Memories of crashes
I was just reading about a crash that killed a pedestrian around Fort Worth today, and it made me so sad. I always get so upset thinking about such things. How can people be so reckless? You know?
Stories like that, they always bring back thoughts of friends I’ve lost through tragedies, particularly cars. I’ve had more than my share of loss due to other people driving without regard for others. My sister, Sarah, when she was just twelve, she was hit by a car. Thank God, she survived, but she still has lasting problems due to that. Her early onset arthritis I’m convinced came about because of that accident.
Then, my friend Nick in college died crossing the street. It was a big party weekend, and someone, of course, was driving drunk. He went to jail for it, and I bet that ruined his life, so that’s really two lives that were ended by that accident.
I just don’t know what to do about such things. On some level, I want some vengeance for the victim. I want their family to sue whoever did this, to take them for everything. I have a good mind to call up that family and recommend a lawyer (another friend had some success with these lawyers, so I have a number handy).
But then, I think about that poor boy who hit Nick. I remember seeing him afterward, during the whole process when they were charging him and gathering evidence. He was broken, believe me. I don’t know how you cope with making a mistake like that, and then prison on top of it. And as far as I know, Nick’s family may have sued him too, or his family at least. Was that fair? I just don’t know. I can’t help but feel angry for a victim like Nick, but I hurt for the boys like the one who hit him too.
Was the person who hit that pedestrian in Fort Worth as easy to sympathize with? I don’t know. I couldn’t finish the article, so I didn’t see if the driver was drunk or speeding. I don’t know if they were simply not paying attention or if the pedestrian stepped out in front of them. Maybe I don’t want to know. I don’t want to put that burden on myself, to decide, even if just it’s a decision just for myself.
What I want is to let such stories go and not think about them. I don’t want to make the associations I always make with my own life, and I don’t want to imagine every victim as Nick or Sarah. I want to just let it out and let it go.
That’s why I’m going to start writing here. Hopefully, putting everything down here whenever I start remembering and getting upset, will help me do more of that letting go. I want to put it on this page and then forget it. I hope it works.
Read MoreIt is a Sad Thing that Preventable Injuries due to Harmful Products are inflicted onto Minors all too Often
As reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), falls, drowning, burns, poisoning and motor vehicle accidents (which is at the top the list) are the leading causes of unintentional injuries and deaths among children in the U.S. Every year, more than 12,000 children (aged between 0 and 19) die and at least 9.2 million more are injured due to these causes.
As dangerous as those mentioned above are the many different products that people stuff in their homes and, it cannot be denied, so many of what Americans purchase are often causes of severe injuries or even death. The thousands of injuries and deaths caused by these products can be verified through the records of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). These products include home furniture and décor, tools, children’s outdoor activity equipment, sports equipment, inflatable amusements, nursery products and children’s toys.
Between 2007 and 2010, millions of children’s toys were recalled by the CPSC due to the dangers that these presented, such as sharp edges that could cause lacerations, small parts that were considered as choking hazards, toxic substances and chemical contents that exceeded federal limits. The CPSC is charged with enforcing toy safety standards laws, laws that set guidelines on toys, like: the required sizes of children’s toys; the inaccessibility of the toys’ batteries and magnets to small children; noise and toxicity limits; and, the display of labels containing the possible risks of choking hazards.
One major issue with toys is that their labels often do not include their content or material. Since there are no laws regarding this, many local and foreign manufacturers, therefore, do not put on toys’ labels information regarding any possible harmful elements. This leaves consumers without any clue about the actual safety of the products that they buy (everyone can only assume that all products made available in stores are totally safe).
As explained by the law firm Mazin & Associates, PC, “Instances of child injury can be very frightening for all parties involved. It is a parent’s deepest wish that his/her child has the opportunity to grow up happy and healthy. Sadly, preventable injuries are inflicted onto minors all too often.”
The family of a child, who has been injured in an accident or due to the use of a toy or any other product that is proven harmful, has the legal right to file a lawsuit against the responsible party. In so many cases accidents occur and defective products continue to be manufactured and sold due to the grave negligence of some individuals. It would be wise to seek the help of a seasoned personal injury lawyer who will see to it that all the documents required in the lawsuit and that the child’s and his/her family’s rights and interests are strongly defended.
Read MoreMaking Drivers Realize Just How Dangerous Texting and Driving Really Is
Due to driving distractions, 424,000 individuals were injured and 3,154 lost their lives in 2013 ( in 2012, those who got injured due to distracted driving numbered only to 387,000). In 2014, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said there were 3,179 deaths and 431,000 injuries that resulted from 297,000 distraction-affected car crashes. Unlike drunk-driving, driving recklessly and overspeeding, which many drivers would not risk committing, distracted driving can happen to anyone – even to the most careful of drivers who are always concerned about road safety.
While there have been accidents which were due to factors that are beyond the control of drivers, such as defective car or car parts or defective or poorly maintained roads, highways and bridges, both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) of the NHTSA hold that 90% of all road crashes can be blamed on drivers.
Since 2012, texting and using a phone (whether hands free or hand held) while driving have always been the worst form of driving distraction in the United States and around the world. In the continues effort to show drivers, most especially young drivers whose age fall between 16 and 24, a non-profit organization in Belgium, called Responsible Young Drivers, for example, thought of a way to give new drivers a first-hand lesson on how dangerous texting and driving really is. By taking new drivers a driving instructor tells them that a new law required that Belgian drivers must first prove they can text messages (all in correct spelling and punctuation marks) while driving before they can obtain a license. What resulted in the actual texting and driving tests were lots of braking, swerving, swearing and crying for fear of not being able to obtain a license, and plenty of mangled orange cones along the driving course.
Hopefully the student drivers have seen and learned the effects of using a cell phone while behind the wheel and that it was enough to make them realize that, like drinking and driving, texting and driving is equally dangerous and can, indeed, result to road injuries and deaths.
Unfortunately, many other young drivers saw another thing from the posted videos (in Youtube) of the need to text and drive test in Belgium. Instead of realizing the dangers of distracted driving, one driver criticized those who took the tests instead, saying that they were texting the wrong way. They should hold up the phone above the steering wheel (like he always does) so they can keep their eyes on the road at the same time.
As explained by the law firm Evans Moore, LLC, one thing that can make car accidents so scary and so potentially dangerous is their unpredictability; you can be driving with the utmost attention and care, and still be unable to react to a distracted driver quickly enough to avoid an accident.
Car accidents can change your life in the blink of an eye and, wiith no way to prepare for such an event, families are often left without a way to address the considerable resulting financial damages, especially in the wake of the physical and emotional trauma you’ve sustained. Fortunately, you can pursue a legal action for compensation for the losses you’ve been forced to incur so that you can get back on your feet.
Read MoreDrunk Driving and Its Destructive Effects
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has identified the various causes of car accidents in the US, which number to more than five million and claim at least 40,000 lives every year – these include factors that fall outside the driver’s control, like defective car parts and road defects, and factors that drivers are totally responsible for, such as driver error (including distracted driving), reckless driving, speeding and drunk driving.
Sadly, but true is the claim of the Ritter & Associates on its website, which says that though safe driving techniques may reduce the risk of being involved in an accident-causing injury, a defective car part, a lack of road signs or the carelessness of another driver, will not. This injustice is something that needs to be addressed.
Thousands of car accidents can definitely be avoided, if only drivers will be more observant of traffic rules and be more considerate on the road. Many drivers, however, are unmindful of others’ presence on the road with them. One classic example of this is drunk driving, which actually registers the highest number of accidents; this is despite the constant and continuous reminder not to drink and drive. To discourage individuals from drinking and then driving right after, the US government has issued a federal law that lowers the blood alcohol content (BAC) in drivers to 0.08% (which is about 4 – 5 bottles of beer consumed within an hour). Surprisingly too, a research conducted has found out that the highest number of drunk driving cases involved people between 16 and 24 years old.
Regardless of your age or your body’s tolerance to alcohol, liquor will lessen your capacity to react fast to impending road activities and dangers. This decrease is what makes other motorists and pedestrians quite unsafe on the road with you. Your decision not to care for others’ safety, however, will lead to higher fines and severe punishments, like a longer jail term. This is besides the fact that a mere conviction in a DUI case can ruin your reputation, your professional life and your future, in general.
This is why it’s important for anyone accused of a DWI to find a lawyer who will help them fight the charges against them. When you are found guilty of a DUI charge, an expunction might be the best option. The penalties for a DWI conviction are harsh and can have far-reaching impact on the rest of a person’s life. Therefore, if you’re facing an alcohol-related charge, you will absolutely want someone who is qualified to represent you in court so that you can do everything in your power to avoid the thousands of dollars in fines and months in prison that such a conviction would cause.
Read MoreAn Attempt to Make US Roads Safer from Big Rigs
Handling a vehicle that weighs about 80,000 lbs. or 40 tons and which extends up to 70 feet is a huge challenge, especially if you have been driving for 11 hours straight and is behind schedule. Thus, being so big and if driven by a drowsy or intoxicated driver, trucks would pose great on the road, particularly to smaller vehicles. These road mammoths would easily crush any vehicle (and its driver) that will block their path.
Accidents involving motor vehicles are the leading cause of injury and death in the United States – this is factual information stated in the website of Schuler, Halvorson, Weisser, Zoeller & Overbeck, P.A.. The need to drastically bring down the number of fatalities and severe injuries has prompted the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) of the US Department of Transportation, the division in charge of trucking and all other transportation-related industries, to issue a standard for training before recognizing a driver as worthy of earning a commercial driver’s license and mandate the maximum number of hours that a driver can render.
Despite the extra training and education on how to operate and handle a truck properly, FMCSA states that:
- Drivers can render duty for a maximum of 14 consecutive hours
- Maximum driving time is 11 hours, which is within the 14-consecutive-hour duty period (the extra 3 hours ought to be allotted for rest/sleep)
- Drivers should be off-duty for the next 10 hours following his/her 14 hours of service
Trucks are designed with a sleeper berth area where drivers can take their much needed rest between drives or anytime they feel fatigued or drowsy. Trucking firms should ensure their drivers’ strict compliance with all stipulations that promote road safety to ensure smooth and totally safe traffic flow. Everyone needs to understand that even a small driving mistake can result in a serious accident that can destroy properties and take lives. As Williams Kherkher explains on the Truck Accident Resource Center, “Trucking regulations exist to not only help the truck driver, but also other motorists who share the road with these big rigs.”
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