Distracted Drivers' Conference May Ban Cell Phones while Driving

In Washington a government meeting was held September 30, 2009 to discuss the growing issue from this past year of distracted driving specifically related to the use of electronic devices, according the a report by Ken Thomas, from Breaking News 24/7. In the two day meeting that was called the “distracted driving summit”, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was a major expert in the discussions. “LaHood said the administration would “work with Congress” to develop ways of curbing distracted driving. The meeting would solicit ideas to address the problem “similar to what went on with seat belts and (blood-alcohol limits of) 0.08 where you really educate the public, where you tell people that they have to take personal responsibility for these things.””

Here are some key statistics behind the issue:

-Driver distraction connected to almost 6,000 killed and 500,000 injured last year

-Driver distraction was involved in 16 percent of all fatal crashes in 2008

-Age 20 and younger is the largest fraction of distracted drivers

-16% of under-20 drivers involved in fatal crashes were reported to be driving distracted

-Drivers of heavy trucks when texting increase their risk of collision 23 times, according to Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

-Car and Driver magazine reported texting and driving to be more dangerous than drunken driving

 

-Text messaging has increased per month as seen in a study by CTIA-The Wireless Association (a cellular phone trade group), which reported 10 billion text messages in December 2005 to 110 billion in December 2008

 

-18 states and the District of Columbia have made texting illegal while driving (from Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)

-7 states and the District of Columbia have made talking on a handheld cell phone illegal while driving as well (from Insurance Institute for Highway Safety).

To see a chart on which states have banned which electronic device usage, follow the link. Iowa has not banded or restricted the use. If you're a younger adult or a teenager look at this chart because it will almost certainly be different when you look at it after next session or the next.

http://www.iihs.org/laws/cellphonelaws.aspx

Another speaker at these meetings was Senator Charles Schumer, Democrat from N.Y., who along with other Democrats at the meeting, “introduced legislation in July that would require states to ban texting or e-mailing while operating a moving vehicle or lose 25 percent of their annual federal highway funding.” It was said that the Obama administration has not indicated their position on this proposal. Common sense went out the window a long time ago and people need someone to tell them what to do behind the wheel. Drive down the street any day at any time and you're sure to see someone driving erratically with cell phone in hand.

These discussions focused on how to go about working with Congress, and set the right motions in place to change the behavior of drivers to eliminate the root of the problem: distraction. LaHood said “We need a combination of strong laws, tough enforcement and ongoing public education to make a difference” and stop this driver distraction which he calls a “menace to society”.

I-80 Oxford Road Crew Accident Revisited

I drove to Iowa City this weekend for Parent's Day at the Law School. On the return trip to Des Moines Barbara and I passed through this work construction zone at the Oxford exit on I-80. The road work zone seems small. I suspect, although I can't say for sure, that it's on the westbound lanes. Here is our original news story.

We don’t have much information this morning, but it’s being reported by Radio Iowa and the Des Moines Register that a road construction crew on I-80 near Oxford, Iowa were injured with a semi-truck collided with one of the cement or concrete barriers in a construction zone. Oxford is about nine miles west of Coralville, Iowa. The collision occurred late yesterday morning. You have to wonder if the semi-truck driver was texting or talking on a cell phone.

One of my clients is a road crew member injured on I-380. Since looking at that case and driving through other Interstate road construction on I-35, I-80, I-235 and I-380 it shocks me how distracted drivers are when negotiating through the construction zone. People driving right up to the orange cones, exceeding the speed limit, talking on their cell phones and allowing so many other distractions while driving that I find it difficult to catalogue them all. On the way home one lady driving a State of Iowa car and the car behind her being driven by a DNR officer are both on cell phones. And I’m not talking about for a few minutes I’m talking about mile after mile after mile. More than 25 miles, which is when I got tired of wondering if she’d put the phone down and drove off ahead. You’d think safety officers would know better. Apparently they don’t.

Why are there so many injuries?

On September 3rd 2009 15 year old Rachel Stewart was headed north on I-380 when she lost control of the van she was driving went onto the median and flipped. Rachel Stewart and one of the other passengers, Rachel Peterson, were both hospitalized while a third passenger 16 year old Alyssa Benedict from Tiffin died as a result of the injuries suffered in the crash. Benedict and Peterson were not wearing their seatbelt, but the real question is why a 15 year old is driving without a parent present and on the Interstate Highways in Iowa.  Answer that question and you’ll have the answer to the right question.

Why are there so many injuries?

Rear ended by distracted driver leads to $3.5 million settlement

Driving on the highways of Illinois can be risky. In this case a student at Southern Illinois University Carbondale was on assignment for the student newspaper when he reportedly was rear-ended by a semi-truck and was killed. From the report it appears this was a construction zone and the truck driver was distracted by the radio controls.

“Clifford Law Offices, who represented Rendleman's family, said Morrison admitted he was tuning the truck's radio immediately prior to the crash.

"This terrible tragedy demonstrates the critical importance of paying attention on the road, especially when there is construction," senior law firm partner Robert Clifford said in a news release.”

The student was only 22-years of age.

Having recently driven from Des Moines, Iowa to Chicago, Illinois I can attest to the road construction. There are two choices in the construction area. If you stay left there are several lanes to choose from; but going right there is only one lane. The first time I had the choice I went left but then realized that it is was too hazardous. The left lane is narrow and bordered on each side by concrete lane separators that limit your ability to avoid someone coming from the back that might rear-end your car. The next time the choice was there I went right and worked my way through the multiple lanes. It seemed a whole lot safer for Barbara and I.  Below is a YouTube video of the stretch of roadway we are talking about. It’s the Chicago I-94 Dan Ryan / Kennedy / Edens Expressway. The first is during daylight and the second at night.

A Rip-Roaring, Revelatory, Rebuilt Ryan Road Romp

Chicago: I-94 Dan Ryan / Kennedy / Edens Expressway

 

What is negligence? As a juror how do I analyze facts when negligence is the issue?

Today’s post is about negligence, what it is and how to view evidence to appreciate what is negligent behavior. Here is a headline and the opening line of a news story out of Indiana.

Snow causes crash and brief

closing of I-65 near Lowell

 

LOWELL | An early Saturday snowstorm is being blamed for a traffic accident that briefly closed a south Lake County section of Interstate 65 and left a downstate man injured.

For years I’ve read headlines and opening sentences in news stories with the lines blaming weather conditions for causing accidents. The idea that snow or weather or even slippery conditions can cause an accident is absolutely preposterous. There is snow outside in my driveway this morning and as I walk to the mailbox to retrieve the morning’s newspaper I notice that the driveway is slippery. The slippers I’m wearing don’t quite fit snuggly on my feet. (Acorn slippers) There is a car sitting in the driveway with snow on it and all around it. So far the snow hasn’t caused an accident. Why not? If snow causes accidents why hasn’t my car in the driveway had an accident? It’s been snowing all night and still there is no accident. The driveway is even slippery and so far no accident. I walked all the way down to the end of the driveway and back and still there is no accident. Maybe I should come back in an hour to see if there’s been an accident. What do you think will there be one? Will I come out to find the fenders crunched and wrecked car?

What’s necessary to have an accident? That’s the place where negligence starts. We need a driver or drivers. No driver and I dare say the car, snow and slippery driveway can coexist all day without having an “accident”.

Now let us turn the discussion to duty. As a juror sitting in a civil car accident case or as the judge will say, a tort case, there are four elements to be proven and then analyzed. The four elements are duty, a breach of duty, proximate cause and damages. Today we are looking at the first two elements, duty and breach of duty. Back to the snow.

As a lawyer with 28 plus years of experience trying civil lawsuits I am confident in saying snow has no duty not to be slippery or to avoid falling on the public highways. I am equally confident in my assertion that no judge would instruct a jury that any law required snow, not to be slippery or on the highway. That I am certain. Drivers on the other hand do have certain duties. A duty is a standard or rule of the road (a law or regulation) that driver must follow in using the public highways. Those duties can include restrictions on speed, when to pass, when not to pass, which side of the road each car should be driving, when to brake and when to make adjustments to the manner in which they drive. Adjustments are the key to this analysis. If it snows and the roadway is slippery the driver must slow down and operate the car or truck in a manner that allows the vehicle to be safely operated. It is the driver who has a duty not the snow. The slick conditions are just that; a condition which the driver must evaluate and adjust his or her driving habits to avoid colliding with other cars, trucks, people, signs, buildings, bridges, culverts and other fixed or moving objects. Drivers are what is needed in my driveway before there can be an accident and it’s those drivers that have the duty and can breach the duty. So when you’re sitting on a jury and someone says that it was the snow or other weather that caused the accident, explain to them how wrong they are and then sit back, hopefully you've wore that power tie or skirt, and see how quickly you’ll become the foreperson.

Here is the full report from Indiana about the snow having caused an accident. While it’s permissible with news reporters to write this way, it’s not proper for lawyers or jurors to think this way. People cause accidents, not weather or cars without drivers.

 

Snow causes crash and brief

closing of I-65 near Lowell

 

LOWELL | An early Saturday snowstorm is being blamed for a traffic accident that briefly closed a south Lake County section of Interstate 65 and left a downstate man injured.

Indiana State Police said Kevin Tomeo, 30, of Avon, In., west of Indianapolis, suffered head and internal injures. He was transported to St. Anthony Medical Center in Crown Point.

The National Weather Service said Saturday an overnight snow system deposited a half inch of snow across much of Northwest Indiana.

Police said an unidentified passenger car was southbound on I-65 shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday when it lost control on a patch of black ice that formed from snow melt at the 238 mile marker, two miles south of the Indiana 2 exit.

Police said the passenger car pulled out of the skid and continued unharmed, but Tomeo's Jeep Cherokee, which was traveling behind it, lost control when he attempted to brake to avoid a collision.

Police said the Jeep began spinning, hit the guard rail and bounced back onto the highway where it was hit by a 2003 Mack truck pulling a double trailer.

Police said the tractor trailer jackknifed, hit the guard rail on the right side of the pavement and came to a halt, blocking all southbound lanes of travel for two and a half hours.

Police said the tractor trailer driver, Roosevelt Bell, 28, of Park Forest, Ill., was uninjured, but ticketed for driving too fast for road conditions.

The National Weather Service said temperatures will remain in the low 30s, but no more snow is forecast until Tuesday.