PERSONAL INJURY BLOG

Every year, more than 4,000 pedestrians suffer fatal injuries in accidents across the country. Those numbers have stayed more or less consistent, even though the number of people being killed in traffic accidents across the country has been dropping over the past couple of years. A new study finds that older pedestrians involved in accidents are at a much high risk of being killed.

The study was based on an analysis of accident data between 2001 and 2010, and found that senior citizens above the age of 75 had an accident fatality risk that was more than double the fatality rate for pedestrians who were below 34 years of age.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which conducted the analysis, believes that the number of senior pedestrians killed in accidents could actually increase over the next few years, as the number of older pedestrians on our streets increases. That is likely to happen with an explosion in the population of seniors in the country. It is estimated that the senior population in the country will increase dramatically over the next couple of decades, leading not just to an increase in the number of seniors at the wheel, but also on the road.

But while Los Angeles pedestrian accident lawyers have found a lot of focus on reducing the number of accidents involving senior drivers, and introducing interventions to help reduce the accident risk of senior motorists, there does not seem to be that much focus on reducing the risk to senior pedestrians.

This is even though senior citizens have been confirmed to be at a much higher risk of senior injuries because of their physical state. Seniors who are injured, may take a much longer time to recover from their injuries, or may never completely recover at all. Severe injuries are also much more likely to leave seniors physically disabled.

In the near future, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s much-valued and anticipated crash test rating system could include a Silver rating that would denote a car’s special safety features for senior citizens.

Los Angeles car accident lawyers believe that this is one of more exciting ideas rolled out by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently. Around the country, there has been an explosion in senior motorist traffic, and senior driver numbers on our roads are only expected to grow over the next decade. In fact, estimates peg the increase in senior motorist at 30% over the next 2 decades. According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, older motorists as well as their passengers are much more likely to sustain fatal injuries in an accident compared to younger drivers

With so many senior motorists on our streets, it is important not only that we tweak road design in order to accommodate more senior drivers with their age-related driving restrictions, but also that we modify crash test rating systems in order to determine which automobiles may be safest for senior citizens.

Seniors may experience a number of age-related weaknesses in their driving abilities that may increase their risk of being involved in an accident. A Silver rating which is being proposed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will denote that the car comes with a number of specific safety features that may protect senior drivers from injuries in an accident.

For instance, inflatable seat belts, or systems that reduce the risk of sudden, unintended acceleration in a car, are technologies that are very specifically suitable for senior citizens.

Across California, thousands of drivers will be sharing the road with other drivers over St. Patrick's Day, and many of those motorists will be driving under the influence of alcohol. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Los Angeles car accident lawyers urge all motorists to drive responsibly and safely this St. Patrick's Day, and avoid driving while intoxicated.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, alcohol-related car accidents killed one person every 53 minutes in 2011. According to the agency, on St. Patrick's Day, more than one-third of all fatalities involving a vehicular accident, were caused in an alcohol-related car accident. That makes it 34% of all fatalities that were linked to driving under the influence of alcohol.

Whatever your plans for St. Patrick's Day, make sure that your group designates a sober driver for the evening. Alcohol is a huge part of the St. Patrick's Day festivities, and while there may be nothing that you can do to lower the amount of alcohol consumed, you can behave responsibly by not driving in an intoxicated state, and refusing to be a passenger in a vehicle driven by a person who is clearly under the influence of alcohol.

Alternately, make other transportation plans before evening celebrations begin.  Call a taxi service, or ask a friend for a ride home.

If there is a sober ride program in your community or in your area, use it. Monitor your friends’ drinking, and never let your friends drive under the influence of alcohol. Wear your seat belt.

If you're hosting a St. Patrick's Day party, make sure that all of your guests have a safe ride home by designating sober drivers. Provide plenty of nonalcoholic beverage options for guests.

The Long Beach Press Telegram reports that two suspects have been arrested for a hit-and-run last week that killed a 24-year-old woman in downtown Long Beach.

Police arrested a 26-year-old Compton resident who was charged by the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office with vehicular manslaughter and felony hit and run. A 26-year-old Bellflower man was also arrested for being an accessory.

According to details released by police, the car seems to have been used as a weapon after an argument between associates of the victim and the two men. Witnesses reported an argument between two groups of people which started in a Pine Street restaurant, spilled outside and, allegedly, ended with one of the men intentionally backing a vehicle into Serena Medina and another person who survived the incident. Medina died shortly after being struck. According to the newspaper report, she was the mother of a 4-year-old daughter.   

An incident in which a driver uses their vehicle as a weapon is just one among many examples of the problem that Los Angeles faces regarding hit-and-run injuries and fatalities. Though most such incidents are the result of negligent or grossly irresponsible behavior, there are too many examples in which murderous intent or road rage is also behind such tragedies. In such cases where criminal charges are brought against someone who caused injury or death, a victim and their family may be entitled to punitive damages. Of course a wrongful death suit for punitive damages will not bring Medina back, but it may send a message about the consequences for using a car as a weapon. 

California is the only state in the country where motorcycling spitting is legal, but until now, there were rules that advise motorcyclists about lane splitting. Now, that has changed. The California Highway Patrol recently decided to officially provide guidance for motorcyclists to perform this technique properly.

Lane splitting is the practice in which motorcyclists ride between cars in crowded areas. It has been a controversial technique, and many motorists have criticized the practice, even calling for a ban on it. However, lane splitting, as the practice is called, has been legal in California for years now. In January, the California Highway Patrol decided to finally offer motorcyclists official guidance about how to practice lane splitting safely, and responsibly. The guidance has been released after consultations with other California state agencies, as well as motorcycle rider groups.

The new guidance applies not just to city streets, but also to highways across California. The rules require that motorcyclists lane split at a speed of not more than 10 mph above the speed of the traffic around the motorcyclist. If the traffic around is moving at more than 30 mph, it is highly recommended that you avoid lane splitting.
Those are some of the simple rules included in the guidance, and to Los Angeles motorcycle accident lawyers, they seem very sensible.

The new rules also give California motorcyclists some guidance about riding safely, and not riding at excessive speeds. Motorcyclists in California have always been subjected to the threat of ticketing by the California Highway Patrol for driving at excessive speeds. However, the new rules provide specifics, and should be very useful in helping motorcyclists ride safely.

On their way home from a baby shower on Saturday night, three pedestrians were hit and killed by an alleged drunk driver. NBC News reports that 40-year-old Anthony Lewis Sanchez is the suspect in the case. He was arrested shortly after the accident for felony DUI and vehicular manslaughter. The victims in this latest incident were three women in the same family: a mother, her 21-year-old daughter and 21-year-old niece.

Though drunk-driving accidents and fatalities have decreased over recent years due to harsh penalties and aggressive publicity about the problem,  pedestrian accidents throughout southern California continue to rise despite increased attention paid by local authorities. One of the reasons may be that southern California does not have adequate pedestrian infrastructure throughout its urban centers.

After this most recent crash, a witness lamented that the nearest crosswalk from the incident was more than two blacks away. As the urban region of southern California continues to grow, the pedestrian problem will have to be accounted for. More crosswalks, more lighting, more traffic foot bridges over busy streets, and more public awareness of the problem: perhaps with all of that effort, the types of incidents that occurred last Saturday night will become rare rather than routine.   

Fox News San Diego reports that a tour bus collided with a car and a passenger truck outside of San Bernardino on Sunday night. The crash occurred on Highway 38 connecting the urban area of the county with the mountain town of Big Bear Lake. Eight people are confirmed dead and at least 38 others were injured in the Sunday night crash. The bus is owned by a company based in National City--Scapadas Magicas--and operated by a Tijuana company called Interbus Tours.

While this catastrophe will have a devastating impact on friends and family members of victims directly involved, the tragedy also is a reminder of the complexity typical of tour bus crashes. Such buses are often owned by one company, operated by another and, perhaps, maintained by another. Responsible parties may be the operator, the vehicle owner, the bus driver, vehicle manufacturer or other entity.   

Obviously this most recent case has many details that must still be gathered to determine the cause, but as these details are gathered, legal action will almost certainly be taken to determine liability. The fact that the tour company was based in Mexico may also add to the intricacies of this particular case.

Tour bush crashes are quite rare given the number of such tours operating on any given day. However, the California crash comes on the heels of several other recent high profile bus crashes. 42 high school students and their chaperons on a bus crashed into an overpass in Boston. Dozens of people were injured. In December of last year, 9 passengers were killed and 39 injured in a tour bus crash in Oregon.

There are countless tour companies and bus operators who take passengers on national and international bus tours. Most operate at the highest standards. But as information emerges about the recent spate of crashes, the evidence may prove that too many bus operators are prioritizing profit over safety and the government may not be regulating the industry strictly enough.    

As an outspoken critic of cell phone use while driving, Ray LaHood will be missed by those who believe texting while driving is a serious public health issue. As the Transportation Secretary in President Obama's administration, LaHood took a leadership role in the debate over cell phone use in cars and other problems related to distracted driving. He announced during the week of January 28th that he would not continue as the Transportation Secretary through the president's second term. As soon as a replacement is named and confirmed, he will step down from the post. His replacement may be Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Reports in the the Huffington Post and other media sources have indicated the mayor may be a candidate for the position.  He has been an extremely enthusiastic supporter of the president, was at the inauguration and has made transportation issues a focus of his time as the mayor of LA. His efforts at reducing pedestrian accidents, speeding up road construction, and his commitment to reducing air pollution have all positioned him well for the federal appointment.

Of course there will be critics if Villariagosa is offered the job. He may be particularly vulnerable on the issue of hit and run pedestrian accidents. Some say he has not done enough to acknowledge and alleviate the city's epidemic of hit and run crashes that involve pedestrians.  But he has made many public appearances that indicate this issue is important to him and his administration. He has also taken some concrete actions to improve safety on city streets including redesigned crosswalks designed to improve visibility.

The mayor may also face hurdles due to allegations of ethical problems in the past. The charges related to unreported gifts, nepotism, and controversy surrounding his affair with a television reporter and his subsequent divorce all may create some stumbling blocks for his nomination and confirmation. However, Villaraigosa is nationally popular and is a prominent Latino politician. Whether or not he is offered the position, his efforts to put himself in the conversation indicate that he may have aspirations beyond city leadership.    

The consequences of the obesity epidemic in the United States have particularly far-reaching implications. A recent report links obesity with a higher rate of fatality in car crashes. Motorists suffering from obesity are more likely to die in car accidents than people of average weight according to a study published in the BMJ Group’s Emergency Medicine Journal.

Researchers studied data from tens of thousands of accident reports and determined that obese drivers—for whatever reason—had a higher likelihood of death in a car accident than people of average weight involved in similar accidents. Their findings suggest that seat belts may be part of the risks. Though other health-related issues may make obese drivers more likely to sufferer catastrophic injuries in a crash, the seat belts in most cars may be poorly designed for obese drivers. Though that is not a conclusive finding, the study does imply something troubling.

As the U.S. population continues to gain weight, car designers should consider re-designing seat belts at least until a wide-spread cure is developed and implemented for obesity. While eating healthy and exercising on a daily basis may provide the best hope for a cure, the reality is that people who may have otherwise survived a car accident are dying in motor vehicle crashes and prematurely leaving children, spouses and wide networks of loved ones. Vehicle manufacturers have a responsibility to protect the people who operate their machines. If they do not make this responsibility a priority for all drivers, more and more people will suffer unnecessarily. 

The link between depression and traumatic brain injury (TBI) is taking a prominent position in a national discussion about football.  A much-needed discussion about the relationship between head injuries and depression in general may be a result of this increased scrutiny on the subject.   

A recent medical study found that the NFL players in the research suffered from a far higher rate of depression than people in the general population. The research was published in the journal JAMA Neurology and studied 34 retired NFL players. Researchers found that approximately 25 percent of these players struggled with clinical depression. For people who are not professional football players, the rate of diagnosed clinical depression is about 15 percent.

In addition to the higher rate of depression, the researchers also found that the brains of some of these former players had abnormalities that may be the result of repeated violent impacts. More research on these abnormalities is ongoing but in the wake of the suicide by former NFL linebacker Junior Seau, this subject is sure to get more attention. Some commentators have suggested that Seau's suicide may have been related to depression and traumatic brain injury.  

The recent study may not be damning in the Seau case but it is compelling. Most importantly, perhaps, is the potential significance it has for those of us not colliding into other people at high rates of speed on a daily basis. The players in the study had not been diagnosed with depression until after they agreed to participate in the study, according to a report in Bloomberg News. This may suggest that more players and more people in the general population struggle with depression that has not been diagnosed. Though repeated concussions may be more likely for people who play football throughout their teen and young adult years, people involved in car accidents, cycling crashes, slip and falls, motorcycle collisions and other accidents may also suffer traumatic brain injuries that can lead to clinical depression. Many individuals may be unaware of this possible side effect from such trauma.

The NFL now seems to be paying close attention to the results of head trauma. Perhaps a robust national discussion about brain injuries and depression in the general population will be forthcoming as well.