At his high school, the father told the community that his family could do anything with the support they have received from the community. "Our new journey is just beginning," he said, "and we could appreciate any and all continued support as we strive to heal as a whole and move forward as a family." The family has received donations, kind words and even a mass dedicated to their healing. While nothing can give them back their lost time and completely heal all of their injuries, community support can go a long way to help the family move forward.
]]> And healing is exactly what this family is trying to do. The accident, which a drunk driver caused by going the wrong way down State Route 52 on St. Patrick's Day, sent the man's wife and his three daughters to the hospital, where they were treated for multiple serious injuries. Two of the girls were in the hospital for nine days while another spent 75 days there. All together, the family suffered injured ribs, traumatic brain injuries, lung damage, fracture neck, fractured pelvis and other broken bones, concussions and lacerations.Now, the family sees the world in a new light. "It's a blessing to have [days with the family]. Whatever the trial, the adversity -- I'm looking forward to those days, because I have them," the father told the community. We hope for their continued recovery and that other victims of drunk drivers find the kind of support this family has found in our community.
Source: San Diego 7, "Coach Thanks Supporters of family Injured in Crash," Monica Garske, June 16, 2013
]]>According to a survey by Auto Trader, 34 percent of Americans lose some faith in an auto manufacturer every time a recall is announced. Yet, when a car company chooses to voluntarily recall a vehicle, 54 percent of people think more favorably of that company. These numbers indicate a preference for auto companies that "do the right thing."
]]> The NHTSA's recall request is enough to make consumers nervous and lose faith in Chrysler, but the company's refusal to issue a recall can only make the situation worse. This is true even if Chrysler is right that the SUV fire incidents investigated by the NHTSA were high-energy collisions during which auto fires would have occurred regardless of the fuel tank design.As one author explained to CNN, "It's going to be this long drama that everyone watches. There will be testimony about children burning in fires. Even if the data is in [Chrysler's] favor, do you know many people who are statisticians?"
Chrysler has said it will refuse to issue a recall even if that means it must go to federal court over the issues. The company has until June 18th to reply to the NHTSA. After that date, the NHTSA may release a defect finding, gather public comments on the issue and then, depending on the facts, order a recall. If Chrysler continues to disagree about the recall, it can bring the NHTSA to federal court. Similarly, NHTSA can request the court to order Chrysler to recall the vehicles.
Do you own a Jeep Cherokee or Liberty? Write to Chrysler asking them to recall the vehicles and put your safety over their profits. And if you were injured in a fire-causing car accident involving a Jeep, please visit our pages on car fires and consider filing a claim against Chrysler.
Source: CNN Money, "Chrysler puts reputation at risk in recall fight," Chris Isidore, June 7, 2013
]]>A judge sentenced the driver to two days in prison and 180 days of house arrest after she plead guilty to running the red light and causing the pedestrian accident. At the time of the accident, the driver admitted to sleep deprivation and said she accidentally ran the red light and could not stop in time to prevent hitting the nanny and child. "I'm sorry - I'm sleep-deprived and I just looked up and I'm like, 'Oh my God, it's red.' And then oh my God, and she was right there," the driver told officers immediately after the accident. According to news reports, she had given birth the day before the accident.
]]> "I remain horrified by the consequences of what I have done," she said to the court. The families of the nanny and toddler, however, believe her remorse is focused on herself and not the family. The mother of the toddler stated, "She took things away from us that we will never get back."In addition to the criminal case, the families have also filed civil personal injury lawsuits against the driver. Since criminal lawsuits do not compensate victims for their injuries, families must bring personal injury claims against at-fault drivers if they wish to recover compensation for medical expenses, funeral expenses, loss of income, pain and suffering, and other damages.
Accidents such as the Santaluz, California, accident, can change many lives, from a family that must mourn the loss of a loved one to a driver who must face the consequences of his or her actions. Please, drive cautiously and choose to stay home if you are too tired to drive.
Source: San Diego 7, "Courtroom Struggle Over Jail Time for Driver in Fatal Nanny Crash," Monica Garske, Mari Payton, Paul Krueger, June 8, 2013
]]>Chrysler has refused to issue a recall on its potentially defective SUVs, claiming that "NHTSA's initial conclusions are based on an incomplete analysis of the underlying data."
According to the NHTSA, the vehicles can start on fire during rear-end collisions. Car fires involving the Grand Cherokee and Liberty models have killed more than 50 people. Upon learning of Chrysler's refusal to take action, NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said, "NHTSA hopes that Chrysler will reconsider its position and take action to protect its customers and the driving public."
]]> Is Chrysler putting profit above public safety?The vehicles in question have gas tanks behind their rear axles. According to the NHTSA, Chrysler was aware that it was safer to place the gas tanks in front of the rear axles but refused to do so for these vehicles.
Chrysler faces an uphill battle. The negative publicity generated by such a move can cause significant damage to an automobile company. Take, for example, Chrysler's statement that its vehicles meet legal standards and are comparable to others sold at the same time. That statement was met with disgust by the NHTSA. "The existence of a minimum standard does not require NHTSA to ignore deadly problems," Strickland said.
Now, consumers who have the Jeeps in question will have to wait for Chrysler to agree to a recall or for the NHTSA to order a recall through court proceedings - if those steps ever take place. The last time an auto manufacturer refused to recall vehicles was two years ago, when Ford Motor Co. ignored an NHTSA request to recall its F-150 trucks for air bag defects. Ford eventually recalled the vehicles under significant government pressure. We hope similar pressure will force Chrysler to put public safety first.
Source: The Detroit News, "Chrysler rejects NHTSA's request to recall 2.7M Jeep Grand Cherokee, Liberty models," David Shepardson, June 5, 2013
]]>In fact, 72.9 percent of those surveyed, would penalize people for texting while driving more that they would speeders. Even more people (75.7 percent) believe that using a handheld cell phone while driving should increase insurance rates.
]]> Unfortunately, it seems that the general population understands the dangers of using a cell phone while driving more than state legislators. While a majority of states have texting while driving laws, only 12 states consider texting while driving to be a moving violation. Insurance rates generally only increase with moving violations.What is stopping people from texting while driving? Not much. In California, texting while driving results in a small fine - $20 to $50. It doesn't increase insurance premiums. It doesn't equate to points on a driver's record. Subsequent offenses cannot land a driver in jail or take away driving privileges. There is very little preventing drivers from texting while driving.
And so they do. A survey conducted by AT&T found that 49 percent of all drivers text while they drive and 43 percent consider it a habit. It has gotten so bad that texting while driving is the number one cause of death for teenage drivers.
As personal injury attorneys, we come into the equation when it is too late. Drivers, it is time to "do as you say" and put down your cell phones while driving.
Learn more by visiting our pages on texting while driving.
Source: MSN Money, "Survey: Put The Hammer To Texters," Smart Spending Editor, May 13, 2013
]]>CHP was unable to locate the driver. The child was taken to a nearby San Diego hospital and is expected to be okay. It is unclear whether drugs or alcohol played a role in this car accident.
]]> Any accident involving children is tragic, but when a parent puts his or her own child in danger, the gravity becomes even more obvious. If the father was driving drunk or on drugs, he will face enhanced DUI penalties because he had a passenger under 14 in his car. Under California Vehicle Code 23572 VC, if a person drives drunk with a child in his or her car, California courts must impose enhanced penalties no matter what the level of intoxication or driver's intent to cause harm to the child.Parents, please drive carefully with your children and never drive drunk. It is hard to believe a parent would leave a young child dangling from a rolled over vehicle if he was in his right mind. We can only hope that the child's injuries heal quickly and that the father is held responsible for his actions.
Source: San Diego 7, "Child Injured in Rollover, Driver Flees," Diana Guevara, June 3, 2013
]]>Most passenger ejections happen for one of two reasons: 1) The vehicle occupant was not wearing his or her seatbelt; and/or 2) A rollover occurred. In many cases, both are culprits.
]]> According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, rollover accidents cause the majority of passenger ejections. In fact, one-half of all people killed in rollover accidents are ejected from their vehicles, most often through the side windows. Because of the danger, the NHTSA now requires auto manufacturers to make side curtain air bags larger -- large enough to keep most passengers in their cars during rollovers. They believe the new rule, which won't be standard until 2017, will prevent approximately 373 deaths every year.Yet, it isn't just rollovers that cause ejections. Seatbelts, when working properly, are designed to keep people from being ejected during collisions. The choice to wear a seatbelt can be the difference between staying in a car and surviving, or dying from injuries caused by ejection.
A person's decision to not wear a seatbelt will not, however, prevent him or her (or his or her family) from bringing a personal injury lawsuit to recover compensation for injuries or death. It might decrease the amount of compensation the injured party will receive by holding him or her accountable for a percentage of the fault, but it does not negate the entire lawsuit.
Learn more by visiting our pages on car accidents.
Source: ABC News, "5 People Killed In California Crash Could Be Teens," Associated Press, May 28, 2013
]]>An eyewitness told the Associated Press that one of the dwarf cars involved in the race appeared to lose control on the final lap, ramming a wall near the race's finish line. At least two cars then hit the first car.
Investigators are working on pinpointing the cause of this accident. How did the race car driver lose control of his car? Did problems with the car itself contribute to the accident?
]]> Oftentimes, race car accidents are not caused by driver error but by design defects. Oversteering, brake fade, turbo lag, stuck throttles, defective tires, suspension failure, sudden acceleration -- all of these things have contributed to high-performance automobile accidents.When an accident occurs, investigators must determine the cause before anyone can be held accountable. In some cases, the very nature of the sport makes bringing a personal injury or wrongful death claim difficult. When an auto defect causes a race car accident, however, the manufacturer of the car or defective part can be held accountable through an auto product liability lawsuit.
Learn more by visiting our pages on race car accidents.
*This accident reminds us of a March race car accident in California that killed two spectators at Marysville Raceway Park. That deadly accident occurred during practice laps and was likely caused by a mechanical failure in the car's detachable steering column.
Source: USA Today, "Two Race Car Drivers Killed In Multi-Vehicle Crash In Nevada," Associated Press, May 26, 2013
]]>The NTSB is an independent federal agency that does not have the ability to make regulations but makes recommendations to state and federal agencies that often become regulations. For example, the NTSB's prior recommendation to lower the drunk driving limit to .08 from .10 was adopted by states, as was its recommendation to raise the drinking age to 21.
]]> Yet, this particular recommendation appears to have little support. While the American Beverage Institute is unsurprisingly against the recommendation, calling it "ludicrous," even Mothers Against Drunk Driving believes there is a better approach to reducing the number of drunk driving accidents and fatalities. MADD would like to see the development of technology that would prevent a car from starting if it determined that a driver was drunk. The organization would also like states to do more to catch drunk drivers, such as using more sobriety checkpoints.Whatever states decide to do, it is clear that more must be done to protect against drunk driving accidents and deaths. Last year saw the first increase -- 5.2 percent -- in drunk driving deaths in six years. Furthermore, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, nearly 30 million Americans admit to drunk driving in just one year.
Lowering the DWI limits to .05 would mean that someone could be charged with drunk driving after three to four drinks in three hours, depending on a person's gender and size. And, while the risk of a car accident at .05 percent blood alcohol concentration is half of the risk at .08 percent, individuals driving with a .05 BAC cause many accidents each year in the U.S.
Learn more about drunk driving accidents here.
Source: New York Post, "Feds Recommend Stricter DWI Limits For States," Angela Greiling Keane, May 15, 2013
]]>This accident raises the question: How dangerous is driving under the influence of drugs?
Many people believe that driving under the influence of drugs is less dangerous than drunk driving. That perception could be the reason so many people choose to get behind the wheel after doing drugs. According to a 2007 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 11 percent of drivers on U.S. roads on weekend nights are driving under the influence of illicit drugs. In 2009, 12.8 percent of drivers between the ages of 18 and 25 admitted to drugged driving at least once in the previous year.
]]> So how dangerous is drugged driving? According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, "drugs acting on the brain can alter perception, cognition, attention, balance, coordination, reaction time, and other faculties required for safe driving." The more marijuana a person has in his or her system, the less likely he or she is able to perceive time and speed. People on drugs often have trouble staying in their own lanes, processing information on the road and reacting to dangerous situations.In 2009, there were at least 3,952 deaths linked to drugged driving (Fatality Analysis Reporting System). Unfortunately, state laws across the U.S. have not kept up with the dangers and frequency of drugged driving. Part of the reason lies in the challenges involved with testing for illegal drug use. A person can test positive for THC (marijuana), for example, even if they are not impaired because of the length of time THC stays in a person's system.
Those challenges often leave victims of drugged driving accidents with the task of holding the drivers responsible for their actions through personal injury lawsuits.
Source: NBC 7 San Diego, "Driver Involved In Fatal Crash Arrested: CHP," Nicole Gonzales, Sarah Grieco, May 21, 2013
]]>The tests determine how vehicles perform when 25 percent of their front ends collide with cars or other objects. These tests simulate a scenario that occurs frequently on roads in California and throughout the U.S. In fact, small overlap frontal crashes account for more than one fourth of all car and SUV accidents that cause serious injury or death.
]]> Unfortunately, "11 out of the 13 did pretty poorly," the Research Vice President of the IIHS, Joe Nolan, said. The only other small SUV to receive an "acceptable" rating was the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport.The popular Ford Escape was one of the vehicles that failed the test. According to Nolan, one test of the Escape sent more than 3,000 pounds of force into the driver's left leg and hip. "That's a potentially very debilitating injury," Nolan said.
Small SUVs are a popular automobile choice for many consumers. Yet, these crash tests show that more must be done to protect SUV occupants from serious injuries. Hopefully, by performing and advertising the crash tests, the IIHS can influence manufacturers to create -- and consumers to purchase -- safer cars.
Source: CBS DFW, "Small SUVs Fare Poorly In New Crash Tests," May 21, 2013
]]>According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), texting while driving is now the number one cause of teenage driving deaths. While drunk driving deaths have gone down, texting while driving deaths continue to increase. More than 3,000 teenagers die every year from texting while driving, compared with 2,700 drunk driving deaths.
]]> Why won't teenagers get the message that texting while driving is dangerous? This is the question safety advocates, parents and personal injury lawyers are asking after a nationwide survey by Cohen Children's Medical Center found that 49 percent of teenage boys and 45 percent of teenage girls admit to texting while driving. A whopping 58 percent of 18-year-olds admit that they texted while driving in the month preceding the survey.Perhaps we are not doing enough to make the dangers clear to teenagers. As the chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Cohen, Dr. Andrew Adesman notes, "We have very strong taboos against drinking and driving. Kids don't drink and drive every day. But some kids are out there texting and driving seven days a week - and they admit it."
Source: Newsday, "Study: Texting While Driving Now Leading Cause Of Death For Teen Drivers," Delthia Ricks, May 8, 2013
]]>In a recent interview with San Diego NBC 7, the uncle of a teenage driver who hit a mother and her children in Rolando, California, explained her distress. "She can't sleep ... She was having terrible chest pains. She's saddened. She's terribly saddened," he said.
The teenager hit the pedestrians last Friday (May 10) after she reached for a spilled coffee cup. She lost control of the car and careened onto a sidewalk where the mother was walking with her two children. One of the children suffered multiple broken bones, including a broken leg, collarbone and pelvis.
]]> While some drivers become defensive after they cause accidents, others feel remorseful for their actions. In addition to being distracted, the teenage driver was driving without a license, which is a traffic violation in California. Now, she wants to help and has even mentioned that she would like to buy the family a new stroller.To the victims, however, the greatest help is something she cannot offer alone: They need financial compensation to help them with the expenses caused by the accident. By bringing a personal injury claim, they may be able to recover compensation for their medical bills, pain and suffering and other financial and emotional damages.
The physical and emotional pain felt by everyone after car accidents, including many at-fault drivers, can be devastating. The teenage driver has "learned her lesson" about driving distractedly and without a license, but there are many teens and other drivers who will continue to make mistakes and poor decisions until they, too, cause accidents. We hope that, by seeing the pain caused by this accident, it makes an impact on other drivers and convinces them to drive safely and do all they can to prevent car accidents.
Source: NBC 7 San Diego, "Teen Driver Distraught Over Rolando Accident: Uncle," Dave Summers, Monica Garske, May 11, 2013
]]>It seems so. Perhaps the best cars to examine for electrical issues are electric and hybrid cars. This week, for example, General Motors issued a recall of 38,197 hybrid vehicles because of circuit board malfunctions in their generator control modules. The defects can result in lower battery charge, which could cause the engine to stall and, in some cases, can ignite car fires.
]]> Cars included in the recall are the Chevrolet Malibu Eco, Buick LaCrosse and Buick Regal sedans that have eAssist hybrid powertrains. There have been at least two incidents of trunk fires and many more incidents of generator control module defects in the GM cars.The safety of electric and hybrid cars has been under scrutiny since fires ignited during National Highway Traffic Safety Administration crash tests of Chevrolet Volts. A well publicized NHTSA study into the Chevy Volt fires concluded that electric vehicles do not generally pose greater risk of fire than gas vehicles, but that there are differences consumers should understand. In particular:
The bottom line is that, like all cars, electric and hybrid cars can experience dangerous electrical defects. While the NHTSA discovered the Chevy Volt fire defect during its crash tests, it usually takes consumers to speak up about problems with their vehicles before recalls are announced and the problems are fixed.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, Driver's Seat Blog, "General Motors Recalls Hybrid Cars For Electrical Flaw," Jonathan Welsh, May 6, 2013
]]>Surveys in recent months have shown the extent of the problem: Nearly half of all teenage drivers admit to texting while driving and 25 percent admit to driving drunk or under the influence of drugs.
]]> One survey conducted by Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) found that 40 percent of teenagers do not consider driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol a distraction — they do not understand the danger. And while teenagers may say they know that texting while driving is dangerous, they do not believe the danger applies to them. Survey data compiled by the Cohen Children’s Medical Center (New York) shows that 43 percent of teenagers admit to texting while driving at least once in the 30 days before the survey — and that’s just the number of teens who are willing to admit their actions.How can we stop teenager drunk driving and texting while driving — two epidemics that cost our country a significant number of lives every year? Unfortunately, it appears the laws have little effect. Laws against drunk driving haven’t stopped a quarter of all teenagers from driving drunk and even laws against texting while driving have had little effect. According to the Cohen study, 39 percent of teens admit to texting while driving in states where the action is illegal, compared with 44 percent in states where there are few restrictions.
The onus seems to fall where it has always fallen: On parents and other role models who can teach teenagers to make smarter decisions. Technology and awareness campaigns can also play roles in preventing teenage texting while driving and drunk driving.
As a personal injury law firm, we often see the effects of teenage drunk driving and distracted driving in our clients who have been injured or have lost family members because of a teenager’s reckless decision. While a personal injury lawsuit can hold the teenager accountable for his or her poor choices, we hope that more can be done on the front end to prevent these tragic accidents.
Source: Latinos Post, “Close To Half Of Teens Text And Drive Despite New Laws And Ad Campaigns,” Erik Derr, May 5, 2013
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