The Department of Transportation (DOT) believes education is the key to stopping motor vehicle accidents caused by cell phone use. This means making sure that adults as well as teens are educated about the hazards of distracted driving and that adults are modeling good behavior for their children.
To get teens involved in spreading the word, Bridgestone has launched a contest for teens to create public service announcements. The goal is to make sure that teens understand that there are not any precautions they could take which would mitigate the dangers of distracted driving.
Source: www.fastlane.dot.gov, "Bridgestone Studies Teen Driver Behaviors," Ray LaHood, 24 April 2012
]]>To address this problem, the U.S. Senate just passed a $109 billion bill to reduce the number of fatal accidents on our nation's roadways. Among the key provisions are the following:
Bill To Tackle Tough Trucking Issues
In addition to these provisions, which are focused on non-commercial drivers, are important regulations targeting problems within the trucking industry. In particular, the legislation will create stronger requirements for commercial driver training as well as more stringent medical qualifications. Oversight for truckers will be increased as will the penalties for violations.
Fighting pressure from trucking industry lobbies, there is an explicit provision to prevent dangerous truck weight and size increases. It is well documented that the heavier a truck is, the more difficult it is to stop, posing greater dangers of jackknife and rear-end accidents to motorists on highways. In addition, the new legislation would fund a study to examine how increased weights would further strain the crumbling infrastructure of our bridges and highways.
To combat logbook fraud used to hide truck driver fatigue, the new law would require all commercial truck drivers to use electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) to track their movements. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has been urging the trucking industry to adopt these measures for years.
Finally, the law includes the Motorcoach Enhanced Safety Act (MESA). MESA will give the Department of Transportation (DOT) deadlines for implementing NTSB safety recommendations designed to improve oversight on the trucking industry as a whole and to better protect passengers travelling by motorcoach.
Source: www.marketwatch.com, "Safety Advocates Praise Senate Passage of BiPartisan Surface Transportation Authorization Legislation," 14 March 2012
]]>Unfortunately, even the best safety features cannot prevent injury. Even a minor car accident can result in lasting pain.
In addition to the scrapes and cuts that are easy to see, there are many injuries in an auto accident that aren't readily apparent. Sometimes the symptoms of these injuries aren't readily apparent. The true extent of an injury may not show up until weeks or months after an accident.
]]> Because it is difficult for people to know how much care and treatment they will need, many injured people in North Carolina are comforted by speaking with a Raleigh neck injury attorney.A car accident can injure people in many ways. The following are three of the most common back and neck injuries suffered by people in car accidents.
Whiplash
Whiplash is by far the most familiar neck injury associated with a car accident. It's often caused the result of a rear-end accident. The jolting of the head forward by the force of the impact results in a hyperextension of the neck. Whiplash is a serious injury. In severe cases it can leave a person in chronic pain.
Herniated Disc
A disc becomes herniated when it is knocked out of its place in the spinal cord. This can result in a compression of the spinal cord that puts pressure on sensitive nerves. People with herniated discs frequently suffer numbness in addition to severe lower back pain.
Spinal Contusion
Spinal contusions are some of the most damaging spinal cord injuries. Bruising of the spine can result in permanent nerve damage. A person may suffer from temporary or permanent paralysis, impaired reflexes and loss of feeling and/or control of certain body parts.
Source: www.ehow.com, "Common Back Problems After a Minor Car Accident," Michelle Reneei
]]>On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) proposed it's most sweeping recommendation yet. The NTSB proposed a nationwide ban on all forms of cell phone use while driving. The ban would incorporate both hand-held and hands-free cell use, except in the case of emergencies.
]]> Most states already have some form of cell phone restrictions in place, but their level of restrictions have varied from banning texting to permitting only the use of hands-free devices. NTSB member Robert Sumwalt told CNN, "This (distracted driving) is becoming the new DUI. It's becoming epidemic."The number of fatalities caused by distracted driving in 2009 was conservatively estimated at over 3,000. Transportation experts estimate the number may be far higher. The precise number is often difficult to gauge because people are often reluctant to admit they were distracted prior to the crash.
The NTSB's recommendation was driven by devastating headlines. Most prominently, a teenage boy in Missouri sent or received over 11 texts in the 11 minutes before he plowed into the back of a tractor trailer entering a construction zone. The crash caused a chain reaction that killed two people and left 38 more injured.
A study of the causes of truck accidents by commercial drivers, such as semis and tractor trailers, has revealed that drivers are 163 times more likely to commit a serious safety error if they are texting, e-mailing or using the internet. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association has just issued a new rule banning the use of hand-held cell phones by truckers. According to Truckinginfo.com, the new rule goes into effect on January 3rd.
Source: www.cnn.com, "NTSB Recommends Full Ban on Use of Cell Phones While Driving," 14 December 2011, Mike M. Ahlers
]]>The new law, known as "Laura's Law," was drafted by legislators after 17 year-old, Laura Fortenberry, was killed in a head-on collision with Howard Passour, who was attempting to pass a series of vehicles on a two-lane highway. Passour, who had previously been convicted of three DWI offenses, was sentenced to 28 years in prison last March.
]]> The new law, which was passed unanimously in June, not only increases the prison time for repeat offenders, but it also will extend the length of time repeat offenders must wear alcohol monitoring bracelets from 60 days up to a potential of three years.Although law enforcement will be stepping up patrols over the coming month, there are steps everyone in North Carolina can take to stay safe from injury this season. Holiday travelers should always use a designated driver, avoid binge drinking and step in to make sure friends do not drink and drive. When in doubt, call a sober friend or taxi to take you home.
A life can be shattered in an instant. Drunken driving related car accidents in North Carolina frequently cause serious injuries and sometimes even death. While merrymakers can't control who is on the road, they can take steps to make sure they are not one of the hazards on it.
Source: www.examiner.com, "Teen Killed By Drunk Driver, Laura's Law, Takes Effect Thursday," 30 November 2011, Chris McGraw
]]>On October 1st, North Carolina enacted its newest tort reform measure for medical malpractice claims. The new law caps "non-economic damages" awards for victims of negligence at $500,000.
Non-economic damages refer generally to losses that are difficult to quantify, such as the loss of a body part, pain and suffering. These new limits join the existing cap on punitive damages, which are intended to encourage doctors and hospitals to use more care in the future to ensure that painful mistakes are not made.
]]> The Myth of Excessive Malpractice Awards Leads to Bad LegislationWith the ongoing economic troubles that our country has been facing, it is understandable that people would be looking to cut excessive spending. Sadly, insurance companies and medical interests have expended a great deal of effort in leading the public to believe that high awards from medical practice claims are responsible for their high insurance costs.
The medical establishment has been pushing for these limits for years, arguing large awards are driving up the cost of their medical malpractice insurance premiums. The problem with these caps are they end up hurting the people who have already been injured, the victims of medical malpractice.
Victims Pay the Price for Reform
Medical malpractice cases are born out of a mistake that is frequently preventable. What is worse, some errors cannot be undone. Whether it be the loss of a body part that was never intended to be lost or the loss of a life, the lives of those who have been injured are forever altered.
Opponents of the new law believe it violates the constitutional right to a trial by jury in a civil case. In addition, they are worried that the new cap may actually discourage lawyers from taking on cases because malpractice cases are both difficult and expensive to prove, requiring a medical expert to testify that the care provided by either the doctor or hospital fell below the standard of care for their line of work.
The new law will be especially hard on the victims of catastrophic injuries. Victims of negligence in an emergency situation will have to prove it to a jury by clear and convincing evidence. This represents a higher burden of proof. North Carolina Governor, Beverly Perdue vetoed the legislation for this reason.
Source: www.fayobserver.com, "New Laws in North Carolina Take Effect This Weekend," 29 September 2011, Gary D. Robertson
]]>Whiplash is a non-medical term used to describe a variety of injuries causes by a sudden jolt to the head during such things as a sports accident or an auto accident. Such an impact can send your head and neck in directions that the body is not designed to move, causing damage to the muscles, ligaments and tendons that support the neck and upper back. It doesn't take a major impact. Speeds of just 15 mph are enough to cause whiplash injuries, and wearing seat belts does not always protect passengers from injury.
Whiplash injuries range from mild, lasting just a couple of days, to disabling injuries. Symptoms can appear immediately after an accident or appear days after the crash. Those suffering from whiplash injuries often have a limited range of motion in their neck, shoulders and back. Left untreated, whiplash injuries can result in migraines, neck pain and back pain as well as the feeling of pins and needles along your arms and shoulders.
Why You Should Visit a Doctor in Case of an Auto Accident
Often symptoms of a neck or back injury don't appear immediately. Sometimes it takes days or even weeks for the full scope of the injury to manifest itself. Many times people who have just been in an accident refuse medical care at the scene because they feel okay. Visiting a doctor immediately after a car accident is important for several reasons. First, you'll get the medical care you need. Secondly, you'll have a record of your injuries should you ever need such a document in court.
Many people don't take whiplash injuries seriously until it's too late, and they don't receive the compensation they deserve for their medical expenses and their pain. If you've suffered a neck or back injury as a result of a car crash, you owe it to yourself and your family to contact a personal injury lawyer. Don't let the other party's insurance company tell you what you deserve.
Source: www.webmd.com, "Whiplash-Topic Overview", 2 August 2010
]]>Weill Cornell Medical College researchers looked at data on the amount of medical malpractice claims that were paid in 2009 and found that 52 percent of these payments were the result of errors made during outpatient care. While this does not represent all of the medical mistakes that were made that year in an outpatient setting, the study is a good indicator of the seriousness of the problem.
"There were a remarkably high number of cases in the outpatient setting, and the outcomes weren't trivial," lead researcher Tara Bishop told The Washington Post.
Causes of Outpatient Medical Errors
There are several factors that contribute to errors made during outpatient care. One of the main reasons for these mistakes is the fact that doctors are trying to do more tasks in less time. As care has shifted from hospitals to outpatient care facilities, medical personnel have been stretched to their limits - and as a result, sometimes medical diagnoses fall through the cracks. Doctors pressed to see a number of patients in a limited timeframe are sometimes overlooking key lab reports that may result in critical errors such as a missed diagnosis of cancer.
These busy schedules have contributed to another factor causing outpatient care mistakes: lack of communication between medical professionals. In a statement, Bishop explained it this way: "A primary care physician may refer a patient to a specialist, but the actual appointment may never happen. A cardiologist may order a scan, unaware that it was already performed during a patient's hospital stay." Problems with physician communication led in some instances to medication errors that resulted in adverse drug interactions and surgeries performed on either the wrong site or the wrong person.
How to Remedy Mistakes in Outpatient Care
In order to help improve the level of care that patients receive in outpatient settings - and decrease the amount of errors - Bishop said that communication must be treated like a priority. To that end, one remedy would be to increase the amount of communication between medical professionals. Another way to improve outpatient care is to use technologies - like electronic medical records - designed to make patient information more accessible to medical personnel.
Source: WSJ.com, "Time to Focus on Medical Errors Outside the Hospital," Katherine Hobson, 14 June 2010
]]>"This is one of the worst I've seen in a long, long time, especially with the number of vehicles involved," State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Gordon said in an interview with WNCN-TV. "Any time you have a major interstate such as this, you have higher speeds and when we do have those collisions, they're pretty dramatic in nature."
]]> Causes of Truck AccidentsWhile the Graybeal case is an extreme example of the importance of truck safety, trucking accidents in North Carolina are all too common. According to the Truck Safety Coalition, there were over 1,400 truck accidents around the state from 2001 to 2008.
Although state legislators are considering measures to keep truck drivers around the state safe - such as a bill prohibiting truckers from using cell phones and texting while on the road - the adoption of safe driving habits by motorists can help them avoid accidents with truckers.
Motorists in cars are frequently uneducated about the power of trucks. This can lead some drivers to become impatient and engage in risky behaviors, such as quick lane changes in front of trucks and failing to slow down when a tractor trailer is changing lanes. Exercising caution when passing and driving at a safe speed is the easiest way for drivers to keep themselves out of harm's way.
Even with these measures, however, sometimes safety is not enough. Tight deadlines and compensation structures push too many truckers into driving at excessive speeds for long periods of time. The danger is compounded by truckers who fail to take sufficient time to rest between runs. All of these practices cause truck driver fatigue and increase the danger to drivers on the road.
In addition to exhaustion, inexperience can also be a factor in tractor trailer accidents. New truck drivers who receive inadequate training to develop safe driving techniques and defensive driving maneuvers pose an additional hazard on the highway.
]]>Distracted driving has caused over 5,000 crashes in North Carolina over the past 4 years. Texting offenses were ticketed over 1,200 times since the state's ban on texting went into effect in December of 2009.
]]> The North Carolina legislature continues to fight for legislation banning the use of cell phones. Lawmakers have been grappling with how to address the distracted driving problem since 2005. Current legislation seeks to expand the existing prohibitions, barring school bus drivers and drivers under the age of 18 from using their cell phones to all drivers.The three bills introduced by members of the senate and the house would either apply the ban of cell phones to all drivers or limit the ban to hand-held devices only. These bills are unlikely to pass however because it became clear the measures would not receive the required votes to pass. One of the proposed bans, House Bill 44, was pulled from legislation after negative comments were expressed in subcommittee meetings.
The cool reception of the bills from both houses is surprising in light of the fact that a recent Charlottesville Observer poll indicated 47% of persons polled agreed with a bank on cell phones and 40% of persons surveyed indicated they would at least support a ban on handheld devices. A similar poll conducted by Elon University in February 2009 found support for banning the use of cell phones while driving from two-thirds of individuals polled. Ironically, of the 758 people polled, more than half confessed to using their cell phones while driving.
But distracted driving is not limited to cell phone use. According to the US Department of Transportation's website on distracted driving, there are three types of distraction: visual, manual and cognitive. The first two involve taking either your eyes or hands off the road respectively. The third is the most common, letting your mind drift from your attention to the road. Distracted driving activities include the following:
•· Talking on a cell phone
•· Eating and drinking
•· Talking to other passengers in the car
•· Putting on make-up and other forms of grooming
•· Reading books, maps or magazines
•· Changing the radio
•· Changing the radio station or compact disc
•· Watching a video
•· Using a personal digital assistant
Distracted driving is not a minor issue. It can permanently alter lives with devastating injuries. Even worse, it can kill. Nationally, the Fatal Analysis Reporting System, which compiles data from police reports, found 5,474 of all fatalities in 2009 resulted from distracted driving. If you have been injured in an auto accident, you should consult with an experienced personal injury attorney who can advise you of your rights and the options available to you.
Sources: http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2011/06/27/1104488?sac=Home and
http://handsfreeinfo.com/north-carolina-cell-phone-laws-legislation
]]>After not seeing marked recovery, four Texas children were taken to the hospital. It was discovered that parents of the children had been treating the children's illnesses with Amoxilina, a Multi-Mex product, under the mistaken assumption that the product was Amoxil, an over-the-counter antibiotic available in Mexico.
]]> Following the trips to the hospital, the Texas Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Multi-Mex for unlawfully marketing and dispensing its product. Texas authorities said that the packaging of the dietary supplement Amoxilina intentionally mimics - same color scheme and box design - that of Amoxil, an antibiotic to treat ear and throat infections readily available in Mexico.The incident in Texas prompted the FDA to open its own investigation, which has resulted in Multi-Mex pulling a total of eight products, in several dosages, from stores in Georgia, Tennessee, California, Illinois, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Colorado and Indiana.
According to the FDA, the products, labeled in both English and Spanish, "appear to be an intentional marketing ploy to mimic antibiotics and directed at Hispanic buyers."
The FDA noted that the easily mistaken products could lead to doctors to "over-medicate" or order unnecessary medical procedures.
If you have any of the recalled products, return the products to the place of purchase for a full refund. If the easily mistaken packaging has led to any adverse side-effects or injuries, speak with an experienced personal injury attorney.
]]>The fake automobile-train accident happened near Nash Community College, North Carolina, at East Old Spring Hope Road and Eggers Drive. The Department of Transportation and local Highway Patrol filmed the entire accident which took two full days to complete.
]]> The ultimate goal of the video was to help train emergency crews on how to handle train accidents correctly. Specifically, the video shows workers how to efficiently and safely clear train tracks after an accident; mainly so an investigation can kick off immediately and trains can continue utilizing the tracks. The video also features a section dealing with railroad safety.Authorities plan to also post the video on Highway Patrol and Department of Transportation's website as a way to garner public awareness about vehicle-train collisions.
]]>You may be considering contacting our law firm after a truck injury, a construction injury or a motor vehicle accident. If you select the Law Offices of Wade E. Byrd, P.A., and we select your case, we know how essential it is to keep you informed about the legal process. Our goal is to empower our clients to make the best decisions they can about their own cases.
This blog page provides insight into relevant case law and court decisions in the legal areas of greatest importance to our clients and their legal issues. Periodically, we will update the information and blog topics, so please return often to see our most current post and comments.
Our Fayetteville, North Carolina, personal injury law firm has always placed an emphasis on personalized attention and responsiveness to our clients' concerns. Your input is helpful. We take your comments seriously, and invite your feedback about this or any future blog posts on this page. Thank you for visiting. Call us in our Fayetteville office at 910-401-3590 or 866-508-3689 toll free. You may also contact the law offices by e-mail to discuss your specific legal need today.
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