| Oct 06 |
As ‘accident’ victims, pedestrians, cyclists are second class citizens in Texas
The driver “lost control” — a common excuse for bad driving — and veered onto the shoulder, killing the two people. No charges have been filed in the tragedy. Nor have charges been filed in the case of David Mollenauer, a San Antonio Symphony musician who was hit by a car while on his bike and left for dead earlier this year. Mollenauer survived, and witnesses even got the car’s license number. Yet again, no charges have been filed, even though the driver’s identity is known. Some say that’s because Texas treats cyclists and pedestrians as second-class citizens. If a car strikes property and damages it, then its driver is legally liable for negligence. If a car strikes a person in a motorcycle accident, bicycle accident or pedestrian accident, the car’s driver may face no penalty at all — even in a hit and run! |
An item in today’s San Antonio Express-News shows how far Texas has to go to treat pedestrians and cyclists with respect on our roads. It pertains to a horrible accident last week in which a San Antonio-area couple riding a tandem bicycle on a road’s shoulder were hit and killed by a pickup truck traveling 70 mph in a 65 mph zone.
| Sep 22 |
A fatal traffic accident driver ‘lost’ control–or surrendered it?
The resulting wreckage might be blamed on “lost control” in a news report, but a wreck’s cause, in many cases, is that a driver gave up — rather than “lost” — proper control of his or her vehicle by willfully indulging in unsafe behavior. |
Each day you hear or read it in news reports: A driver “lost control” of a vehicle, causing a deadly car accident crash. But apart from slick roads and sudden mechanical malfunctions, just how did the driver “lose” control? Or, did the driver not truly lose control, but rather surrender it — by driving too fast, driving while drunk, driving while cell calling or texting or otherwise failing to pay proper attention to the road?| Sep 14 |
Ignition interlock devices are a tool in America’s war on drunk driving car accidents
According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), most states have laws requiring such devices, which involve detecting alcohol via a driver’s breath and not allowing a car to start if the test fails. In Arizona, Illinois, Louisiana and eight other states, the devices are required after an .08 reading for a DUI conviction. In Florida, North Carolina and six other states, they’re required after a .15 reading for a DUI conviction. In Texas, Missouri and four other states, they’re required after a repeat DUI conviction. In California, it’s up to a judge’s discretion, but the state’s lawmakers just passed a bill which would launch a four-county pilot program for using such devices, including Los Angeles County. |
Drunk drivers’ undeclared war on America has raged for decades, killing more than half a million U.S. citizens since 1982. Such a terrible toll mandates strong counterattacks, and one is requiring ignition-interlock devices in the vehicles of those who are known to be drunk drivers.| Sep 08 |
Toyota SUV rollover lawsuit could spark reopening car accident cases
That’s because a so-called “whistle blower” has stepped in to tell what he believes is the truth: that Toyota for years tried to keep a lid on investigations which showed why the Japanese automaker’s SUVs were inherently dangerous. This charge has come from Dimitrios Biller, a lawyer who formerly represented Toyota in rollover cases. He’s now spearheading a lawsuit claiming that Toyota destroyed information which should have been available for plaintiffs in hundreds of defective product lawsuits. He also says Toyota withheld a report on roof-crush data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Biller is suing Toyota for fraud, unfair practices and racketeering. Toyota dismisses his claims. |
In mystery-novel terms, those hurt in a Toyota SUV rollover accident now may have a “smoking gun.”| Aug 25 |
New Texas law banning school zone cell phones still has car accident hangups
That end is safe driving without using a cell phone or PDA to text, dial, redial, read texts, send texts, talk endlessly or otherwise take your mind and eyes away from the road while you act like a doctor who’s on call 24/7. Would you try passing a driver’s license test while diverted this way? No, and for good reason. You could kill yourself or someone else. Haven’t done so yet? As they say, always a first time. Starting Sept. 1, a new Texas law drives that message home, making it illegal to use a cell phone — except for a hands-free device — while driving in school zones where such signs are posted. Those signs, sadly, are the rub — more on that later. |
In today’s world of searing rhetoric and bombastic bumper stickers, you might hear or see two conflicting slogans: “Hang up and drive” and “You’ll take my cell phone when you pry it from my cold dead fingers.” Yet when the dust has cleared from a horrendous | Aug 09 |
More women DUI car accidents may get you MADD
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that the percent of women arrested for DUI is increasing, while the percent of male DUI arrests drops. Men are still far more prone to DUI or DWI arrest — by almost a four-to-one ratio – but in a changing world where women face increased pressures on economic fronts as their husbands lose jobs, and sometimes a tendency to behave like “the boys,” more and more women are stressed, driving cars and doing so while drunk. |
Ads for a certain slim cigarette aimed at women once crowed, “You’ve come a long way, baby.” In short, smoking was seen as twisted liberation for women. Sadly, the same is now true for drinking alcohol.| Aug 07 |
Houston fails to get uninsured drivers off roads, and you pay the price
Some Texas cities are doing something about it — but Houston isn’t one of them. According to a report on KHOU Channel 11 News, more than 15,000 drivers annually for the past two years were ticketed in Houston for driving without car insurance — a legal offense. And some uninsured drivers were ticketed repeatedly. In fact, more than 100 people got ticketed five times for the same offense. |
Why is it so hard to collect a car accident insurance claim, even when you weren’t at fault? Because insurance companies are stingy–and are getting even stingier due to uninsured motorists on the road. When an uninsured driver is at fault in a car accident, then the claim goes to the innocent driver’s insurer, who doesn’t want to pay. And that’s a huge problem.| May 07 |
Car accident tragedies kill more kids than any other danger
That’s confirmed by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, which says car accidents are the top cause of deaths in kids aged 2-14. The center also says car accidents injure 250,000 American kids yearly. With about 2,000 of them suffering fatal injury, children are the victims in 5 per cent of America’s fatal traffic accidents. And unlike adults, it’s safe to say that no such child has caused the car accident in which he or she died. |
Most parents are extremely protective of kids. But anytime they take them in a car or other vehicle they’re exposing them to the No. 1 killer of America’s children. Indeed, child safety advocate group Safe Kids USA reports that | May 05 |
Nail-painting distracted driver causes fatal motorcycle accident
Apparently a woman in Illinois didn’t think driving required such focus. In fact, she thought driving was incidental to her primary task: painting her nails. And as a result, another woman is dead — an innocent woman who was stopped at a traffic light on her motorcycle and was wearing a helmet but nonetheless perished when a car driven by the nail-painter hit her from behind.
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How many wake-up calls does it take to drive home the point that driving is serious business — always? Driving requires your full attention, and that means keeping your hands on the wheel, your eyes on the road and your mind on operating a heavy vehicle at sometimes high speeds in complex traffic.| Apr 21 |
GPS means SOS in car accident wave
But is that truly progress? At least, can it be progress when many such GPS devices are faulty and lead drivers virtually over a cliff, or going the wrong way down a one-way street, or into a narrowing street in which they’ll be stuck? |
We often think progress is measured by technological advancement. After all, many of our cars now have a GPS, or global positioning system, which helps us to navigate anywhere in the world. Via satellite links, a GPS can provide digital mapping info and automated voices to direct us from anywhere to just about anywhere else.