Zachar Law Blog

How dangerous is Tailgating, really?

Football.  Parking lots. Tailgating before the game!!!! Okay — not the same “tailgating” of topic here.

Tailgating: The practice of driving on a road too close to the vehicle in front, at a distance which does not guarantee that stopping to avoid collision is possible.

Most of the time, road rage is the cause of tailgating. Those behind you are provoked in one way or another which then causes aggressive driving. What are the exact laws for tailgating? What consequences are handed out to those who do it? What would happen if you were to make a stop to turn into a business, home, or other establishment and the driver behind you is following to close?  It is a recipe for disaster.

Approximately one third of rear-end collisions involve tailgating.

What happens if you are rear-ended by a tailgater? What injuries can stem from being rear-ended?  Neck injuries, back injuries, spinal paralysis, death—need to hear more?

According to research by the Highways’ Agency, tailgating is one of the top causes of car accidents. Following too closely, not leaving enough time or distance to react or stop.  Not a safe driving practice at all. 

Phoenix Car Accident Lawyer, Chris Zachar goes into detail:

Tailgating occur because people tend to perceive little risk in so doing. Often, these people consider themselves to be “safe drivers”.  They think they can handle it.   

At worst, it is a violent form of road rage.  Driving aggressively — perhaps also with use of headlights and horn — to bully the leading vehicle's driver to get out of the way. The driver being tailgated might not wish to comply, especially if doing so would involve breaking the law.  The front driver may increase speed, or, may do the opposite—tap or slam on the brakes to “get the tailgater off and away”.  If the front vehicle decelerates suddenly, there is a high risk of a collision and injuries. 

“He was driving too slow” or “she wouldn’t get out of my way” are NOT valid defenses here.

The tailgater is responsible—every time.

When Black Friday Gets Out of Hand

This year’s Black Friday has come to pass, as we head into the last few weeks of 2012. Black Friday has always been known for hours in line waiting for doors to open across the nation at midnight to get some of the best deals of the year. So what does a Phoenix Personal Injury Lawyer have to do with Black Friday?

Thousands wait in line for their moment to get their hands on a product that has been marked down to almost a ridiculous price. However, it is known that the numbers of items is limited.  With so many people in line, and so many people rushing for the same deals, there’s almost always is an issue with people getting injured or even trampled on.

Who exactly is responsible for these injuries?

As expected this year, again, injuries have been reported at stores across the country because of the Black Friday madness. In Covington, Washington a couple was struck by a man in an SUV. Both were airlifted to Harborview Hospital in Seattle.

In L.A. shoppers stormed into a Urban Outfitters, breaking glass and injuring 5 people.

"Around midnight, at least 100 people had lined up for Urban Outfitters' Black Friday deals, which offered up to 50% off on some items. When the 12-foot all-glass double doors opened, the crowd pushed toward the doors and broke the left one.

Police officers were assigned to the general area but the store did not have its own security, Fine said.

An Urban Outfitters store manager declined to comment.  (Good move)

The store, which, ironically, features a stylized broken glass look to either side of the doors, was closed for a few minutes as injuries were treated and glass shards were swept away."

In the law, we use words like “reasonably foreseeable”.  If an actor’s conduct is such that it can be “reasonably foreseeable” that injury might occur to innocent people, then the law may prescribe a duty to act in a manner that requires more caution and more safe measures with regard to the class of persons that may be put in harms way. 

What does that mean, in English?

That means that if you are a store owner, giving awesome Black Friday deals which you know people will line up for and possibly “charge” the store, then you should probably be thinking about the safety of your customers. 

Think of providing security officers, or perhaps, a safer process for people to enter the store to get what they want

Shouldn’t FIRST in line be the FIRST one to get?  I mean, if some Black Friday nut is going to pitch a tent and camp out for 3 days to make sure he/she is standing there when the doors open, then I say ”Go ahead dude, you earned it!”

Why does it have to be a foot race to the back of the store to get the new GI Joe with the Kung Fu Grip?  Or that 42” TV for $3?

The law says if you know people are going to act like morons, and innocent people could get hurt, then you have a duty to control the morons. 

If you don’t, and people get hurt, can the store owner be held responsible?  In my opinion, ABSOLUTELY. No one should be injured due to others negligence. As an Injury Lawyer in Arizona, there is nothing more bothersome than someone not willing to be accountable for their actions.

Young drivers are texting, surfing the web more than ever

Nearly seven in 10 young drivers are still texting behind the wheel, and a growing number of them are accessing the Internet on their cellphones while driving, according to a new survey by insurer State Farm.  Despite years-long national campaigns against texting while driving, which is now illegal in 39 states and the District of Columbia, 68 percent of young drivers — those 18-29 — reported engaging in the practice, up from 64 percent last year.  That compares with 34 percent of all drivers who reported texting while driving, up from 32 percent a year ago.

There were even sharper increases in the equally risky behavior of surfing the Internet while driving: 48 percent of young drivers reported accessing the Web behind the wheel, up from 43 percent last year. Those figures exclude programming a GPS device.

The nation’s anti-texting campaigns may need to include warnings about surfing while driving, said Chris Mullen, State Farm’s director of technology research.  “The evolution of the technology — and the speed at which it’s changing — requires us to continually change our messaging to make sure it’s relevant,” she said.  Since 2009, State Farm has conducted an annual online survey of about 1,000 licensed drivers 18 and older to study drivers’ attitudes and behaviors regarding distracted driving.

The Department of Transportation said that 3,092 people were killed and an additional 416,000 were injured in distracted crashes in 2010; 18 percent of all injury crashes that year involved a distracted driver.  Whatever the safety messages, many drivers apparently believe they can safely text and surf while driving.

Patrick Mayer, 35, a technology consultant in Marietta, Ga., who logs about 20,000 miles a year, said he regularly surfs the Internet and texts while his vehicle is moving.  “I do it (surf) if I have to look up something,” he said. “I usually do it at the stoplight or on the highway, usually not on surface streets. I’ve done it everywhere, dirt roads, wherever I need to look up information.”  Mayer said he knows that it is risky.

THIS IS BECOMING AN EPIDEMIC. AS A PHOENIX CAR ACCIDENT LAWYER, THERE ARE COUNTLESS WAYS I'VE SEEN ACCIDENTS OCCUR. USING YOUR CELLPHONE WHILE DRIVING IS A RISING ISSUE.  THE YOUNGEST AND LEAST EXPERIENCED DRIVERS ON THE ROAD, ENGAGING IN BEHAVIOR THAT IS ABOUT AS MUCH OF A DISTRACTION AS HAS EVER ATTEMPTED A DRIVER BEHIND THE WHEEL OF AN AUTO. 

THESE YOUNG KIDS JUST DON’T SEEM TO GET IT.  NOT SURPRISING.  THEY ARE TOO YOUNG TO GET IT.  THEY HAVE GROWN UP WITH THE TECHNOLOGY—THAT CAME FIRST.  NOW YOU ADD THE “DRIVING THING” IN AND IT IS A RECIPE FOR DISASTER. 

THE STATE OF AZ SHOULD STEP IN HERE AND PASS A LAW TO BAN ANYTHING BUT HANDS-FREE DEVICES WHILE OPERATING A MOTOR VEHICLE. 

LIKELY? NO. IN FACT, THE AZ LEGISLATURE REJECTED SUCH A MEASURE LAST YEAR. 

MY ADVICE: STAY VIGILANT. YOU CANNOT COUNT ON OTHER DRIVERS TO DO THE SAME. 

Your frequently asked questions, answered by us.

Each day, there are thousands of people looking online for answers to their questions about Personal Injury, Car Accidents, Slip and Falls, and many many more topics. We decided to put together a few of the most frequently asked questions over the past week and give you our take on them. If you have a question that hasn't been answered, or you just haven't found an answer that you are happy with, please be sure to contact us directly. Below are this weeks most commonly asked questions. Stay safe everyone!

An unauthorized driver of a rental car has an accident. Who pays?

FACTS: Joe rents a car.  Joe tells the car rental company that he will be the only driver.  Later, Joe gives permission to Fred to drive the car, and Fred causes an accident.

QUESTION: Is there insurance coverage for the accident caused by Fred?  Who pays?

ANSWER: Under AZ law, the State minimum insurance requirements are $15,000 per person
Under AZ law, a car rental company is responsible for the minimum amount of insurance for an accident caused by a renter (Joe)($15,000).  If the renter (Joe) has their own vehicle with insurance, then the renter’s own policy would be in excess of the $15,000.

If the renter (Joe) gives permission to another (Fred) to drive the rental car, and Fred causes an accident, then likewise, the rental car company IS responsible for the first $15,000 in coverage.  This is called “permissive use”.

How can insurance refuse to pay medical bills associated with a personal injury because of a lapse in active treatment?

There are many arguments that insurance companies love to use to deny payment for expenses or bills that should otherwise be covered. 

For medical treatment, there is little insurance companies love more than “gaps” in care. 

Don’t see a doctor for 3 week after an accident?  This is a “gap in care”, and, per an insurance company, it is not related to the accident.  If not related to the accident, they won’t pay.

See a doctor the day of, treat for 6 weeks, then, don’t see a doctor again until week 10?  “Gap in care”. Not related. They won’t pay.

Of course, these “gap” determinations are always the insurance company determinations.  Does that mean that they are right?  Hardly.  It simply means the burden is on the victim/patient to PROVE that the treatment that comes after the “gap” is indeed related to the accident.  If the victim/patient can prove such, then, the insurance company will pay. 

“Proof” is the key ingredient here, and the “burden of proof” is always on the claimant.  

I was Rear ended while stopped at a red light, causing me to hit the car in front of me. The person who hit me is uninsured. What do I do?

We see this occurring more and more in AZ.  The answer is simple.  Do you have “Uninsured Motorist Coverage”?

Uninsured Motorist Coverage is a type of insurance coverage that YOU can but from your own insurance company to protect yourself and your family in a scenario just like this one.  It less expensive generally than buying the coverage mandated by AZ law.  

Given that it is estimated that 20-25% of people are driving in AZ without insurance, and are therefore “Uninsured”, you may want to check your policy or ask your agent about this type of insurance protection. 

My car is totaled after being hit by a drunk driver. What additional help can a lawyer provide?

This question is almost too involved to answer in a short space.

An experienced phoenix personal injury lawyer can:

Help you deal with the insurance companies (the drunk driver’s as well as your own);
Make sure that the drunk driver is help liable for the injuries and damages that result to you, both through the criminal courts and civil courts;
Make sure your car gets repaired correctly;
Make sure that you get to the doctors that you need;
Make sure that you get the medical care you need;
Make sure that any lost wages are reimbursed;
Make sure that any out of pocket expenses are reimbursed;
Make sure that you are compensated for any serious or permanent injuries;
Make sure that appropriate plans are in place for any future medical care.

Please always stay alert when you are driving. We take it for granted at times, and we tend to forget just how dangerous driving really can be. Keep your loved ones and yourself safe at all times. Remember, we will be releasing a weekly questions regarding personal injury. Keep an eye out for updated answers to your questions.

Crash data may lead to safer streets in Phoenix

About 800 vehicle accidents that occurred at the top 10 most dangerous intersections in the Phoenix area tell a story beyond driver error. Such crashes offer guidance to city traffic experts, helping them design and build safer streets.

The crash numbers come from an Arizona Republic analysis of 2010 police reports compiled by the Arizona Department of Transportation. The accidents on city streets include only those collisions that left someone injured or with at least $1,000 in damage to vehicles.  All but one of the top 10 intersections fall in two cities: Glendale and Phoenix.

Traffic engineers say road infrastructure, surrounding land use, traffic volume and driver error play a big part in why those intersections top others across Maricopa County.  History also plays a role. The Valley has seen a shift in road planning over several decades — moving away from wider arterial streets and embracing freeways. Still, the Phoenix metro area is left with arterial streets as wide as eight lanes that attract commuters and are ripe for accidents.

Glendale, Peoria and other cities in the Valley use crash data — from ADOT, the Maricopa Association of Governments and local police departments — to plan road improvements targeted at limiting collisions.  Sometimes, it is costly upgrades, such as adding loading points for buses and additional lanes for vehicles, which experts say is sometimes necessary to create more capacity. Other times, it can be as inexpensive as changing the timing of a traffic light or putting up a warning sign. Police presence and campaigns to make drivers more aware of hazards are vital in reducing those numbers, engineers say.

Despite those efforts, there will always be crashes when thousands of drivers are making split-second decisions, Phoenix traffic engineer Kerry Wilcoxon said.  “It always comes down to individual driver decisions and making good decisions — keeping an eye on the road, keeping attention focused,” he said.

Top-crash intersection

Glendale’s 59th and Olive avenues has the unfortunate title of intersection with the most crashes, with 99 crashes in 2010 — an average of nearly two per week. The suggestion is that drivers zip from bustling Glendale Community College, apartment buildings and retail shops.

Glendale principal traffic engineer Chris Lemka said more than half of the crashes there are rear-end collisions, a sign the road may lack capacity to accommodate the traffic that floods the intersection during morning and evening rushes.  The cash-strapped city is going after federal dollars for improvements, such as raised medians to limit access to driveways that are too close to the intersection and adding another lane to accommodate rush-hour traffic.  The opening of Northern Parkway should draw some traffic off Olive, although the limited access parkway won’t be fully completed for years to come.

Lily Loaisiga, a 20-year-old student, said she has seen a crash just about every week in the years she has attended GCC.  “It happens so often,” she said. “We’ve gotten used to it.”  Student Anthony Sanchez, 51, said drivers seem preoccupied and in a rush most of the time.  He felt the results two weeks ago as his car was rear-ended after class.

How volume factors in

There’s a direct correlation between crashes and traffic volume.  Dunlap and 35th avenues in Phoenix, the second-highest crash spot in the Valley with 98 crashes in 2010, is one of the busiest intersections in Maricopa County, Wilcoxon said.  Nearly 70,500 vehicles traveled through the area each weekday in 2010, according to MAG data, which ranks about 91percent higher than the other 366 intersections engineers monitored.  The intersection is near high-density apartments, Cortez High School and a park. Metrocenter mall is about a mile away.

“You’ve got kind of a perfect storm of mixed uses,” Wilcoxon said.

Thunderbird Road and 59th Avenue in Glendale, another high-volume intersection, had the sixth-highest number of crashes in 2010. The intersection is Glendale’s top spot for rear-end collisions, Lemka said, likely because of congestion during peak travel hours.  But volume alone does not dictate the number of accidents.

On the Glendale-Peoria border, Loop101 and Bell Road was the Valley’s busiest intersection in a 2010 MAG count with 94,268 vehicles traveling through each weekday, but it is 24th on the Valley-wide crash list.  Jamsheed Mehta, who oversees transportation in Glendale, said the city has tweaked signal timing on Bell Road so more cars can get through the light cycle. The less a group of cars has to stop, the fewer rear-end accidents, he said.  ADOT widened the on-ramps last summer to improve traffic flow.

Enforcement

Engineering is key to making roads safer, but enforcement and driver education can go a long way in altering behavior, said Sarath Joshua, ITS and safety program manager for the Maricopa Association of Governments.

Joshua said most accidents come down to driver error, whether speeding or failing to see the car in front making a turn.  “That pretty much says the whole story,” he said.

Tempe’s top crash intersection, according to ADOT figures, is Southern Avenue and Rural Road with 73 accidents in 2010.  Sgt. Steve Carbajal, who leads Tempe’s vehicle-crimes unit, said Tempe police typically pay more attention to top crash spots — including Southern Avenue and Rural Road. The department deploys more police and campaigns to raise driver awareness.  “As everybody knows, when people see a police officer, more than likely they’re not going to commit traffic violations,” he said.

Wide roads a challenge

Indian School Road and 67th Avenue, fourth on the Valley-wide crash list, is “extremely wide,” said Tom Godbee, Phoenix’s deputy street-transportation director.  Indian School Road is the widest arterial road in Phoenix, with eight lanes between Interstate17 and Seventh Avenue. At 67th Avenue, Indian School Road is seven lanes wide. The intersection had 80 crashes in 2010.

More lanes mean more opportunities for drivers to collide, Joshua said. Wide roads can encourage drivers to speed when there are fewer vehicles on the road.  Godbee said the multi-laned arterial roads were planners’ efforts to accommodate growth decades ago when freeways were largely opposed. Additional lanes are added in some cases when a road lacks capacity to accommodate rush-hour traffic.

“To get around the Valley, you pretty much had to rely on the major street arterial network,” he said. “We’re always struggling with that — trying to do what we can to counter some of the philosophy from the 1970s and ’80s.”  At the forefront of a years-long opposition were Eugene Pulliam, longtime owner and publisher of TheRepublic and the Phoenix Gazette, and his wife, Nina, who spoke out against freeway plans primarily through the papers’ editorial sections.

Voters backed the resistance, shooting down plans to develop Interstate10 in the metro area in 1970. A public shift came in the mid-1980s when voters approved a half-cent sales tax to fund a 20-year freeway construction program.  Joshua said that history plays a role in Arizona’s crash numbers as about 60 percent of Valley drivers use arterial streets rather than freeways, in part because freeways are a relatively recent development and don’t always get drivers close to their destinations. The Valley would see fewer crashes if drivers used more freeways, he said, because traveling on streets means more stops and starts, as well as left and right turns, spurring more chances for accidents to happen.  Freeways are designed at higher standards than other roadways and provide fewer opportunities for drivers to interact, Joshua said.

Road improvements

Still, traffic engineers point to intersections where infrastructure changes have reduced crash numbers.  Camelback Road and 19th Avenue was extensively modified in 2006 to accommodate the light rail. Construction discouraged some traffic, but much of the change came through reconstruction of business-access driveways and more stringent signal regulation, Wilcoxon said.  “It’s still a very busy intersection. It’s got a lot going on obviously, but it hasn’t risen to the level it was at before,” in terms of accident numbers, he said.

In the three years before light-rail installation, the area averaged 66 crashes annually, Wilcoxon said. In 2010 and 2011, that number dipped to an average of 29 crashes annually.  More recent improvements in Glendale should show up in crash numbers in coming years, Lemka said.  The city used federal funds to put in medians at Northern Avenue and Camelback Road on 51st Avenue, where driveways too close to intersections were a factor in rear-end crashes.  “When we go back and look at it, we fully expect the rear-end accidents to be down, the left-turn accidents at the driveways to be down — in fact, (they will) be non-existent,” Lemka said.

Interestingly, these cities and the State of Arizona RARELY if ever use their own funds for any street or highway improvements.  They request federal funds.  If received, then improvements may be made.  If not, the improvements largely never occur.  In other words, if they can't get the federal government to pay for it, it generally never gets done. As a Phoenix Car Accident Lawyer, I find this outrageous.

They can blame the federal government, and as suggested in this article, they can blame "driver inattention and error".  Rarely do they accept responsibility for poor engineering, design, planning or maintenance.   The governmental entities, by way of Arizona law, have a legal duty to provide safe roads.  They are not obligated to "guaranty" safety, as that is not possible.  However, they are required to continuously maintain observation and good engineering judgment for possible problems and necessary modifications. As we have witnessed too often, this duty is not always met.  

By in-large, the governmental units do a good job of designing and maintaining the Arizona roads.  However, even when there is a problem, they often cite "lack of funds" or "driver error".  Like a little kid, they try to blame someone else.

Sometimes they get away with it, but sometimes they are held legally accountable.  There is no better example at this point in time than the horrendous failures of the State of Arizona to maintain safety on Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Tucson.  But that is a lengthy topic, for another blog.

Younger drivers more likely to be drowsy on road

Motorists ages 16 to 24 are more likely to drive while drowsy.

One in seven licensed drivers age 16-24 admits to having nodded off behind the wheel at least once in the past year, says a new survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

Overall, 1 in 10 drivers acknowledge nodding off while driving from time to time. However, less-experienced drivers tend to underestimate the risks of drowsy driving and overestimate their ability to deal with problems from the practice, says Peter Kissinger, president and CEO of AAA Foundation.  “That’s a deadly combination,” he says. “When most drivers think they’re too tired to drive, they should probably already be off the street.”

Drowsy driving is a factor in an estimated 1 in 6 fatal crashes in the USA and 1 in 8 crashes resulting in hospitalization, according to AAA Foundation.  “I don’t think there has been enough focus on drowsy driving as an issue,” Kissinger says. “I describe it as the largest unrecognized traffic-safety problem in the country.”

Alex Noel, now 21, was 17 when he dozed off and swerved off the highway in the fall of 2008.  “I was dozing off the whole way, but I didn’t think I would fall fully asleep,” says Noel, a welder who lives near Boston. “ I could only move my right arm and my right leg just a little bit. The seat belt saved my life.”  Noel suffered a broken shoulder, bruised lungs, a concussion, facial cuts and nerve damage.

Drowsy driving is a form of impaired driving.  Just like being on drugs or alcohol, or, distractions related to cell phone use, it is dangerous.  People think they can “handle it”, and the younger sect is more willing to dismiss it.  Admittedly, unlike cell phone use or drug/alcohol influence, we ALL have probably done it from time to time, and all probably do it from time to time.  Admit it—you are in the middle of a trip, long or short, and you feel a bit tired.  Do we really expect people to just “pull over” and rest?  That is never going to happen.

This is a big problem, that probably is not going to get better—especially with younger people. What can we do? As a Phoenix Car Accident Lawyer, The only thing, probably, is to educate everyone.  It will not stop the problem, but if it makes people think more, and it gets just one potential dangerous driver off the road, and prevents one accident, then the education is working. 

Are Recycled Non-Deployed Airbags Safe?

Auto Recyclers Say Yes; Critics Say They're Dangerous

The only replacement airbag that can be guaranteed to be safe is an original equipment unit purchased from the automaker through a new-car dealership. There are no legitimate "aftermarket" airbags from third-party suppliers, experts say.  But there are alternate sources of original equipment airbags, and they charge a lot less for the parts than do new-car dealerships. They're automotive recyclers (colloquially known as junkyards), which retrieve never-deployed airbags from scrapped autos and sell them as replacement parts to collision repair shops. It's perfectly legal — and, critics say, very dangerous.

In the wake of NHTSA's recent consumer safety advisory about the dangers posed by counterfeit airbags, the Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA) issued a supporting statement on behalf of the more than 4,500 automotive recyclers worldwide which are its members.  "ARA has long cautioned the automotive repair industry community and consumers about the dangers of using counterfeit airbags, as well as the alarming practice of omitting airbags altogether in repairs," the statement said. It went on to urge NHTSA to draw a clear distinction between counterfeit airbags and recycled non-deployed airbags that are genuine original equipment.

"The use of these components is a cost-effective option for a consumer," Michael Wilson, CEO of ARA, said in the statement. "Extensive research and years of experience have shown them as a legitimate alternative as well."  Tests on hundreds of recycled non-deployed OEM airbags by an independent laboratory — a study commissioned by ARA in the late 1990s — showed recycled airbags to operate within mandated performance specifications, Wilson told Edmunds.com.  Through its subsidiary, ARA Product Services, the association in 2006 launched "ARAPro," a program to certify airbags that have been recycled by technicians among its membership, who follow a 12-step protocol for removing and reselling a non-deployed airbag from a junked vehicle. The 12 steps cover the extraction, handling, inspection and storage of the recycled airbags.

Automotive recyclers who follow the ARA Product Services protocol all carry multimillion-dollar liability insurance policies to back up the certification, Wilson told Edmunds.  Nevertheless, critics contend that using recycled airbags is both unsafe and legally messy.

Because airbags are highly susceptible to moisture and temperature, they could be problematic even before they're extracted from the junked vehicle, explained Erica Eversman, an attorney and founder of the Automotive Education and Policy Institute in Akron, Ohio. The nonprofit organization aims to inform both consumers and auto repair professionals.  For example, if the junked car had been in an accident during a rainstorm and the airbag was exposed to rainwater, it still may no longer be viable even though it was never deployed, she said.  Additionally, "There are no laws about how the airbag has to be removed, how the airbag is stored, how the airbag has to be treated prior to any transport," she said.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), an independent nonprofit organization funded by auto insurers that tests cars and studies car safety, has said that it also has concerns about the safety of salvaged airbags. It cautions consumers to use them only if it's not possible to buy a new airbag module, and urges them to ensure that the airbag module has been inspected and certified.  IIHS also warned that the use of salvaged airbag modules "is likely to exacerbate the already significant problem of airbag theft." Stolen airbags can be sold at low prices to unethical repair shop owners who then charge customers standard prices for replacement airbags, IIHS said.

As a Phoenix Car Accident Lawyer, there are many examples of how air-bags have saved countless lives after horrific accidents. Would you feel safe knowing your air-bag is "used" even though it never was actually used previously? There are many complications that can surface when using a recycled air-bag. There is more negative, then positive.

Are bike accidents too common in Phoenix?

Bike Accidents in Phoenix, such as the one Wednesday between moving vehicles and a bicycle that resulted in fatal injuries to an 11-year-old girl are not rare in Phoenix.  The accident took place near 20th Avenue and Indian School Road, where a two-stage crosswalk connects a shopping area on the northern side of the street with residences on the south.

According to Phoenix police Sgt. Trent Crump, the child, Bu Meh, pedaled ahead of her father and out into the roadway from the protected median without waiting for traffic to stop. She was hit by a car in the center lane, then proceeded into the curb lane, where she was hit by another vehicle.  Crump noted that Meh was not wearing any protective equipment.

The city averages between 450 and 500 accidents a year involving bicycles and vehicles, resulting in around 10 deaths per year, according to the city’s Street Transportation Department.  Many of them take place near the same intersection where the child was killed. Indian School Road at 23rd Avenue, 27th Avenue and Interstate 17 has some of the highest numbers of bike-vehicle accidents in the past five years in Phoenix, city records show.

In such accidents, the person on the bicycle rarely has a chance.  In other words, "lack of safety equipment" likely made no difference here.

“A bicyclist can be doing everything right and still end up wrong,” said Sandy Adams, traffic-education program manager for Glendale, which has averaged 36 bicycle accidents a year since the start of 2007, with two deaths since then.  Nationally, more than half a million people annually are treated in emergency rooms after bicycle accidents, and more than 700 people are killed.  In 1975, two-thirds of those who died were younger than 16. Now, that has reversed, with 86percent of deaths among those older than 16.

No one can really explain why, other than children are a captive audience for bicycle-safety education programs.

According to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Arizona has consistently been in the top 10 for bicycle traffic fatalities. In 2009, the state ranked fifth in the nation, although it is the 16th-most-populous state.  The state saw 19 bicycle traffic fatalities in 2010 and 25 in 2009. The states with more deaths are considerably more populous — California, Florida, Texas, New York and others.

Making the city better for bikes is a tough job, he said, with funding and political will lacking.  “We have a long way to go,” he said, “but if we don’t start, we’ll never get anywhere.”  Kerry Wilcoxon, traffic-safety supervisor for the Phoenix Street Transportation Department, said the city is working on improvements to bicycle infrastructure, including more bike lanes, marked crosswalks, over- and underpasses, and the like.

He said the child killed last week was taking advantage of such an improvement — the double crosswalk on Indian School Road near 20th Avenue. It didn’t help.  

"Use the crosswalk". That is what we teach our children.  

"When you are in the crosswalk, cars have to stop for you." (Except when they don't).

As a Phoenix Bicycle Accident Lawyer, I see the problem is that children don't understand traffic.  They don't drive, so they don't understand the rules of the road. They don't know what drivers see or do. They simply don't have the educational capacity or experience to understand. Previously, we represented a family of a 15 year old girl who died while in a crosswalk, crossing a busy road.  She was not running.  When she started crossing, traffic was stopped at a red light 1/4 of a mile away.  While in the midst of her cross, the light turned green.  She obeyed her parents' safety warnings:  Use the crosswalk.  It did not save her when an eastbound car hit her in the curb lane.  

There is no substitute for good engineering. There is no substitute for safe crossing practices.  There is absolutely no substitute for driver attention, and no substitute for parental control.  

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all affected by this tragedy.

New Reebok helmets detect concussions.

In the competitive world of sports, head injuries are an all too common occurrence. The manufacturers of sporting equipment are constantly seeking ways to better protect athletes, young and old. 

Reebok-CCM Hockey has partnered with startup MC10 on a new “skullcap” that can be worn under a helmet, which contains an “impact indicator”.  The impact indicator in the helmet will not only detect a blow to the head, but also how severe the blow is. Many athletes say they are fine after a blow to the head, but the indicator will now show data on whether or not the player should resume play.

As sports-related head injuries are a recognized problem in contact and non-contact sports for athletes of different ages and skill levels, the cap has been designed for all. It provides a visual measurement of force of impact, serving as “an extra set of eyes on the ice – or any other playing field.”  The product’s conformable technology is housed inside a thin and breathable mesh skullcap, which fits under any helmet. Philippe Dubé, general manager of Reebok-CCM Hockey, said:

“As one of the leading equipment manufacturers in the world, we are focused on not only improving the performance of amateur and professional athletes, but also doing whatever we can to protect players from possible injury. As we know, head injuries are of the greatest concern today, and there is still much to be learned in this area. This product is a significant step forward in this process and we’re very excited to be able to make it available to consumers for the first time next year.”

Questions:  Will the device be able to detect all head injuries?  Should it be relied on?  Or, should there remain an element of human input?

The answer to that question lies with every player, trainer, parent, coach, AD, administrator, school district, university and/or league.  Should there be a absolute standard for which a player is removed from a game?  I am sure that each level will have their own set of standards for this.

Regardless, our hats off to manufacturers like Reebok and MC10 for keeping the ball moving forward.

Top Ways the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Hurts Americans

Generally, people believe that a "Chamber of Commerce" is a good thing for a community.  People believe that it has the best interests of a community at heart. People believe that a Chamber of Commerce is always good for the health of a community.

The following information may suggest something much different to you.  You see, a "Chamber of Commerce" is an organization that is established to attract business ("commerce") to an area.  As such, the goals are to cater to business--and not necessarily to the needs of the public  (the consumers).

Often, the "interests" of business are far different than the "interests" of the public.

Washington, D.C. —As the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) holds its annual policy parade on how to eliminate Americans’ rights, the American Association for Justice (AAJ) details the most notorious ways the U.S. Chamber hurts and continues to hurt Americans.

A new publication called Top 10 Ways the U.S. Chamber Hurts Americans exposes the U.S. Chamber’s actions to 1) bail out Wall Street, 2) close the courthouse doors on American consumers, 3) protect polluters and 4) drown elections in corporate money. The list focuses on efforts that have had a direct, negative impact on Americans.  In truth, The U.S. Chamber is a front group for corporations that want to weaken the legal rights of American workers and consumers.  The U.S. Chamber’s actions put corporate profits over Americans rights and safety.

The last thing our country needs is to give corporations a free pass for their negligence and misconduct.  Year after year, the U.S. Chamber tries to fool the public into believing that good American jobs and accountability are mutually exclusive, and at the same time uses the judicial system to push its own agenda. This is hypocrisy at its worst.

The irony does not end with lawsuits. Despite its name, the U.S. Chamber has gone to bat for foreign corporations at the expense of American businesses. You see, it leans wherever the money comes from.  Even being a U.S. corporation is not always enough to win the U.S. Chamber’s favor.

Top Ways the U.S. Chamber Hurts Americans

1. Big Business Only
2. Beholden to Foreign Corporations
3. Do As I Say Not As I Sue
4. Drowning Elections in Corporate Money
5. Tampering with Juries
6. Stepping Up for the World's Worst Polluters
7. Pushing the Corporate "Get Out of Jail Free" Card
8. Funneling Special Interest Money into Washington

The American Association for Justice works to make sure people have a fair chance to receive justice through the legal system when they are injured by the negligence or misconduct of others—even when it means taking on the most powerful corporations.  Remember, inside the doors of an American courthouse, where the financial positions of the parties may not even be close (big business v victim), everyone is equal under the eyes of the judge and the law.  It is imperative, for our system of American justice, that these rights never be lost.  

However, the Chambers of Commerce don't feel the same.  They believe that anything that makes business accountable--and therefore possibly cuts into a business's profits (like lawsuits), is bad.  They want to eliminate these as much as possible, regardless of how bad their conduct may be, or, the degree of the damage they cause.  They want to be different from everyone else, that is, they do not want to be held responsible for the damage they cause.  The Chambers of Commerce are their lapdog for the pursuit of said injustice. 

I believe that an intelligent consumer is a well-informed consumer.  Next time someone suggest that the American Association for Justice is just a bunch of trial lawyers looking out for themselves — remember whose rights and interests they are really protecting.  Without laws, and people to enforce those laws, we would live in a lawless society.  Ever thought about that?