Articles Posted in Car Accidents

The dangers of drowsy driving have become a major topic of conversation in recent years as it has become increasingly clear that fatigued driving presents many of the same risks as driving drunk (impaired reflexes, inability to slow or swerve to avoid a crash, etc.).

Our Hammond injury attorneys encourage you to take the risks seriously, and get medical help for sleep disorders or persistent problems pertaining to sleep.

The New York Times indicated that a CDC study had found drowsy driving to be widespread. One piece of good news, on the other hand, was a study on Money News indicating that more people than ever before aregetting treatment for sleep disorders.New Drowsy Driving Data Shows That Many are Taking Risks
The bad news is that, according to the New York Times, a study conducted by the CDC has revealed that millions are driving even though they are way too tired to actually be safe behind the wheel.

The CDC study involved the collection of data from 19 different states throughout the U.S. as well as from the District of Columbia (D.C.). Researchers asked a total of 147,000 individuals to answer detailed questions on their sleeping patterns, on their driving and on their work.

According to the study:

• Younger drivers ages 18-44 were most likely to drive drowsy. Over 5 percent of survey respondents in this age group reported falling asleep or nodding off while driving at least once in the prior month.
• Older drivers were least likely to drive drowsy. Among the 65+ group of survey respondents, only 1.7 percent said they had fallen asleep as they were driving.
• When taking the average of all drivers, 4.2 percent said that in the month before they were surveyed, they’d fallen asleep while driving. This goes beyond just feeling a little tired- they actually fell asleep.

These numbers may seem surprising, since it is hard to believe that so many people actually fall asleep even for a few seconds behind the wheel. Still, they are reflected in the statistics on drowsy driving deaths. In 2009 alone, 730 people lost their lives in fatal car wrecks as a result of a distracted driver.

The Good News: More Are Getting Help
While hundreds of deaths per year and millions driving drowsy are certainly clear and unequivocal indicators that something has to be done about drowsy driving, the good news is that many people are taking matters into their own hands.

Those who snore or who are sleep deprived are more likely to drive drowsy, the CDC study says, and many of these people are getting help at sleep centers nationwide.

In fact, so many people are seeking assistance with their sleep problems that Money News reports the American Academy of Sleep Medicine has now accredited its 2,500th sleep center. There are now more sleep centers accredited than at any time since the Academy began the accreditation process in 1977 and there are double the number of centers from just a single decade ago.

More sleep centers accommodate more people getting treatment and hopefully those who solve their sleep issues will drop out of the ranks of drowsy drivers and make the roads safer for all.
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This New Years, you could make the same old resolutions you always do: to be nicer to your family, to lose weight, to go to the gym, arrive on time, to stop procrastinating… all of these are top resolutions that many people make and then forget about a few weeks into January. You also have another option though. You could make a very important resolution and one that could potentially save your life or the lives of others.You could resolve to become a better, safer and more cautious driver in 2013. This is a resolution that our personal injury attorneys urge every driver to make.

Why Resolve to Become a Safer Driver?
There are hundreds of reasons why every single driver in Indiana should resolve to do better in 2013. In fact, to be exact, there are 674 reasons why Indiana drivers should resolve to make safer driving decisions. Because there were 674 fatal accidents in Indiana in 2011 according to the 2012 Indiana Traffic Safety Facts.

These 674 fatal Indiana accidents caused 749 deaths in the state. There were also 188,132 traffic accidents in 2011 that caused either injury or property damage. A good portion of these crashes did not have to happen, but they did because people made bad driving choices.

How Can You Become a Safer Driver in 2013?
Resolving to become a safer driver isn’t just an abstract or vague resolution. There are some very specific driving behaviors that you can resolve to put an end to, and some very specific things that you can resolve to do during the New Year. For example, you should resolve:

• Never to speed under any circumstances. 19.4 percent of fatal accidents (131 total) were related to speeding and 9.3 percent of all crashes in the state were attributed to drivers going too fast.
• To always drive sober, every time. In 2011, 133 fatal accidents and 140 deaths in Indiana were attributed to drunk drivers. This means that intoxicated drivers were involved in 20 percent of the fatal accidents in the state.
• To wear your seat belt for every trip, even short trips. Only 48 percent of those who were killed in auto accidents were known to be wearing their seat belt at the time of the crash.
• To talk to your teenager about safe driving if you are a parent. Drivers ages 16-17 had the highest rate of crash involvement.

Yielding at intersections, refraining from tailgating, watching out for bicycle riders and pedestrians, and showing appropriate respect to other drivers on the road are also some things that you can do in 2013 in order to keep your safe driving resolution.

As you resolve to become a better driver in 2013, you should also encourage everyone you know to make the same promise. All drivers have a responsibility to be reasonably careful on the road. Someone else’s failure to follow the driving rules or to exercise the appropriate care could still result in a crash no matter how careful you are behind the wheel. In that case, speaking to an experienced personal injury or wrongful death law firm can help ensure your rights are protected.
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New Years is supposed to be a time to celebrate the end of one year and the coming of another. Tragically, for some, the new year will never come because of a fatal drunk driving crash. For others, the new year may begin in a jail cell after a drunk driving arrest.

These concerns about New Years drunk driving are very real, as the dangers significantly increase around the holiday. In fact, according to Drive On, one of every 10 teens responding to a recent survey admitted to driving drunk on New Years Eve. Last December, Auto Guide also published an article indicating that New Years is the worst day for drunk driving, with almost half of the fatal car accidents on New Years involving a drunk driver.Our Munster accident attorneys urge everyone to make the choice to drive sober on this New Years. We also encourage parents to talk to their teenagers and establish rules and guidelines to ensure that they won’t be one of the large percentage of teens driving drunk.

Curbing Drinking and Driving Over New Years
Because New Years is such a dangerous time for drunk driving, the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) has a Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over Campaign that works with the individual states throughout the U.S. to both enforce drunk driving laws and to educate the public.

The Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over website has indicated that Indiana will have increased law enforcement on the streets over the New Years holiday in order to try to identify and stop drunk drivers. Further, while Indiana ended their statewide Safe Family Travel enforcement blitz on December 2, the Criminal Justice Institute’s Traffic Safety Division is continuing their public service campaign by using sporting events and other media efforts to educate the public on drunk driving dangers.

With MADD reporting a total of 207 drunk driving deaths in Indiana throughout 2011, the hope is that the increased New Years enforcement efforts and the increased driver education will help prevent any deaths during the New Years holiday.

Stay Safe and Sober
Staying safe and sober on New Years is the responsibility of every driver in Indiana, both to comply with drunk driving laws but also to help save lives. Drunk driving is an extremely dangerous practice and if you choose to drive drunk on New Years, you put every driver and pedestrian on the road in danger.

To help ensure that you have a safe holiday:

• Always have a designated driver (DD).
• Make sure your DD doesn’t have a drink.
• Have cab money or a backup plan in case you need help getting home.
• Keep an eye on friends and remember that friends don’t let friends drive drunk.
• Find out where your teen is going to be, who he is going to be with and how he is getting home. If your teen is going to a party, talk to the parents and make sure it will be supervised. If necessary, offer to drive your teen yourself so you know he or she won’t get in the car with a drunk driver.

By following these tips, you make yourself, your kids and every other driver on the road a little safer this New Years holiday.
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Officials with the Indiana Department of Transportation and our Highland car accident lawyers want you to be safe out there during this winter season.

As the temperature drops, the risks for car accidents increase. We’re asking you to review the following tips and to keep this is mind — Ice and Snow, Take it Slow! Be ready for the winter:

-Before you get behind the wheel, you should look into the driving conditions. You should check the weather reports along with the traffic reports. When there’s inclement weather, remember to just take is slow and easy. Rushing only puts you at higher risks for an accident.

-Keep it clean. Before leaving your driveway or your parking spot, you should make sure that the windows, the headlights, the brake lights and your turn signals are cleared off. During the winter, you want to make yourself as visible as possible.

-Be sure to check your windshield wiper blades, the fluids under the hood, the belts, the hoses and the lights are all properly working, A breakdown is dangerous on any day, but especially on a day with bad weather.

-Be on time. Make sure you leave for your destination with plenty of time to spare. By allowing yourself with enough time to get to where you need to be, you can avoid rushing. When drivers start rushing is when accidents happen.

Be careful when it’s wet:

-Whether it’s snow or ice, you want to slow it down. Fortunately, driers zip through these conditions with little regards to the risks. When the roadways are slippery, you want to slow it down and travel under the speed limit.

-Allow yourself with more room when following vehicles in slippery conditions. You need all the time and space to stop when conditions are wet.

-Be on the lookout for black ice. You may never even see black ice. Take it slow when coming up to intersections, bridges, off-ramps and even shady areas. All of these are prime spots for black ice.

-When visibility is reduced, your best bet is to slow down. You want to keep your distance from other vehicles and remain aware of your surroundings.

-It’s important to remember that 4-wheel drive isn’t going to save your life in these kinds of conditions. It might help you to get going faster when accelerating, but it’s not going to do much when braking. Be sure you’re just as cautious in a truck or SUV as you are in a passenger vehicle.

Stay safe around snow plows:

-Make sure you give them plenty of room to work. Don’t pass and don’t tailgate.

-Slow it down around these vehicles. They travel well below the speed limit.

-Remember that these operators can’t always see their entire surroundings as these vehicles have a lot of blind spots. Make sure you can see the driver when traveling near a snow plow.
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Farm equipment is widely used throughout Indiana. This equipment often needs to be transported on public roadways where it shares space with cars and trucks.

Highland injury lawyers know that there are many dangers associated with farm equipment on the road. With its large size, slow speeds and long stopping distance, farm equipment can present a major hazard and accidents involving the equipment can be deadly both for motorists in passenger vehicles and for the equipment operator.Understanding the Risk of Slow Moving Farm Machinery
In February of 2009, the Committee on Agricultural Safety and Health Research and Extension published a report on Agricultural Equipment on Public Roads. According to their information:

• Agricultural vehicles, including slow moving farm equipment, represent .2 percent of the total number of vehicles that are involved in crashes.
• In 2006, there were 87 fatal crashes involving farm equipment.
• There is no available information to provide an accurate picture of the injuries, property loss and death associated with car accidents involving agricultural machinery or with horse drawn buggies.
• Crashes between motor vehicles and farm equipment usually occur in rural areas and typically involve high-speed motor vehicles colliding with slow-moving crashes.
• When a crash involves a farm vehicle, the occupant of the farm vehicle is killed twice as often as occupants in the other vehicle.

These statistics indicate that there is a real danger associated with crashes involving slow moving farm equipment and other vehicles on the roads. Unfortunately, the Committee’s report also indicated that there is little attention paid to the issue of how to safely move agricultural equipment on public roadways.

The Consequences of Accidents Involving Farm Equipment
As in so many accident and injury cases, statistics don’t always tell the whole story. To get a broader picture of the devastation that can occur as a result of an accident involving farm equipment, consider the recent tragic accident in a rural area of Indiana.

The accident, as reported by the New York Daily News, involved a John Deere crashing into a mini-van and decimating the van, which became caught in the blades. Three of the passengers in the mini van were killed and the other three passengers in the van were hurt badly.

The driver of the farm equipment in this case is accused of causing the accident after running a stop sign. He claims he did not see the mini van approaching. He suffered no injury and, although he was tested for alcohol in his blood stream because Indiana law requires such a test after a fatal crash, the Daily News article indicated that there was no reason to suspect that drugs or alcohol were involved in the crash.
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During the Thanksgiving weekend, many people travel to visit family members. In fact, according to AAA, an estimated 43.6 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving period.

Whether this involves a short trip or long-distance travel from one state to another, the number of holiday travelers means more people on the road. Those celebrating the holiday and the four-day weekend are also likely to go out shopping or partying over the holidays, which also contributes to more drivers on the road.Unfortunately, an increase in traffic means a potential increase in the risk of accidents. Our Highland injury lawyers are concerned about the dangers presented by Thanksgiving holiday travel and urge all drivers to take extra care to be safe during the long weekend.

Risks of Accidents During Thanksgiving Holiday Travel
The National Safety Counsel (NSC) has released a comprehensive report called Thanksgiving Holiday Period Traffic Fatality Estimate, 2012. This report considered the increased risk of accidents from 6:00 PM Wednesday November 21, 2012 to 11:59 Sunday November 25, 2012. This 4.5 day period is defined by the NSC as the Thanksgiving weekend period.

According to the NSC:

• The estimated number of non-fatal disabling injuries likely to result from car crashes during the holiday period is 48,300. However, this estimate is inexact and the data indicates that the number of non-fatal disabling injuries could range between 41,100 and 56,500.
• When evaluating crash data from 2005 to 2010, the average number of deaths due to traffic accidents over the Thanksgiving weekend was 9.8 percent higher than the average number of traffic deaths during non-holiday weekend periods.
• In 2010, 13.76 percent of the traffic deaths in the month of November took place during the Thanksgiving period.
• From 2005 to 2010, 15.3 percent of traffic fatalities in November occurred over Thanksgiving.

While these statistics are determined without an objective method of measuring how much travel increases over Thanksgiving, they do suggest that there is an increase in the risk of a traffic crash occurring during the holiday weekend.

Protecting Yourself From Traffic Crash Injuries During Holiday Travel
Staying safe while traveling over the holidays should be a top priority. To minimize your risk of being involved in a crash, consider these tips:

• Leave plenty of time to get to your destination so you can drive at a safe speed without worrying about being late. Don’t forget to take into account that you’re likely to encounter more traffic.
• Avoid areas you suspect will be congested, such as shopping malls during Black Friday. Parking lot accidents represent a significant percentage of crashes over the Thanksgiving holiday.
• Refrain from driving when you are tired, distracted or drunk. Drowsy driving, driving while on a cell phone or otherwise distracted, and driving while intoxicated can significantly increase the risk of an auto accident.

By keeping these tips in mind and following safe driving practices, you can hopefully stay safe over the holiday season.
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Texting and driving could cost you. We’re talking about your car insurance.

According to FOX Business, your insurance company is keeping an eye on states that enact texting and driving bans. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), you’re close to 25 times more likely to get into a car accident if you’re texting behind the wheel. Insurance companies are using this scare as a reason to increase premiums.Our Highland injury lawyers have talked about distracted driving a number of times. It’s no different from talking on a phone or texting behind the wheel — both are dangerous. In the state of Alabama, drivers are allowed to talk on their phone while driving, but they’re prohibited from text messaging behind the wheel. The problem with this is that it’s tough for law enforcement officers to determine if a driver was dialing a number to call (legal) or composing a text message (illegal).

To help find solutions to enforcement challenges, officials with the NHTSA recently sponsored a pilot program, dishing out more than $500,000, to push different enforcement efforts on this dangerous driving behavior in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

“While it is relatively easier for law enforcement to determine illegal handheld cell phone use by observing the position of the phone at the driver’s ear, the dangerous practice of texting while driving is often not as obvious,” said David Strickland, Administrator for the NHTSA.

Insurance companies are keeping an eye on what drivers are doing behind the wheel. While these companies aren’t typically first in line to help to compensate you after an accident, they sure are first in line to tack on extra charges for your coverage.

There are more than 3,000 people who are killed each year in an accident with a distracted driver. Unfortunately, officials believe that this number is actually much higher as drivers are not likely to admit when they were distracted during an accident.

Insurance companies already use traffic citations as evidence for hiking up a driver’s rates. Consider a drunk driving charge: Insurance companies are likely to double, even triple, your premium if you are convicted of an alcohol-related driving violation.

Point System in Indiana:

-Two-Point Violations: Exceeding the speed limit (less than 15 mph over the speed limit), not using your headlights and not having your turn signals or brake lights work properly.

-Four-Point Violations: Making illegal U-turns, making unsafe lane movements and exceeding the speed limit (between 16 and 25 mph over).

-Six-Point Violations: Speeding (over 26 mph over the speed limit), tailgating and neglecting to yield or stop.

-Eight-Point Violations: Speed contest on road, neglecting to yield to an emergency vehicle or driving on an extended driver’s license.

An at-fault driver’s record behind the wheel may also become an issue when seeking damages in a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit.
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In just a few days, on November 4th, we’re going to get an extra hour of sleep. Unfortunately, with it will come an increased risk of traffic accidents through the remainder of the year.

Because our mornings are going to start later with the end of Daylight Savings Time, many of us are going to be making our evening commutes in the dark. It’s not just the drivers that are going to be affected. It’s also the evening pedestrians and bicyclists that are at serious risks, too.Our Highland personal injury attorneys understand that accidents during this time of the year are much more likely. The weather is deteriorating and November is also the deadliest month of the year for traffic crashes involving deer.

Risks of Deer Accidents:

-Indiana is ranked the 8th most dangerous state for these kinds of accidents.

-October, November and December are the most dangerous months.

-There are more than 1 million deer-car accidents every year.

-About 200 people are killed, 10,000 are injured and vehicle damage results in close to $1 billion annually.

-About 60 percent of the people who are killed in these accidents are not wearing a seat belt when the accident happens.

Most of the crashes resulting in serious or fatal injuries occur when the driver loses control of the vehicle and drives off the road or into oncoming traffic. Even when dealing with your own car insurance company, talking with an attorney can best help you protect your rights and can help you to gain the compensation that you deserve.

Your chance of hitting a deer in the next 12 months is 1 in 160, according to Wane.com. Another common problem we’re going to have to deal with out there are the risks associated with winter driving.

Winter Weather Safe Driving Tips, from the Indiana Department of Transportation:

-Check weather and traffic reports before heading out.

-Make sure your windshield is clear of snow and ice before starting.

-Be on the lookout for black ice. Be cautious when driving through intersections, bridges, off-ramps and shady areas. These are all hot spots for black ice.

-Leave early and allow yourself plenty of time to get where you need to be to avoid rushing.

-Keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel as visibility may be reduced because of weather conditions.

-Go slow, even if you have a vehicle that is 4-wheel drive. With more powerful vehicles, you may be able to take off faster, but you’re more than likely not able to slow down any faster.

-When you know you’re going to brake — brake early and brake slowly!

-Be cautious when traveling near snow plows. Allow them plenty of room when passing.
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Listen up parents!

Your teens are watching your every move behind the wheel. There will be no bigger impact on their driving habits than the example you set behind the wheel. According to Claims Journal, a recent study from Liberty Mutual Insurance and SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), close to 70 percent of teen drivers say that their parents are following a whole different set of driving rules as they are — and it’s not fair.In the recent study, there were more than 1,500 teen drivers surveyed. What the survey found is that these young drivers are highly likely to mimic the driving behaviors of their parents. If you’re driving poorly, your child is going to as well. Some of the dangerous driving habits that were noted in the study were distracted driving, speeding, driving without a seat belt and even driving under the influence of alcohol. Parents who engaged in these dangerous driving habits were likely to have teen drivers who did the same thing.

Our Highland car accident lawyers understand the driving habits that these young drivers learn during their first year behind the wheel are most likely the driving habits they’ll hang on to for the rest of their lives.

Teens observe their parents and the following common dangerous driving habits:

-More than 90 percent talk on the phone behind the wheel.

-Close to 90 percent exceed the speed limit.

-Close to 60 percent text message while driving.

-Half of teens are driven by a parent who isn’t wearing a seat belt.

-About 10 percent drive under the influence of alcohol.

“The best teacher for a teen driver is a good parental role model,” said Stephen Wallace, senior adviser for SADD.

It’s important for everyone in your household to follow the same driving rules. Make sure that you talk with your teen about safe driving. Have this conversation with your teen frequently. You might not think so, but you’re the most influential person in your young driver’s life.

Of the 1,700 teenager who were surveyed, most reported their parents were making poor driving decisions.

Poor Teen Driving Behavior:

-90 percent say they talk on the phone behind the wheel.

-Close to 95 percent say they speed, at least occasionally.

-Close to half say they speed often.

-About 80 percent say they text message while driving.

-More than 15 percent say they drive under the influence of marijuana.

-About 15 percent say that they drive under the influence of alcohol.

-About a third say that they drive without wearing a seat belt.

Parents — talk with your teen about the importance of safe driving. More importantly, make sure that you’re setting a safe example behind the wheel. Winter weather is just around the corner. Many teens are earning their driving rights as the new school year gets under way. Helping your young driver build a strong foundation can help keep them safe for years to come.
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As parents, we worry about our kids.

That worry is magnified when we send them out in a motor vehicle. Now, there’s a way that you can keep an eye on them even when you’re not in the passenger seat. It’s the Push Text app and it’s available for both Andriods and for iPhones.According to the Courrier-Journal, the program gives your teen driver a bumper sticker that reads, “How is my KID driving? Push Text my tag #.” You get the app on your phone and you get to read all about their driving. The app will only cost parents $15 for the first 12 months and then $10 for each year after. All you have to do is download the app and register your kid’s plate number.

Our Highland accident lawyers understand that car accidents continue to be the leading cause of death for teens throughout the country. They have higher accident risks that any other age group of drivers. During their first year behind the wheel their accident risks are the highest. It’s important that parents stay involved in their teen’s driving career to help minimize the risks as much as possible. This app, some say, is going to help to do just that. Others say that it’s an app that comes with many more cons than pros.

Some are saying that this app is dangerous because it’s urging other drivers to whip out their phone behind the wheel and start composing a message about someone else’s driving. This is only going to increase the risks for distracted driving car accidents. Others are saying that this app is going to allow drivers to falsify reports. Since the messages are anonymous, drivers believe that others are going to submit fake reports and the system will never be accurate.

“This puts a little bit of yourself in the passenger seat as a parent,” said Michael McManigal, creator of the app. “Once (teen drivers) leave the driveway and turn the corner and they’re out of sight, no one’s policing them.”

Teens are reminded that having a driver’s license is a privilege and it’s a privilege that can be revoked if you’re not responsible. In 2009, there were more than 40,000 drivers who were under the age of 21-years-old who were involved in a car accident in the state of Indiana. There were close to 50 of these individuals who were killed in these incidents, according to the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute.

For this reason, officials with the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) and with the Governor’s Council on Impaired & Dangerous Driving continue to work with teenagers, parents, legislators and safe driving advocates to help to increase awareness about the importance of a thorough driver’s education for our young ones.

One of the main reasons that these young drivers get into car accidents is because of the number of passengers they have in the car. A number of studies have proven that just one young passenger doubles the risks for your teen to get into an accident.

We’re asking all parents to sit down and to talk with their teens about safe driving habits. Make sure they understand the risks that are associated with distracted driving. Make sure they’re aware of their state-issued driving restrictions through the Graduated Driver’s Licensing (GDL) program and that they’re abiding by all of these rules. Staying involved can help to decrease their risks and can help to keep them safe out there!
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