Category: Car Accidents

Recently, a collision between a fire truck and a passenger car made headlines in Phoenix after the accident caused injuries to three young children in the car. While the facts surrounding that incident remain unclear at this time, it has spurred a discussion about the laws in Arizona regarding the right-of way-and who has it when emergency vehicles are present.

When an emergency vehicle is in the area, the rules regarding normal right-of-ways may be suspended so that emergency vehicles can proceed in any direction they need. This is governed by Arizona law and all motorists in the Phoenix area are legally obligated to follow the rules when a vehicle with lights and sirens activated is near.

Generally, if any type of emergency vehicle, including a fire truck, ambulance, and police vehicle, drivers are required to immediately yield the right-of-way. Further, they must pull their vehicles as close as possible to the right hand side of a road and remain stopped in that location until after the emergency vehicle has passed them.

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Most drivers like to think that they are in control of their own destiny while they are behind the wheel, taking comfort in the fact that their experiences driving will lead them to the correct decisions to avoid a collision and remain safe while traveling. Unfortunately, though, everyone makes mistakes and often those mistakes can turn into car accidents, some of which may be serious.

Even if you manage to drive perfectly at all times in Maricopa County, the harsh reality is that you can still be involved in a collision. Though your personal conduct does have a lot to do with your safety, the actions of other motorists also play a role and can be the difference between an accident-free trip and one that is marred in tragedy. In fact, the average American driver will be involved in nearly three car crashes during her lifetime, and only a small number of people will avoid collisions in their entirety.

Continue reading “A Car Accident Happened. Now What?”

It may seem like the pace of life is increasing daily, forcing Americans to move faster or risk being left behind. Today’s adults are expected to be the best employees, best spouses, best parents, and best members of communities ever and those demands are causing some people to fit more and more into their daily routines. Whether that means waking up earlier, going to bed later, skipping a lunch break or missing out on a session at the gym, people who live in Phoenix must find some way to get everything done that needs to be accomplished.

This pressure is so common that it is felt by millions across the country, not just here in the Valley of the Sun. And it is so common that others can understand a moment of weakness by someone who needs to check an email or make a call. But statistics continue to prove that engaging in those activities while driving can be a costly, and even deadly mistake and that it is never worth the risk.

Distracted driving is an epidemic in the United States and in 2013 alone, an estimated 424,000 people were hurt in car accidents caused by distracted driving. Another 3,154 people lost their lives in similar accidents which averages out to 1,161 injuries and more than eight fatalities every single day of the year. The troubling fact remains that the incidences of distracted driving are on the rise every year as technological improvements continue to invade our lives, making our cell phones, tablets, and other devices a necessity and no longer a luxury. What’s more is that these statistics are based on reported incidents of distraction or cases where evidence of distracted driving existed with experts believing that many more crashes and injuries actually stem from distracted drivers.

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Drowsy driving is an issue that does not get as much attention or media spotlight as it deserves. Study after study reveals that drowsy or tired driving can be just as dangerous as driving while drunk, yet millions of Americans continue to drive while overly tired every year. According to a study by the National Sleep Foundation, 60 percent of adult drivers admitted to operating a vehicle while drowsy in 2005 and more than one-third of surveyed motorists admitted to falling asleep behind the wheel. Nearly 40 percent of all drivers say that they have either been involved in a car accident or had a close call for a collision because they were tired while driving.

Those statistics should seem alarming to anyone who calls the Phoenix area home as the Valley of the Sun is far from immune to the threat posed by tired drivers. And it is a difficult issue to address as driving while tired is a personal decision that must be reviewed by each driver individually; communities as a whole can raise awareness, encourage responsible conduct, and warn against the outcome of driving while tired but they cannot make the decision of whether or not to drive for a tired motorist – only the driver herself can do that.

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The threat posed by car accidents continues to be one of the biggest safety issues faced by Americans each and every year. In fact, in 2013 alone, 32,719 people lost their lives in traffic collisions in the United States and hundreds of thousands more suffered from serious injuries. This loss of life and the overall harm caused by collisions have led to many questioning what can be done to improve safety on the streets of Phoenix and to make sure that as many people as possible remain injury-free.

The primary cause of accidents in the Valley continues to be driver error. This can include a motorist who is traveling too fast for conditions, someone who cuts off another driver, someone who is distracted or even intoxicated behind the wheel, or just someone who makes a bad decision and causes a crash. Regardless of the elements that lead to a collision, it is clear that as long as humans continue to operate cars, accidents will keep happening.

This reality has led some in the tech industry and others in the automobile world to work on self-driving cars as the next wave of transit to hit the nation. Generically called autonomous vehicles or sometimes even referred to simply as the “Google cars,” self-driving vehicles are at the prototype stage for multiple companies who are eager to introduce their products to the customers. But with this new technology has arisen some safety concerns and even legal issues at the state and national level that must be addressed before the public can take advantage of a car that drives itself.

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Many in the Valley are getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving this weekend by preparing to welcome friends and families to their homes. But others are packing up, preparing to take to the roadways to travel outside of the Phoenix area either alone or as a group as part of their celebrations. This year, AAA predicts that 42 million Americans will make a road trip of at least 50 miles during the Thanksgiving weekend and a large number of those travelers are believed to live in Arizona.

So what can you do if you will be driving? While it may seem like you will get bogged down in traffic no matter what, officials with the Arizona Department of Transportation report that timing your trip can make a big difference in terms of what level of traffic you will encounter.

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Now is the time of year when many families in the greater Phoenix area begin the frenzied march towards the holidays. Kids are gearing up for Thanksgiving break from school and many adults will enjoy holiday time away from work. More time with a family often provides an opportunity to look forward into the future, and at this time of year, the future for many includes new drivers becoming licensed to drive on their own.

While teens have birthdays year-round, many choose to take driver’s education classes through local high schools which run them either concurrently with a school semester or during the summer months. At this time, 21 high schools in Maricopa County alone offer driver’s education services to their students which means that hundreds of additional, brand-new drivers could be taking to the roads any day.

If you are the parent of a teenager, you may give extra thought to the safety of these teens when behind the wheel as it can present a real issue in your household. If you are not the parent of a teen, though, you should still be aware of issues surrounding teenage motorists as their actions can have a direct impact on the safety of all those on the road, including those in other vehicles.

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Advances in vehicular design have been rolling out with such speed that many drivers do not even realize the full range of features their vehicles possess. While some changes can’t help but be noticed – like a car that parallel parks itself – others are more obscure and may function behind-the-scenes, making a drive safer, more comfortable, or even more efficient all without any action on the part of a motorist. One of those features that gets less attention and less recognition than others is the advent of automatic tire pressure monitoring systems which have been around for some time but have only been standard in recent years.

If your vehicle was manufactured on or after September of 2007, it is required to have a tire pressure monitoring system. These systems work by automatically monitoring the tire pressure in a vehicle’s four tires. If the pressure in any tire is either too high or too low, a driver will be alerted to the issue by an on-dash visual cue, an audible tone, or a combination of both. All tire monitoring systems check for underinflation but only some monitor for pressures that are too high so it is important to know the basics of the system used by your car.

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Takata Corporation has had a footprint in the United States since the 1980s, primarily in the automotive arena and usually with respect to seat belts, child restraint systems, and airbags. Yet the company is much older with its roots dating to the 1930s in Japan, the country that still hosts Takata Corporation’s headquarters today. The modern world knows Takata as a global provider of airbags with approximately 20 percent of the international market share as of 2014.

In 2013, the public became aware of potential issues with the Takata airbags in numerous makes and models of American-sold vehicles, leading to massive recalls among auto manufacturers and others associated with the industry. The problems with the airbags may have begun a decade before the recall started which may put countless lives at risk should those airbags malfunction. As of November of 2015, Takata Corporation is responsible for the largest automobile recall in history with an estimated 34 million vehicles affected by faulty airbags.

Takata agreed to fix affected vehicles but now, at least two senators are expressing concern over Takata’s financial ability to do so in the event its U.S. subsidiary goes bankrupt.

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More than the majority of America, the Phoenix area has experienced a substantial boom in population in recent decades. With nearly a growth of 500,000 residents between 1990 and 2013, the Valley has sprawled in all directions, spurring new development, new housing, and new businesses.

All of this growth has led to massive construction projects in Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale, Glendale, Chandler, and Tempe as well as across the remainder of Maricopa County. Those who have lived in the Valley for all of their lives may remember a time before the Loop 202 existed or may recall a smaller, more condensed Phoenix area without the urban sprawl that marks the city today.
Continue reading “Construction Zones Pose a Safety Threat to Workers and Drivers”