Alabama Personal Injury Blog - Cell Phones

Drive when you Drive!

Jon Lewis — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:38:36 GMT

Have you heard? People are texting while driving. Yes, really! They are talking about passing laws to prevent this, and Leonard Pitts, Jr. wrote a good editorial with a quote, "Common Sense Should End Texting and Driving." In other words, do we really need laws to make people stop this activity? Well, we need them for drinking and driving, so I guess so. Problem is, how do you enforce it?

Think about what you are doing when you are talking on the phone or dialing a number or texting. Your mind is taken off the road. You are no longer driving defensively which is what you are taught in drivers education in high school. In reality, you are driving recklessly. As Mr. Pitts points out in his article: Is that score that important? Could you wait to message a friend? Is the call urgent? Probably not.

10-15 years ago, we didn't have as many cell phones in cars, and even when we did, we couldn't e-mail and text and get on the internet from our phone. Did we survive? Could we wait for that message? Could we just use the phone when we got home? When did everything become so urgent in society? We have to have it now.

Next time you think about using the cell phone in your car, think about others. Is there a child in your car you are putting at risk? What about the other motorists on the roadway? It takes a split second for a vehicle to inflict irreparable damage. Just Think about it!!

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jon Lewis

cell phone use while driving

Danny Lehane — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:51:59 GMT

There are several major thoroughfares in the Birmingham metro area. Interstate 59 runs north and south from the Alabama/Georgia border into Mississippi, ending in Slidell, Louisiana. Interstate 65 runs from the Tennessee border, splits the Decatur/Huntsville area while crossing the Tennessee River and then passes through Birmingham and Montgomery before ending in Mobile. Interstate 20 runs with Interstate 59 west to east entering the state at the Tombigbee River and Black Warrior River delta country through Tuscaloosa until Birmingham. In Birmingham, Interstate 20 is an east-west roadway passing through Anniston along the way to the Georgia border and then Atlanta. Highway 280 is a heavily traveled roadway that begins in Birmingham and winds through Childersburg, Sylacauga, the Lake Martin/Alexander City area and then Opelika. Highway 280 is also the major route from the Birmingham area to Auburn University, the Loveliest Village on the Plains. What is the point of the highway/interstate geography lesson and what do these thoroughfares have in common? The answer is the wide spread use of cell phones that I have witnessed by drivers on these roadways. I travel all these roads on a regular basis. I see way too many drivers using cell phones, blackberries, etc. It is not hard to spot the drivers using a cell phone, texting, emailing, checking stock quotes, etc. They swerve and weave; they speed or drive at unsafe slow speeds.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety released a report on Cell Phone driving and research update and provided the following:

Over half of U.S. drivers report having used a cell phone while driving.
One in seven drivers admits to text messaging while driving.
Young drivers were overwhelmingly more likely to text message, and somewhat more likely to talk on cell phones while driving than older drivers.
Higher levels of education were also found to be associated with higher levels of cell phone use and text messaging while driving, especially among males.
Dialing a hand-held device was associated with nearly triple the odds of being involved in a crash or near-crash, and talking or listening to a hand-held device was associated with about a 30% increase in the odds of being involved in a crash or near-crash.

Further, other studies have shown:

Distraction from cell phone use while driving (hand held or hands free) extends a driver's reaction as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08%. (University of Utah study)
The No.1 source of driver inattention is use of a wireless device. (Virginia Tech study/NHTSA)
Drivers that use cell phones are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (NHTSA, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
Driving while distracted is a factor in 25% of police reported crashes.
Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37%. (Carnegie Mellon study)

For those of you who are a “user”, there is help and it is very simple: hang up and drive.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Danny Lehane

Two Dead in Jefferson County Crashes

Jon Lewis — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:40:00 GMT

On Saturday, August 27, 2009, the Birmingham News reported two wrecks which killed two people. The first involved a motorcycle and a pickup truck. This occurred on Second Avenue North in Jefferson County, Alabama. According to the News, the pickup truck driver did not see the motorcyclist and turned left in front of him.

How do these happen? Typically, motorcyclists are very careful drivers (not always, but in many cases). The problem, however, is motorists do not see motorcyclists. Given their small size and, many times, dark colors, cars have difficulty seeing them. Usually, the motorcycles have to have their headlight on. I'm not sure about this situation given the story, but what we need to learn from this is people need to be more careful when they are on the roads because motorcyclists and bicyclists have just as much right to the road as cars and trucks.

The second death occurred when a woman was getting her mail in Grayson Valley. An SUV collided with a car, flipped, and hit the woman. This collision happened on Watson Road. The drivers of both vehicles were sixteen years of age. Apparently, the driver of the car didn't see the SUV and pulled out in front of it.

What can we take from this collision? Maybe teenagers need more training before we give them the keys to a car. Many states have differing laws for teenage drivers. Some have to continue their training after getting their license. Some states don't allow teenagers to drive at night. With cell phones and texting proliferating, it is inevitable that teenagers will use poor judgment and use those devices in their cars. How can we stop that? I'm not saying that that was the cause of this fatality, but it is sure to happen in the future, and we need to consider these issues.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jon Lewis

What Causes Car Accidents?

Jon Lewis — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 11:58:29 GMT

A Birmingham News article in today's paper referenced a talk given by John Staddon, Ph.D., a psychology professor at Duke University. The talk was given at an advisory board meeting of the UAB transportation center. Dr. Staddon argued that some of the reasons traffic fatalities are greater in the United States than in the United Kingdom are traffic signs, speed limits, and cruise control.

According to Dr. Staddon, traffic signs distract drivers from the roadway. Instead of paying attention to the roadway, drivers look to the sides of the road in order to view the signs. Whereas, in the United Kingdom, many traffic signs are painted on the roadway, and they use roundabouts instead of stop signs in many instances.

Dr. Staddon stated that neighborhoods use stop signs too much. Additionally, stop signs are used for speed control in some instances, and as a result, "they require a stop even when stopping is not necessary for safety's sake." With respect to speed limits, the United Kingdom has three limits depending on the roadway: 30, 60, and 70. In the U.S., speed limits can vary from 45-80 on the same section of roadway. This causes drivers to focus on the signs and not road conditions.

Couple Dr. Staddon's arguments with the use of cell phones and drunk driving, you can imagine why so many catastrophic injuries and death occur on U.S. roads. Drivers take driving and health for granted and don't think about the damage even low speed impacts can cause (would you put your hand between two cars traveling at 5 mph?). This holiday season, think about these things while you are driving. Maybe you will save yourself, your family members, or someone else from an unwanted memory.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jon Lewis

Asleep at the Wheel

Jon Lewis — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:20:20 GMT

On Monday, June 2, 2008, a horrible collision occurred on U.S. 280 in Mountain Brook. According to the Birmingham News, a 20-year old Auburn University student, Heather Eagan, may have fallen asleep, crossed the median, and killed Mary Anne Blake, the wife of former Birmingham City Councilman, Dr. Jimmy Blake. Miss Eagan was apparently driving back to Auburn from Illinois.

This type of collision shows how dangerous driving can be and what can happen if you lose focus on the road. Falling asleep, using a cell phone, drinking and driving, and violating the rules of the road in general can lead to accidents, injuries, and death. As a result, our system of laws allows for compensation to the victims of these accidents. This type of system not only compensates those who were injured, but it also punishes those who kill others on our roadways (Alabama only allows punitive damages for wrongful death, and look for more information on that in future articles on our site).

We want this system to work so that people will obey the laws and driver carefully. If they don't, there will be financial consequences and, possibly, criminal consequences. When you are on the roadways of Alabama, pay attention and be considerate of other drivers. Driving while drowsy risks other people's lives. Driving while on a cell phone risks other people's lives. Driving while intoxicated risks other people's lives. Is it worth it? Obviously not. All of these things can wait until you are no longer in a moving vehicle.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jon Lewis