Motor City Accident Attorneys: May 2016

Friday, May 27, 2016

Furniture Tip-Over Injuries

Parents of small children are aware of keeping their children away from things that could potentially harm them, such as sharp objects, hot equipment, or electrical outlets. But one thing many parents might not realize is that furniture or television sets also have the potential to seriously injure a child and in some cases, have even caused death. Television and furniture tip-over accidents injure a child every 24 minutes in the United States. 81% of those incidents happen inside the child’s home and 2/3 involve toddlers.

There was a case earlier this year of an IKEA dresser tipping over on top of a 22-month-old boy, which unfortunately caused his death. Because of incidents like this, the CPSC and IKEA announced in July of 2015, a “repair program” for chests and dressers after two separate 2014 incidents resulted in toddler deaths. This repair program allows customers to request repair kits with hardware for anchoring to the wall, free of charge. Since then, there have been more than 300,000 kits given to customers, which is a fraction of the 27 million dressers that were affected by the recall.

It is unfortunate that these types of accidents have occurred, so it’s important to be aware of how to properly anchor your furniture or television to prevent this from happening to your child. Here are some tips suggested by the CPSC’s “Anchor It!” campaign to properly hold down your furniture:

1. Make sure when placing a television set that it is supported only on sturdy furniture made to hold a television. Media centers and television stands detail their safety and usage details on the packaging.

2. Flat screen televisions should be mounted to the wall or furniture. This prevents tip-overs.

3. Secure any TVs that are not wall-mounted by anchoring them to the wall.

4. Remove tempting objects, such as toys, from the top of furniture and televisions so that children won’t try to climb up and reach them.

5. Follow instructions provided by the manufacturer very carefully when securing TVs and furniture.

6. Top-heavy furniture should be secured by purchasing anti-tip brackets. Most new furniture will come with these anti-tip devices already.

It is a good idea to anchor your furniture even if you do not have children, in the event that a child might visit your home. Not only that, but it can also be dangerous for pets and even adults who are bending in front of furniture. A TV can fall with the force of thousands of pounds, which can be deadly for small children. Following these safety tips can help prevent this from happening in your home.

If you or someone you know has been involved in a car crash or truck accident in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Warren, Sterling Heights, Lansing, Flint, Ann Arbor, Livonia, Dearborn, Canton, Westland, Troy, Farmington Hills, Southfield, Waterford or any other city in Michigan, make sure to contact Motor City Accident Attorneys by calling 1-800-411-PAIN. Motor City Accident Attorneys know how stressful a car accident can be and want to help you get back on your feet. They will fight tirelessly for your rights and help you get the compensation you deserve, according to your specific case. Make sure to follow Motor City Accident Attorneys on Twitter (@MCAccidentAtty) and Facebook. Join the conversation by using #MCAA.

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Highway Work Zone Safety Tips

Many people make their living working on roads and highways in construction. These workers can be overlooked by others as just people who are always on the highways doing their jobs. But working in construction is not as safe as working in an office. They have to be mindful of other drivers, and drivers need to be extremely mindful of them. Roadway work zones are very common as improvements and additions are always being made. There are construction workers present at these types of roadway sites every day, so it is important to be educated on highway work zone safety.

Fatalities in construction and maintenance work zones averaged 669 from 2007 through 2012. They reached a peak of 1,095 in 2003, declining to 609 in 2012. Texas, California, and Florida ranked as the three states with the most motor vehicle crash fatalities in construction and maintenance work zones in 2012 – each with at least 50 deaths.

Here are some driving safety tips to keep in mind when passing by construction zones:

- Stay alert and pay attention at all times while behind the wheel. Distractions can cause you to miss signs that are supposed to alert you of upcoming construction zones, as well as stopped vehicles.

- Adhere to posted speed limit signs within work zones, as well as before reaching them. Upcoming construction zones approach quickly and it’s better to slow down sooner than required than when it’s too late.

- Resume normal highway speeds only after you see roadway signs alerting you to the end of a work zone.

- Maintain at least three car-lengths between yourself and other vehicles. This is equivalent to counting two seconds from the time the vehicle in front of you passes an object until you pass that same object.

- When construction equipment, workers, barriers, and vehicles are present, it is important to maintain a safe distance from them.

- Remain calm and avoid rushing while in construction zones. You should expect delays and know that in the end, the construction zones are meant to help highways operate more smoothly for all users.

Speed, Space, and Stress are the three “S’s” of work zone safety. So it’s important to manage your speed, manage your space, and manage your stress on the road. Following these tips can help you avoid being part on an accident that is perfectly preventable, and can help you save a life.

Friday, May 13, 2016

When is it Safe to Place Your Child in the Front Seat?

Several states have different laws requiring children to sit in the back seat of a car until a certain age, but usually it is recommended that you should not let your child ride in the front seat until he or she is at least 13 years old, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although not every state has a law preventing kids from sitting in the front seat, it is simply always safest to have them sit in the back. Kids who are shorter than 4 feet, 9 inches or under 13 years of age should be riding in the backseat. Buckling a child into the backseat instead of the front reduces their risk of being killed in a crash by one-third. In a head-on collision, a child in the front seat can be thrown into your car’s dashboard or through the windshield. Even if the child is properly buckled in, they are at much greater risk of being hurt by objects intruding into the car in the front than in the back. Not only that, but air bags, which are located in the front, can severely injure or kill a child due to how much force they inflate with, which can be too much for a small child. There have been more than a hundred cases in recent years of children who have died due to airbags that went off in minor collisions that they could have survived if they were sitting in the back.

If for any reason, you must put a child in the front seat, such as if the vehicle has no back seat, you should turn off your car’s airbag if it has an on-off switch. If your car doesn’t have an on-off switch, you can get one installed. If you can’t disable your passenger air bag, move the front passenger seat as far back from the dashboard as possible. If the back seat of the vehicle has lap belts only and no shoulder restraints and your child rides in a booster seat, then it is safer to place the child on the booster in the front seat where there are shoulder restraints, rather than the back. If you’re riding with more than one child, the biggest or tallest child should have the front seat.

Always make sure that a child riding in the front seat is wearing their seat belt properly. The lap belt should fit low across the pelvis, and the shoulder belt should not cut across the child’s neck. Never put the shoulder belt behind their back. And remember, wear your seat belt as well! Be a role model and set a good example for your children so they can get used to the habit of how imperative it is to put on their seat belt.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Selfies: The Latest Distracted Driving Craze

We all know about the dangers that distractions while driving can cause. People usually think of these distractions being texting or talking on the phone. But the latest driving distraction craze is that more and more drivers are getting distracted by taking “selfies.” Selfies, short for self-portraits, have become a cultural phenomenon that has become very popular mainly among young people who use social media. With the development of more social media over the years, selfies are just about everywhere you look while on the web or on social media. And now that phones are being built with impressive cameras, people are taking more pictures with their phones than with an actual camera. This is why taking selfies while driving has increased, because people always have their phone at hand. Most people aren’t carrying around cameras. Therefore, this just adds to yet another distraction that cell phones have while driving.

These selfies are being snapped and uploaded to Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and other social media outlets. Even if you are taking one of these self-portraits while stopped at a red light, you are being distracted from paying attention to your surroundings and when the light turns green.

In a study conducted by the Institute of Advanced Motorists in Britain, which is like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 500 drivers of all ages were asked about how they use their cellphones while driving. One in five drivers admitted to taking a selfie in the car. The study found that motorists between the ages of 25 and 35 are more likely to snap these photos while on the road. Women took car selfies at a much lower rate than men, surprisingly. One in eight men had taken selfies in the car while only one in twenty women had. While selfies may seem more common on social media among women, it’s possible they are less likely to take them on the road because women tend to drive more carefully than men.

Although the study was conducted in the U.K, the trend of distracted driving stretches around the world. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), distracted driving car accidents injured 424,000 people in 2013 and caused 3,154 deaths. AT&T launched an anti-distracted driving campaign earlier this year, saying that a recent study revealed seven out of 10 people engage in smartphone activities while behind the wheel. It’s safe to say these activities include picture-taking.

So if you think about snapping one of these selfies next time you’re driving, remember that it can wait. That selfie taken by you while driving could come back and haunt you if you get involved in an accident. It is simply not worth it.

Friday, May 6, 2016

Drivers Talk On Cellphones Less, Surf and Email More

State Farm has been conducting an annual survey since 2009 that tracks the behaviors of drivers in relation to their cell phones. Surveys show that actual talking on cellphones has decreased, while texting while driving has remained steady. Surfing the web while driving, however, has significantly increased.

According to State Farm, the number of drivers who use the Internet has doubled (from 13% in 2009 to 26% in 2014), and reading emails while driving has nearly doubled as well (15% in 2009 to 25% in 2014). Social media usage while driving has also increased from 9% in 2009 to 20% in 2014.

Since 2007, 44 states and the District of Columbia have placed bans on texting while driving, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Fourteen states and Washington D.C. prohibit the use of hand-held cellphones while driving. No state prohibits all cellphone use behind the wheel, however.

Chris Mullen, State Farm’s director of technology research says it’s not certain why these certain behaviors are increasing, but they are just as dangerous. “People have a perception of what they are able to do with the attention span they have (while driving). They believe they have available attention they can spend on something in addition to driving. They will spend that time with various behaviors.”

As technology continues to advance, people become more and more addicted to their devices. Now that people have their whole lives at their fingertips (email, social life/media, internet, etc.), it’s incredibly easy and common nature to constantly check these things on the phone. No matter if you are texting or checking your email, you are looking down at that phone when your eyes should be on the road. The only safe thing you could do with your phone while driving is to not be on it at all.