Washington DC Injury Lawyer Blog

Ghosts and goblins may not be the scariest part of Halloween for kids. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Halloween is the second deadliest day of the year for pedestrians. Meantime, Safe Kids USA reports that kids are twice as likely to die in a child pedestrian accident on Halloween night than any other night.

The reason that the night of October 31 brings with it a greater risk of Washington DC pedestrian accidents is that there are more kids out on the streets and sidewalks than on other nights because they are trick or treating. Also, Consumer Reports is reminding readers that this year, Halloween is on a Saturday. This means there is no school or work the next day. The NTSB says that more pedestrian accidents happen on Saturdays than on any other day of the year. Because November 1, 2009 is when we’ll turn our clocks back an hour, this year, people have one more hour to stay out on Halloween.

Just because Halloween is a time for tricks and treats doesn’t mean that drivers and pedestrians should become less vigilant when out on the streets. Little kids in costume can be hard to see—especially if they are wearing dark clothing or masks—and in the excitement to get from one house to the next a young child may run into the middle of the road unexpectedly. Parents should make sure that young kids do not walk around by themselves unattended or, at the very least, familiarize them with the rules of safe walking.

For drivers, driving drunk on any night is never a good idea. It’s an especially bad idea on Halloween night when motorists must watch out for child pedestrians. Driving slower than the speed limit can also help. Now is also a good time (as any) to stop text messaging or talking on the cell phone while driving.

If your child was injured in a Washington DC pedestrian accident because a motorist was careless or reckless, you may have grounds for an injuries to minors lawsuit.

Real horror of Halloween: Pedestrian deaths, USA Today, October 26, 2009

Halloween safety tips for pedestrians and drivers, Consumer Reports, October 28, 2009

Safe Kids USA

Educating Child Pedestrians, WalkingInfo.org

Continue reading " Halloween Can Be Scary for Washington DC Pedestrians " »

Last week, families from outside Washington DC traveled to the US to ask Congress to preserve medical malpractice victims' legal rights. Their visit comes as the White House and Congress work on a final health care reform bill that has some lawmakers pushing to limit the legal rights of patients who were injured because of medical negligence.

According to USAction executive director Jeff Blum, about 98,000 Americans die every year because of medical mistakes. Public Citizen's Congress Watch division director David Arkush notes that even many medical errors are preventable, the number of people affected by medical mistakes has reached epidemic heights. He says that Congress should cure the epidemic, not limit victims’ rights.

Washington DC Medical Malpractice
Doctors, surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists, dentists, plastic surgeons, optometrists, dermatologists, gynecologists, obstetricians, and other medical professionals must provide patients with a certain level of care. When failure to provide that care results in a medical mistake that causes injury or death, the medical provider can be held liable for medical malpractice.

Grounds for filing a Washington DC Medical Malpractice Claim:
• Failure to obtain informed consent
• Surgical errors
• Wrong diagnosis
• Delayed diagnosis
• Birthing errors
• Negligence, carelessness, or recklessness
• Medication mistakes
• Wrong site surgery
• Leaving surgical tools in patients
• Operating on the wrong body part or organ
• Removing the wrong body part or organ
• Anesthesia errors
• Performing the wrong procedure on the patient

Medical mistakes can be extremely painful and costly for the patient. A medical malpractice victim may even have to undergo more procedures and suffer from medical complications because of a medical error. Medical malpractice can even lead to Washington DC wrongful death.

Injured Medical Malpractice Survivors Travel to Washington, D.C., to Protect Patients' Rights, Common Dreams, October 21, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Medical Malpractice, Nolo

Health Care Reform, The White House

Medical Practice, Public Citizen

Continue reading " Medical Malpractice Survivors and Families Travel to Washington DC to Stand for Personal Injury Victims' Rights " »

The Federal Highway Administration says it will conduct a study so it can understand what causes motorcycle crashes and how to prevent them from happening. Our Washington DC motorcycle crash lawyers wish to point out that this is an important endeavor, considering that almost 5,300 motorcycle riders died last year while 96,000 others were injured.

The federal government hasn’t conducted a study like this since its Hurt Report in 1981—that was almost 30 years ago. Oklahoma State University’s Oklahoma Transportation Center will be the study’s lead researcher.

Information from hundreds of motorcycle accidents will be examined in an attempt to pinpoint common factors, such as rider experience, road configurations, and environmental conditions. Hopefully figuring out the latest common causes of motorcycle crashes will allow for countermeasures to be identified, developed, and implemented.

From 1997 – 2008, the US Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting says that the number of motorcycle deaths went up by 150% from 2,116 to 5,290 motorcycle fatalities.

Washington DC Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcycle riders are vulnerable to sustaining serious injuries whenever they are involved in a traffic accident. Motorcyclists only have their helmet and protective clothing to protect them. Statistically, their chances of dying in a motorcycle crash is more than 20 times greater than the fatality risk of someone riding in a car. In most motorcycle-car accidents, it is usually the driver of the motor vehicle who caused the traffic collision.

While efforts have been made to teach motorcycles and car drivers, truckers, and bus drivers how to share the road safely with each other, this is not always the case. It doesn’t help that there are the occasional defective road conditions and motorcycle part defects that can cause a motorcyclist to crash without another motorist’s help.

Federal Government To Study Motorcycle Crash Causation, Chicago Now, October 9, 2009

Related Web Resources:
The Hurt Report Summary

Motorcycle Safety Foundation

Continue reading " Federal Highway Administration to Study Motorcycle Accident Causes " »

Single-vehicle crashes make up nearly 62% of Washington DC traffic deaths. According to 2004-2008 statistics, 58.9% of the 7,945 traffic fatalities on highways in the District, Virginia, and Maryland were single-vehicle collisions.

AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesperson John B. Townsend II attributes single-vehicle accidents to driver error, poor road conditions, speeding, drunk driving, negligent driving, and night driving. Townsend says that based on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s traffic death data over the last five years, single-vehicle accidents also accounted for nearly 64% of traffic deaths in Virginia and 53% of Maryland motor vehicle fatalities.

Yesterday morning, US soccer team member Charlie Davies sustained serious injuries in a single-car crash on the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Davies sustained leg fractures, facial fractures, an elbow fracture, and a lacerated bladder. He underwent surgery yesterday afternoon and his career may be over.

According to police, the SUV Davies was a passenger in appears to have hit the metal railing of a bridge. 22-year-old Ashley J. Roberts, who was also involved in the car accident, was pronounced dead at the traffic crash site.

Single vehicle accidents can be caused by a negligent driver, defective or poor road conditions, or because of an auto system failure or defect. Rollover accidents and tire blowout crashes are two common kinds of single-rollover accidents.

An experienced Washington DC injury attorney can help you determine whether you have grounds for filing a DC car accident claim. A second driver doesn’t have to have been involved for you to be entitled to receive DC wrongful death or injury recovery.

In Highway Fatalities, It's Usually Not the Other Guy, Washington Post, October 14, 2009

Fatal Crash on GW Parkway Breaks Car in Half, NBC Washington, October 14, 2009

Related Web Resources:
AAA Mid-Atlantic

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Shortly after 1am on Saturday, a pedestrian was fatally struck on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Police say that the victim, a man in his 30’s who appears to be Hispanic, was hit by at least two motor vehicles. His death is the fourth pedestrian fatality in the Washington portion of the parkway in the last 14 months and the third one close to the exit ramp going into the District.

According to the D.C. Department of Transportation, The Washington DC pedestrian death rate is even higher than the pedestrian fatality counts of Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. About 600 Washington DC pedestrian accidents occur each year. Another study reports stated that over 80 pedestrian deaths take place in the Washington region every year.

On Tuesday, a woman died in a DC pedestrian accident when a Metrobus struck her. 47-year-old Stephanie Richardson got off a bus and was hit by another bus traveling in the same direction. She was transported to Washington Hospital Center where she was pronounced dead.

Some 14 people have died this year in Metro-related accidents. Just last month, a 30-year-old jogger sustained critical injuries when a Metro bus struck her. There are reports that the bus driver ran a red light and the pedestrian victim, Amanda Mahnke, was crossing the street because she had the walk signal.

Washington DC Pedestrian Accidents
Pedestrians injured in DC truck accidents, bus crashes, motorcycle collisions, and other traffic accidents may be entitled to Washington DC personal injury recovery. Serious pedestrian injuries can include traumatic brain injuries, broken bones, spinal cord injuries, and internal injuries.

Pedestrian Fatally Struck on Baltimore-Washington Parkway, Washington Post, October 11, 2009

D.C. woman, 47, dies after being hit by Metrobus, Washington Examiner, October 7, 2009

Sources: Bus Ran Light, Hit Jogger, My Fox, September 25, 2009

Related Web Resources:
D.C. Department of Transportation

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

Continue reading " Washington DC Pedestrian Fatally Struck by at Least Two Vehicles " »

President Barack Obama has signed an executive order banning federal employees from texting while driving a vehicle when on official business even if the vehicle being driven is not owned by the government. The order, issued last week, is an attempt to lead the charge encouraging people to stop texting while driving.

Lawmakers, ordinary citizens, safety advocates, and police attended a two-day Distracted Driving Summit in Washington DC that the US Department of Transportation organized. Already, the District of Columbia has a ban on texting or talking on a hand-held device while driving. Unfortunately, there are District of Columbia motorists who still engage in this dangerous habit that can lead to catastrophic Washington DC car accidents. Not only is texting while driving against the law but, like drunk driving, this popular form of distracted driving can kill people and lead to DC injury claims and wrongful death lawsuits.

The Obama administration has given each of the federal agencies 90 days to figure out how to enforce his order. He also wants the agencies to ban subcontractors and contractors from texting while driving. Federal employees working in national security or law enforcement are exempt from the ban.

For purposes of his order, President Obama defines “driving” as operating a motor vehicle. Drivers that are stopped at a traffic stop or traffic light or for any other reason that requires them to engage with the flow of traffic even if they are in "pause" mode with the engine running are still "driving." However, Mr. Obama says it is acceptable for a federal worker to text message if he or she has pulled over to the side of the road.

Distracted Driving Facts from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety:

• Driver distraction is the cause of 1 million North American traffic accidents each year.
• Although, per the 2009 Index, 95% of drivers think that texting while driving is unacceptable behavior, 18% of them still do it.
• More than 50% of the time a motorist is driving, he or she is engaged in at least one other task.

Obama enacts texting ban on federal employees, The Washington Times, October 2, 2009

The Facts about Distracted Driving – Know the Dangers/Avoid the Risks, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

Related Web Resources:
The White House

US Department of Transportation

Continue reading " President Obama Bans Federal Employees from Texting While Driving " »