Over the past several years, drivers in New Orleans have seen increased regulation of distracting behavior – such as cell phone use or texting – while operating a motor vehicle. While the danger of personal injury accidents caused by distracted drivers has become a great concern, there has been little federal guidance regarding how to control this dangerous behavior. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has finally changed that with the proposal of new guidelines aimed at combating distracted driving. The proposed guidelines address issues regarding the design and function of electronic devices built into light automobiles, such as cars and minivans. While the states have largely been limited to regulations attempting to change the behavior of drivers, these proposed federal guidelines are aimed at the manufacturers, who have been increasingly incorporating potentially distracting electronic devices into their vehicles. Specific recommendations include limiting the complexity and time necessary to…Read More
It’s become a personal injury cliché: On some street in New Orleans, a driver lightly bumps the car ahead of him at a stoplight and the other driver jumps out holding his neck and shouting, “Whiplash!” He then sues the other driver. It is unfortunate the whiplash has become a word so associated with false claims of injury. Whiplash is an actual medical term referring to a hyperextension or over-extension injury to the neck. It is thought to be brought about when a person’s body is pushed violently forward, causing the head to snap up and back. This may lead to stretching or tearing of some muscles and ligaments in the neck. In response to the injury, the neck muscles contract to bring the head forward again and prevent excessive injury. Unfortunately, in situations such as automobile accidents where the body is rapidly decelerating, this can rock the head violently…Read More
Drowsy or distracted drivers pose a serious danger to other users of New Orleans’ streets. Because most personal injury motor vehicle accidents are, at least to some degree, attributable to the negligence of one or more drivers, auto manufacturers have been working for years on new technologies that will assist drivers in decision making. One of the latest of involves monitoring systems designed to help the driver remain in the correct lane. While several auto makers have quietly introduced systems designed to assist in lane centering for a limited number of vehicles in recent years, the Ford Motor Company recently announced that it will be offering what it terms “lane-keeping technology” as an option on certain 2013 models. This system is apparently much more comprehensive than earlier systems and, under certain conditions, allows the system to take control of the steering to return the vehicle to the center of the…Read More
Because personal injury attorneys deal with the results of so many automobile accidents, we tend to see New Orleans as a very dangerous place to drive. A recent national study on the implementation of highway safety laws, however, reveals that Louisiana has actually done well when it comes to implementing new laws aimed at reducing injury and death arising from motor vehicle accidents. The publisher of this report, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (A.H.A.S.), is an alliance of consumer, health and safety groups and insurance companies that seeks to improve highway and vehicle safety through the improvement of state and federal laws, programs and policies. This is the ninth year it has published its Roadmap to State Highway Safety Laws, which ranks the states based on their implementation of various traffic safety laws and their efforts to improve traffic safety. Each state is rated based on the color signals…Read More
As experienced New Orleans personal injury attorneys, we have seen the damage caused when tractor-trailers and other commercial vehicles are involved in motor vehicle collisions. Because of the strong potential for catastrophic personal injury or death in these types of accidents, the drivers of these types of large vehicles have been subject to additional regulation for years. Recently, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) released new regulations further limiting the number of hours commercial truck drivers may work based on growing concerns of driver fatigue. Given the distances many commercial truck drivers are expected to cover and the pressure to make timely deliveries, truck drivers’ work hours have been strictly regulated. Based on recent studies regarding the effects of driver fatigue and how long an individual may drive before fatigue sets in, the FMCSA determined that reduced weekly work hours and mandated additional rest time was necessary for safety.…Read More
Next time you take a walk around New Orleans, pay attention to the sound of the cars. While we have all complained at some point about cars and trucks roaring by and disturbing our peace and quiet, a recent study by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has found that this noise helps pedestrians and bicyclists avoid serious injury. This government study involved research into accidents involving hybrid vehicles, which usually run on electric power at slower speeds and, as a result, emit little noise. Although the overall number of hybrid vehicles on the roads today is still small, auto manufacturers are releasing several new hybrid and fully electric models in 2012. Over the next few years, use of these vehicles is expected to grow significantly. The NHTSA conducted its study based on concerns that this influx of quiet vehicles may ultimately prove hazardous. The study found that hybrid…Read More
Over the last few years, the New Orleans area has seen a number of terrible auto accidents involving drivers who were sending text messages while driving. While the State of Louisiana began regulating this dangerous practice in 2008, the legislature recently has decided that the existing law did not go far enough to protect innocent drivers. Under the existing law, texting while driving is what is referred to as a “secondary offense,” meaning that a police officer can issue a ticket for this practice only if the driver was pulled over for some other reason and was found to be texting. If a driver is observed texting but not committing any other infractions, a police officer cannot pull that driver over. On June 7, 2010, the Senate approved final changes to a bill, already passed by the House, that would make texting while driving a primary offense. This would allow…Read More
As experienced personal injury attorneys practicing in New Orleans for many years, we have noted that when it comes to automobile accidents, we tend to see more injured women than men. A recent study has found that this is not just a fluke, but a national trend. This study is not the first time the different injury rate between men and women has been noted and examined. Previous studies, however, tended to focus on differences in driving techniques to determine whether this would account for the increased risk to women in auto accidents. The current study, conducted by researchers at the University of Virginia and Navarra University in Spain, focused on vehicle design. After examining ten years of data regarding motor vehicle accidents in the United States, the researchers found that the risk of serious injury to women is greater than men – and for some types of injuries, much…Read More
When a New Orleans personal injury accident involves a collision between a motor vehicle and a pedestrian, Louisiana has specific laws regarding the duty of the driver. These laws, however, do not automatically make the driver legally responsible for the pedestrian’s injuries. Louisiana Revised Statute 32:214 requires that drivers shall “exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian upon any roadway and shall give warning by sounding the horn when necessary and shall exercise proper precaution upon observing any child or any confused or incapacitated person upon a highway.” Based on this statute, whether a driver is liable for a pedestrian’s injuries hinges upon whether the driver exercised “due care” to avoid a collision but still struck the pedestrian. Generally, a determination of whether a driver was using “due care” requires a jury to compare the driver’s actions to how it believes a reasonably prudent person would have acted…Read More
New Orleans families should be aware that not all booster seats fare equally in protecting children from personal injury. While children between the ages of four and eight are 45% less likely to be injured in a motor vehicle accident when using a booster seat – as opposed to using only a seat belt – this percentage could rise even higher if all booster seats functioned properly. While many people may think that the primary purpose of a booster seat is to provide extra padding or protection, its main function is actually to ensure that the seat belts are properly positioned on a child. An improperly positioned seat belt may allow a child to strike the interior of a vehicle during a collision, or even cause injury itself by slicing into the child. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does not evaluate booster seat safety based on how well the…Read More
