Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

Car accidents continue to be the leading cause of death for teens across the nation. Teen drivers have more fatal crashes, mainly because of their immaturity and lack of experience. They speed, they make mistakes, and they get distracted easily – especially if their friends are in the car.

That’s why officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched the “5 to Drive” campaign. This campaign aims to help get parents off on the right foot when having that conversation about safe driving with their teens. This campaign is providing parents with a simple 5-bullet checklist than can help save lives.

Our Fort Myers car accident lawyers understand that teens may think they’re invincible behind the wheel, but we all know better. What you may not believe is that parents are the most influential people in a teenager’s life. What you say matters. That is why safety officials are calling on parents and guardians to have the talk today to help save lives tomorrow. Continue reading and review the checklist below to make sure you’ve covered all bases:
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According to the most recent statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were more than 7,000 people who were killed in traffic accidents already in 2012. Although this is about a 4 percent decrease from the early estimates of 2012, we’ve still got the holiday travel season to make it through, and with that we know that accident risks are bound to spike.

Accompanying the decrease in the number of traffic accident fatalities was the number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT). During the first three months of 2012, the number on VMT dropped close to 6 million miles.

Our Cape Coral car accident attorneys understand that it’s still too soon to speculate on the contributing factors or potential implications of any changes in deaths on our roadways. However, it should be noted that the historic downward trend in traffic fatalities in the past several years mean any comparison will be to an unprecedented low baseline figure. And any decrease shouldn’t give a false sense of security. We’ve got a ways to go before we hit the New Year and we’ve got some serious risks for accidents as winter residents and tourists begin their annual migration to the area.
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The truth is black and white. Accident risks are higher during the evening hours than during the daytime. According to Science Daily, most streets in the United States don’t have roadway lighting, which only worsens the problem.

Despite these concerns, the proportion of nighttime driving is not likely to go down in today’s around-the-clock economy, making car headlights increasingly important to nighttime driving safety.

Our Naples car accident lawyers understand that Daylight Saving Time is schedules to end on November 3rd, meaning that we’ll be moving our clocks back an hour and it’s going to get darker sooner. Much like drunken drivers plague our roads, drowsy drivers could be deadly during the year’s daylight savings commute. Compared to the jet lag-like feeling that comes with turning the clocks forward in the spring, this weekend’s extra hour of sleep felt like a gift — one that many of the 43 percent of Americans who say they rarely or never get a good night’s sleep couldn’t wait to receive. The extra hour of sleep may not be enough to lessen the effects on our car accident risks though.
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Federal government officials said they will recommend that new cars have rearview video systems, a move immediately denounced as “insufficient” by safety groups who say the cameras should be mandatory. Instead, the government will merely add rearview video systems to its list of recommended features under its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). Their aim here is to help to reduce the risks of backover accidents.

But who’s taking responsibility? First, the NHTSA was set to mandate these cameras for all vehicles and then backpedaled and left it too manufacturers to get it done. You won’t find that in the government press release, which frames the move as a safety improvement.

Our Fort Myers car accident lawyers understand that rearview cameras could save thousands of lives each and every year. The system would add about $100 to the cost of a new vehicle. You’d be surprised by the number of children who are backed over in parking lots and the number of pedestrians who are struck by reversing vehicles in parking lots. And this technology is especially important with the upcoming holidays, when children are out of school and consumers are hitting malls and department stores in droves.
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Being pregnant, or a new mother, can be exhausting — especially when it comes to protecting your child. Women are oftentimes bombarded with information about what is good or bad for their baby.

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that there are well over 6,000 adults who are injured in car accidents each and every day in the U.S. And the risk for death in these events can be cut in half by simply wearing a seat belt. Although the national seat belt usage rate is on the rise, about 1 out of 7 adults don’t buckle up during every car ride. And this is even worse when one of these unbuckled individuals is pregnant.

Our Cape Coral car accident lawyers understand that car accidents are responsible for most injuries requiring hospitalization during a woman’s pregnancy. On the other hand, very little is known about the relationship between auto accidents and specific fetal outcomes. Research continues to show that the best way to protect your growing baby is to protect yourself: Wear a properly positioned safety belt each and every time you’re in a vehicle. And you’ve got to make sure that it’s properly fastened.
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The battle against text-messaging drivers is proving difficult. Experts say that it’s our technology that is reprogramming us. According to The Boston Globe, a recent study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute proved that drivers who text message behind the wheel are about twice as likely to get into an accident as those who are focused on their surroundings.

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that about a third of American adults have sent text messages or emailed while driving at least once in the last 30 days. Consider that when we tell you that roughly 90 percent of drivers think that it should be illegal to engage in these behaviors behind the wheel.

Our Fort Myers car accident lawyers understand that there were close to 215,000 traffic accidents recorded in the U.S. in 2011 that involved text-messaging drivers. That’s compared to about 115,000 recorded the year before. It’s clear that this is a problem that’s getting worse. And Florida’s new anti-text messaging law is working to fix that, but is it working?

And there is mounting evidence that using a phone while driving is a bonafide bad habit that must be combated like other addictions. The same study found we look at our smartphones an average of 60 times a day — often prompted by certain cues, like sitting down at our desks or getting into the car.
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Officials with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) have unveiled a new rating system to test how well these front crash prevention systems work. This new test has been designed to help car buyers determine which features they should consider when purchasing a vehicle, and also for car manufacturers to step up their safety game when designing and creating new vehicles.

The new rating system comes as a result of recent research from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI). That research indicated that automatic braking systems and forward collision warning are helping drivers avoid front-to-rear crashes. With each and every year, we’re seeing newer and better crash avoidance systems to help keep motorists safe behind the wheel. We just need to make sure that these systems are working to their full potential.

Our Naples car accident attorneys understand that braking is one of the most important factors in avoiding an accident. In these tests, vehicles that received an advanced rating had an autobrake system that allowed them to avoid accidents or reduce speeds by at least 5 miles per hour in at least one out of two different driving tests. Vehicles can either receive a basic, advanced or superior rating. Vehicles were tested at both 12 and 25 miles per hour.
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