What Can Be Done To Limit Distracted Driving Accidents?

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 There was an interesting
article in the Chicago Tribune’s business section this week
that asked the question: has technology become so overwhelming that is it
causing a collision course between commerce, consumers and government. This is
an interesting question as we live in a society of social networking that can
all be accessed at any time through our smart phones.  As the article
suggests and numerous studies I have revealed, distracted driving can be just
as dangerous as drinking and driving. The next question is, what can the
government due to protect drivers from distracted driving accidents if it is
just as dangerous as drinking and driving?  The suggestion I have made
over and over is to enact stricter penalties for those guilty of texting and
driving when personal injury is involved. How can drivers take the texting ban
laws seriously if there are no repercussions? If people realize that they could
possibly go to jail or face heavy fines and community service for causing a
serious distracted driving accident, then they may think twice about picking up
their phone while in the car.

The article mentioned
that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is meeting in Chicago
next week to discuss proposed voluntary guidelines for minimizing the distractions
of in-car navigation and other built-in technology systems.  One proposal
would be to require technology in cars that disables built-in phone
calling, texting, emailing, Web surfing and other distracting devices unless
the car is parked, and it would not allow information to be typed into a
navigation system in a moving vehicle.  That would definitely be a start
but could be costly for the automakers and consumers.  It is good to the NHTSA
is taking these issues seriously.

If
you or someone you love has been injured in a Chicago car accident or Chicagotruck accident, then call Chicago personal injury attorney Aaron Bryant for a
free consultation at 312-588-3384 or go to the firm website at www.blgchicago.com. style=”font-size: 12pt; font-family: ‘Times New Roman’, serif; “>

New Illinois Law Permits Bicyclists & Motorcyclists To Ride Through Red Lights In Limited Circumstances

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A new Illinois law that
went into affect on January 1 of this year allows bicycle and motorcycle riders
to drive through red lights in limited instances. The Alton Telegraph reported
last month that the purpose of the bill was to help motorcycle and bike riders
move out of potentially dangerous intersections sooner.  

State
Rep. Dan Beiser (D-Alton), who sponsored the law, said it allows bikers to go
through a red light if they wait a reasonable amount of time without it turning
green.  Governor initially issued an amendatory veto of the
measure because he wanted to have specified a set amount of time that the
vehicles must wait. That veto was overturned by the House and Senate to enact
the bill. Since that time a new bill was introduced in the House which would
require motorcycle and bike riders to wait 120 seconds before proceeding
through a red light.

I don’t
see a problem with this new bill although it seems to have been pushed through
more for convenient purposes rather than safety. I think the new bill requiring
120 seconds makes more sense as there could be a lot of room for interpretation
when determining what a “reasonable period” of time should be before
proceeding through a red light.

If you
or someone you love has been injured in a Chicago motorcycle accident or a
Chicago bicycle accident, then call Chicago car accident attorney Aaron Bryant
for a free consultation at 312-588-3384 or go to the firm website at
www.blgchicago.com.  style=”font-size: 12pt; font-family: ‘Times New Roman’, serif; “>

Secretary LaHood Delays Vehicle Back-Up Camera Requirement

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I wrote few weeks ago about the federal requirement on U.S. automakers to install rear-view cameras on all new vehicles. This was a law that President George W. Bush lobbied hard for and signed into law in 2008.  NPR reported today that Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood sent a letter to legislators asking for a delay on this federal requirement. Specifically, LaHood stated in his letter that further research needed to be done before requiring installation of this technology in all new vehicles.

There is a lot of debate going on in Washington about this regulation. Of course, Republicans are harping about the added costs to the auto industry rather than taking into account the lives that could be saved or, at the very least, avoiding serious injuries to pedestrians. I stated in the beginning, and still feel this way, that it may be a little too burdensome to require these cameras on all new vehicles. I do believe though that they should be installed on all trucks and vans. My reasoning is that the rear line of vision is much further for trucks and vans, which makes it much easier to miss a young child that may dart behind one of these types of vehicles. We will have to wait and see until the end of the year to find out if this requirement will be fully implemented or if there will be changes.
If you or someone you love has been involved in a Chicago car accident or Chicago vehicle-pedestrian accident, then call Chicago personal injury attorney Aaron Bryant for a a free consultation at 312-588-3384 or go to the firm website at www.blgchicago.com. 

Big Surprise: Smoke Marijuana Greatly Increases Your Chance For A Car Accident

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U.S. News & World
Report reported this
month about the release of a new study about smoking marijuana and driving.  The
study, which was done by the British Medical Journal, found that those driving under the influence of
marijuana were nearly twice as likely to have a car crash as those who were not
under the influence or just buy UEI kratom or a like natural supplement.

According to a dwi attorney, drivers aged 35 and younger are more likely to have car accidents after using marijuana, the authors noted.  This risk appears to
be greatest in less-experienced cannabis users, younger drivers, and among
those who combine the use of cannabis and alcohol.

Although the research
seems to be clear that smoking pot makes driving much more dangerous, there are
still problems determining whether a driver was actually under the influence of
the drug after being involved in an accident. Dr. Guohua Li, a professor
of epidemiology at Columbia University in New York City told U.S. News about
the difficulty of accurate testing: “Because THC, the active
ingredient in marijuana, can be detected several weeks after use of marijuana,
it is hard to determine with certainty if a driver testing positive for
marijuana is indeed impaired by the substance at the time of testing,
This issue is especially urgent and important in light of the ongoing epidemic
of drugged driving and increased permissibility and availability of marijuana
worldwide,” Li said.

Regardless, the above
study documents what we already knew. Drugging and driving is just as dangerous
as drinking and driving. Despite the lax attitude many Americans have about
Marijuana, it is important that as a society we remain vigilant in warning
about getting behind the wheel if someone has been smoking the drug.

If you or someone you love
has been involved in a Chicago car accident or Chicago truck accident, then
call Chicago personal injury attorney Aaron Bryant at 312-588-3384 for a freeconsultation or go to the firm website at www.blgchicago.com.

Governor Quinn Announces $21 Million Grant For Safe Routes To Schools

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Governor Quinn announced last month through the Illinois Department of Transportation that will be $21.7 million will be granted to schools throughout the state to help make routes to school safer for children.  Governor Quinn stated in his press release that the goal of the grant was to “Encourage children to walk and bike to school not only makes school routes safer, but also improves the quality of life for Illinois residents by easing traffic congestion and reducing emissions.” 

The 229 funded projects support sidewalk repair and equipment for police and crossing guards. The funding includes $1.5 million to assist communities with safety training, educational materials, and public service announcements encouraging safe walking and biking to school. This will help ensure a consistent statewide program and favorable outcomes from the Safe Routes to Schools projects. Click here to learn more about the plans to make children’s path to school.
These are encouraging steps being made by the state of Illinois to make roads safer for children and all pedestrians.  Vehicle-pedestrian accidents are a parents worst nightmare and hopefully this will help them sleep better at night and at the same time promote children walking and biking to school.
If you or someone you love has been involved in a Chicago car accident or Chicago vehicle-pedestrian accident then call Chicago car accident attorney Aaron Bryant for a free consultation or go to the firm website at www.blgchicago.com. 

Governor Quinn Signs Chicago Speeder Cameras Into Law

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I wrote last fall about a
controversial law that the Illinois legislature passed, which would allow the
city of Chicago to install speeder cameras around the city. Mayor Emanuel was
heavily endorsing the law and was touting it as a measure that would help protect
children. The cameras are apparently going to be mainly positioned around
schools and parks. Governor Quinn finally signed the measure into law last
week. 

These cameras have had plenty of
skepticism from the the public, media and other lawmakers. State Representative
Ann Williams, who represents part of the North side of Chicago, is one
politician who opposed the new law. She told the Chicago Tribune about
her concerns: “I feel
that having cameras on every corner really changes the character of a
neighborhood,” Williams said. “Imagine walking through your
neighborhood on a beautiful day, looking up, and there’s a camera pointed at
you. I just don’t know if I want that feeling on every corner in every
neighborhood.”

Other people has
argued that these cameras were being installed merely to raise revenue for the
city. Mayor Emanuel has disagreed with this theory from the beginning and has
stated time and again that the purpose for these cameras is to protect
children. Governor Quinn echoed this sentiment:  “I think that you’ve got to understand that if you save even one
life, you are saving the whole world,” Quinn said during an appearance at
a high school on the Far South Side. “I mean, what do you say to a parent
that’s been there from the day their son or daughter was born and they’re
killed by a speeding motorist next to their school or their park?

“I think our job
is to rise to the occasion and do what’s necessary to protect our kids.”

I think time will have
to tell whether these cameras were useful. We will have to look at the
statistics after a year or two to see if the amount of vehicle-pedestrianaccidents have decreased in Chicago. It will also be important if the amount of
vehicle-pedestrian accidents decrease in the specific areas where the cameras
are placed.

If you or someone you
love has been injured in a Chicago car accident or Chicago vehicle-pedestrianaccident, then call Chicago personal injury attorney Aaron Bryant for a free
consultation at 312-588-3384 or go to the firm website at
www.blgchicago.com. 

NHTSA To Require Rear-View Cameras On All Vehicles

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It is every drivers worst nightmare
– – backing their vehicle up and unexpectedly striking the person behind you.
This happens more than you would think as Business Week recently
reported that every year 292 people die and 18,000 are injured by back overaccidents. Based on this epidemic, former President Bush signed into law the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act in
2008. The law was named for a two-year-old boy who was killed in 2002 when an
SUV driven by his father backed over him. The law gave National Highway
Transportation and Safety Administration (NHTSA) three years to come up with
new rules to “reduce death and injury resulting from backing incidents” by
requiring “additional mirrors, sensors, cameras, or other technology to expand
the driver’s field of view.”

As a result, the
NHTSA is expected to issue a regulation requiring rear-view cameras on all
new automobiles sold in the U.S. starting in 2014. NHTSA says the cameras will
cut the number of deaths by half, to 146 a year. Yet the auto industry is
questioning the prospective rule, calling it an example of overregulation by
the federal government. NHTSA estimates it will cost automakers as much as
$2.7 billion to install the devices on 16 million cars every year, which
works out to about $18.5 million per life saved.

There has been quite a
bit of backlash from the auto industry due to the increased costs that they will bear.  Does
the auto industry have a viable argument?  Were these same auto giants
making the same arguments when the government began requiring seat belts in the
early 1960s or later when they were required to add air bags. I think this is
the cost of doing business and that consumers are due fair protection from the
products placed in the open market. Once could argue that the new regulation is a little
overreaching. This could be true, but I believe – – at a bare minimum – – auto
makers should be required to install rear-view cameras on all SUVs, truck and
vans as the line of sight behind them begins at approximately 20 feet, which
can make it impossible to see a small child directly behind the vehicle.

If you or someone you
love has been involved in a Chicago car accident or a Chicago back overaccident, then call Chicago personal injury attorney, Aaron Bryant, for a free consultation at 32-588-3384 or go to the firm website at www.blgchicago.com style=”font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
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Study Shows Distracted Pedestrians More Like To Be Involved In Accidents

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 The University of
Maryland Medical Center released an interesting study last month which revealed
that pedestrians wearing headphones are more likely to be involved in car accidents and train accidents than pedestrians without
headphones. 

The
research revealed that 116 accident cases from 2004 to 2011 in which
injured pedestrians were documented to be using headphones. Seventy percent of
the 116 accidents resulted in death to the pedestrian. More than two-thirds of
victims were male (68 percent) and under the age of 30 (67 percent). More than
half of the moving vehicles involved in the accidents were trains (55 percent),
and nearly a third (29 percent) of the vehicles reported sounding some type of
warning horn prior to the crash. The increased incidence of accidents over the
years closely corresponds to documented rising popularity of auditory
technologies with headphones.

Dr.
Lichenstein and his colleagues noted two likely phenomena associated with these
injuries and deaths: distraction and sensory deprivation. The distraction
caused by the use of electronic devices has been coined “inattentional
blindness,” in which multiple stimuli divide the brain’s mental resource
allocation. In cases of headphone-wearing pedestrian collisions with vehicles,
the distraction is intensified by sensory deprivation, in which the
pedestrian’s ability to hear a train or car warning signal is masked by the
sounds produced by the portable electronic device and headphones.

Remember
to always be aware of your surrounding if walking around town listening to your ipod as you could be increasing the chances you are struck
by a vehicle. Another option is to lower the volume level enough so that you
can hear and remain aware of the surrounding traffic.

If you
or someone you love has been involved in a Chicago car accident or Chicago pedestrian accident, then call Chicago personal injury attorney Aaron Bryant for a free consultation at
312-588-3384 or go to the firm website at www.blgchicago.com.

2012 Could Bring New Traffic Laws In Illinois

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Last week, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White held his Advisory Committee on Traffic Safety meeting in Springfield, which revealed several new laws that could be proposed in 2012. The Daily Herald reported that Secretary White discussed some interesting new laws that could be crossing the governor’s desk by the end of the year. Below are some of the proposed laws:

• Requiring helmets for motorcycle riders and passengers.

•
Banning drivers from using hand-held cellphones.

•
Tightening the penalties for misuse of disabled parking placards and licenses. 

•
Eliminating a loophole allowing 18-year-olds to obtain a license without any
formal driver’s ed classes.

•
Upping the age teens can apply for learners’ permits from 15 to 16 and
strengthening nighttime restrictions.

•
Cracking down on repeat offenders caught driving without insurance and driving
on a suspended license.

I think it will be impossible to pass a complete cell phone ban.  Distracted driving has become a huge epidemic in Illinois and throughout the country as it has been proven to be a major cause of car crashes in the law few years. As I have suggested before on this blog, I think one way to curb distracted driving car accidents is to stiffen the penalties against drivers who cause vehicle accidents while using their cell phones. One possibility is increasing the penalties to the same level as a drunk driving accident. It takes time for drivers to adapt to new laws (i.e. seat belt laws) before they begin to change their driving habits. If drivers know they could face stiffer penalties if they text and then cause an accident, it may persuade people to put their phones down when driving.

If you or someone you know has been injured in a Chicago car accident or Chicago truck accident, then call Chicago accident attorney, Aaron Bryant, for a free consultation at 312-588-3384 or go to the firm website at www.blgchicago.com. 

Winter Weather Is Finally Here

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It took quite a while, but winter weather has finally hit Chicago and most of the Midwest. Six inches of snow hit the ground last week, quickly melted away, and another batch fell yesterday and last night. Driving in the snow and ice can be treacherous and – – if not careful – – can lead to a serious car accident. The Illinois Department of Transportation’s (IDOT) website provided a comprehensive checklist for drivers to be aware of when driving through ice and snow. Below is the list of tips.

·  In RAIN, FOG, SNOW
or SLEET, do not overdrive your headlights.
·  Stay within the
limits of your vision.
·  Keep your windows
clear of snow and ice. Do not start until your windshield is defrosted.
·  Drive slower and
increase your following distance. Your speed should be adjusted for the
conditions and match the flow of traffic.
·  Roadway conditions
may vary depending on the sun, shade or roadway surface. Watch for slick spots
especially under bridges, on overpasses and in shaded spots. Be prepared to
react physically and mentally. 
·  If the pavement is
snow or ice covered, start slowly and brake gently. Begin braking early when you
come to an intersection.
·  If you start to
slide, ease off the gas pedal or brakes. Steer into the direction of the skid
until you feel you have regained traction then straighten your vehicle.
·  When you approach a
snow plow from behind, pass with care and only when you can see the road
ahead of the plow. You should not try to pass in blowing snow. There may be a
vehicle in that cloud of snow! Allow more distance between you and the plow,
they may be spreading salt.
·  Be alert when you
approach a cloud of snow which covers the road, especially on passing lanes of
interstates or freeways. Slow down and approach with caution. A snow plow may
be at work clearing the lane or preparing to turn around.
·  Be careful after a
minor rear end accident. If you are bumped from behind and you do not feel
comfortable exiting your vehicle, motion the other driver and drive to the
nearest police station, 24-hour store, service.

Most important, always remember to buckle up, even if you are in the back seat as Illinois now requires all passenger to wear their seat belts.

If you or someone you love has been injured in a Chicago car accident or Chicago truck accident, then call Chicago personal injury attorney Aaron Bryant for a free consultation at 312-588-3384 or go to the firm website at www.blgchicago.com.
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