Personal Injury Alert!

Highway 41 is known to cause disastrous accidents because of heavy traffic and its narrow lanes. Now, authorities say that the road should be widened so as not to cause further harm to motorists as discussed in “Dangers on Highway 41”.

This particular accident-prone highway has caused fatalities and numerous injuries to vehicle occupants and pedestrians. It is high time to do something in order to avoid road accidents that victimize motorists.

The local government should immediately put a stop on these senseless deaths by doing necessary repairs or widening that should further benefit the motorists travelling on Highway 41.

The author of the blog “Laws Prohibiting on Phone use while Driving” discussed the new Wireless Communications Device Law that bans writing, sending, or reading text-based communication while driving.

This compliments the other wireless telephone law that was passed last July 2008 that prohibits all drivers from using handheld wireless telephones from driving.

The laws are all primary enforcement; which means that even without other traffic violations, a police office can cite a driver for using a handheld phone while driving.

The base line for a first offense is $20 and $50 for subsequent offenses.

With penalty assessments, the fine can reach up to triple the original amount

This is done by the government in recognition of the dangers of unfocused driving because of distractions like mobile phones.

Driving requires full attention because a distracted driver is not only putting his life in danger, but of those around him as well.

The blog “Authorities Identify DUI Crash Victim,” described how the police identified the remains of a passenger who died following a DUI crash in San Diego.

It is a common story in road accidents.

In fact, 20 percent of all fatalities caused by road accidents in the US are passengers.

It is unfortunate because they do not have the power over the car, yet they are the ones who pay the price.

That is why, under the law, passengers are generally never held liable for car accidents.

The only exception would be if the driver proves that the passenger intentionally distracted him or her, and it caused the crash or collision.

This gives passenger victims an edge in filing for a personal injury claim as the insurance companies won’t be able to question their role in the accident.

The only question would be finding the liable party.

Will they be filing a personal injury claim from the insurance company of the driver who was operating the car they are riding?

Or will it be from the driver of another car who collided with their vehicle?

Either way, it is almost guaranteed that they will be compensated.

The car tire is one of the most ill-maintained part of the car. Most of us take it for granted and do not give it proper attention.

Usually, we say that we will replace it or have it pumped soon but we never really get around to doing it.

Because of that, about nine percent of all cars in the US have at least one bald tire or a tire that are so worn out, it almost has no threads on it.

A bald tire and an under inflated tire is one of the major causes of tire blowouts in the US and a tire blowout on the road can be very dangerous.

That is just what happened in Mission Viejo where 5 Died in Fiery Crash as a result of a rollover accident.

Because of a tire blowout, the SUV crashed into a sign post, rolled thrice down the hill, slammed a fence, hit a tree then was finally engulfed in deadly flames.

All of it because of a simple blown-out tire

So you should ask yourself, “Are my tires in good condition?”

In the blog “Truck left in gear injures man,” the author discussed about an accident where a truck was left in gear by the driver and ended up running over and trapping a 40-year old employee of Wild Animals Park.

It is a clear case of negligence and the author is right that the victim can and should pursue a personal injury case.

There are three possible parties that can be held liable in such cases:

Obviously the first one is the driver as his lack of attention directly caused the accident.

However aside from the driver, who else can be liable for the truck accident?

A second possible liable party is the manufacturer of the truck or of its parts.
 
A defective brake that could have stopped the truck or a defective tire that could not hold the whole weight of the truck could have also caused the accident even if the driver did not forget that he left the truck in gear.

Another possible liable party is the trucking company who the driver works for.

Under the law, truck companies have a level of responsibility (at least partially) for the actions of their drivers.

They could have also inadvertently caused the driver to be inattentive by overworking their drivers.

Driver fatigue has been proven to impair the driver’s coordination, reflex and road judgment.

And this clearly is a bad judgment.

But whoever the liable party is, the victim should be entitled to recover damages from the neglectful third party and their insurance company.

After a year of court battle, a jury on Wednesday announced police officer Frank White not guilty of criminal offense in the shooting of Rachel Silva and her 8-yearold son during a road rage incident.

In a blog post “Jury acquits police officer in a road rage case” , the author said the defendant wants to get back to his work as a police officer. For many months, he was forced to take unpaid leave while the hearing was still ongoing.

According to earlier reports, White said he shot Silva to defend himself and his family and that he did not know that she was with her son.

The road rage incident first started when Silva and White were caught in the traffic side by side and the woman thought the police officer was traveling too close from her car.

According to White, Silva followed his car and accelerated and stopped as if showing that she will ram her vehicle to his.

Meanwhile, in a surprising turn of event, it was Silva who is now in the “hot seat” as her hearing for driving under the influence (DUI) case is scheduled to be sentenced next month. According to police reports, Silva’s blood-alcohol level was .15 (which is two times higher than the legal limit) even if two hours had already passed after the shooting incident.

Since Silva admitted that she was drunk at the time of the incident, some lawyers said she could also face felony child endangerment case because her young son was traveling with her during the road rage incident.

In a blog entry titled “Three undocumented immigrants injured in car crash” posted on May 15, the author said three illegal immigrants could have escaped the police if only their driver had been more careful.

According to the author, the patrolling police car tried to apprehend the immigrants but decided to end the chase since it was too dangerous to travel at a high speed in a bumpy road.

Just when the policemen thought the immigrants had escaped, they received a report which said that the car they were chasing hit a tree and injured the three immigrants onboard.

Meanwhile, illegal aliens have long been a problem in California who choose this state since it has less stringent requirements in legalizing immigrants compared to other jurisdictions.

Also, car chases often occur in California border, especially along Sunrise Highway as illegal immigrants choose this route to avoid police checkpoint.

There was a recent bicycle accident stated in, “Bicyclist seriously injured on Highway 9,”  wherein a cyclist was seriously injured after being struck by a hit-and-run driver in Saratoga.

Police are still searching for the perpetrator. The family of the victim, Ashley Jackson, is definitely experiencing a hard time, and the fact that driver who caused this terrible incident sped off and did not face the consequences of what he/she has done intensifies the suffering of Jackson’s family. They want the driver to be caught so badly that they offered a reward of $11,000 for any details about his/her identity.

Hit-and-run drivers may think that they can get away from what they have done, or they might be scared of the cost. However, escaping from one’s responsibility just aggravates the situation. The perpetrator knows his/her legal duty and should just come out in the open and face the charges.

Due to the number of plane accidents that occur and the injuries and deaths that it brings, it is important to make sure that planes fly and land safely to avoid these accidents. This is the job of air traffic controllers.

According to “Crisis in California Air Control Staffing”, the Los Angeles International Airport or LAX is now dealing with issues concerning air traffic being controlled by inexperienced trainees, as there has been a significant decrease in the number of skilled air traffic controllers due to retirement.

Inexperienced air traffic controllers should undergo extensive trainings to improve their knowledge and skills so that they can be more efficient. This would help minimize the occurrence of plane accidents.

Several studies suggest that children are more prone to road accidents than adults.  Researchers said factors such as small body frame, curiosity, lack of traffic awareness may have put children in more vulnerable situation.

In a blog post, “Jeep hits 11-year-old girl”, the author mentioned an incident where a girl was accidentally hit by a vehicle.  This case is quite unique since the driver was not reckless and the accident can be attributed to the defective light signal.

Meanwhile, the blogger also said that road accidents are often preventable if only people will be responsible and careful drivers, adding that following road safety will save individuals especially children.  

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), nearly 4,000 people died in road accidents while 640 pedestrians were killed in California in 2007.  On the other hand, the agency also said alcohol-related accidents in the road have significantly dropped in the last few years.

For drivers, it is important that they would follow traffic rules not just to protect themselves but also keep other motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists away from harm. Failing to do so will make them liable for any injury sustained and they can even face years of imprisonment for being reckless.