The last thing anyone wants is to be in a car accident. Try compounding the frustrations and difficulties resulting from a car accident with the inconveniences of traveling and being away from home. What should someone do when they are on vacation and in an automobile accident?
Whether away from home or not some things should be automatic wherever you are. You should safely pull your car out of traffic or away from danger, if possible. If not possible, remain in your vehicle until you are sure that it is safe to get out. If you have a cell phone, call 911 and ask for officer/emergency assistance.
Reporting your accident to the police is a MUST, wherever you are. There have been a great many cases where an innocent victim has failed to recover for property damages and medical bills, merely because they failed to call the police to the scene. Generally, people involved in a traumatic event are shaken and scared, and through these emotions often comes an inherent honesty. That is why getting a police officer to the scene is mandatory. After people leave the scene, they tell spouses, family, friends, co-workers, etc… about the accident, and begin to evolve a concocted tale about how the accident occurred and that they were not at fault. By the time the insurers get involved, this tale has been perfected, and the insurance companies adopt their own insured’s version. Now, you have a fight on your hands. It is your word against theirs, and, as the person bringing the claim, YOU have the burden of proof. The difficulties are only compounded when you live somewhere different than the place where the accident occurred.
When in an accident and injured out of state, the problems can compound. You may need medical treatment---will your health insurance cover it out of network? Do you have the means for food and shelter for the time period you will have to remain in the area? Where will you get your car repaired? If your car takes more than one day to fix you may have to travel hundreds of miles to pick it up. Insurance coverage doesn’t go as far when there are more expenses to cover and more distance involved. It is also important to know what your insurance covers before you start accruing expenses you cannot afford.
When it comes to recovering for damages from your accident, many factors will affect your ability to recover. Which state laws will apply? Where did the accident occur? What is the nature and extent of your injuries and medical care? Where was your medical treatment received—in or out of state? Where are the witnesses, and how can they be effective if out of state? Do the costs of travel and legal expenses merit the bringing of a claim?
The best anyone can do is to prepare for the unexpected. If you are traveling away from home, check up on your insurance coverage and know its limitations, especially when traveling out of the country. (Very few insurers cover losses out of country) Visit the Motor Vehicle Department website for any states you will be traveling in so you are aware of any laws that differ from your hometown, because you will be expected to abide by them. You can also find information on driving laws for any state at Online Traffic Resource Guide. Carry with you important numbers, including your auto and health insurance companies and roadside assistance.
If you do happen to be in an accident in another state you should contact a personal injury attorney that is licensed to practice in that state. It is likely you will not know any attorneys licensed there so it is a good idea to contact the State Bar website in that state. You can most likely find an attorney who specializes in the area of law that you need, and also, find out if the attorney has had any disciplinary record.
If you happen to be traveling thru Arizona and have the misfortune of being in an accident, give me a call. There is no cost to talk to me, and I will help you as best I can whether a formal attorney-client relationship is formed or not. I am a certified specialist in Personal Injury and Wrongful Death. We are here to help.
Showing posts with label Automobile Accidents. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Automobile Accidents. Show all posts
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Correctly Installed Car Seat Saves One-Year-Olds Life
Last month a van hit a pick up truck from behind and then rolled causing severe head injuries to the driver and minor injuries to the two people in the truck. However, there was also a one-year-old girl in the van who was not seriously injured because she was in a car seat that had been installed correctly.
Rollover accidents cause some of the most severe injuries and this baby girl avoided all of that thanks to a parent who took the time and effort to make sure she was as safe as possible when riding in the car.
According to the Glendale Fire Department, speed and inattention may have been factors in the accident. Unfortunately, we may never be able to completely focus all of our attention on one thing, there are just too many distractions in daily life. However, we can always take preventative measures, like purchasing car seats for our young children that are appropriate for their height and weight and installing them correctly.
Every personal injury attorney in the valley including myself will tell you how important it is for everyone in an automobile to be properly restrained. I have seen too many peoples live changed drastically from injuries that may have been avoided had they been wearing a seatbelt.
For information about what type of car seat is right for your child, car seat ratings, inspection stations and more you can visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations website at www.nhtsa.dot.gov/.
For information about what to do if you have been injured in an accident such as this one visit our website at http://www.zacharlawfirm.com/ or e-mail me directly.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Seat Belts on School Buses – A More Difficult Debate Than Imagined
When the question of seat belts on school buses came to me I immediately thought, of course there should be seat belts on school buses! I couldn’t think of a reason not to have them. However, upon further investigation it is no wonder this debate has been ongoing for as long as I can remember. A little research really opens up the debate.
Before diving into this topic I would like to first say that at this point I no longer have a definite opinion on whether or not we should have seat belts on school buses and I will not have one until I am privy to a study that actually addresses and evaluates a better variety of the different types of crash configurations.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), school buses use a safety feature called compartmentalization. Compartmentalization, likened by many to an egg carton, involves the actual design of the school bus. Seats are made with padded, flexible, shock-absorbent backs that are supposed to be tall enough to prevent children from flying out of the compartment. There are strict federal guidelines regulating the strengths of the seats and their installation. Compartmentalization seems to have very strong advocates and an equal strength in its opponents. Where my actual concerns come into play are in the validity of the information represented by the NHTSA.
Normally, I tend to trust information provided by organizations like the NHTSA, considering it is a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation and it’s focus is to “save lives, prevent injuries and reduce traffic-related health care and other economic costs.” However, given the fact that it is a governmental agency, there is little doubt in my mind that it has its own agenda. For instance, as I was researching this topic I came across an allegation that the NHTSA failed to administer and or report on certain types of crashes where compartmentalization might fail. Why would they fail to include all relevant data? I then came across a report by the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) that states that “Current compartmentalization is incomplete in that it does not protect school bus passengers during lateral impacts with vehicles of large mass and in rollovers, because in such accidents, passengers do not always remain completely within the seating compartment.” I continued my research…..
According to the National Coalition for School Bus Safety, compartmentalization is incomplete because it does not include a side panel or a lap belt and the seat back height is still not as high as the engineers recommend. This results in compartmentalization that works fairly well for front-end crashes but not for side impacts or rollovers. If this is the case, one might reasonably start to wonder if the real reason we are not adding seat belts to our school buses is cost.
It was hard to find a true estimate of what it would cost to add seat belts to a school bus. I found cost estimates ranging from $1,000 per bus up to $10,000 per bus. In addition, there are comments that adding seat belts would take up space and diminish seating capacity (a weak argument in my opinion). Many seem to think we would also have to pay the bus drivers for about another half-an-hour of work due to time delays required for children to put on their seat belts and pay for another employee to monitor that all children are using the seat belts and properly. (Parents---are you listening???) I have no problem paying the driver. I really don’t think that an additional employee to monitor this is necessary.
Compartmentalization advocates also tout many other reasons not to add seat belts to school buses, many of which mirror the beliefs of those who oppose seat belt use in automobiles. Some believe we will not be able to enforce proper usage of the seat belts by children. Some believe seat belts may trap panicked or disoriented children after a crash causing further injury especially in the cases involving water or fire. Some have gone so far as to worry that seat belts would be used by some children as weapons. I am sure there are a good many more reasons we could come up with, although, none of them necessarily good. The question is: Does this risk of no seat belts on buses outweigh the risk of having them?
Opponents and advocates alike do seem to agree upon the fact that school buses are among the safest modes of transportation on public roadways available to our children. Every school year in the United States 450,000 public school buses transport about 23.5 million children and travel over 4.3 billion miles. Less than eight passengers a year die in school bus crashes and approximately 8,000 are injured every year in these crashes. The fatality rate for cars is 1.5 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (vmt), 800% greater than school buses, which have a vmt of .2 per 100 million. Does this mean that school buses cannot be made safer than they are? I think not, but until we can figure out the correct way to make them safer we have to continue to study various methods.
There happens to be a pilot study entering its final year now assessing lap/shoulder seat belts on buses in Alabama. Everyone including the NTSB and the NHSA are waiting for the results of this study. Hopefully, it brings us enough valuable information into this dilemma to finally commit to what we can all agree to be the safest route to take for our children. And in turn, thereafter, I hope to return to this topic with a well thought out opinion on what I believe to be the best safest measure to take for our children.
We all know no matter what measures we take accidents will never go away completely and we must do our best to protect our children. It is not a perfect world, and we cannot make it so. Everything has a risk/benefit quotient. Regardless, it is nice to know that the issue of additional safety on school buses is being continuously debated, and studied.
**If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email Chris Zachar directly at Czachar@zacharlaw.com, or visit our website at http://www.ZacharLawFirm.com .
Before diving into this topic I would like to first say that at this point I no longer have a definite opinion on whether or not we should have seat belts on school buses and I will not have one until I am privy to a study that actually addresses and evaluates a better variety of the different types of crash configurations.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), school buses use a safety feature called compartmentalization. Compartmentalization, likened by many to an egg carton, involves the actual design of the school bus. Seats are made with padded, flexible, shock-absorbent backs that are supposed to be tall enough to prevent children from flying out of the compartment. There are strict federal guidelines regulating the strengths of the seats and their installation. Compartmentalization seems to have very strong advocates and an equal strength in its opponents. Where my actual concerns come into play are in the validity of the information represented by the NHTSA.
Normally, I tend to trust information provided by organizations like the NHTSA, considering it is a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation and it’s focus is to “save lives, prevent injuries and reduce traffic-related health care and other economic costs.” However, given the fact that it is a governmental agency, there is little doubt in my mind that it has its own agenda. For instance, as I was researching this topic I came across an allegation that the NHTSA failed to administer and or report on certain types of crashes where compartmentalization might fail. Why would they fail to include all relevant data? I then came across a report by the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) that states that “Current compartmentalization is incomplete in that it does not protect school bus passengers during lateral impacts with vehicles of large mass and in rollovers, because in such accidents, passengers do not always remain completely within the seating compartment.” I continued my research…..
According to the National Coalition for School Bus Safety, compartmentalization is incomplete because it does not include a side panel or a lap belt and the seat back height is still not as high as the engineers recommend. This results in compartmentalization that works fairly well for front-end crashes but not for side impacts or rollovers. If this is the case, one might reasonably start to wonder if the real reason we are not adding seat belts to our school buses is cost.
It was hard to find a true estimate of what it would cost to add seat belts to a school bus. I found cost estimates ranging from $1,000 per bus up to $10,000 per bus. In addition, there are comments that adding seat belts would take up space and diminish seating capacity (a weak argument in my opinion). Many seem to think we would also have to pay the bus drivers for about another half-an-hour of work due to time delays required for children to put on their seat belts and pay for another employee to monitor that all children are using the seat belts and properly. (Parents---are you listening???) I have no problem paying the driver. I really don’t think that an additional employee to monitor this is necessary.
Compartmentalization advocates also tout many other reasons not to add seat belts to school buses, many of which mirror the beliefs of those who oppose seat belt use in automobiles. Some believe we will not be able to enforce proper usage of the seat belts by children. Some believe seat belts may trap panicked or disoriented children after a crash causing further injury especially in the cases involving water or fire. Some have gone so far as to worry that seat belts would be used by some children as weapons. I am sure there are a good many more reasons we could come up with, although, none of them necessarily good. The question is: Does this risk of no seat belts on buses outweigh the risk of having them?
Opponents and advocates alike do seem to agree upon the fact that school buses are among the safest modes of transportation on public roadways available to our children. Every school year in the United States 450,000 public school buses transport about 23.5 million children and travel over 4.3 billion miles. Less than eight passengers a year die in school bus crashes and approximately 8,000 are injured every year in these crashes. The fatality rate for cars is 1.5 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (vmt), 800% greater than school buses, which have a vmt of .2 per 100 million. Does this mean that school buses cannot be made safer than they are? I think not, but until we can figure out the correct way to make them safer we have to continue to study various methods.
There happens to be a pilot study entering its final year now assessing lap/shoulder seat belts on buses in Alabama. Everyone including the NTSB and the NHSA are waiting for the results of this study. Hopefully, it brings us enough valuable information into this dilemma to finally commit to what we can all agree to be the safest route to take for our children. And in turn, thereafter, I hope to return to this topic with a well thought out opinion on what I believe to be the best safest measure to take for our children.
We all know no matter what measures we take accidents will never go away completely and we must do our best to protect our children. It is not a perfect world, and we cannot make it so. Everything has a risk/benefit quotient. Regardless, it is nice to know that the issue of additional safety on school buses is being continuously debated, and studied.
**If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email Chris Zachar directly at Czachar@zacharlaw.com, or visit our website at http://www.ZacharLawFirm.com .
Monday, August 24, 2009
Man Dies in a single-vehicle accident on I-10
It occurred on I-10 near 7th avenue around 4 a.m.on Thursday the 13th. According to DPS the victim’s truck hit the crash barriers near the tunnel, causing the driver to be ejected from the truck. Shortly after the victim was ejected a passing vehicle struck the victim. We do not know what injuries caused the victim’s death and if those injuries occurred before the victim was struck by the vehicle or after.
The victim in this incident was not wearing a seatbelt. Had he been wearing a seatbelt, his chances for survival would have improved significantly. Indeed, statistics confirm that the safest place to be in any accident is in the vehicle. It goes without saying---but I guess that I have to keep saying it----that your chances of remaining in the vehicle are MUCH HIGHER if you wear your seatbelt!
Why do some people continue to strongly reject wearing a seatbelt? Honestly, I do not understand it. Maybe some people don’t understand that they can be ejected from their car even if it does not rollover. Maybe if people knew the kind of injuries they could sustain even when they are not ejected from their vehicle. I have a very good friend, who seems for the most part to have a good deal of common sense, regardless. However, every time we are in a vehicle together, I have to tell him to PUT ON HIS SEATBELT! Despite the law, despite the statistics, despite the common sense, he continues to believe that he is protected or infallible while simply in his vehicle. I don’t get it.
Maybe he thinks that, because he is not going to cause an accident, then he does not need to worry so much. However, did you know that when you are in a crash and not wearing a seatbelt, even where the other driver is at fault, that a judge or a jury can decline to award you monies for your medical bills and injuries that can be proven to have resulted from a lack of seatbelt use? The law in Arizona places a responsibility upon all vehicle occupants to use common sense when in the vehicle. Lack of seatbelt use may be deemed later a lack of common sense, and the judge/jury can simply find YOU at fault for your own injuries, despite the fact that you did nothing to cause the accident.
Drive safely, wear a seatbelt and ask everyone in your vehicle to do so as well!
**If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email Chris Zachar directly at Czachar@zacharlaw.com, or visit our website at http://www.ZacharLawFirm.com .
The victim in this incident was not wearing a seatbelt. Had he been wearing a seatbelt, his chances for survival would have improved significantly. Indeed, statistics confirm that the safest place to be in any accident is in the vehicle. It goes without saying---but I guess that I have to keep saying it----that your chances of remaining in the vehicle are MUCH HIGHER if you wear your seatbelt!
Why do some people continue to strongly reject wearing a seatbelt? Honestly, I do not understand it. Maybe some people don’t understand that they can be ejected from their car even if it does not rollover. Maybe if people knew the kind of injuries they could sustain even when they are not ejected from their vehicle. I have a very good friend, who seems for the most part to have a good deal of common sense, regardless. However, every time we are in a vehicle together, I have to tell him to PUT ON HIS SEATBELT! Despite the law, despite the statistics, despite the common sense, he continues to believe that he is protected or infallible while simply in his vehicle. I don’t get it.
Maybe he thinks that, because he is not going to cause an accident, then he does not need to worry so much. However, did you know that when you are in a crash and not wearing a seatbelt, even where the other driver is at fault, that a judge or a jury can decline to award you monies for your medical bills and injuries that can be proven to have resulted from a lack of seatbelt use? The law in Arizona places a responsibility upon all vehicle occupants to use common sense when in the vehicle. Lack of seatbelt use may be deemed later a lack of common sense, and the judge/jury can simply find YOU at fault for your own injuries, despite the fact that you did nothing to cause the accident.
Drive safely, wear a seatbelt and ask everyone in your vehicle to do so as well!
**If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email Chris Zachar directly at Czachar@zacharlaw.com, or visit our website at http://www.ZacharLawFirm.com .
Friday, August 21, 2009
Text Messaging While Driving Poses Extreme Danger
I have just watched a very real yet very disturbing video. This video was created to show the dangers of texting while driving. It is my opinion that EVERY driver with a cell phone should watch this video. Please watch this video at http://www.engadget.com/tag/textingwhiledriving/
Thirteen (13) states plus the District of Columbia have now banned text messaging while driving. The Arizona senate rejected a bill to prohibit text messaging statewide while driving earlier this year. Phoenix was the first city to ever do so back on September 24, 2007, but the rest of Arizona cities have failed to follow suit. Unfortunately, one Phoenix police officer has come out and stated that Phoenix’s current text messaging ban is “unenforceable” due to the way it is written. Apparently, police officers are not able to demand that a driver relinquish their cell phone even though the officer may have seen them texting prior to an accident. Because of this, it is very hard to prove a person was text messaging.
Due to the fact that text messaging is a much newer technology than seatbelts or helmets, I can understand that we have to play catch up in the regulations area. However, I would like to believe that we Arizonans have some common sense—at least the amount it takes to see a major danger without it actually blinking in neon lights. But, for those of you who need “blinking neon lights”, please watch the video. It will be difficult for some to watch, however, hopefully, some just may get the jolt they need to truly understand the danger in this simple act.
I dare people to watch this video and then tell me that text messaging while driving is not dangerous. I read one statistic that stated that each year, 21% of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage. This result has been expected to grow as much as 4% every year. Recently, an Amtrak train crashed in California, killing 25 people and injuring another 135, 40 of whom were in critical condition. Evidence found afterward showed that the train operator had sent a text message less than a minute before the crash. He failed to see a signal that would have cautioned him to slow the train.
A study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute studied the behavior of truck drivers, and covered more than 6 million miles of road. As part of the study, the researchers installed cameras inside the driver’s vehicles, and evaluated a number of points, including the movement of the driver’s eyes as they performed various activities, like talking on the cell phone, reaching for an object and text messaging. The results show that the greatest danger came from the tasks that took people’s eyes off the road for the longest period of time.
Text messaging has the highest distraction rates of the four tasks compared to non-distracted driving. The risk of a crash or a near crash is 23.2 times as high as with a driver who is not distracted. The data from the study shows that drivers who were text messaging had their attention taken away from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds. That might not seem like much, but according to the study, 4.6 seconds is enough time to drive a vehicle the length of a football field at 55 mph.
In the case of a truck driver reaching for a cell phone, the risk of an accident was 6.7 times as high as for a non-distracted driver. In the case of a truck driver carrying on a cell phone conversation while driving, the risk of an accident or near accident was 1.3 times as high as for a non-distracted driver. In the case of a truck driver dialing a cell phone, the risk of a crash or near crash was 5.9 times as high as for a non-distracted driver.
I have to admit I myself have texted while driving, but after watching the above video; I am going to try to NEVER text again while I am driving. In fact, I have given my wife express permission to take my phone away from me if she sees me even thinking about such.
The seatbelt was invented in the 1880’s and the first patent for a motorcycle helmet appeared in 1953. The first seatbelt laws did not begin to appear until the mid to late 1980’s and mandatory helmet laws began to appear in 1966. Most states have gone back and forth over the last 34 years, repealing and reinstating and repealing these laws.
In comparison, text messaging was invented in the late 1980’s. How long do you think is it going to take us to enact statewide bans on text messaging in every state?
Regardless of whether or not we need a text messaging ban or if ours is enforceable, I am certain most of us have enough common sense, especially after seeing videos like the one above: http://www.engadget.com/tag/textingwhiledriving/ to try to never do it again.
Please watch the video. Please reset your priorities to make it a priority not to do so while we are driving. If you still continue to text after doing so, God help you (as well as the rest of us) when you are on the road.
**If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email Chris Zachar directly at Czachar@zacharlaw.com, or visit our website at http://www.ZacharLawFirm.com .
Thirteen (13) states plus the District of Columbia have now banned text messaging while driving. The Arizona senate rejected a bill to prohibit text messaging statewide while driving earlier this year. Phoenix was the first city to ever do so back on September 24, 2007, but the rest of Arizona cities have failed to follow suit. Unfortunately, one Phoenix police officer has come out and stated that Phoenix’s current text messaging ban is “unenforceable” due to the way it is written. Apparently, police officers are not able to demand that a driver relinquish their cell phone even though the officer may have seen them texting prior to an accident. Because of this, it is very hard to prove a person was text messaging.
Due to the fact that text messaging is a much newer technology than seatbelts or helmets, I can understand that we have to play catch up in the regulations area. However, I would like to believe that we Arizonans have some common sense—at least the amount it takes to see a major danger without it actually blinking in neon lights. But, for those of you who need “blinking neon lights”, please watch the video. It will be difficult for some to watch, however, hopefully, some just may get the jolt they need to truly understand the danger in this simple act.
I dare people to watch this video and then tell me that text messaging while driving is not dangerous. I read one statistic that stated that each year, 21% of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage. This result has been expected to grow as much as 4% every year. Recently, an Amtrak train crashed in California, killing 25 people and injuring another 135, 40 of whom were in critical condition. Evidence found afterward showed that the train operator had sent a text message less than a minute before the crash. He failed to see a signal that would have cautioned him to slow the train.
A study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute studied the behavior of truck drivers, and covered more than 6 million miles of road. As part of the study, the researchers installed cameras inside the driver’s vehicles, and evaluated a number of points, including the movement of the driver’s eyes as they performed various activities, like talking on the cell phone, reaching for an object and text messaging. The results show that the greatest danger came from the tasks that took people’s eyes off the road for the longest period of time.
Text messaging has the highest distraction rates of the four tasks compared to non-distracted driving. The risk of a crash or a near crash is 23.2 times as high as with a driver who is not distracted. The data from the study shows that drivers who were text messaging had their attention taken away from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds. That might not seem like much, but according to the study, 4.6 seconds is enough time to drive a vehicle the length of a football field at 55 mph.
In the case of a truck driver reaching for a cell phone, the risk of an accident was 6.7 times as high as for a non-distracted driver. In the case of a truck driver carrying on a cell phone conversation while driving, the risk of an accident or near accident was 1.3 times as high as for a non-distracted driver. In the case of a truck driver dialing a cell phone, the risk of a crash or near crash was 5.9 times as high as for a non-distracted driver.
I have to admit I myself have texted while driving, but after watching the above video; I am going to try to NEVER text again while I am driving. In fact, I have given my wife express permission to take my phone away from me if she sees me even thinking about such.
The seatbelt was invented in the 1880’s and the first patent for a motorcycle helmet appeared in 1953. The first seatbelt laws did not begin to appear until the mid to late 1980’s and mandatory helmet laws began to appear in 1966. Most states have gone back and forth over the last 34 years, repealing and reinstating and repealing these laws.
In comparison, text messaging was invented in the late 1980’s. How long do you think is it going to take us to enact statewide bans on text messaging in every state?
Regardless of whether or not we need a text messaging ban or if ours is enforceable, I am certain most of us have enough common sense, especially after seeing videos like the one above: http://www.engadget.com/tag/textingwhiledriving/ to try to never do it again.
Please watch the video. Please reset your priorities to make it a priority not to do so while we are driving. If you still continue to text after doing so, God help you (as well as the rest of us) when you are on the road.
**If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email Chris Zachar directly at Czachar@zacharlaw.com, or visit our website at http://www.ZacharLawFirm.com .
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