Accidents Archive

Car Accident Fault and Getting What You’re Owed

April 21st, 2010. By Kristine B

If you’re one of those people who “don’t like to focus on fault”, you’ll quickly find yourself focusing on it should you be involved in a car accident. Not that anyone likes pointing fingers, but unfortunately, the state you live in probably uses a little finger-pointing to determine what damages should be awarded to each party in the aftermath of an accident. Some states use either Contributory or Comparative Negligence to determine damages…and you should know which, if any, your state uses.

 

Since I spoke with Missouri attorney John Page about comparative negligence, I thought it would be a great idea for this edition of Pleading Ignorance to explain what comparative negligence is, and compare it to contributory negligence. Knowing whether your state uses contributory negligence, comparative negligence—or even modified comparative negligence will help you to determine what damages you are entitled to if you are in a car accident. 

Note—here’s a refresher on negligence in general. Also, a number of you are probably familiar with the concepts of “Fault” and “No Fault” car insurance states—they’re related to this topic, but we won’t cover those here; look for them in an upcoming Pleading Ignorance. Now, back to car accident negligence… 

Contributory Negligence 

Contributory negligence is a system of fault in which the injured party can only obtain compensation for injuries and damages if he or she did not contribute to the accident in any way. This means that if you’re in a car accident and the driver of the other vehicle is 99 percent at fault but you are 1 percent at fault, you won’t receive any damages. You’re out of luck. You can’t in any way be even a little bit at fault for the accident or you’ll get nothing in monetary damages.  

So, to use an example: let’s say that Becky is attempting to make a left turn at an intersection. Chris speeds through the intersection on a red and hits Becky. The jury finds Chris 80 percent Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Negligence, Pleading Ignorance
Posted in Accidents, Automotive, Pleading Ignorance | 1 Comment »

Why your Kid needs a Bike Helmet: Brain Injuries by-the-numbers

March 24th, 2010. By AbiK

Brain Injury Reality Check #1: 1.4 million people get a blow or jolt to the head—or a penetrating head injury—that disrupts the function of the brain each year.

And that’s only the count of those who actually go and receive medical care for a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

So it’s that time of year when the bikes, scooters and skateboards come out of hiding and hit the asphalt, concrete and, in many places, the potholes that come along with it. And it’s all too easy as a parent to be filled with sheer bliss as you watch the kids get out of the house and out of your hair only to realize that you didn’t dig the bike helmets out from the garage or shed…so off go the kids sans protective gear—too impatient to care about safety.

Brain Injury Reality Check #2: Of those 1.4 million traumatic brain injuries (TBI) for which the victims seek medical attention, 50,000 die.

Brain Injury Reality Check #3: Of those 1.4 million traumatic brain injuries for which the victims seek medical attention, 235,000 are hospitalized.

It doesn’t seem like such a big deal at the time—to let your kid go without his helmet just this one time. You feel a twinge of guilt, but heck, WE all rode our bikes without helmets when we were little, right? And we’re fine, right?

Brain Injury Reality Check #4: The leading cause of TBI is falls—falls account for 28% of all traumatic brain injuries.

And the two age groups at highest risk for TBI? Infants or toddlers ages 0 to 4 (think about the Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Brain Injury, TBI
Posted in Accidents, Emerging Issues, Personal Injury | No Comments »

First Responder Distraction a Risk to Other Drivers

March 22nd, 2010. By Hunter West

In the rush to get people to stop texting on their cell phones, playing with their GPS devices or even working the laptop sitting on the passenger seat beside them WHILE DRIVING, a large segment of the driving population has been all but ignored in the debate.

Emergency service workers—the police, firefighters and paramedics who are first responders to an emergency. 

Have you seen inside a modern ambulance lately? Or a police car? It’s a tech heaven.

Computers and keypads, high-end GPS. The list goes on. 

There is little doubt that such rolling technology is having a positive impact on the capacity to respond to an emergency, and to save a life. 

But what has been forgotten—at least until a New York Times article came out on March 11^th drawing attention to the issue—is the potential for distraction by first responders who are multi-tasking behind the wheel and shouldn’t be.

As the article highlighted, drivers are supposed to key in, upload and download information while the vehicle is stopped. Once moving, that task is entrusted to the accompanying paramedic, or police officer. The partner. 

However, there have been instances where the riding paramedic is in the back, attending to the patient. The driver, intent on shuttling a patient in obvious distress to hospital in the quickest time, will not wait for vital information to come before weaving into traffic. Should that data become available while en route— Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Accidents, Automotive | No Comments »

Congratulations Lawyers–you may get in accidents, but you don’t speed!

March 16th, 2010. By AbiK

Or is it that you just don’t get caught?

Yes, believe it or not, according to the top 10 list of crash-prone professions that was put out by Quality Planning Corp. and Insure.com at the end of last year, lawyers rank only above social workers for getting speeding tickets. However…

When you look at accidents, well, that’s a bit of a different story.

Here’s the break down on the top 10 crash-prone professions (journalists, pat your backs—you’re not on it). The accidents and speeding tickets are per 1,000 professionals in each category:

1. Doctors: 109 accidents and 44 speeding tickets

2. Lawyers: 106 accidents and 37 speeding tickets

3. Architects: 105 accidents and 72 speeding tickets

4. Real Estate Brokers: 102 accidents and 39 speeding tickets

5. Enlisted Military Personnel: 99 accidents and 78 speeding tickets

6. Social Workers: 98 accidents and 33 speeding tickets

7. Manual Laborers: 96 accidents and 77 speeding tickets

8. Analysts: 95 accidents and 40 speeding tickets

9. Engineers: 94 accidents and 51 speeding tickets

10. Consultants: 94 accidents and 50 speeding tickets

If you’re thinking this was an outlier kind of year, not so. Five years ago, in 2004, the same report listed these groups as the top 5 for being accident-prone:

1. Students

2. Doctors

3. Lawyers

4. Architects

5. Real Estate Brokers

Tags: Accidents, Automotive, Highway Safety, Speeding
Posted in Accidents, Automotive | No Comments »

Vintage Cars Rock as Hard Drive on Wheels may be Hell on Wheels

March 12th, 2010. By Hunter West

I have a prediction: this whole Toyota mess is going to spawn a re-birth of vintage cars.

 

I have a friend who has a vintage Volkswagen Beetle. An original Veedub. It was made at the original Wolfsburg factory in Germany, has a carburetor and no pollution controls. It coughs, and wheezes. Despite the obvious fact that it’s loads of fun to drive, my pal has had it parked for a few years now due to his attempt to respect the environment—even though legally he can drive it as is—given the fact the car is so old it is grandfathered and is not governed by modern-day pollution control standards. 

He would sit there, at the red light, an obvious Old-World stench belching from the exhaust pipe, cowering under the scorn of other drivers sitting behind the wheels of their gleaming Toyotas that didn’t stink so much. 

So he parked the car. There it sits in the garage, replaced by a more modern vehicle. He’s aware there are others in the vintage car communities who have done the same. They’re driving their vintage cars less, if at all, out of respect for the environment. Besides, newer cars are that much safer. 

Or, are they?

Don’t be surprised if you see more old cars out on the road now. Cars that drive by mechanics, not electronics. The only circuit you’ll find is the battery that connects the starter, the headlights, the horn, the wipers and the radio.

That’s it. Cars according to KISS: ‘keep it simple, stupid…” 

Are cars getting too complicated? 

Toyota has been beleaguered with trouble. We all know that. We’ve all heard about the recall, and the sticky pedals. We’ve all heard that Toyota said it was NOT electronics that were at fault, then say they weren’t sure, and then say again as late as this week that in their view the electronics are fine. It’s sticking pedals and floor mats that are causing unexplained acceleration. 

And yet we hear of reports where Toyota owners have experienced more incidents whereby their recalled cars have sped away seemingly under their own power AFTER the safety repairs were made. This week a guy driving a Prius is lucky to be alive after his car sped up along a California Interstate. He said the pedal stuck and wouldn’t let go. He even tried to pry it free with his hand. It wouldn’t budge. Floor mats were not the issue.

His car wasn’t on the recall list. 

On Wednesday a woman was just heading out of her driveway when her Toyota suddenly lurched forward, sped up and she slammed into a retaining wall across from her property. 

Okay, so is the problem mechanical? Or electronic? Or a combination of both? Do you ever recall a 1964 Impala doing this kind of stuff?

Most agree that cars are getting increasingly complicated. Some say, too much so. Well if that’s you, then you don’t want to ever meet up with the 2010 Lexus HS 250h, manufactured by Toyota. 

More computing power than a moonshot 

Here is a car that can literally drive itself. Roman Mica, a reporter and producer for CNN reviewed Toyota’s latest marvel, calling the Lexus HS 250h a technological ‘tour de force.’ You don’t drive the car any more, Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Toyota, toyota recall
Posted in Accidents, Automotive, Emerging Issues | 1 Comment »