Attorney Client Match Blog

Published on: April 7, 2021

Decline in Hearing Affects Senior Motorist Accident Risks

The elderly population has increased consistently in the U.S. and the number of older adults in the country is expected to be almost 90 million by the year 2050. With that comes growing concerns of safety concerns with senior driver. Senior motorists may suffer a number of declines in their vision, hearing and other faculties, and this affects their risk of being involved in an accident. Specifically, decreases in hearing could significantly affect those crash risks.

Those findings come from a new study conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety which found an elevated accident risk per mile driven for seniors due to the reduction in their sensory abilities and drop in psychomotor and cognitive abilities. According to the study, it is important to understand the driving patterns and risk exposure of senior drivers, and also understand how these declining abilities affect the safety of these motorists.

One impairment that many seniors face as they get older is a drop in their hearing abilities. Hearing impairment can increase crash risks for a senior motorist because they are less likely to hear horns, or other audible cues around them. They may be less likely to see vehicles that are trying to pass them, or even an approaching vehicle. According to the study, hearing impairment is much more dangerous because it can affect other senses, and further increase a person’s risk of being involved in an accident. For example, hearing impairment can impede a person’s vision and cognitive impairment, further affecting the senior’s ability to drive safely.

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Published on: April 1, 2021

Will it be Third Time Lucky for Truck Accident Prevention Bill?

By Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A bill that would require underride guards for all commercial trucks and tractor trailers has been introduced for the third time in Congress. Trucking safety advocates have long supported the bill that would help prevent the kind of devastating accidents that result in smaller vehicles ending up under 18-wheelers.

Senators Marco Rubio and Kirsten Gillibrand have reintroduced the Stop Underrides Act for the third time. The bill would require that all new tractor trailers and 18- wheelers be equipped with underride protection guards, on the sides as well as the front. In many truck accidents, the smaller vehicle involved in the collision may slide or be pushed under the truck. These underride protection guards would prevent a small vehicle from sliding under the truck during an accident. These kinds of accidents are not uncommon and are very likely to end in serious injuries, like decapitations, if not fatalities. At the very least, the occupants of the small vehicle could suffer devastating head injuries.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety claims that these accidents are extremely common. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, close to 80% of truck accident deaths involve situations in which the smaller vehicle slid under the truck. These kinds of accidents need not occur at high speeds to be devastating. Even at moderate speeds, the underride can slice through the passenger cabin of the smaller vehicle involved in the accident, possibly decapitating heads.

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Published on: March 24, 2021

How Adaptive Cruise Control Could Actually Increase Risk of Speeding Accidents

By Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Cruise control technology allows motorists to drive at safe speeds. However, a more advanced version called adaptive cruise control could actually encourage motorists to drive at excess speeds, increasing the chances of being involved in an accident.

According to a recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, motorists using adaptive cruise control often fall into the temptation of setting their speed limits much higher than is appropriate or safe. In fact, the study found that motorists who are using adaptive cruise control, or automation technology that includes lane centering features are much more likely to drive at excessive speeds, compared to motorists who are not using either of these two technologies.

Adaptive cruise control allows motorists to select predetermined speed limits. This technology allows for a certain amount of distance to be maintained from the vehicle in front. This technology eliminates the need for the motorist to slam on the brakes in time to avoid a collision with the vehicle in front, avoiding a rear-ender accident that can result in serious injuries.

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Published on: March 17, 2021

What to Expect after a Brain Injury

By Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Brain injuries are some of the most severe and complex injuries that a person can suffer. However, there are many misconceptions surrounding these injuries.

Brain injuries in the United States are far more common than you think. According to the Brain Injury Association of America, every 9 seconds, one person somewhere in the United States suffers a brain injury. At least 2.8 million people across the United States suffer a brain injury every year.

Most of the brain injury cases that Atlanta personal injury attorneys come across are related to blunt force trauma or a blow to the head or neck. Typically, these injuries occur in car accidents, motorcycle accidents and bicycle and pedestrian accidents. These injuries are severe, and can lead to long-term impairment and disability. According to the Brain Injury Association of America, one in 60 people lives with a disability that is related to a brain injury.

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Published on: February 16, 2021

Boom in Motorcycle Sales Raises Questions about Safety

By Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Across the United States, there has been a spike in motorcycle sales during the Covid-19 pandemic, giving rise to concerns about how a new generation of motorcycle riders will cope with the safety issues involved in riding these vehicles.

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted many industries, and at the beginning of the outbreak the motorcycle industry was not spared. Motorcycled sales tanked as the financial devastation wreaked by the pandemic resulted in people putting off purchases of non-essential items like motorcycles and other recreational vehicles. However, it soon became very apparent that the pandemic would continue for much longer than expected, and most US cities, including the metro Atlanta region placed restrictions on the use of mass transit.

Once some sense of routine returned to the working sector, a very interesting phenomenon occurred. Large numbers of people who were required to go back to work had to look at other forms of transportation in order to avoid using mass transit and to ensure physical distancing, one of the key ways to prevent infection with the virus. To that end, two-wheeled personal forms of transportation, such as motorcycles, seemed like the most attractive option. Many commuters also believed motorcycles were safer than bicycles.

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Published on: January 16, 2021

New Initiative to Prevent Medical Diagnostic Errors

By Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Diagnostic errors are some of the deadliest medical errors causing often irreparable patient harm. A new initiative aims at recognizing hospitals for their efforts in preventing these errors.

The new initiative has been launched by The Leapfrog Group, which is a national organization of patient safety advocates. The initiative is called Recognizing Excellence in Diagnostics, and aims to publicly recognize and applaud hospitals that have done an exemplary job in reducing the risks of diagnostic errors. The project is a collaboration with the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine and has been funded by a grant by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

According to Leapfrog, diagnostic errors are some of the deadliest medical errors. Across the country, misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis and other types of diagnostic errors figure in the top 10 causes of death every year. Annually, between 40,000 and 80,000 patient deaths are linked directly to diagnostic errors. In fact, these errors are much more widespread than people believe. The Leapfrog report claims that diagnostic errors will affect as many as 12 million Americans annually and 250,000 persons will be harmed by these errors.

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Published on: December 17, 2020

Comminuted Fractures after a Motorcycle Accident

By Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Motorcycle riding has become increasingly more popular over the years. The rise of popularity of motorcycle riding spreads across many age groups, young and old. Older motorcycle riders, however, suffer a higher rate of mortality when involved in a motorcycle accident, according to recent studies performed by the National Institute of Health.

These recent studies by the NIH have also found that even if a motorcycle accident does not result in a fatality, older riders tend to suffer more serious injuries than younger riders. Older riders have a higher risk of suffering not only head and abdominal injuries, but also multiple fractures. Fractures are some of the more common injuries that occur in a motorcycle accident. There are several types of fractures that can occur, from simple fractures to the more complicated ones such as comminuted fractures.

Many of the types of fractures suffered by older motorcycle riders are comminuted fractures. A comminuted fracture occurs when a bone is broken into more than two splinters. A simple fracture can heal easily, but a comminuted fracture is more complicated to treat. These kinds of fractures typically occur in high-impact accidents. When extreme pressure and force are applied to the bone, there is a chance that the bone will fragment into more than 2 pieces. Comminuted fractures are even more likely to occur in a motorcycle accident, because of the lack of protection that a motorcyclist has against severe impact in a crash.

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Published on: November 17, 2020

Higher Death Rates at Private Nursing Homes Raise Concern

By Robert N. Katz, Esq.

On the surface of it, it would seem that private nursing homes would be able to deliver the kind of high- quality care that residents require. However, when nursing homes are run for profit, care may not necessarily be at the top of the agenda. In fact, according to a recent investigation, the opposite may be true.

Nursing homes, especially those that are taken over by private equity firms, actually seem to have lower standards of care compared to facilities that are not taken over by such buyout firms. Private equity firms are companies that take over struggling companies or companies that are close to bankruptcy in order to turn them around. Often, that turning around comes at great cost to employees and other stakeholders in the nursing homes. In recent years, a lot of private equity investment has flowed into the healthcare and nursing home industries.

The investigation by CBS found that there was a higher risk of death for residents of nursing homes that were taken over by these buyout firms. According to the investigation, these residents had a risk of dying during their stay at the nursing facility and approximately 3 months after leaving for home, that was 1.7 percentage point higher, compared to residents in other types of nursing homes. A 1.7% increase might not seem like a significant increase, but according to the investigation, this can mean an excess of 20,000 deaths over 12 years.

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Published on: July 25, 2020

Georgia Targets Speed Racing Problems

By Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Speed racing or drag racing is surprisingly not uncommon in Atlanta, but much to people’s dismay, these races have become much more widespread during the pandemic. Georgia’s Governor is throwing his weight behind proposals, that would significantly penalize persons for street racing or drag racing.

When the pandemic hit, shelter-in-place restrictions went into effect and there was initially a marked reduction in the number of vehicles on Georgia’s roads. That, unfortunately, led to an epidemic of street racing by drivers using the newly empty streets to race against each other in reckless and dangerous behavior. Such behavior has become even more dangerous now as shelter-in-place restrictions have eased and more motorists are travelling again on the roads and highways. Street racing increases the racer’s risk of being involved in an accident and endangering innocent motorists who may be sharing these roads with them.

Georgia’s Governor has shown his support for new pieces of legislation that aim at keeping residents safer by increasing penalties for street racing and drag racing. These new proposals would penalize not just the street racers themselves, but also promoters of street racing. In fact, one bill would also penalize people who are watching these races. The goal is to discourage such rash practices that endanger the lives and safety of Atlanta residents.

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Published on: June 22, 2020

Fatal Pedestrian Accidents Much More Likely to Involve SUVs

By Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Research has shown that pedestrians are much more likely to be killed in accidents involving sport utility vehicles, compared to smaller passenger vehicles. The result is not unexpected given the sheer size of SUV’s. But the reason this is bad news for pedestrians is because SUV’s have become increasing popular over the past decade.

According to the results of a new study by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, accidents where a pedestrian was struck by an SUV travelling faster than 19 miles per hour were much more likely to result in a fatality than accidents involving a smaller vehicle travelling at a similar speed. When vehicles were travelling at between 23 and 25 mph, the accident fatality rate for SUVs was 30%, compared to 23% for smaller passenger vehicles.

When SUVs were traveling at 40 mph, all 3 accidents involving SUVs in the study data resulted in pedestrian deaths, compared to 7 out of 3 fatalities in accidents involving small passenger vehicles. Not surprisingly, there was little difference in the fatality rate when the speed of the vehicles was below 20 mph, with passengers in both types of accidents sustaining minimal injuries.

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