Car Accident Attorney Archive
Why Are Cell Phone Tickets Down?
According to the California Office of Traffic Safety, traffic citations for “illegally talking on a hand-held cellphone and texting while driving” have dropped 25 % over the past three years, but it’s not because fewer drivers are using their cell phone or texting. More aggressive enforcement is needed to curb distracted driving. April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
Put Down the Phone
April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. In 2013, DMV’s California Traffic Safety Survey reported more than 426,000 hand-held cellphone and texting convictions, with more than 57,000 tickets issued in April 2014 alone. That’s a lot of drivers who are not paying attention to the road and who are making the road dangerous for the rest of us. The same study showed in 2014, 61% of California drivers surveyed said they had been in an accident or nearly been in an accident caused by a driver who was talking or texting on a cellphone. That statistic is frightening.
April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month
The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), California Highway Patrol (CHP) and more than 200 law enforcement agencies statewide are working together to promote National Distracted Driving Awareness Month in April and California Teen Safe Driving Week, which is the first week of April.
Distracted Driving at an All-Time High with Teen Drivers Most at Risk
All drivers – but especially teenagers – should think first and foremost about safety, but cell phones, text messaging and traffic have taken distractions to an all time high. The result is all time high numbers of accidents. All drivers are susceptible to these distractions, but research shows more experienced drivers can control these distractions, but younger, less experienced driver cannot. As a result, younger, less experienced drivers cause more accidents.
Older Driver Safety Awareness Week
The California Highway Patrol, in partnership with the American Occupation Therapy Association, recognizes this week as Older Driver Safety Awareness Week. To help California’s senior drivers maintain their driving independence for as long as they can safely drive, the CHP offers a 2 hour “Age Well, Drive Smart” program supported by the Keeping Everyone Safe grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety. The program allows senior drivers an opportunity to tune up their driving skills, refresh their knowledge of the rules of the road and learn about normal age-related physical and mental challenges and how to adjust to them.
Teen Driving
The fiery crash that killed five teenagers last weekend during a late-night drive from Knott’s Scary Farm was a sad reminder that traffic accidents are the No. 1 killer of American teenagers. Almost 3,000 13- to 19-year-olds die in auto crashes each year in the U.S., according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. More than 400,000 more are injured.
Delay Tactics by Insurance Company Sparks Outrage
Fred Dickey’s 2/24/2014 column in the San Diego Union Tribune is a must read for all. The column is about an 83-year-old woman who was severely injured in a car accident caused by a 17-year-old driver. The 17-year-old personally apologized to the woman for causing the accident so there is no dispute about who was responsible. At the scene, the woman had to be cut out of her car and life flighted to the hospital. She spent 5 months in the hospital and her hospital bills were more than $800,000. She still has pain from her injuries but, worse yet, she is no longer be able to live on her own and she has been forced to rely on relatives for her care.
New California Driving Rules Go Into Effect Jan. 1, 2014
AB 1371, known as the Three Feet for Safety Act, a driver passing a bicycle that is traveling in the same direction must maintain at least 3 feet of distance between any part of the vehicle and any part of the bicycle or rider. When 3 feet is not possible, the motor vehicles are required to slow to a “reasonable and prudent speed” and pass only if there’s no danger to the bicyclist. Violations can result in a fine, regardless of whether a collision or injury to the bicyclist results. This law takes effect Sept. 16, 2014.
Auto Insurance Fraud is a Felony
Insurance fraud is aggressively prosecuted by the San Diego District Attorney’s office. This includes workers’ compensation fraud and auto insurance fraud. In 2010, nine people in San Diego were convicted of staging auto accidents with stolen vehicles in a scheme to defraud auto insurance companies of over $200,000.
Woman Killed in Head-On Collision
Palm City – On May 16, 2013, a fatal head-on collision occurred around 8:40 a.m. in the 2600 block of Coronado Avenue, just east of the Interstate 5, according to the San Diego police.
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