Horror On The Highway
By Glenn Wald
Monday, February 28, 2005
Our treasured highways can be deadly. You need to know that
if you or someone you know has been affected by a road accident - and clearly
another party was at fault then...
We are here for you but understand that many factors can contribute to car accidents, and sometimes multiple causes contribute to a single accident.
These factors include the following:
Driver distraction, including fiddling with technical devices as noted
previously, talking with passengers, eating or grooming in the car, dealing with
children or pets in the back seat, or attempting to retrieve dropped items.
Driver impairment by tiredness, illness, alcohol or drugs, both legal and
illegal. MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) is an organization made up of the
families of the dead who were killed in car accidents caused by drunk drivers.
Mechanical failure, including flat tires or tires blowing out, brake failure,
axle failure, steering mechanism failure.
Road conditions, including foreign obstacles or substances on the road surface;
rain, ice, or snow making the roads slick; road damage including pot holes.
Speed exceeding safe conditions, such as the speed for which the road was
designed, the road condition, the weather, the speed of surrounding motorists,
and so on.
Many authorities emphasize speed as an inherent cause of accidents in itself,
though most experts agree that speed alone is rarely a prime cause of accidents,
though naturally a misapplication of speed can be a contributing factor, and
higher speed in an accident resulting from whatever cause is more likely to have
serious consequences. Critics of the "speed kills" mentality claim that this
approach ignores the complex factors that are involved in accidents, and argue
that it amounts to little more than a simplistic "quick fix" or political
solution that does nothing to address the true causes of accidents.
Proponents state that going slower at least can do no harm, and that physics is on their side, since the outcome of an accident largely depends on the energy dissipated in a crash, and that energy rises with the square of velocity. The first person who died in a car accident, Bridget Driscoll, was killed by a car driving only 4 miles an hour.
Unsafe At Any Speed, a book by Ralph Nader, published in 1965, detailed his claims of resistance by car companies to the introduction of safety features, like seat belts, and their general reluctance to spend money on improving safety. One of the examples of the book was General Motors' Chevrolet Corvair. The criticisms of the Corvair were out of date by the time the book was published. It was true that 1960-1962 Corvairs had a suspension design which required drivers to maintain proper tire-pressure to within what some some considered to be an unreasonably fine tolerance, the suspension design was modified for the 1963 model year in order to address the issue.
GM responded in two ways, by trying to silence Nader and also by improving the Corvair's suspension. GM President James Roche was forced (on March 22, 1966) to appear before a Senate subcommittee, and to apologize to Nader for the company's campaign of harassment and intimidation.
Car accidents often carry legal consequences in proportion to
the severity of the accident. Nearly all common law jurisdictions impose some
kind of requirement that parties involved in a collision (even with only
stationary property) must stop at the scene, and exchange insurance or
identification information or summon the police. Failing to obey this
requirement is the crime of hit and run.
Parties involved in an accident may face criminal liability, civil liability, or
both. Usually, the state starts a prosecution only if someone is severely
injured or killed, or if one of the drivers involved was clearly intoxicated or
otherwise impaired at the time the accident occurred. Charges might include
driving under the influence of alcohol, assault with a deadly weapon,
manslaughter, or murder; penalties range from fines to jail time to prison time
to death.
As for civil liability, automobile accident personal injury lawsuits have become
the most common type of tort. Because these cases have been litigated often in
the developed First World nations, the legal questions usually have been
answered in prior judgments. So, the court most usually decide solely the
factual questions of who is at fault, and how much they (or their insurer) must
pay out in damages to the injured plaintiff.
Accidents are clearly on the rise and you need to know that we are experienced
in handling all aspects of these serious injury cases. You speak to us now in
fact, if you would like discuss a particular case that has affected you or
someone you love. Fatal and serious injuries from automobile accident collisions
require the immediate attention of an experienced lawyer. To prove the case to a
jury or in a settlement conference, detailed medical illustrations and other
forms of demonstrative evidence are often used to explain the collision and the
injuries. We're prepared and ready to hear your story, please contact us now for a confidential and caring assessment - right now, online.
