Personal Injury
6 common car crash scenarios and what you can do to avoid them
Roughly 6 million motor vehicle accidents occur every year in the U.S., including more than 40,000 fatalities. We know that driving drunk, getting distracted and driving too fast all contribute to crashes, but what, exactly do at-fault drivers do before a collision occurs? Big Data is providing some new insights. Today, researchers perform naturalistic...
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Study: Nearly 30% of drivers flagged for risky driving behavior
How many people are killed each year in U.S. traffic crashes involving cellphone distraction? It’s difficult to say. The federal database that tracks fatal traffic accidents relies on local police to recognize distraction as the cause of a given accident — but most police reports don’t have a box to check when that is...
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Study: Tackle football before 12 speeds onset of brain disease
After doctors determined that a series of seemingly minor concussions could cause the degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the families of 246 deceased football players donated their loved ones’ brains for study. That research is taking place at Boston University and the VA Boston Healthcare System. Those researchers have just released...
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Unsafe road conditions? Take precautions
While it’s true people in Colorado understand snow driving better than anyone in the rest of the country, that doesn’t mean it would hurt to brush up on exactly what you should do when the snow gets bad. And even though it’s now spring time, it certainly doesn’t hurt to keep the following pieces...
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Which factors are most responsible for car wrecks?
A recent report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has identified what factors create the most danger in traffic crashes, and which are most protective. Interestingly, although the largest share of federal traffic safety dollars is spent on speed enforcement, only about 7 percent of all accidents are attributable to excessive speed. The...
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Lawsuits: Defective highway guardrails caused horrific injuries
Two recent personal injury lawsuits accuse a national manufacturer of interstate guardrails of negligence. Two accidents occurred in which the guardrails failed to “telescope” into one another as designed. Instead, the pieces separated and speared into the crashed vehicles, killing one woman and causing another to suffer a leg amputation. The Lindsay X-LITE guardrail...
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Insurers: Preliminary data shows legalization increases crashes
It’s not all fun and games in the states that have legalized marijuana for recreational purposes. As you might expect, a good deal of responsibility is required when using legal weed — especially when you will be driving. Unfortunately, it appears that legalizing cannabis may have caused the car crash rate to increase by...
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Is hands-free calling really a safer alternative when driving?
In the smartphone era, our connectivity is virtually limitless. We can call, text or chat with anyone, anywhere. As a result of this technology, instances of distracted driving-related car crashes have increased dramatically. There has been a nationwide push to curtail distracted driving behavior. Colorado–and other states–have passed legislation banning texting while driving. Some...
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Growing recognition that drunk pedestrians are at high risk
The trend is alarming. While other types of traffic fatalities have been declining, pedestrian deaths grew by 27 percent between 2007 and 2016. Of pedestrians killed in traffic crashes since 2016, a third were over the legal driving limit for alcohol, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). How many? Nearly 2,000...
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What is causing pedestrian fatalities to reach a 25-year high?
According to the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), nearly 6,000 pedestrians died in traffic accidents last year. It was the second year in a row with a death toll that high. Even more tragically, that represents a 25-year high, with pedestrian fatalities growing by 27 percent between 2007 and 2016. What factors contribute to...
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