car crashes also included vehicles with driver assistance technology from other automakers, including Honda, Toyota, BMW and General Motors. Honda cars were involved in 90 of the accidents, while Subaru vehicles were involved in approximately ten of the accidents that were reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Published on: September 5, 2022

Georgia Cracks Down on Speeding Drivers to Prevent Car Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

High speeds are a major factor in car accidents in the metro Atlanta region and across Georgia every year. Concerned at the growing number of car wrecks involving speeding drivers, Georgia and a number of Southern states are enforcing speed limits and cracking down on errant drivers.

Operation Southern Slow Down is a multi-state initiative that involves a total of five Southern States including Georgia. The week-long campaign this year will see law enforcement officers in all of these states cracking down on speeding drivers. In the five years that Operation Southern Slow Down has been conducted, Georgia Highway Patrol officers have written down more than 55,000 speeding tickets. Police have also pulled over 3,200 drivers for driving under the influence of alcohol during the week-long enforcement campaign over the past 5 years.

Officers intend to spend a lot of time and attention on speeding drivers in construction work zones. For instance, Interstate 95 and Interstate 16 are currently home to construction zones, and officers will be looking at cracking down on speeding drivers in these areas. Workers in construction zones are always at a high risk of personal injuries in car accidents, and those risks are amplified when there are speeding drivers in these zones. Speed limits are always posted well before the start of a construction work zone and even through the zone. Drivers must lower speeds as soon as they see these signs and stick to the posted speed limits as they drive through the construction zone.

Published on: August 29, 2022

Feds Announce New Child Car Seat Rule to Prevent Personal Injuries in Car Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The federal administration has finalized a new rule that will strengthen standards for car safety seat design and manufacture, and help to protect children from serious personal injuries in side impact car accidents.

The rule has been more than two decades in the making. For years now, child safety advocates have been calling on the federal administration to ensure that the child car safety seats that millions of American parents trust to keep their children safe are manufactured with the ability to withstand personal injuries in side- impact auto accidents or T-bone car accidents. These are deadly auto accidents and can cause serious personal injuries to passengers in the car.

Congress asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to enact a rule like this two decades ago, and the time has finally come. The agency has finally announced its intention to finalize the rule. The rule will require that manufacturers test child car safety seats for protection in side- impact auto accidents and not just frontal impact car accidents. Earlier, car seat manufacturers were only required to test for frontal impact auto accidents at 30 miles per hour . The new rule requires that manufacturers also test their car seats for side impact at 30 mph.