Atlanta Personal Injury Blog

April 23, 2010 - A recent report indicates that motorcycling fatalities in the U.S. dropped by at least 10% in 2009, which is the first decline in 12 years, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports.

Based on preliminary data, the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), which represents the state highway safety offices nationwide, projects that motorcycling deaths declined from 5,290 in 2008 to 4,762 or fewer in 2009.

The projection is based on data collected from the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The report, released April 22, is based on a survey of GHSA members, who reported fatality numbers for their states. The GHSA notes that while data are still preliminary, most states have final fatality counts for at least nine months2009, giving GHSA confidence to predict that the death count will be down by at least 10% for the year. The GHSA cautioned that the report only involves one year, so it’s too soon to predict a steady decline.

“We will need to see three to five years of decline before we are ready to say that a positive trend has developed,” said GHSA Chairman Vernon Betkey.

In fact, the report points out that fatalities have significantly decreased in the past, but then rose again. For example, from 1980 to 1997 motorcycling fatalities dropped by almost 60%, but fatalities then increased steadily from 1997 through 2008.

2,294 motorcyclists were killed in 1998, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which gathers its data from the same sources as the GHSA. That number increased steadily each year, reaching 5,290 in 2008.

New Study

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) formally announced a new crash causation study on October 5, 2009. The FHWA is overseeing the four-year, $3 million study, which is being conducted by Oklahoma State University through the Oklahoma Transportation Center in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Old Findings

The last major study into the causes of motorcycle crashes, “Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures Volume I: Technical Report” (summary), issued in 1981, provided a wealth of data that has been used by organizations and individual motorcyclists to help keep riders safer on the road. You can find this document here.

Still, the traffic environment has changed enormously in the decades since, prompting the AMA to begin campaigning for a new study, several years ago.

Safety First

The reasons for the decline in motorcycle fatalities in 2009 is not known, but worsening economic conditions causing fewer new riders, fewer miles ridden and casual riders selling their motorcycles could be supporting factors. Whatever the reason may be, it is still vital to take all necessary precautions when driving a motorcycle: helmet, insurance, experience, etc.

This sort of report is what I love to see. With so many accidents and deaths happen around us, seeing a positive report where people are getting hurt less really makes my day!

Cell phones have brought with them a whole new wave of dangers on the roadways as people devote their attention to their conversations rather than their driving. Five states (California, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Washington) have laws in place that prohibit all drivers from using hand-held cell phones while they are operating a motor vehicle, and these laws save lives. A Harvard University study indicates that cell phone use while driving causes up to 330,000 injury accidents and 2,600 fatalities per year.

Harvard researcher Joshua Cohen told CBS News that in addition to the above statistics, about 1 in 20 automobile accidents involve a driver who is talking on a cell phone. Clearly, when you are talking on a hand-held cell phone, you are not paying total attention to the road, and you are only using one hand to drive. But how about text messaging? That usually takes two hands, doesn’t it?

Texting while driving is even more dangerous than talking on a cell phone. Statistics show that 25 percent of drivers admit to sending or receiving text messages while driving, and between drivers who are 18-24, that number skyrockets to 66%. Driving while distracted in some manner or other causes almost 80% of wrecks, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Ed Smith of the Delray Beach Police Department in Delray Beach, Florida, was quoted thusly in an interview on the subject: “Texting while driving is a serious public health issue. Law enforcement is concerned about how to enforce bans on text-messaging in the car.”

Many states have responded to this concern. No less than 14 states and the District of Columbia have laws in place that make texting while driving illegal. That refers to driving an automotive vehicle, by the way. But it appears as though people who operate high speed trains also have a penchant for this dangerous behavior.

WSBTV.com reports that a MARTA train engineer was recently suspended for three days, without pay, for allegedly texting while he was operating a train. This is serious business, because over the last year or so there have been at least two major train wrecks in the United States that have been attributed to cell phone texting. One head-on crash in California killed 25 people and injured 135, and a Boston area rear-end collision injured 50 individuals.

Driving can seem like a routine exercise that requires very little attention, but in fact, even a temporary loss of focus can cause an accident that can cost someone their life. If you have been involved in a wreck that was caused by a driver (or a train conductor!) who was talking on a cell phone or texting, call The Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer, Bruce Hagen, at (404) 522-7553, or simply get in touch through the website.

Riding a motorcycle is a lot of fun for many people, and for others, it is more than mere fun; it is a way of life. There are a number of advantages to motorcycles as a means of transportation, like fuel economy, and cost , but there are a great number of risks that go along with it as well. There is virtually no margin of error for motorcyclists because the only thing between them and the pavement is their helmet and their clothing, so they need to ride defensively and carefully. However, even the most diligent biker has no control over the people he or she is sharing the road with, and that is where much of the danger lies.

There were over 5,000 motorcycle accident fatalities in 2007 and some 103,000 injuries. Clearly, riding a motorcycle is a risky way to get around, and this statistic is especially telling: about 40% of the wrecks between motorcycles and other vehicles take place when the vehicle is making a left hand turn while the motorcycle is going straight. In these instances the driver of the other vehicle never knew that there was a bike behind them. Clearly, there are cases when the driver is not paying enough attention and has absolutely zero excuse. But due to the small width of a bike, there is also a “blind spot” to the left of the driver, who may not see a motorcycle when it is in this spot.

There was a fatal accident in Dade County, Georgia recently that underscored the danger of this phenomena. A motorcyclist, Michael Wayne Mooneyhan, found himself behind a slow moving vehicle, and he decided to pass. The driver of the vehicle made an unexpected left hand turn onto a side road as Mooneyhan was passing. His front bumper hit the bike, and Mooneyhan was thrown from his motorcycle as it went down an embankment and hit a tree. He was transported by helicopter to a trauma center in Chattanooga where he eventually died due to the injuries that he suffered in the crash.

Even though there is such a thing as a “blind spot,” drivers need to account for it by being totally aware of their surroundings before the biker enters that spot. Most of us have had the experience of suddenly realizing that there was in fact a motorcycle to their left that they didn’t see at first. This teaches you something and makes you a more defensive and aware driver when you consider what might have happened. Unfortunately, many drivers never learn that lesson, and others learn it at the expense of another.

If you have been the victim of a motorcycle accident due to the negligence of the other driver, contact the Atlanta personal injury attorney,  Bruce Hagen, at (404) 522-7553, or drop us a message through the website to schedule a consultation. There is no excuse for “not seeing” another motorist, and we will see to it that your legal interests are well represented so that you can devote your energy to getting well and putting the experience behind you.

DeWALT, the power tool company out of Baltimore, Maryland, has voluntarily recalled some 9,000 Framing Nailers. The DeWALT D51825 and D51850 nail guns have defective triggers which makes using them dangerous to the user of the tool and to anyone in the area. The triggers were not put together properly, and the result is that nails can be ejected even when the safety lock appears to be engaged. These nail guns sold for around $280 retail, and they were assembled in Mexico. DeWALT, a subsidiary of Black and Decker, is cooperating with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recall.

Consumers are being urged to discontinue use of the DeWALT D51825 and D51850 Framing Nailers immediately. People who have purchased one of these defective nailers can contact DeWALT for a replacement bump action trigger. Their toll-free number is (877) 437-7181 and they are available Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

This is not the first time that DeWALT nail guns have posed a risk to unwitting consumers in recent months. Back in August of last year they had to recall approximately 14,000 of their Cordless Brad Nailers. The problem was similar, if not identical, to this one; the nail gun would eject nails even when the safety lock was in the “locked” position.

There have been no injuries reported yet due to these defective DeWALT nailers, and hopefully, this recall will mitigate the risk that they pose going forward. If you are injured by the use of the DeWALT D51825 or D51850 nailer, retain the product so that it can be properly inspected to protect your rights under product liability law.

Should you be victimized by a defective product of any kind here in Georgia, you have rights, and it is always wise to consult with an experienced personal injury attorney who can protect those rights. Bruce Hagen, The People’s Lawyer, specializes in product liability law, so if you have been hurt due to product malfunction, give me a call at (404) 522-7553 or contact me through my site, Hagen-law.com.

There has been a lot of talk over the last several years about carbon dioxide emissions being the primary cause of global warming . Whether this is true or not, as a result, many people have tried to do their part and drive smaller cars that use less gasoline and in turn produce less carbon dioxide. There are others who turned to smaller vehicles to cut down on fuel costs. When the price of gas at the pump skyrocketed last summer to around $4 a gallon, consumer interest in tiny cars rose right along with gas prices.

Minicars like the Smart Car are marketing as being an intelligent solution to several of the pressing problems of the day. They are a green alternative to cars that emit more carbon dioxide, making them a socially responsible choice for the environmentally conscious consumer. On the geopolitical side they help to reduce the United States’ dependence on foreign oil. And perhaps most importantly to many consumers, they save you money at the pump.

All of those things sound great, but the flip side of the coin is this: are they safe if you get into a wreck? The automakers say yes, but a study that was just released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety suggests that people who drive minicars may be sacrificing safety in exchange for the benefits that come with driving a minicar.

The institute set up a crash test using three different minicars: the Toyota Yaris, the Smart Fortwo, and the Honda Fit. They crashed each of them head-on into mid size cars with each of them traveling at a speed of 40 m.p.h. All three came out of the impact “poorly,” while the mid size vehicles ( a Toyota Camry, a Honda Accord, and Mercedes C-Class) that they collided with emerged from the crash test either “well” or “acceptably.”

The president of Smart USA, Dave Schembri, counters the safety questions that arise by making the point that very few collisions are head-on, and his Smart Fortwo is equipped with front and side airbags as well as an advanced electronic anti-skid mechanism to make the Smart Car very safe.

There is little doubt that a bigger car is going to come out of a head-on collision better than a car that is much smaller and lighter. This study proves what most people would suspect, and that is that you probably don’t want to be in a head-on collision while driving a Smart Car. If safety is your primary concern, steering clear of minicars may be a good idea. There is nothing especially “smart” about being involved in a high speed collision that was no fault of your own without ample protection around you. The Smart Car may be born of noble intentions, but perhaps the realities of the high speed freeway systems that we depend on to get from point A to point B make the minicar impractical from a safety perspective.

Issues like these are sensitive to us here because we care about the environment as much as the next person, but we are also passionate about automotive safety and protecting the rights of those who are injured in wrecks that could have been avoided. If you have been injured in an accident, call The People’s Lawyer, Bruce Hagen, at (404) 522-7553 or contact him through the website so that we can discuss the matter, analyze the facts, and file a claim if it is warranted so that you can be certain that you receive all of the compensation that is due you.