The Houston Chronicle‘s new study of Houston area traffic accidents ended with this assessment by the Texas Transportation Institute: As drivers in the state’s largest city, with 83 million miles traveled daily, our “margin of error is extremely small.”

You could be doing everything right — wearing your seat belt, signaling when you change lines, obeying the speed limit, setting aside your cell phone — and still have a fatal car accident. That’s because it only takes a moment’s inattention or a single mistake –by you or another driver — to cause a car wreck or traffic tragedy.

(more…)

Share on Facebook

Yes, drivers of cars cause many traffic collisions. But who causes the worst? And who has the most responsibility for avoiding such catastrophes? Big rig, diesel truck, tractor trailer, semi truck or 18 wheeler drivers, that’s who. Their enormous rigs take longer to stop, and when they crash they are far more destructive.

Also, too many of their drivers fall asleep at the wheel.

It’s an occupational hazard, since diesel truck drivers who haul large loads across the country often drive for long, dull hours, including the middle of the night. But it’s a crucial distinction, especially in view of two tragedies this week in Houston and Kentucky.

(more…)

Share on Facebook

As the largest of America’s 48 contiguous states, Texas likes to boast that it’s big in everything. But the state can’t brag about this: ranking in the top 10 for both America’s deadliest DUI and deadliest speeding states for a car crash accident. That’s according to Reader’s Digest magazine, which assessed recent data on road and bridge conditions, congestion, spending on roads and overall safety.

(more…)

Share on Facebook

Highway work zone crashes kill hundreds nationwide, including many innocent Texans. Now the Texas Department of Transportation is hosting a 20-foot traveling wall memorializing such work zone deaths. Those tragedies occurred largely because drivers were too distracted or in too big of a hurry to heed the orange cones and barricades alerting them to work zones and urging their caution.

“People just need to learn to slow down and pay more attention to what’s going on on the road,” Central Texas DOT spokesman Ken Roberts told the Waco Tribune Herald. “There’s speeding and people doing things like talking on the phone, texting, eating.”

Tell us about it. As many as 6,000 American motorists yearly are now slaughtered by distracted drivers, often for no more reason than someone acting as if a call or text about lunch was an urgent matter while driving at high speed in heavy traffic.

(more…)

Share on Facebook

This week’s horrifying Mexico-bound tour bus accident killing two and injuring dozens south of San Antonio is still more tragic evidence that buses, in many ways, are unsafe. And something should be done about it.

This bus, at least, was part of a legitimate bus line: Americanos USA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dallas-based Greyhound Lines Inc. That was not the case when 17 persons traveling from Houston to a religious retreat died in a bus crash north of Dallas in 2008. That bus was not legally licensed to operate.

But even sanctioned tour buses or charter buses can have deadly bus accidents. And why are bus wrecks so dangerous, if not fatal? It starts with seat belts.

(more…)

Share on Facebook

The following is a guest blog by Dolan Law Offices of Chicago, IL.

In the 20th Century, seatbelt laws and speed limit laws saved lives. While not everyone wears seatbelts or obeys the speed limit because states require them to do so, these laws educated many people and encouraged safe behavior.

In the 21st Century, Texas and other states are faced with additional driving problems that are making the roads dangerous. The Governor’s Highway Safety Association lists several types of possible laws that could make roads safer. Texas has significant laws banning drunk driving and requiring child safety seats. However, many current Texas laws do not provide as much protection as they could for drivers. For example:

(more…)

Share on Facebook

Driving deaths overall are down in America, but could be much lower without one thing: distracted drivers who call or text at the wheel. A new report by the U.S. Department of Transportation reveals the United States had 33,963 traffic fatalities in 2009, a drop of 8.9 per cent from 2008. With driving deaths declining for 15 consecutive quarters, this also was the lowest level since 1954.

But imagine how much better it could be without the onslaught of cell phone addiction. Millions of Americans drive with one hand on the wheel — at best — while calling and texting with the other. And when only a moment’s inattention can cause a lifetime of misery, these driving distractions are among the biggest threats on our roads today.

(more…)

Share on Facebook

Child safety requires constant vigilance on the part of parents and anyone who takes care of small children. But even those persons can be led astray, as with accident injuries from defective products that claim to be safe for kids. That was the case with a 16-month-old boy who was found strangled to death in his crib by his mother in 2007, with a window shade cord wrapped around his neck.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, around 500 young children have died due to such cords since the early ’80s, or about one per month. Clearly, such shades and blinds are potentially deadly products, yet the federal government hasn’t mandated that their manufacturers make them more safe. Instead, it’s let the industry police itself.

(more…)

Share on Facebook

As a Texas driver, what should be your biggest concerns on the road? Drunk drivers? Right up there. Speeding drivers? Certainly. But don’t forget drivers of 4.1 million more vehicles. That’s how many are uninsured, says the Texas Department of Insurance.

This is not to say all 4.1 million uninsured vehicles are driven recklessly and may hit you. But if one does, you’re in big trouble — even if you weren’t to blame. That’s because it can be hard to collect car accident damages when the at-fault driver has no insurance. Your own insurance company won’t want to pay, and the other driver probably won’t be able to pay. Checkmate.

(more…)

Share on Facebook