Since 2011, 21 Iowa bicyclists have been killed in collisions with cars and, according to a review of five years worth of crash data, Iowa drivers who fatally strike bicyclists rarely serve time in jail. Instead many will likely pay a relatively small fine and have their licenses suspended.
The lack of harsher punishments is frustrating to bicycle advocates, but reckless driving charges, which would result in stiffer consequences, are difficult to prove. After reviewing Iowa laws following a fatal accident involving a distracted driver, one Iowa county attorney was perplexed that texting and driving does not qualify as reckless. In fact, unless drivers are drunk, high, drag racing or fleeing from police, their behavior isn’t legally considered reckless in the state. Iowa’s weak punishments for drivers who hit cyclists are reflected in the state’s mediocre national rankings for bike friendliness, which saw the state drop recently to 28th from 25th. Iowa lacks a number of laws that other states have adopted to protect bicyclists. Among them, a mandated 3-foot safe-passing zone or laws that prohibit motorists from opening their doors as cyclists approach. While Iowa legislators hesitate to adopt laws to protect bicyclists, the conflict between motorists and cyclists about who belongs on Iowa roads continues. With bike season ramping-up across the state, motorists and bicyclists should exercise caution to avoid an accident. If you or a family member has been injured in a bicycle or pedestrian accident, contact the Des Moines Personal Injury Law Offices of John T. Hemminger for help. Source: The Des Moines Register, “When Drivers Kill Cyclists — Small Fines, No Jail”, by MacKenzie Elmer, April 25, 2016.
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April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, which hopes to raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving. New technology has made it all too easy to text, email, update social media or make phone calls while driving, which all increase the likelihood of a car crash.
There are three main types of distraction including visual, which requires taking your eyes off the road; manual, which involves taking your hands off the wheel; and cognitive, which is taking your mind off of the task of driving. Among the types of distracted driving, texting while driving is especially dangerous because it combines all three types of distraction. In 2014, 3,179 people were killed, and 431,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers. Each day in the United States, over 8 people are killed and 1,161 injured in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver. Many of these incidences involve the use of a smartphone. Sadly, many distracted driving accidents involve young, inexperienced drivers. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that ten percent of all drivers ages 15 to 19 involved in fatal crashes were distracted at the time of the crash and drivers in their 20’s overall, represent 23 percent of drivers in all fatal crashes. The best way to end distracted driving is to educate all Americans about the danger it poses, particularly young drivers who regularly communicate on smart phones and may not appreciate the risk. If you or a loved one has been injured in a motor vehicle accident involving a distracted driver, contact the Des Moines Law Offices of John T. Hemminger for help. Des Moines Area Rapid Transit (DART) has a responsibility to provide safe, reliable service that does not endanger passengers, other motorists, pedestrians or bicyclists. Unfortunately, DART collisions do occur, sometimes causing serious injury to people or damage to property.
This past January, a DART bus crashed into a woman’s living room at the corner of East Douglas Avenue and Cambridge Street causing minor injuries to passengers and the driver and substantial damage to the woman’s home. Since 2007, there have been 7 pedestrian accidents in downtown Des Moines involving DART commuter transport vehicles, some of which resulted in serious injury to the pedestrians. Some of the reasons that bus drivers get into accidents may be linked to driver negligence or recklessness, safety violations, lack of training, failure to yield to pedestrians or other motorists, driving impaired (fatigue, health issue or under the influence of alcohol and drugs) or poor bus maintenance. A Transit Cooperative Research Program study found that bus collisions occur most often when buses turn at intersections, 69 percent of which are left hand turns. As a result many cities are adopting rules that require drivers to adopt a turn-and-honk policy and have placed limits on left hand turns in densely populated areas during peak times. If you or a family member is injured in an Iowa bus accident, you have the right to pursue a lawsuit against the liable party to recover financial compensation for your accident. Contact the Des Moines Law Offices of John T. Hemminger for help. Driving a car is one of the most dangerous activities we engage in on a regular basis, and reckless driving behaviors are increasing largely due to the prevalent use of smart phones to text or catch up on social media exchanges. Few of us think about the possibility of getting into a serious accident until it happens to us, or someone we love. We often take our safety for granted, but in reality, much of our safety on the roads depends on everyone exercising personal responsibility.
You may not be one of them, but you are sharing the road with distracted, intoxicated or inexperienced drivers nearly every time you journey out. Many motorists, to their horror, have observed fellow drivers busily texting or otherwise engaged while traveling along the highway, sometimes at a high rate of speed. We have probably all witnessed driving that leaves us wondering if the driver is impaired by alcohol or drugs. We cannot always control the driving behavior of others, but there are steps you can take to protect yourself and your family. It is important to always remember to:
Unfortunately, traffic accidents are a frequent occurrence given the number of inexperienced, impaired or distracted drivers on the roads today. A passenger in a car involved in an accident can be seriously injured, even more so than the driver depending on where they are seated and whether they are wearing a seat belt. In some cases, costly medical treatment is necessary following an accident and injured passengers may want to explore ways in which he or she can get help.
The most obvious place to start is with the at-fault driver’s insurance company in order to get compensation for your injuries. Drivers are required to carry at least a minimum level of insurance by law and most insurance policies provide coverage not only for drivers, but also for passengers. However, not every driver is properly insured or may not have insurance at all. If a passenger is in an accident as a result of negligence by an uninsured or underinsured driver, the passenger still has additional avenues for compensation:
When experts reconstruct a crash scene to determine causation, they often conclude that crashes are a result of various factors. Driver training and experience, vehicle design and manufacture, highway condition, traffic signaling, and weather conditions can all play a role as can events immediately prior to an accident such as a decision to pass another motorist on the highway or a tire blowout. When you add in factors such as driver fatigue, speeding, and alcohol or drug consumption on top of driver errors, vehicle failures and environmental conditions, the risk of a crash increases dramatically.
Fatigue, drinking alcohol, and speeding are major factors in motor vehicle crashes overall. In a national study conducted of 141,000 truck accidents resulting in injuries and fatalities over a 33 month period, 23% percent were believed to have been traveling too fast for conditions; 17% were under the influence of over the counter drugs as a factor; 3% revealed illegal drugs and alcohol consumption and 13% factored in for driver fatigue. These major accident factors of speeding, fatigue, and drug or alcohol use combined with driver failures such as inattention or following too close, vehicle failures such as cargo shifts or brake malfunction and environmental conditions such as ice or congested highways are often a recipe for disaster. If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident involving a truck driver or other motor vehicle, contact the Des Moines Law Offices of John T. Hemminger for help. John has successfully handled hundreds of personal injury and wrongful death claims for over 30 years. With extensive experience in negotiations and trial, he can help you recover the full compensation you will need if you or a loved one suffered injuries in a truck accident. Driving a motor vehicle comes with a legal responsibility, or a duty of care, to drive in a way that will not hurt other motorists or pedestrians. The ‘duty’ of all drivers is to follow the rules of the road and to exercise common sense. Breaching this duty of care will sometimes result in a finding of negligence.
The rules of the road are clear-cut. If a driver violates the speed limit, for example, they are disregarding their duty of care. If road conditions deteriorate because of inclement weather and a driver does not adjust for conditions by slowing down or taking actions a reasonable person would under the same circumstances, they are not exercising common sense and could be found negligent if an accident occurs. Sometimes an accident is a result of the combined negligence of two or more drivers. Causation provides a measure of how each person’s negligence contributed to an accident, and therefore how much each person should be responsible for resulting injuries or damages. The term ‘damages’ refers to the physical and emotional injuries, property damage, and lost income someone suffers as the result of an accident and is expressed as a monetary figure used to compensate an injured party based on the findings of causation. If you or a loved one has been injured in a motor vehicle accident, contact the Iowa Law Offices of John P. Hemminger for help today. John has handled personal injury and wrongful death claims for more than 30 years and provides personalized, attentive and focused representation to his clients in Des Moines and the surrounding communities. Contact us today for help. Iowa is at the crossroads of the trucking industry. Trucks traveling north and south, east and west carrying loads across the country crowd Iowa highways. Because trucks outweigh most vehicles on the road, they often cause the most damage and fatalities in an accident. Although, most drivers are well-trained and experienced, accidents still occur frequently. Truck drivers spend long hours on the road and have the potential to become drowsy. They have to operate in both large and close settings with visual limitations, which may potentially lead to an accident.
In 2012, the National Highway Safety Administration reported that over 100,000 people suffered injuries from large truck accidents – which included nearly four thousand fatalities. The NHSA also noted that 73 percent of those killed in the fatal accidents were passengers or drivers of other vehicles. Cars are simply no match for 18-wheelers. All truck accidents are not the fault of the truck drivers of course, however, in many cases truck drivers are to blame. Despite all the federal safety rules that have been adopted into law for truck drivers, many still become drowsy, distracted or even impaired while driving. If you have been injured or lost a loved one in a truck accident, an attorney can help you investigate the specifics of the accident to determine who is responsible. They may request truck logs and other important documentation from the trucking company that will prove who is at fault. They have the knowledge of the law to get the compensation you may be entitled to for your suffering and loss. Zero Fatalities, an Iowa Department of Transportation safety campaign aimed at raising driver awareness is responsible for the flashing messages you see as you travel along Iowa highways. This week’s signs warn drivers, ‘Drowsy is Lousy – Rest is Best,’ a reference to the high number of motor vehicle accidents resulting from driver fatigue. Annual crashes attributed to driving drowsy are a staggering 100,000, with 71,000 injuries reported.
Over the past year, other one-liners addressing the issue of distracted driving have graced the 70 plus digital signs across Iowa. A major source of distracted driving is smart phone or cell phone use of course, so the messages speak to many. A Yoda-of-Star-Wars inspired message greeted drivers on a specific day last May with, ‘May the 4th Be With You, Text I Will Not’. Other sage, and oftentimes, humorous advice directed at technology-addicted drivers have included ‘Exit to Text It’ and ‘Get Your Head Out of Your Apps and Drive Safely’. Traffic engineer Willy Sorenson and his colleague Tracey Bramble make each other howl with laughter as they brainstorm comical messages, all the while hoping their efforts will get motorists to take note and drive more safely to reduce traffic fatalities and injuries. They, and fellow DOT employees who chime in with ideas from time to time, focus on five areas that represent the most common contributors to traffic deaths: not wearing seat belts, speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, distracted driving, and drowsy driving. If they can get the message across, Iowans will be safer out on the roads. Source: The Des Moines Register, “Munson: Life-saving messages spark Iowa’s roadside quips” , by Kyle Munson , accessed January 12, 2016. Injuries sustained by occupants of a passenger vehicle as a result of a collision with any of the large, commercial freight trucks traveling across Iowa can be devastating. Passenger cars are no match for big semis when things go wrong.
Truck accidents have many causes, some of which are caused by driver negligence. When a driver fails to stop and rest at appropriate intervals, or drives under the influence of sleep-suppressing drugs, their judgment can be impaired. Truck drivers can also put others at risk by driving aggressively, carrying unsecured loads, or driving too fast. If truck drivers do not adjust their speeds for various conditions such as slick roads or construction zones, they may be responsible for an accident even if they are following posted speed limits. Sometimes the risk posed by a semi-truck is unrelated to the actions of the driver – it may be the trucking company that failed to do their part. For example, the driver’s company may have neglected to inspect or repair the truck. Cargo may have been loaded improperly, or the truck may have inoperable lights, brakes, or other equipment. Lacking regular inspection, damaged truck tires can also cause accidents by disintegrating at high speeds leading to injuries and fatalities on the road. If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident, contact the Iowa Injury Law Offices of John T. Hemminger for help. John has handled hundreds of personal injury and wrongful death claims for truck accident victims and their families. He has extensive experience in trial and in negotiations and can help you recover the compensation you will need. Call today. |
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