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Toyota Sudden Acceleration Danger

Frank Bailey — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:30:53 GMT

Sudden acceleration of Toyota vehicles presents a present danger to the American public. In a recent series of sudden acceleration cases it has become apparent that floor mats have caused a number of unintended accelerations accidents.

Toyota has recalled the floor mats. In announcing the recall Toyota stated, “Recent events have prompted Toyota to take a closer look at the potential for an accelerator pedal to get stuck in the full open position…A stuck open accelerator pedal may result in very high vehicle speeds and make it difficult to stop the vehicle, which could cause a crash, serious injury or death.”

But, there may be an even more insidious danger…the electronic throttle control in the Camry, Camry Solara, Lexus ES 300 and ES 330s, Sienna, Tacoma and RAV4 vehicles beginning in the 2002 model year. When Toyota installed a new electronic throttle control for these vehicles, the number of unintended accelerations reported has increased.

NHTSA has received over 100 reports of incidents where the accelerator in Toyota vehicles has become stuck.

If you have one of these vehicles, it is critical you observe the recall of the floor mats. If you experience a sudden unintended acceleration, what can you do to avoid a crash? I welcome input from those of you who know more about what to do than I do. It seems to me that fast clear thinking without panic while applying the foot brakes, taking the vehicle out of drive and putting it into neutral, and finally turning off the ignition might prevent injury or death in these types of cases…

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Frank Bailey

5 Killed in Tragic Crash Near Jonesboro

Ryan Scott — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:18:46 GMT

Just outside the small town of Bay, Arkansas a bus carrying 10 developmentally disabled people collided with a PT cruiser that was traveling the wrong way. The crash occurred on Highway 63, just south of Jonesboro, Arkansas on Wednesday. Five people, including the driver of the PT cruiser were killed.

According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the bus was owned and operated by a non-profit day center in Truman, Arkansas that serves disabled adults in Northeast Arkansas. Many responders, including the Craighead County Sheriff and Coroner, described the wreck to reporters as the worst they had ever seen.

Apparently, the PT cruiser was traveling south in the northbound lane at a high rate of speed when it collided with the bus. When it was struck, the bus flipped over and landed on an incline on the north side of Highway 63.

Two passengers in the nonprofit's bus, owned by the nonprofit organization Focus, Inc., died at the scene, along with the bus driver. Two passengers were flown by medical helicopter to Memphis; one passenger died during the flight.

Focus, Inc. has been in business since 1979 and helps those who suffer from developmental disabilities such as cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and autism. According the organization's director, the passengers had just finished a class that teaches skills such as housekeeping, cleaning, and balancing a checkbook, and were going home.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ryan Scott

Rollover Deaths Are Preventable

Frank Bailey — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:18:37 GMT

Look at the number of innocent people killed each year on our highways…Over 30,000…of that number a staggering one-third are killed in light vehicle rollover accidents. Why is this happening?

We know manufactures are responsible for designing vehicles that provide occupant safety in rollover accidents. We know manufactures have the capability, yet they continue to put their head in the sand when it comes to rollover protection.

Rollovers are survivable if vehicles provide basic safety features. If a vehicle is struck from the front or side, the vehicle must absorb a tremendous amount of force within microseconds. A rollover is different. In a rollover energy is dissipated over longer time and distance with much lower forces on the occupants.

The defects that cause the staggering number of deaths in rollover accidents include; lack of adequate roof and pillar strength, seat belts that do not safely hold occupants in position, seat belts that unlatch, door locks and latches that fail and lack of side curtain air bags.

The legal basis for these claims against manufacturers is known as the crashworthiness doctrine. The doctrine provides that if a manufacturer’s negligence in design causes an unreasonable risk, the manufacturer is liable for injuries caused.

Manufactures have known since the early 1950’s about the importance of passenger protection in rollover accidents. Beginning in the 1950s General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford conducted rollover tests to identify how a vehicle’s structure would perform in rollover accidents.

In 1973 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, under pressure from manufacturers adopted a pitifully weak standard. The standard FMVSS216 merely required that a vehicle’s roof resist a static force of 1.5 times the empty weight of the vehicle or 5,000 lbs whichever is less. The standard requires testing of only one front pillar, allowing force to be applied to the roof gradually over the pillar. This is a far cry from the actual forces applied in a rollover accident.

Currently, NHTSA is considering a revised rule that would extend the standard to vehicles weighing 10,000 lbs or less and increase the applied force to 2.5 times the vehicles unloaded weight and eliminate the current limit on the amount of roof crush. The proposed rule would require enough headroom to accommodate passengers in the 50^th percentile of American men.

This is a step in the right direction, but the new rule has a sneaky little provision that takes away our rights. We all need to contact our senators and congressmen and urge them to adopt this new rule and save thousands of lives WITHOUT THAT SNEAKY LITTLE CLAUSE PUT IN BY THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION THAT THE RULE WOULD PREEMPT ALL CONFLICTING STATE COMMON LAW REQUIREMENTS, INCLUDING RULES OF TORT LAW. That little clause means that a jury no longer has the ability to determine what is unreasonable, the federal government has done that for us…no, the federal government did it for the big auto companies…

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Frank Bailey

The Safest Seat in a Crash

Frank Bailey — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 09:23:09 GMT

According to an article in this morning’s Parade, “How to Survive the Worst,” the safest seat in a car crash is the middle back seat. Experts at the University of Buffalo examined car crashes between 2000 and 2003 and found that the rear middle seat was a surprising 16% safer than any other place in the vehicle. These researchers also found that riding in the back seat was an overall 59% to 86% safer than riding in the front seat. Finally they determined that riding the back seat hump was 25% safer than riding next to the rear window seats.

What does this mean for you? Don’t be too hesitant to take the back middle seat when traveling with a group. It might save your life.

But what if you are the driver? Australian researchers found that white cars were less likely to be involved in accidents than cars of any other color. Compared with white cars, during daylight hours, black cars had a 12% higher crash risk; gray, 11%; silver 10%; blue and red, 7%. At dawn or dusk, black cars had a 47% higher crash risk than white cars.

Sach and I both drive white vehicles; although I must confess my previous vehicle was black. So with the decline in the car market, you might want to trade out that old black vehicle for a white one.

According to the article in Parade, a new book, “The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science That Could Save Your Life” will be published later this month. I for one intend to get a copy.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Frank Bailey

Traffic Deaths Are Down

Frank Bailey — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:18:11 GMT

Today, the U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters released statistics showing the number of people killed in traffic accidents at an all time low. Early projections show that there has been an almost 10% drop in highway traffic deaths for the first 10 months of this year. I attribute this drop to (1) high gas prices, (2) safer vehicles, and (3) better highways.

Mrs. Peters said, “Our focus on safety…has led to one of the safest periods in our nation’s transportation history. Every American can be more confident than ever they will arrive at their destination safe and sound.”

These figures are way too high. Early estimates still show that approximately 31,110 people died in motor vehicle accidents from January through October 2008. That is unacceptable! Last year 34,502 died during that same 10-month period which is even worse.

The fatality rate per 100 million vehicles miles traveled for the first nine months of 2008 is 1.28, compared to 1.37 for 2007.

“For the second year in a row we are seeing historic lows in deaths on our nation’s roads,” Secretary Peters said. “While we are encouraged by these declines, our work is not nearly complete in making our safe transportation network even safer.”

The final counts for 2008 will be made available in the summer of 2009.

Let’s all try to drive defensively this Holliday season and not be in that final count.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Frank Bailey

Bystander's Claim for Injury

Frank Bailey — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:22:02 GMT

Some states allow a bystander to collect damages for emotional and physical injuries caused by observing a close family member being injured. Attorneys call these claims “bystander claims.” Arkansas has yet to rule on this type of claim, but here at the Bailey and Oliver Law Firm, we always consider this claim when a family member is an occupant of a vehicle and a close family member is seriously injured.

The Supreme Court of Montana has recently held that this type of claim is covered by the striking car’s liability insurance. Other states who have also allowed this type of claim are Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Dakota, and Washington.

If you are in the unfortunate situation of observing a close family member being seriously injured, you should ask your attorney about your bystander claim for emotional and physical injuries.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Frank Bailey

Do I Need Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist Coverage?

Frank Bailey — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 11:17:00 GMT

Underinsured motorist coverage is not necessary. Is that what your agent told you? Well think again. Underinsured motorist coverage may be the most important purchase of your life. Here’s why.

If you are involved in a wreck that is not your fault, often the wrongdoer does not have enough insurance to cover all the injuries they caused. That is when underinsured insurance comes into play. Underinsured insurance or UIM pays for your injuries over and above what the wrongdoer’s policy provides.

Look at this example. Suppose a person is in a serious wreck. The person has broken bones, a brain injury, and has to be in the hospital for two weeks. The wrongdoer who ran a stop sign only carries minimum insurance of $25,000. That is not enough to begin to cover their medical expenses. But if they have underinsured motorist coverage, it will pick up the rest of the damages up to its limit of coverage.

So when your agent says you don’t need UIM coverage, ignore that advice and purchase as high a limit of UIM as you can afford.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Frank Bailey

Car Accidents & Trauma Induced Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Sach Oliver — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 09:40:00 GMT

Car accidents can cause trauma induced carpal tunnel syndrome. Carpal tunnel syndrome is pain, tingling, and other problems in your hand because of pressure on the median nerve in your wrist. The median nerve and several tendons run from your forearm to your hand through a small space in your wrist called the carpal tunnel. The median nerve controls movement and feeling in your thumb and first three fingers. Numerous medical journals and articles discuss how car accidents causes carpal tunnel syndrome.

According to Dr. Elliot L. Ames, carpal tunnel syndrome can result from acute injury, as indicated by a retrospective study. Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome developed in 96 patients within 2 months after an automobile accident in a study conducted by Dr. Ames. Forty-four (44) of these ninety-six (96) patients underwent carpal tunnel release. It is postulated that the mechanism of injury is blunt trauma from the steering wheel or dashboard. (see Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Motor Vehicle Accidents, Journal of American Osteopathic Association, Dr. Elliot L. Ames, 1996)

Dr. Ames is a clinical assistant professor of surgery, division of orthopedic surgery, School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford, NJ. The carpal tunnel joint on the wrist are in close proximity as the hand grasps the steering wheel, and as a result, are vulnerable during impact. The injury can occur when the hand is braced on the steering wheel at the time of a front or rear-end collision. Because the base of the thumb can be injured by the steering wheel and the carpal tunnel is in close proximity, it is reasonable to calculate the carpal tunnel takes blunt trauma during impact.

To learn more about this topic read: Acute Median Neuropathy After Wrist Trauma: The Role of Emergent Carpal Tunnel Release by Gregory Mack, M.D., Scott McPherson, M.D., and Bruce Lutz, M.D. This article was published by Clinical Orthopedics and Related Research, 1994. In a nutshell, the article explains that acute carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by a sudden increase in carpal canal pressure that shuts down microcirculation to the median nerve. The most common etiology (cause) is hemorrhage caused by trauma.

Ultimately, do not be shocked to learn that a car accident victim is suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome. Also, do not be shocked if their symptoms do not show up immediately after the accident. For more free information or to ask questions to see if you need legal representation to fight the other person's insurance company, contact our firm.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Sach Oliver

Closed Head Injury and Rear End Collisions

Frank Bailey — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:18:00 GMT

A closed head injury is an injury to the brain without a breach of the skull or the brain’s surrounding tissues by a penetrating object. Often people in rear end collisions suffer this kind of injury without knowing it.

The biomechanics of a closed head injury can be understood by looking at the inner dynamics of the skull and brain when they are influenced by the forces of acceleration, deceleration and rotation. When the head is suddenly accelerated and then suddenly stopped, like happens in a rear end collision, the resulting motion in not only forward and backward, but also chin down and chin up rotation as the head pivots on the cervical spine. More than 570,000 people receive this type of injury annually.

Two laws of physics play a role in this action. Inertia: the tendency of matter to remain at rest if at rest, and to remain in motion if already in motion. Centrifugal Force: Rotating bodies will move outward, away from the center of rotation.

A magnified view of the brain’s tissues reveals the differences in density between the gray matter layers and the white matter layers. These differences, when combined with the actions of centrifugal force and inertia, cause one layer to slide over the other.

The stretching forces created by these shifting layers can affect axons along the line of varied structural densities. When subjected to the stretching, twisting trauma, the neurofilament system is disrupted at a specific point. Once damaged, it is thought these connections heal with scar tissue and certain brain functions are lost.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Frank Bailey