Personal Injury Attorneys - Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island and the Bronx

The stories are wrenching. A distracted driver on a cell phone runs a red light t-boning another vehicle where the driver's son sits; fails to see a child on abicycle there to be seen; a truck slamming into the rear of a stopped school bus. Years ago groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) successfully changed attitudes towards drunk driving by bringing to life the horrors experienced by real-life victims and families. Based upon that model, two weeks ago the creation of FocusDriven, the first national nonprofit organization devoted specifically to raising awareness about the dangers of distracted driving, was announced by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

FocusDrivens new website, www.focusdriven.org, hosts information on distracted driving, help for victims and family members, and ways to get involved. Also, the Department of Transportation recently launched a federal w

Characters in children's movies are increasingly using seat belts, bike helmets and crosswalks, but there is still much room for improvement, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found. Approximately one half of scenes still depict unsafe practices, and the consequences of these behaviors are rarely shown. The report says theentertainment industry should continue to improve how it depicts safety practices in children's movies, and parents should highlight the depiction of unsafe behaviors and educate children in following safe practices. The study, published this past Monday in Pediatrics, analyzed 67 popular movies from 2003 to 2007 that were rated G for general audiences or PG -- parental guidance suggested. 958 person-scenes were examined: 524 (55%) depicted children and 434 (45%) adults. Twenty-two person-scenes involved motor vehiclecrashes or Tagged with: Consumer Issues Sports Safety Childrens Safety Bicycle Safety Automobile

The Tri-State Transportation Campaign yesterday released a report identifying the tri-state regions most dangerous roads for pedestrians. Topping the list is Hempstead Turnpike in Nassau County. Between 2006 and 2008, 13 pedestrians were killed along the 16-mile stretch of roadway, with most of those fatalities occurring as the road passes through Elmont, Franklin Square and Hempstead. You might want to make a comparison to the 2005-2007 statistics we wrote about previously. The analysis found the regions most dangerous roads for walking over the three-year (2006-2008)period were: Rank

Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, killing more than 5,000 each year. More than 7,000 people nationwide were killed in crashes involving teen drivers in 2007, government data show. More than 3,000 of these deaths were teen drivers, and more than 250,000 teen drivers were injured. Two articles in the October, 2009 edition of Pediatrics magazine offer advice to parents to help reduce teen driving accidents. First, do not give your teen his or own car. Second, be involved and authoritative; give clear driving safety rules and offer support. The studies show that its not just how well you may teach your child to drive; a proper attitude must be instilled. Primary access of novice teen drivers to vehicles is highly prevalent in the United States. This practice is a dangerous norm, because primary access is associated with risky driving behaviors. Among these drivers, 25 percent had been involved in

Naturalistic driving studies that record drivers (through continuous video and kinematic sensors in participants personal vehicles) in actual driving situationsare a scientific method to study driver behavior in real-world driving conditions in the presence of real-world daily pressures. In contrast, a driving simulator is not actual driving - driving simulators engage participants in tracking tasks in a laboratory. Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) conducted several large-scale, naturalistic driving studies that continuously observed drivers for more than 6 million miles of driving. While the VTTI study confirmed the tremendous driver distraction associated with text messaging, the results showed much less driver distraction from speaking and listening than driving simulator tests. The following table summarizes the VTTI results: CELL PHONE TASK RISK OF CRASH OR NEAR CRASH EVENT

Earlier this month, Transportation Alternatives (TA) released Executive Order: A Mayoral Strategy for Traffic Safety, which TA says shows startling gaps in the way NYC deters the most dangerous driving behaviors. TAs stated mission is to reclaim New York City's streets from the automobile, and to advocate for bicycling, walking and public transit as the best transportation alternatives. More than 30 experts on enforcement, traffic, public health and litigation were interviewed for TAs Executive Order. Based on analysis of the known rates of driver infraction and summonsing by the NYPD, Executive Order produced the following key findings: A driver could speed every day in NYC and get ticketed only once every 35 years. While the number of traffic fatalities caused by speeding rose 11 percent between 2001 and 2006, the number of summons issued for speeding dropped 22 percent during that period. Po

Anyone walking the streets of Manhattan is aware of the prevalence of pedicabs, pedal-powered tourist-friendly tricycles. Pedicab owners estimate that there were about 1,000 pedicabs in the city. But what if someone suffers personal injuries while a passenger in one or is involved in an accident with one? Who will pay for the injuries and damage caused? New York State has financial responsibility requirements for motor vehicles and motorcycles. Not so for pedicabs. In an effort to change that, the city will move forward with its long-stalled regulation of pedicabs by establishing a licensing procedure. Licenses would be issued to pedicab owners who provide proof of ownership and insurance, and whose vehicles pass a safety examination. The bill would require pedicabs to di

Occupants of smaller cars are at increased risk in all kinds of crashes, not just ones with heavier vehicles, according to The Insurance Institute For Highway Safety. Almost half of all crash deaths in minicars occur in single-vehicle crashes. Even if all cars became smaller and lighter, the result would be to afford less occupant protection fleetwide in single-vehicle crashes. The death rate per million 1-3-year-old minis in single-vehicle crashes during 2007 was 35 compared with 11 per million for very large cars. Even in midsize cars, the death rate in single-vehicle crashes was 17 percent lower than in minicars. The addition of safety features, such as airbags, advanced belts, electronic stability control, and other features, to the smallest cars in recent years reduces injury risk, but they've been added to cars of all sizes. Thus the smallest cars still don't match the bigger cars in terms of occupant protection. The lower death rate in larger cars involved in s

Dial 511 or visit www.511NY.org to find the most efficient route to take, avoiding accidents and congestion. 511 New York is a new travel-information service from the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). The 511 New York service incorporates real-time traffic alerts from the NYSDOTs TransAlert program, and the MTA, Thruway Authority and Port Authority of New York and New Jerseys traffic-alert programs. This information is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 511 is the national three-digit phone number reserved for travel information. The phone service is an interactive voice system reachable by landline and cellular phones and driven by a users voice or phone keys. A personalized TransAlert subscription service provides notifications of major incidents and can be customized to give alerts by region and travel corridor. 511 NY is groundbreaking in bringi