Articles Posted in Car Accidents

As a parent of teenage drivers, Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Lawyer Joseph Lipsky knows too well that just because a new driver passes Florida’s driving test, does not indicate that that generally teenage driver actually possesses the skills needed to drive safely. A recent study from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Center for Injury Research and Prevention now proves what most parents already know, that new drivers are the most dangerous motorists on the road, primarily due to their lack of experience in knowing how to anticipate and avoid car accidents. This inexperience is certainly one of the reasons why car accidents result in the most wrongful deaths involving teenagers.

The researchers developed a test to help new driver become better at avoiding car accidents. The test uses a simulator containing over twenty variations of the most frequent types of teenage driver involved accidents. Not surprisingly, teenage drivers were almost twice as likely as more experienced older drivers at causing a simulated crash. The test demonstrates that while newer motorists knew and used basic driving skills, like turn signals and proper lane changes, they lacked the real world experience need to avoid more challenging real world driving situations.

The study found the most prevalent teenage driving car accidents involved left-hand turns and rear-end collisions, most often associated with distracted driving. The study hopes to cause parents to spend more time with young drivers teaching them about the benefits of defensive driving. As a Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorney Joseph Lipsky certainly agrees that helping teenage drivers avoid accidents by spending more time learning how to drive safely is a parent’s responsibility.

In hopes of preventing personal injuries and wrongful deaths, Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Lawyer Joseph Lipsky supports the recent recommendation by The National Transportation Safety Board that car manufacturers include collision avoidance systems as standard equipment on all new passenger vehicles. While the manufactures continue to resist including such life saving measures, as standard equipment, placing the financial onus on buyers to pay extra for these “options,” The NTSB believes that crash avoidance systems should be treated like seatbelts, as required safety equipment in all vehicles.

Some types of frequent car accidents which would be drastically reduced include rear end collisions, which kill almost 2000 people, and injure over half a million, annually. Research indicates that greater than eighty percent of rear end crashes would be lessened with existing technology, such as forward collision avoidance, which not only alerts a driver of a possible frontal crash, but can actually help stop a car before it strikes a car in front of it.

Although the NTSB first made these recommendations over three years ago, manufacturers have acted at a snail’s pace to include collision warnings systems. Miami Car Accident attorney Joseph Lipsky encourages the big auto manufacturers to incorporate these lifesaving technological advancements as standard features in all new vehicles.

Despite continually warning his fellow Floridians of the dangers caused by using a cell phone while driving, Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyer Joseph Lipsky is not surprise by the results of a recent study from the National Safety Council which found that over twenty-five percent of all car accidents were caused were distracted driving accidents, caused by someone who was using a cellular phone.

The NSC report follows data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which found that almost ten people die daily and hundreds of others are seriously injured due to someone being a distracted driver. Due to the life-altering effects of such distracted driving car accidents, many businesses are actually banning their employees from using a cell phone while driving. Although those companies are banning cell phone use to lessen their potential liabilities, rather than for safety purposes, the resulting saved lives are a great result.

Additionally, technology companies are increasing installing accident avoidance devices in new cars. This technology also is being addressed by the advancements made in driverless cars, although that will certainly create another set of issues. Yet despite these safety matters, new distracting devices, including so-called wearable technology which is designed to increase access to texting and making call, will only serve to present drivers with another type of distraction.

As a Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorney and the father of teenagers, Joseph Lipsky is professionally and personally concerned about the number of car accidents associated with teenage distracted driving. While many people only associate distracted driving with cellphone and texting, many teenagers are also involved in car accidents due to distractions such as talking to passengers in their cars.

A recent study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that distractions played a role in almost sixty percent of teenager involved car accidents. The study reviewed almost 2000 videos of teenage drivers just before their being involved in a crash. Researchers were able to examine almost 7000 in vehicle cameras to obtain the study’s results. This real world access to accurate crash data found that police were actually under-evaluating the effects of distracted driving by more than forty percent.

In addition to showing hundreds of crashes, the in-vehicle videos also showed over a thousand incidents of extreme hard-braking events. The most frequent types of distracted driving included talking to passengers and cellphone use. Other types of distraction shown in the footage include motorists looking at something in their car, rather than at the roadway, dancing to music, brushing hair and reaching for something in the car.

Having represented dozens of victims of car accidents in Miami who’ve been involved in a car accident within the express lanes of I-95, personal injury attorney Joseph Lipsky knows too well the dangers drivers face while traveling within those express lanes. Now a local study demonstrates that Miami’s express lanes are especially dangerous given the lack of a sufficient emergency shoulder, which is forty percent narrower than the one which existed prior to the construction of the express lanes.

In fact, the widest portion of the express lane’s shoulder is actually narrower than an ordinary parking spot. This narrow safety zone results in disabled or stopped vehicles protruding into the inner most travel lane, resulting in an impediment for approaching drivers. The Florida Highway Patrol is also aware of the dangers the narrow shoulder presents for law enforcement officers who must make traffic stops within the express lanes. Those officers, whose lives are already in peril when they have to exit their vehicles along a standard highway, face an overly dangerous condition of speeding drivers and having no place safe to stand.

An additional danger presented by the express lanes is drivers who ignore the plastic dividers and cross into and out of the express lanes without regard for traffic in adjoining lanes. In the past year alone, the highway patrol has arrested over 150 drivers for recklessly crashing through the dividers. Sadly, at least four motorists have wrongfully died due to another driver crashing through the dividers and causing an accident.

Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Lawyer Joseph Lipsky is glad to report that the efforts to reduce the number of drunk driving accidents on Florida’s roadways, thanks in part to increased education and a ramp up in law enforcement’s efforts, has been showing positive results. Unfortunately, that is where the good news ends. Sadly, an ever increasing number of drivers are getting behind the wheels of their vehicles while under the influence of marijuana and prescription medications.

The rise in “stoned” drivers is particularly alarming as a recent government report, indicates that drivers under the influence of marijuana are more prone to be involved in car accidents, including those resulting in personal injuries. Making the results more troubling is the fact that dope is smoked more by young men, which is the category of drivers which already have the dubious distinction of causing the most car accidents.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in their report – Roadside Survey of Alcohol and Drug Use by Drivers, reveals that post-car accident analysis demonstrates that the amount of intoxicated drivers has dropped by almost one-third since 2007. In fact, the NHTSA found that approximately eight percent of drivers stopped in routine traffic stops were under the influence of alcohol, a decrease of more than thirty percent from their prior report in 2007. The bad news is that drivers who were found to have drugs in their system increased by thirty percent over the same time period, with marijuana use rising by almost fifty percent.

As a parent Miami Personal Injury Lawyer Joseph Lipsky knows that buying a child their first car, is not only an exciting, but also an expensive time. When parents consider how much money to spend on that first car, a recent study in the journal Injury Prevention revealed an eye opening statistic; more than 50% of the car accidents resulting in wrongful deaths involved cars that were more than ten years old and were also considered “small” vehicles.

With the rapid advances in vehicle technology, particularly when it comes to safety, the study noted that older small vehicles are not as safe as newer larger cars. Some of the safety advances which are prevalent in newer cars include side air-bags and stability control. Other safety advances include day-time running lights, lane departure warnings and blind spot detection systems. However, these advanced safety devices usually carry a large associated cost, which discourages parents from buying those cars.

Sadly, it will take well over a decade before those life-saving safety devices are available in the majority of used vehicles, thereby making it more affordable to buy for first time car owners. While it may hurt your wallet in the short term, Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Attorney Joseph Lipsky hopes parents think of the long term returns a little more money spent on a newer car, even a less appealing one, will have on their children’s safety.

One of the most important messages Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Lawyer Joseph Lipsky tells all drivers to avoid distracted driving, particularly not texting or checking email while driving. Surprisingly the rapid growth of cell phones to text and email is causing an additional unexpected rise in distracted driving in a group of drivers, those who work for private taxi services, like Uber. Those drivers actually lose money if they don’t use their phones to text while driving.

Anyone who’s used one of the recently popular private taxi companies knows that their drivers must quickly agree to accept a prospective rider’s request. Within their brief response time, the driver must determine where the pick-up is, which may only be done by looking at their phone. Drivers are penalized if they don’t respond to possible fares promptly. But private drivers are not alone, as many typical taxi companies have started using computers that match taxis and fares in a similar manner.

This technology driven rise in distracted driving has drawn the attention of the National Safety Council, whose chief executive bluntly stated that there is no debate that this is distracted driving. Incredibly, one of the companies responsible for the taxi based technology agrees that the required driver response may be considered as distracted driving.