Abels & Annes, P.C. Personal Injury Blog

A recent Arizona bike accident has police looking for clues, according to AZCentra.com. The Mesa bicycle accident happened two weeks ago Sunday and has left a 29-year-old bicyclist in critical condition. Police are looking for information, as the cause of the accident is unknown. The accident occurred near 1100 South Country Club Drive by a Wendy’s restaurant. Mesa police officers found him lying in a curb on the southbound side of the street around 8:00 p.m. They identified him from a driver’s license on his person. The bicycle rider was taken to Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical by ambulance. He sustained serious injuries, including a spinal fracture, a head laceration and internal bleeding in his head. The Mesa Police Department is still investigating the accident and they are trying to figure out if he was hit by a car. If you have any information about the accident, please immediately contact the police department at 480-644-2211.

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.

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 […]

AZCentral.com is reporting that a Phoenix car vs. truck accident shut down Interstate 10 Westbound for around four hours on Thursday morning. The closure was from 75th from 83rd. The accident reportedly involved a Mercedes that crashed into a semi truck at a high rate of speed. The Phoenix accident took place around 6:45 a.m. and witnesses have told DPS officers that the Mercedes was traveling around 100 mph. The car was carrying two passengers and a driver. The driver of the Mercedes lost control at some point near 75th. The vehicle then ran off the road into a dirt median, then drove back on the interstate, striking a semi-truck. The semi then lost control and left the roadway, stopping in the median. A female passenger and the driver of the Mercedes were injured in the accident and taken by ambulance to area hospitals. It has not yet been reported if drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash. The interstate was shut down after the crash for westbound traffic, causing heavy traffic. Click here to read the story as reported by AZFamily.com.

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 […]

Ten teenagers were injured in a Phoenix car accident when their SUV struck a brick wall and rolled over before colliding with another vehicle, AZ Family reported. Serious injuries were reported among the teenagers, who range in age from 13 to 16. One of the teenagers was reported in extremely critical condition. The accident happened at 28th Street, just south of Thomas Road. All of the teens were riding in a white SUV; an unknown number were ejected from the vehicle during the crash. Channel 13 News has since reported that two of the teenage boys were killed and eight others remain hospitalized. The station also reported that the accident involved another vehicle. The two adults in the second SUV were not hurt. Rarely a week goes by when our Phoenix injury lawyers do not report on the dangers young drivers face on the road. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that car accidents are the number one cause of death for teenagers ages 15 to 20. The Arizona Department of Transportation reports that 62 passengers under the age of 20 were killed in traffic accidents in 2008. A total of 2,816 passengers ages 15 to 19 were injured. Twenty-eight young drivers were killed and 3,533 were injured.

Poor road design is being blamed for the high number of suburban Phoenix car accidents at an intersection in Florence, according to the Coolidge Examiner. The Arizona Department of Transportation has secured federal funding to improve the intersection of Arizona highways 79 and 79B off East Sunset Road on the southern edge of town. While the improvements are not listed in the state’s five-year construction plan, officials hope to move forward with upgrades once the evaluation is complete.State crash data reveals that vehicles traveling northwest toward the stop signs and flashing lights sometimes fail to stop. Sixteen of 17 accidents at the intersection have been the result of a driver who either failed to yield or ran the stop sign. The state has enlarged the stop signs and added the flashing lights in an effort to improve safety. Officials are now considering either adding a roundabout or creating a T-intersection with a traffic signal. The cost is estimated to be about $2 million. Phoenix injury lawyers note that according to AZDOT failure to yield was one of the leading causes of Arizona car accidents in 2008. One in 10 accidents were caused by drivers who failed to yield the rights of way — leading to 21,370 accidents that caused 87 deaths and 8,097 injuries. Only speeding was cited as a primary cause of more car accidents. A total of 4,130 accidents were blamed on disregard for a traffic signal, leading to 19 deaths and 1,985 injuries.

A four-car Phoenix car accident on Monday night sent at least four people to the hospital, including three young girls, AZ Family reported. The crash at 27th Avenue and Southern Avenue involved a total of 8 patients, four of whom refused treatment. In addition to the girls, ages 11, nine and six months, an adult male was also transported to the hospital with minor injuries. On Tuesday night, a rollover accident seriously injured a teenager in West Phoenix. The Phoenix Fire Department responded to 67th Avenue near Ecanto Boulevard after two vehicles collided and one flipped over. It is unclear what caused the two pickup trucks to collide. A 19-year-old was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital with serious injuries. The intersection was closed for most of the night while officials investigated and cleanup crews removed debris from the roadway. Our Arizona injury lawyers continue to report on the large number of traffic accidents involving teenagers. A total of 150 motorists were killed in Arizona accidents involving young drivers in 2008, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Meanwhile, authorities are still trying to determine how the identities of two teens were mixed up following an Arizona car accident. The Associated Press reported that a heavy caseload and a delay in examining dental records led to the horrendous error. As we reported last week on our Phoenix Injury Lawyer Blog, one family spent a week preparing for a funeral while the other family spent the week at the bedside of a teen recovering from the accident. Authorities then had to acknowledge that they had misidentified the surviving teenager.

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 […]

The authorities who confused the identities of two teens involved in a Phoenix car accident will never be able to right the injustice done to the families. News 9 reports the girl and four of her friends had gone to Disneyland last weekend and were driving back to Phoenix when a tire blew and their vehicle rolled over. The family was told she was seriously injured but did survive the crash. The Arizona Republic reported that the girl’s family stayed by her bedside for six days, while the family of a close friend planned a funeral for their daughter who was killed in the accident. But authorities had mixed up the identities of the girls. Officials from the Arizona Department of Public Safety admitted they had made the most horrific mistake imaginable. One family got word that the funeral was off — their daughter was alive and recovering at the hospital. The family at that teen’s bedside was given the news that their daughter had died a week ago. Officials are passing the blame back and forth among themselves. DPS reports that its officials struggled to identify the woman who died and requested an additional examination of the body be conducted by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office. That did not occur for another five days. Officials at the hospital said they never checked fingerprints or dental records. During the confusion, a 20-year-old passenger died as a result of his injuries and family and friends of the survivors have attended his funeral. Not one of the officials responsible has been in touch with the grieving families, the Arizona Republic reported, even as the case has made news around the world. “All I want is answers right now,” the girl’s father said. An aunt agreed. “We would like someone to look […]