The number of drunk drivers has shrunk by nearly a third since 2007. Meanwhile, the number of drugged drivers is on the rise, and the results have proved lethal.
Continue reading →
We see it every time we’re on the road: drivers talking on the phone, texting, or multitasking with various mobile apps. A recent survey confirmed that distracted driving is on the rise in the US, and it has now spread to include apps like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
According to the survey, conducted by Braun research and published last month, 61% of drivers between the ages of 16 and 65 report that they text while driving. 27% use Facebook, and 17% take selfies.
Tracy Morgan made his first television appearance Monday, just a few days after reaching a settlement with Walmart over the horrific auto collision last June that put him within an inch of his life. It’s been nearly a year since a Walmart tractor-trailer rear-ended Morgan’s vehicle on the New Jersey Turnpike, but the actor and comedian still has a long way to go to full recovery.
Morgan’s vehicle was flipped on its head during the crash, causing serious injuries to two other passengers and killing Morgan’s good friend, comedy writer James McNair. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the Walmart truck was traveling at 20 miles per hour over the speed limit, and the driver had not slept in over 24 hours at the time of the collision.
After the car crash that killed movie star Paul Walker along with his friend and veteran racecar driver Roger Rodas earlier this year, most of the discussion of the accident focused on the vehicle’s speed. But there was another major factor that contributed to the collision, according to investigators. The tires on Roger Rodas’ car were over 9 years old.
Research by the Society of Automotive Engineers estimates that 90 fatalities and over 3,200 injuries every year can be attributed to old tires. Tire aging, particularly in high heat states, presents a danger to drivers regardless of the amount of wear, according to Safety Research & Strategies Inc. Even tire manufacturers such as Bridgestone Americas, Group Michelin, and Yokohama Tire Corp. among others have issued warnings to consumers recommending annual tire checks after 5 years and discontinuation of use after 10.
Even the most flagrant instances of corporate fraud or negligence can translate into extremely challenging whistleblower lawsuits. When dealing with corporations as powerful as General Motors, it can sometimes take more than the best efforts of a few individuals to achieve real change.
Courtland Kelley, the head of GM’s nationwide inspection program, sued the company for its failure to address auto safety concerns back in 2003. Courtland was a proud 30-year employee of GM, and both his father and grandfather had worked for the company, so it was especially difficult for him to take legal action against his employer.
Despite all their attempts to convince us of the contrary, General Motors’ failure to act on news of their vehicles’ fatal defects seems to have been just as intentional as it was persistent.
Last week GM announced the recall of 3.16 million 2000-2014 midsize to large vehicles, putting their yearly total at over 20 million recalled vehicles. The particular reason for this recall is a faulty ignition switch that has a tendency to move out of the “run” position while the car is in motion, suddenly disabling the airbags and shutting off the engine.
Tracy Morgan, the actor-comedian caught in a gruesome six-car pile-up this weekend, is in critical but stable condition, according to a spokesperson at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ. Morgan is one of three passengers who are now in critical condition from the crash. His friend and fellow comedian James McNair died on the scene.The incident occurred early Saturday morning when a tractor-trailer owned by Wal-Mart collided with the back of Morgan’s vehicle on the New Jersey Turnpike.The driver of the Wal-Mart tractor-trailer, Kevin Roper, has since been charged with vehicular homicide and assault by auto. According to NJ State Police Sgt. Gregory Williams, the collision was caused by Roper failing to anticipate the slow-down in traffic. “At the last minute, he swerved to try and avoid [Morgan’s vehicle] but struck it from behind, forcing the limo to rotate and overturn,” Williams said.In the coming weeks as the three passengers in critical condition continue to be treated for their injuries, the question will arise as to who will be paying their assuredly astronomical hospital bills. Wal-Mart, whose insurance will cover the damages if tractor-trailer driver Kevin Roper should be found responsible for the collision, has already begun taking steps to protect themselves.A Twitter account under Kevin Roper’s name has a biography section that up until recently read, “Trying to win more than lose! Driving trucks for a living it’s my road move or get hit! #Wal-Mart.”Since the collision, the statement, “it’s my road move or get hit!” has been removed from the bio, and Wal-Mart spokesperson Brooke Buchanan has stated that the account, which tweeted an apology to Morgan following accident, in fact does not belong to Roper.While the criminal complaint filed against Roper claims that he had not slept for over 24 straight hours prior to the crash, Wal-Mart has already come out with a statement saying, “It is our belief that Mr. Roper was operating within the federal hours of service regulations.”Wal-Mart has a long history of going to extreme lengths to avoid taking responsibility for its actions. I will be writing in future blogs about the scorched earth tactics Wal-Mart uses to “defend” itself in court. It saddens me that the message we are already receiving from Wal-Mart’s corporate offices indicates that in the case of this crash we can expect more of the same from this corporate giant.Sources: Kevin Conlon and Doug Ganley, “Police: Driver charged in Tracy Morgan crash was awake 24 hours,” CNN, June 9, 2014.Laura Bult, Eli Rosenberg, and Daniel Beekman, “Truck driver charged in Tracy Morgan crash had ‘Move or get hit’ in Twitter bio,” NY Daily News, June 9, 2014.
It was a parent’s worst nightmare. A young child caught in a freak auto collision during one of the few times of the day that he was left unsupervised.Jackie K. was just ten years old, walking with his backpack on his way to school when a car jumped the curb and ran him over. Thankfully Jackie’s injuries did not prove fatal, but they did leave him without a left foot. The incident robbed Jackie of the ability to play sports or even to walk normally for the rest of his life.Was there any way this collision could have been avoided? Only if Jian Huang, the driver of the vehicle that struck Jackie, hadn’t decided to go out drinking the night before and drive home that morning still intoxicated. Jian had treated himself to quite a night, drinking at a well-known Brooklyn karaoke bar with an escort until midnight, and then moving to an illegal after hours club during the morning hours.Jian was convicted and sentenced to a prison term as a result of his actions, but what about Jackie and his family? Jian’s punishment wouldn’t help pay Jackie’s hospital bills, and it certainly wouldn’t compensate him for the pain he endured or the mobility that he would never regain.When Jackie’s family came to my office seeking justice for the boy’s injuries, I had the difficult task of identifying which of the responsible parties, if any, had the means to compensate Jackie appropriately.While Jian was the obvious choice to seek damages from, his insurance policy was extremely limited, and would do little to help Jackie’s family pay his bills. Likewise the illegal after hours club that Jian visited that night had no insurance policy, and it disbanded immediately following Jackie’s tragedy.The karaoke bar that served Jian until midnight had a million dollar insurance policy, which would go a long way towards helping Jackie’s family. However there was no way I could prove that the drinks they served Jian early in the night could have affected his driving nearly eight hours later. It seemed as though Jackie and his family were going to have to settle for the small amount of money Jian’s insurance policy could offer.Jackie’s odds were looking bleak until my private investigator managed to track down Jian’s escort for the night. Though the escort was nervous about getting involved in a legal case, her heart went out for Jackie and the devastation this incident had caused him and his family. She bravely agreed to provide us with a written statement confirming that Jian had not left the karaoke bar at midnight as the bar originally claimed, but rather that he had stayed there to drink until early in the morning.Her testimony was essential in proving that Jian’s intoxication that morning was a direct result of the many drinks he was served at the karaoke bar the night before. With this new information we were able to secure a million dollar recovery for Jackie and his family.Jackie is now going into his sophomore year at a local NYC College. He wears a prosthetic so sophisticated that you can barely notice his limp. What began as a tragedy has become only a temporary hurdle testing the resolve of a strong young man and his ever-supportive parents. Though Jackie will never get his foot back, his million dollar recovery will ensure that his medical needs are taken care for the rest of his life, and that he will have additional money to invest in his future.
Large corporations and municipalities are notoriously difficult for wronged individuals to take on outside of a court of law. Of the many recent instances of municipal entities wielding their substantial power to get their way, one of the most infuriating is the bullying of Roselle, NJ resident Ashley Henderson by the New Jersey Transit Corporation.On the evening of June 25th, Ashley was driving with two friends into the city. She paid the toll at the Lincoln Tunnel, and as she was merging into one of the tunnel’s two lanes an NJ Transit bus attempted to pass her in bumper-to-bumper traffic, sideswiping her car and causing around five-thousand dollars worth of damage.In an effort to protect herself, Ashley made sure her friends took plenty of photographs: of her car, the damage, the bus and its license plate. All of the photographs are time-stamped in the women’s phones as having been taken within minutes of the accident. The following day, Ashley reported the incident to the Port Authority, and then contacted NJ Transit to file a claim for damages.The response she received was briefer and more vague than she could have ever imagined.
New York Injury Attorneys Blog