Teen Drivers

TEEN DRIVERS

As the proud parent of a teen driver, and an injury lawyer, you can only imagine how focused upon safety I can become.

Teens between 16-19 were involved in 963,000 crashes in 2013.

Crashes remain the number one killer of our adolescents, well more than guns, drugs or kidnappings.

Here are a few tips that all teens need to be mindful of:

FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY:            Overdriving the brakes and tailgating are common mistakes for teen drivers. Due to their inexperience, they tend to follow more closely than they could stop if the car ahead brakes suddenly.  Braking distance varies by condition and speed, but if another car easily cannot cut in between your teen and the car ahead, he is likely too close.

DISTRACTED DRIVING:        This is finally getting some attention now that texting and driving became illegal in Tennessee a few years back. However, cell phones are not the leading distraction. Passengers are!  This information is part of the reason Tennessee adopted a graduated license programs that does not allow many passengers early on.  In one study, 60% of crashes involved distraction.

SEAT BELT USE:        More than half the fatalities among teens will be among those not wearing seat belts. Frankly, some crashes are simply not survivable. However, being thrown around unbelted turns survivable accidents into fatal accidents.        

SPEEDING:     In one teen study, 79% of single car crashes were occurred simply due to being driven too fast.   

ASSUMING:    Never make assumptions about what other drivers are going to do. The only thing you know about a turn signal is that they have a turn signal on. Do not rely on it. When light turns green, make sure intersection clears before you go. Do not assume no one will run the light. Assume they will.

BEING WAVED OUT:    Do not trust being waved out, especially if the road has multiple lanes.

In general:

Don’t drive like you own the road. Drive like you own the car.

The Nine Safest Cars

THE NINE SAFEST CARS
Every year the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety tracks driver fatalities in various car models. Shockingly, no driver was killed in a crash in a record nine (9) 2011 model-year vehicles!
The death rate for drivers of these cars is 0%:
Audi A4 4WD
Honda Odyssey Minivan
Kia Sorento 2WD
Lexus RX 350 4WD
Mercedes-Benz GL-Class 4WD
Subaru Legacy 4WD
Toyota Highlander Hybrid 4WD
Toyota Sequoia 4WD
Volvo XC90 4WD
But the worst vehicles had death rates of 46 or more per million miles. The Kia Rio, which had an overall death rate of 149, was the most deadly in this study.
IIHS has changed their crash testing to be more realistic. Most car accidents are not full on types where a car hit a wall squarely. Those spread the energy of the impact out much better, and people survive them more frequently.
However, in the newer so-called “offset crashes” the car hits a pole or a vehicle at an angle, concentrating the forces in a smaller area.  Car manufacturers like Toyota, Honda and Volvo have clearly stepped up to meet that challenge.
Deaths are falling across the board. For 2011 models, for example, there were 28 driver deaths per million miles, a huge decrease from 48 in 2008-2009 models.
With car safety increasing like this, it may be that accident lawyers may one day be out of work!

SECRETS ALONG THE ROAD: Hiding in Plain Sight

BREAKAWAY DEVICES: Hiding in Plain Sight

Signs located along roads and highways are actually designed to fail! This is not some rampant misuse of government funds, or a massive failure of quality control. They are truly supposed to fail, to help keep all of us safer. As an injury lawyer, I see the results of this purposeful engineering in preventing catastrophic injuries in crashes.
In the past, roadside signposts were often giant metal beams sunk in concrete, to make them permanent. Unfortunately, errant cars were sometimes knocked into them with devastating results. It was not unusual to have a car partially split in half as the speeding vehicle was sliced itself on the sturdy signpost like a knife through butter.
Along with improvements in the cars, such as the addition of air bags, breakaway steering columns and crumple zones, highway safety has come a long way.  Breakaway signposts are now standard and required by law in most cases. All sign supports within the clear zone of highways signed at speeds of 50 mph or greater were required to be mounted on breakaway supports or be shielded with a barrier by January 1, 2013, per the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
These work by giving way, usually kicking out like a broken table leg and often allowing the striking vehicle to pass before the sign collapses.
Safe placement, of course, depends on the structure of the sign, the sign height, the type of vehicle impacting the sign, and the breakaway nature of the sign support when it is impacted.
Previously, signs only gave one or two ways. Newer, crashworthy omni-directional bases are designed to meet safety standards regardless of which direction they are struck. They are required when installing signs and other breakaway hardware near roads with two-way traffic and will likely save more lives.
So today, take a look at that sign on the interstate. The base will have a breakaway point. This secret, hidden in plain sight, might save your life one day.  Drive Safely.

Fatter Dummies for Crash Testing?

WE NEED FATTER DUMMIES?

When crash test dummies were introduced over forty years ago, only about 15% of us were obese. Apparently, we have gained enough collective weight as a nation that we need heavier crash test dummies. In fact, the current statistics ranges from 30-40% of us are now obese. America leads the world often containing the highest percentage of obese people in the world.

As an injury attorney, I fully support crash testing of automobiles. Many changes have been made to vehicles and barriers as a result of these real world collisions.

Since so many drivers are now overweight, the first-ever adult obese crash test dummy was recently introduced. Weighing in at 273 lbs., and Body Mass Index (BMI) of 35, it is a big change indeed.

Changes that new testing will likely lead to are probably a decade down the road. This may be too late for many already. Some initial results of actual crash data are startling. People with a BMI between 30 and 40 are many, many times more likely to die in a car crash than fitter victims.

Sometimes improving protection for one group, like obese adults reduces protection for other populations. For instance, increasing air bags compression to deal with higher weight ranges might hurt shorter individuals or children.  Strengthening seat belts for heavier occupants might well increase chest injuries for the elderly osteoporotic bones.

In order to test cars in crash tests with realistic dummies, one must first test the dummies. To do this, they do the unseemly task of crashing human cadavers. A comparison of cadavers with dummies validates the crash injuries.

Obesity changes more than one might think. A seated obese person extends farther forward on the seat compared to a slimmer occupant.  Because this changes the seatbelt positioning, it is one of the many factors that must be considered.

A child dummy representing a 10-year-old child weighing more than 65 pounds was adopted several years ago.  This has been used to evaluate new safety requirements of child restraint systems, including car seats and boosters for that age and weight.

In the end, the more realistic the dummies the better the safety measures that are adopted. It's really all of balancing act. We would save a lot of lives if we required roll cages and five-point harnesses, such as you see in a NASCAR vehicle. But it's all a balancing act.


Mr. Peel seeks justice for those injured in car accidents, work place incidents, medical malpractice, and nursing homes. He often addresses churches, clubs and groups without charge. Mr. Peel may be reached through PeelLawFirm.com wherein other articles may be accessed.

TEEN DRIVERS: Are They Really More Dangerous?
The leading cause of death of 16-18 year olds is not so-called “assault weapons,” vaccinations, alleged climate change, video games, GMO food or all the other crises the news reports on every night.

It is automobile crashes. As an injury lawyer, it is a sad reality I live with each day.
Beginning teen drivers are, in fact, much more dangerous on the road than other drivers.  How much more? Those beginning drivers, aged 16-19, have the single highest crash risk per mile driven of any age group! Night driving for teens ramps up the rate by a factor of four! That is why their insurance is so alarmingly high.

Here are the factors that seem to contribute:

• Speeding: It is no secret that teens have more risky behavior. The results bear this out, with about a third of accidents having excessive speed as a factor.
• Seat Belts: The vast majority of teens killed did not bother to wear their seat belt. Why? It’s the law. It’s smart. But, many feel immortal as teens.
• Distractions: Texting and driving is epidemic. Passengers do not just add weight to the vehicle, they also add distractions: Phones, video, laughter, horseplay, joking, screaming, hanging out windows the like can contribute to those group fatality accidents that scare us parents.
• Driver Error: More than half of all fatal teen accidents are simply caused by bad or delayed decisions by the inexperienced driver.
So, are teens just bad drivers? Not really. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, teens driving with parents in the car have a very low crash rate.

These factors and findings are part of the reason why graduated drivers licensing has been adopted in Tennessee. They deal with timing and passengers and allow more time for training. There are three phases:
1. Learner permit: Anyone under the age of 18 who has a learner permit will be prohibited from driving between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. When driving, permit holders must have a licensed driver age 21 or older in the vehicle with them.
2. Intermediate Restricted License. Family and one passenger, with time restrictions.
3. Full Drivers License.

What do you think about these laws? Are you as surprised as I am that we even survived our teen driving years? Restrict, teach, train, love and pray. Drive safely.

Mr. Peel seeks justice for those injured in car accidents, work place incidents, medical malpractice, and nursing homes. He often addresses churches, clubs and groups without charge. Mr. Peel may be reached through PeelLawFirm.com wherein other articles may be accessed.

NEED AN UMBRELLA?


Even if it’s not raining, you may need an umbrella. “Umbrella insurance,” that is. As an injury attorney who sees terrible accidents and tragedies every single week, I commend to you the idea of umbrella insurance.

Umbrella insurance is basically additional liability insurance. It is designed to help protect you and yours from major claims or lawsuits. Having $1,000,000.00 to pay out if you cause a huge loss protects your assets.

This unique kind of insurance provides additional liability coverage above the limits of your homeowners, auto, boat, ATV, and farm insurance policies. It affords more liability coverage on any rental units you may own. It kicks in when the liability limits on these other policies has been exhausted. Umbrella coverage also covers the odder claims that may be excluded by other liability policies including: false arrest, libel and slander.
Examples might include:

• Injuries to other parties due to a serious car accident where you are at fault, like rear-ending a full school bus.
• You show a gun to a guest and it goes off, causing them to lose their foot.
• Injuries sustained by a guest in your home due to a fall in that hole your son dug.
• Harm caused to the postal worker as a result of your dog attacking him.
• Damage claims incurred when your pet rips a friend's priceless oriental rug to shreds.
• Injuries sustained by a neighbor's child who fell off your trampoline.
• A child is found dead in your swimming pool.
• Someone trips over a crack in the sidewalk of your rental property and sues you for damages.

The odd cases of slander (an injurious spoken statement that is false) or libel (the same, only in written form) are indeed rare, but not unheard of.

Let's say you rear-end that school bus. The cost of the injuries you cause to others is $500,000. Let's further say that the Bodily Injury limit on your auto insurance is a generous $300,000. Your auto policy will cover $300,000 of the injuries. Your assets are in jeopardy for the rest. But your umbrella policy will cover the amount above the limit set in your auto policy, up to the limit you choose for your umbrella policy (usually $1,000,000.00).

Umbrella insurance is not that expensive. However, be aware that it requires a higher minimum bodily injury limit (usually $250,000-300,000) on your auto policy to qualify for an umbrella policy.

WHIPLASH: The TRUTH

WHAT IS WHIPLASH?

We all have seen the loads of fraudsters pour out of their barely-tapped vehicle grabbing their necks acting as if they are in agony, and none of us buy it. 

I also, as an injury attorney that sees crash victims every day, see another type of neck injuries from a crash: real ones. 

True, the X ray might show no fractures.  The Emergency room might release you back to work.  You may not be bleeding or have a broken bone or even a bruise. That does not mean all is well. The next day, when you cannot turn your head and cannot believe you are hurting, you have discovered “whiplash.”

Whiplash is the common term for “cervical strain” from cervical “hyper flexion and hyper extension.” It is pretty descriptive though.  Attached to the end of whip is small string that actually breaks the sound barrier, causing the loud “pop.”

Getting hit, from the front or rear, can cause your neck to snap through a similar scenario. We were not built for that when we were created naked in a garden.  Our necks are very flexible and our heads are quite heavy and pull the neck with it.

A rear end crash into your vehicle when you are sitting still is the classic case. Your are going 0 mph until your car is hit. Lets say the at-fault driver has only slowed to 30 mph when he hits your car.  Suddenly, your car goes from 0 to almost 30 mph in a spilt second. When your car moves, so will your seat, and thus your pelvis and torso. But, for just a sliver of time, your head stays still. Thus your neck is pulled backwards as your head remains in place, as your torso accelerates forward violently.   But for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction: now your head is thrown forward.

Biomechanical experts study whiplash injury using live human subjects and even corpses. Whiplash is real and often seems to heal less completely even than other injuries from crashes that have been traditionally viewed as more severe.

Be sure not to settle cases “Assuming you’ll get better.” You might not recover as quickly as you hope. You have only one year to sue in Tennessee for a car crash, and the sooner you treat the better chance of recovery you enjoy.