Category: Car Accidents

While Phoenix car accidents account for a large portion of the state’s serious and fatal traffic crashes, rural motorists could be at greater risk than they realize, according to a report published by USA Today.

Nationwide, more than half of all fatal traffic accidents occur in rural areas, despite the fact that fewer than one-fourth of Americans live outside urban cities, according to a study by the Center for Excellence in Rural Safety at the University of Minnesota.Part of the reason may be a false sense of security felt by rural drivers, which increases the chances of drinking and driving, distracted driving and other unsafe driving practices. Eighty-four percent of respondents reported feeling “safe” on rural interstates, compare to 79 percent on rural two-lane highways and 69 percent on urban freeways.

“People seem to feel more comfortable on those roads, even though the facts show that it’s more dangerous,” says Lee Munnich, director of the center. “They feel more relaxed and, as a result, they are engaging in behavior that is riskier.”

The only exception was for speeders, who said they felt safer on large urban freeways than on rural highways.

Single-vehicle crashes are also more prevalent on rural roads, where drivers are more likely to crash into trees, utility polls or other stationary objects. Safety advocates think the study reveals over confidence and a fallacy in the way people perceive risk.

“The more people perceive they have control, the less they perceive a situation as being risky,” said Peter Kissinger, CEO of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. “The transportation community has tended to underemphasize rural road safety — there’s a long history of underinvestment in rural road safety in this country.”
Continue reading “Phoenix car accidents a common danger — but motorists could be at increased risk in Arizona’s rural areas”

Police are blaming speed for a deadly Phoenix car accident that killed two motorists Friday night and left a 19-year-old man hospitalized in critical condition.

ABC15 reported that a 2002 Mercedes was traveling west on New River Road when it failed to make a curve west of I-17. Police say the speeding vehicle rolled over several times and burst into flames. All three occupants were ejected during the crash.

A 35-year-old woman and an adult male were killed.

Speeding is the leading causes of serious and fatal accidents in Arizona. About 1 in 5 Arizona car accidents are blamed on speeding drivers, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation. In 2008, a total of 41,567 crashes blamed on speeding were responsible for the death of 304 motorists and the injury of 13,653.

No other driving behavior was responsible for more injury accidents or more deaths on Arizona highways.

Nationwide, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that speeding is a factor in one-third of all fatal crashes, leading to 11,674 deaths in 2008.

The economic costs of speeding are estimated at $76,865 a minute, or nearly $1,300 a second.

The federal government reports that 373 motorists were killed in Arizona traffic accidents blamed on speeding in 2008. Only Alabama, California, Florida, Illinois, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas reported more speed-related deaths.

An elderly Yuma man was reported at fault in an Arizona car accident that involved two separate accidents, including a collision with a tractor-trailer, the Yuma Sun reported.

Our Phoenix injury attorneys reported this week on the challenges faced by older motorists. But in this case the 79-year-old driver is blaming the accident on a stuck accelerator pedal.

Yuma police said the man was driving a 2002 four-door Dodge eastbound on 24th Street when he reported that the accelerator pedal stuck. He swerved to avoid traffic but struck a 2002 Volvo semi before continuing eastbound. He made it through the stop lights at 1st Avenue and continued on toward the intersection at Arizona Avenue before he was involved in a second collision.

He then rear-ended a 1993 Ford F-150 work truck. A passenger in the truck was taken to Yuma Regional Medical Center. The elderly driver of the Dodge was flown to a Phoenix hospital.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that 4,268 motorists over the age of 70 were killed in car accidents in 2008. Unlike most national statistics, which have been in steady decline over the past two decades, significantly more older adults were killed in traffic accidents than the 3,775 who died in 1975. The elderly population has also doubled during that time, from 14.5 million to 27.5 million.
Continue reading “79-year-old driver blamed for two separate Yuma, Arizona car accidents”

As our Phoenix injury lawyers often report, teenagers are most at risk of being involved in a serious or fatal accident. But the growing population of elderly drivers is among the largest challenges safety advocates face with the aging of the Baby Boomers in coming years.

The problem will be especially acute in retirement areas like Florida and Arizona. The percentage of seniors over the age of 75 who have retained their driver’s licenses has increased in the last decade, from 73 percent to 78 percent. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports there are 30 million senior drivers on the road — a number that could double in the coming two decades.A report by the Government Accountability Office found that drivers over the age of 75 were more likely than any other age group to be involved in a fatal crash. And the Washington Post reports that drivers over the age of 75 were twice as likely to say they planned to drive into their 90s than those ages 65 to 74. The resulting conversations about safety are taking place in family rooms across the country.

The debate about how to intervene when a parent or elderly relative refuses to hand over the keys “is happening all across the United States in families up and down the streets every day,” said Elinor Ginzler, a senior vice president of AARP. “It’s a huge issue.”

Compounding the issue of the country’s aging population are the medical advances that are permitting people to live longer.

“In the old days, or even 20 years ago, people just did not live long enough for this to be a problem,” said Elin Schold-Davis, head of the American Occupational Therapy Association’s Older Driver Initiative, who notes that some older drivers are taking potent medications that fog concentration. “People are living with a level of impairment that is unprecedented.”

The NHTSA reports that 183,000 drivers over the age of 65 were injured in traffic crashes in 2008. A total of 139 older drivers were killed in Arizona car accidents.

The federal government offers driving resources for older adults and families. Topics include:

-Adapting the vehicle for older adults -Understanding and influencing older drivers -Driving safely and aging gracefully -Family and friends concerned about an older driver -Safe driving for older adults -Driver transition education -Talking with older drivers -Screening and evaluation -Medication and older drivers Continue reading “Senior motorists a growing safety issue – older drivers at increased risk of Phoenix car accidents”

The vast majority of teens continue to engage in dangerous behavior while behind the wheel — despite knowing better, the USA Today reported.

As our Phoenix accident attorneys reported recently on our Phoenix Injury Lawyer Blog, Arizona is one of the few states that have no laws banning teenagers or adults from using cell phones or text messaging while behind the wheel.FOX 11 reported earlier this year that the Arizona Senate shot down a proposed ban for the second year in a row.

The USA Today reports Arizona joins just 11 other states with no laws aimed at combating distracted driving: Florida, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North and South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, and New Mexico and Hawaii.

The new survey by Seventeen Magazine found that nearly 90 percent of teen drivers engage in distracted driving behavior, including talking on a cell phone or text messaging, despite knowing that it puts them at increased risk for an accident.

“Teens do continue to drive distracted even when they recognize the dangers,” says William Van Tassel, manager of AAA’s driver training programs. “Driving is the first real adult responsibility, but let’s face it, they’re still teens whose brains aren’t fully developed.”

The survey of 1,999 teens ages 16 to 19 found that 84 percent were aware that distracted driving increased their risk of an accident. Yet 86 percent admitted to engaging in some form of distracted driving, including texting, using a cell phone, applying makeup, eating or traveling with four or more passengers in the car.

Other findings of the study include:

-Older teens are more likely to engage in distracted driving than newly licensed teens ages 16 or 17.

-Teens driving their own vehicle were more likely to engage in distracted driving than teens having to share a vehicle.

-Reasons teens cited for distracted driving included: Didn’t think they would get hurt (35 percent); made driving less boring (22 percent); and the need to be constantly connected (21 percent).
Continue reading “Teens at high risk of Phoenix car accidents caused by distracted driving — despite knowing better”

As the U.S. Department of Transportation announces its second annual National Distracted Driving Summit, set for Washington in September, it could be just a matter of time before the feds move to combat distracted driving accidents by withholding federal highway dollars from states that fail to enact text messaging bans.

As our Phoenix car accident lawyers reported recently on our Phoenix Injury Lawyer Blog, Arizona is one of just a handful of states that have done little to combat distracted driving accidents caused by drivers using cell phones and/or text messaging. Only school bus drivers are regulated in Arizona.-Eight states ban the use of hand-held cell phones altogether.

-28 states forbid new drivers from using cell phones while behind the wheel.

-30 state prohibit drivers from text messaging — 11 of those states have enacted laws this year.

Last year’s distracted driving summit culminated with an announcement by President Obama that all 4 million government employees would be forbidden from text messaging while driving federal vehicles. Since then, the government has launched an all-out assault, debuting sample legislation it would like states to use when adopting laws, launching a distracted driving website, and making other efforts aimed at reducing the risk of distracted driving.

“Working together, we can put an end to the thousands of needless deaths and injuries caused by distracted driving each year,” said Secretary LaHood. “By getting the best minds together, I believe we can figure out how to get people to put down their phones and pay attention to the road.”

In dealing with past nationwide traffic safety issues — including drunk driving, speeding and seat belt use — the government has used the carrot-and-stick approach. First it asks nicely, then it threatens to keep a state’s highway dollars.

True, Arizona had planned to spend $1.25 million to build bridges for endangered squirrels using federal highway dollars. The project was expected to save the lives of five squirrels a year, though the Arizona Department of Transportation ultimately canceled the project, according to the Eastern Arizona Courier.

But make no mistake: federal highway dollars are used on everything from potholes to sobriety checkpoints. Such a move would definitely grab the state’s attention.
Continue reading “Feds to increase pressure on states, including Arizona, to reduce distracted driving car accidents”