Attorney Client Match Blog

Published on: November 24, 2022

These Drowsy Driving Car Accident Statistics will Wake You Right Up

More than 300,000 auto accidents every year can be linked to fatigued drivers who fall asleep at the wheel, and more than 6000 of these crashes end in deaths. The first step to preventing this auto accidents is to make drivers aware of the risk of driving while fatigued.

That data comes from the Governors Highway Safety Association which estimates that 328,000 car accidents every year can be linked to drowsy driving. Out of these, more than 191,000 result in serious personal injuries while 6,400 crashes result in wrongful deaths. The Governors Highway Safety Association also estimates that the total cost of these auto accidents, not including property damage, amounts to more than 109 billion dollars each year.

About 10 to 20 percent of all care accidents and truck accidents in the United States can be linked to driving under the influence of tiredness or fatigue. The actual number could be even higher because it’s hard to tell if a driver was dozing off or fell asleep at the wheel after an accident. Unlike with alcohol – related car accidents in which it is possible to identify and determine if the person was drunk at the time of the accident, there are no tests that can identify if a person dozed off in the seconds before a car crash. All data points to the probability that drowsy driving is much more common than estimated.

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Published on: November 16, 2022

Feds Promise Tougher Penalties Against Nursing Home Abuse

By Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The Biden administration is promising increased scrutiny and tougher penalties against nursing homes that fail to meet strict standards and expose residents to the risk of abuse and neglect.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently stated that the federal administration is increasing its commitment to reducing the rate of violations of nursing homes across the country, through increased scrutiny and tougher enforcement of existing standards. The Department says that it has created a watch list of more than 80 nursing homes that have performed poorly on parameters of quality and care. The watchlist is just one part of a series of steps that the Department of Health and Human Services is taking to toughen safety standards at nursing homes, thereby ensuring better quality of care for residents.

The steps are part of President Biden’s State of the Union Action Plan for Protecting Seniors by Improving Safety and Quality of the Nation’s Nursing Homes. The reforms include an overhaul of the Special Focus Facility program. The Special Focus Facility program already tasks inspectors with increased monitoring of poorly – performing nursing facilities. However, the number of inspections is only likely to increase with the administration’s new plan. The reforms also include an increase in fines or penalties for nursing homes that continue to commit violations. The penalties could even include moves to terminate the facility’s Medicare or Medicaid funding. The reforms also include an increase in the standards that nursing homes will have to meet in order to qualify for continued funding.

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Published on: November 11, 2022

Digitally Recorded Supervised Driving Might help Prevent Teen Driver Car Accidents

By Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Parents who make use of a smartphone app instead of the traditional pen and paper system to supervise their teen children’s mandatory practice driving hours could be helping the driver avoid car accidents and stay safe on the road. Due to their limited experience, teen driver’s are more likely to be involved in an auto accident.

A new study focuses on the effectiveness of smartphone apps used to track teenage motorists’ supervised driving hours as part of their mandatory GDL requirements, and compares the effectiveness of these apps with logs using pen and paper. In Georgia, like in most other states, teenagers must complete several hours of supervised driving before they are eligible to get learners’ permits. Under Georgia law, a novice driver who is at least 15 years of age must first obtain an instructional permit that allows him or her to drive under the supervision of a licensed motorist who is at least 21 years of age. In many cases, parents act as the driving supervisors for their children. It is only after this supervised driving phase has been completed that a person can appear for an intermediate license.

Needless to say, these hours of supervised driving are critically important to the teen driver. Not only do they allow her or him to practice driving safely under the supervision of a parent, but also allow parents to foster the kind of driving behavior that they want their child to practice when they are driving on their own, in order to avoid car accidents.

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Published on: October 26, 2022

Speeding, Cell Phone Use Biggest Car Accident Threat for Teen Drivers

By Robert N. Katz, Esq.

From inexperience to distractions from passengers, teen motorists are faced with a variety of auto accident risks. However, the two biggest risks facing teen motorists are their tendencies to drive at high speeds and use cell phones while driving.

That information comes from the results of a new study presented recently at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition. The study was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.

The driving behaviors of a total of 155 teenagers were studied as part of the research. The data was collected in the form of an app that the teenagers used while they were driving. The app measured and monitored the presence of dangerous driving behaviors like using a cell phone and driving at high speeds that increased car accident risks.

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Published on: October 21, 2022

Federal Agencies Launch Efforts to Prevent Pedestrian Accidents

By Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The US Department of Transportation and a number of related federal agencies are rolling out a series of campaigns and measures to help reduce the number of auto accidents injuring and killing pedestrians every year.

The month of October is being marked as National Pedestrian Safety Awareness Month, and the Department of Transportation is spearheading efforts to raise awareness about the rights of pedestrians and the need to keep them safe. There has never been a better time to bring awareness to the rights of pedestrians than now. In 2020, an average of 18 pedestrians were killed every day in the United States. A total of 6,516 pedestrians were killed in auto accidents that year.

This is a staggering total by any estimate. It has led to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg commenting that Americans now live in a time when it is safer to fly than walk. Other federal transportation officials have also commented on these statistics, saying that it is unacceptable that Americans are unsafe when they walk.

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Published on: October 17, 2022

Many Drivers Remain Ignorant of Basic Road Safety, Rules, and Signs

By Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A new study finds that while many motorists have a high opinion of their driving skills, the reality may be quite different. The study finds that many drivers remain unaware of basic safety rules, including road signs, and have a much more elevated opinion of their own driving skills than the reality, thereby increasing their auto accident risks.

The results of the study were released by insurer Progressive. The company focused on 599 motorists, and these motorists were asked questions about their driving skills and knowledge. The results of the study clearly find a gap between drivers’ knowledge of motoring safety including basic road signs like those related to school safety, and the reality on the roads.

For instance, the results of the study finds that an overwhelming majority or 94% of the drivers were able to identify a sign for a lane ending. However, only 65% were able to identify a school crossing sign correctly. This lack of knowledge is extremely dangerous. Driving safely and lowering speed limits in school zones and around school crossing areas is absolutely imperative, and failure to identify these signs can increase the risk of car accidents involving child pedestrians.

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Published on: October 13, 2022

Heart Disease can Exacerbate Slip and Fall Accident Risks

By Robert N. Katz, Esq.

People who suffer from cardiovascular disease may be at a higher risk of suffering from slip and fall accidents that expose them to serious personal injury.

According to a new study whose results were published in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality Outcomes, more research is needed to understand the causes of increased fall risks in people suffering from cardiovascular disease. An earlier study from 2018 found that as many as 60% of people who suffer from cardiovascular disease had a moderate to high risk of suffering a slip and fall accident.

There are several risk factors that might expose a person who suffers from cardiovascular conditions to have an elevated fall risk. Hypertension or a spike in blood pressure may cause dizziness or a sudden loss of consciousness which could directly lead to a fall hazard. A person recovering from a stroke may continue to suffer from dizziness, while one who suffers from diabetes may suffer from neuropathy in the foot that could affect balance and, therefore, slip and fall accident risks.

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Published on: October 7, 2022

Unsafe, Recalled Cars Place Georgia Motorists at Risk of Auto Accidents

By Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Thousands of Georgia motorists may be at risk of car accidents caused when they are driving defective or dangerous vehicles that have been included in recalls.

When the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announces a recall of a vehicle for potentially dangerous design or manufacturing defects, automakers and other related parties immediately work to contact customers and let them know about the defect that has led to the recall. From then on, motorists are given information about bringing these cars in for repairs or replacement of defective parts, if necessary.

However, thousands of these defective, dangerous cars may continue to be sold in the used car market. This is a problem because used car sellers are not required by the law to inform customers about any potentially dangerous defects in the design and manufacture of the cars. While automakers have a legal responsibility to inform their customers about a recall, used car dealers do not have any such obligation to inform buyers about any car accident risks.

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Published on: September 27, 2022

Proven Strategies Could help Save Half a Million Lives in Auto Accidents Every Year

By Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A combination of proven and time-tested strategies like expansion of seatbelt usage and cracking down on intoxicated driving could help save as many as half a million lives in auto accidents across the world every year.

According to a new study, hundreds of thousands of lives are lost across the world every year in car accidents, and many of these lives could be saved if simple strategies are implemented by governments. In a new study that was published recently in the Lancet journal, researchers analyzed car accident statistics around the world and identified the strategies that can be used to prevent these auto accidents and the resultant wrongful deaths. An overwhelming majority of car accident fatalities, according to the study, are linked to drunk driving, failure to wear seat belts, and high speeds. These are the three most critical factors in auto accidents, no matter which country you are driving in. They are also some of the most preventable factors.

A strong focus on reducing the incidence of drunk driving, for instance, would help save hundreds of thousands of lives in car accidents every year. Stringent enforcement with tougher penalties for violations can help the government reduce the incidence of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs in this country. Similarly, enforcement should be at the crux of any campaign that calls on drivers to drive at posted speeds. It is not as if drivers are not aware of the dangers of drunk driving or driving at high speeds. Rather, this knowledge is often ignored. Stronger enforcement of existing rules and penalties for violations can encourage motorists to drive at safe speeds.

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Published on: September 22, 2022

Pedestrian Braking Systems May not Prevent Car Accidents at Night

By Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Pedestrian accidents account for a significant percentage of the total number of people killed in motor auto accidents every year. Technologies like auto emergency braking systems that are specifically designed to help vehicles to avoid striking pedestrians have been touted as the way forward as companies and regulators come together to reduce these car accident risks. However, a new study suggests many of those systems do not work very well during the night time.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently rated vehicles based on the effectiveness of their pedestrian auto emergency braking systems, and found that only a few of the models included in the study performed well in preventing auto accidents that occurred at night or in poorly lit conditions. In daytime or well-lit conditions, these systems worked very well with 19 out of the 23 models studied performing very well in preventing pedestrian accidents. However, when it came to night time conditions, the results were markedly different. Only a few vehicles performed well in night time conditions.

Even more concerning is the finding that vehicles like small size pickups and SUVs are less likely to perform well in poor visibility conditions. This is even more disheartening because these are the vehicles that can cause the most serious injuries to a pedestrian in an accident. When a pedestrian is involved in an auto accident with an SUV or a small pickup truck, the risk of serious injury or even death can be significantly higher. In fact, the disparity between protection for pedestrians during well -lit and unlit conditions is so high that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is considering introducing a night time test for pedestrian automatic emergency braking systems.

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