Motor Vehicle Accidents

Are Automobile Seat Designs Putting Kids at Undue Risk?

March 14, 2016 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

For decades now, parents have been told the safest place for their young children when travelling in a car is the rear seat. Due to a design defect, however, that might not be the case.

According to recent reports, safety experts have uncovered a problem with the design of the back portion of the front seats in some automobiles that can cause the front seats to break, resulting in front-seat passengers colliding with backseat passengers when involved in rear-end collisions. This has been known to result in serious – and in some cases fatal – injuries for children riding in the rear seats.

One automaker was recently hit with a $124.5 million verdict awarded against it by a jury in Texas in connection with a 2012 accident in which an 11-year-old boy died as a result of injuries suffered when his father’s driver’s seat broke, causing the father to collide head-first with his son. Car makers reportedly have stated that although the cost to correct this situation would be minimal, the design is intentional so that the seats can absorb energy from an impact. Safety experts, on the other hand, feel the design is dangerous and puts children at risk. To learn more about the controversy surrounding this potential hazard, see “ “No excuse”: Safety experts say this car defect puts kids in danger.”

Driver Inattention Cited as Leading Cause of Fatal Accidents in N.J. for Fifth Consecutive Year

January 18, 2016 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

For a long time, safe driving campaigns focused on stopping people from drinking and driving. Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over; Don’t Drink and Drive, Arrive Alive; Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk; U Drink, U Drive, U Lose are some of the more memorable slogans used to discourage this behavior.

Although driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol has not been eliminated, it is no longer the number one factor leading to fatal collisions in New Jersey. According to State Police analysis of crash data, driver inattention, or distracted driving, was the leading cause of fatal accidents in the State in 2014. This revelation is not new. In fact, 2014 was the fifth consecutive year in which distracted driving was found to be the top factor leading to accident fatalities. To read more details about this analysis see “This kills more people on N.J. roads than anything else.”

New Regulations Could Affect Recreational Drone Operators

January 4, 2016 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

Did you receive a drone as a gift this holiday season or perhaps purchase one for someone on your gift list? If so, you should be aware of new regulations recently announced by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) affecting many recreational drone operators.

Officials are concerned that the increased, unregulated use of drones poses a risk of serious injury resulting from accidents with other aircraft. According to a report issued by Bard College’s Center for the Study of the Drone, there were 327 “close encounters” between drones and manned aircraft reported between December 2013 and September 2015. The majority of these incidents met the FAA’s definition of “close encounters,” which means two aircraft were flying within 500 feet of each other at some point. Additionally, most of the reported incidents took place in areas where drones are prohibited by the FAA. The Consumer Electronics Association predicted that sales of drones for 2015 would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 700,000, with a large number of sales occurring during the holiday season. With more drones in the air, the near-miss incidents can only be expected to increase.

In an effort to cut down on the dangers drones pose to manned aircraft, the FAA is now requiring that drones over a certain weight be registered with the federal government and that recreational users follow certain operating guidelines. For details on the new regulations, read US News & World Report’s story, “Toy Drones Must Be Registered With the Government.”

Keyless Ignitions: A Convenience or A Safety Hazard?

November 23, 2015 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

Most new cars today come equipped with a keyless ignition feature that allows the driver to start the car without ever taking the key from his or her pocket or purse – they simply push a button. While many drivers quickly grow to appreciate this new convenience, some claim keyless ignition systems are defective and pose a potential deadly hazard.

Class action lawsuits have been filed against car manufacturers alleging that the keyless ignition feature makes it too easy for drivers to unintentionally leave their cars running. When this happens in an enclosed garage, carbon monoxide fumes can build up and potentially enter the attached homes threatening the safety of the home’s occupants.

An article appearing recently on www.nbcnewyork.com titled, “I-Team: Class Action Lawsuits Expose Potential Dangers of Keyless Ignitions,” details one case of carbon monoxide poisoning claimed to be connected with the keyless ignition issue and discusses the class action lawsuits car makers are now facing.

Halloween Injuries: Accessories That Put the Scare in Halloween

October 26, 2015 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

Halloween is just around the corner and if you want a real scare, consider the following statistics:

Halloween ranks among the top three holidays in terms of injuries and / or fatalities. The other two most dangerous holidays are July 4^th(fireworks) and New Year’s Eve (drunk driving).
In the 20-year period from 1990 to 2010, the number of fatal accidents involving child pedestrians on Halloween averaged 5.5 each year, compared with 2.6 for other days.

Dangers of Aggressive Driving to Be Covered in Drivers’ Training

May 11, 2015 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

Aggressive driving takes on many forms. It can be exhibited by excessive speed, tailgating, failure to signal, unsafe lane changes, illegal passing, and other dangerous driving behaviors. Often aggressive driving starts out as a driver trying to make up time, but this behavior could very easily result in a motor vehicle accident. What’s more, aggressive driving could lead to road rage – a situation in which one driver overreacts and deliberately seeks retaliation on another.

According to statistics, a majority of New Jersey drivers view aggressive driving as a real threat to their safety and to the safety of their families. In an effort to cut down on this risk, Gov. Chris Christie recently signed a new law that would add the dangers of aggressive driving to New Jersey’s new driver training program. For details, read Mike Davis’ recent article, “N.J. law aggressive driving education is inspired by teen paralyzed in road rage crash.”

Driving Distractions are Leading Cause of Teen Accidents

March 30, 2015 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

One of the most nerve-wracking events for parents of teenagers is when their child first begins to drive – and with good reason. Statistics released recently by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety confirm that distracted driving is a leading cause of accidents among young drivers. Michael Green’s article, “Distractions and Teen Crashes: Even Worse than We Thought,” identifies the most common factors leading to teen driver distraction and illustrates just how serious the problem is.

New Jersey’s graduated driver license program attempts to combat this problem by limiting the hours new drivers are permitted to drive and the number of passengers permitted in their vehicles. It also bans the use of both hand-held and hands-free devices for new drivers. For more details on New Jersey’s teen license restrictions, see New Jersey Graduated Driver License Program.

Regardless of Jury Decision, Compensation can be Capped by Limits of Insurance Policy

March 2, 2015 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

Although the law in New Jersey requires all motorists to carry automobile insurance, not every driver complies. In response to this, New Jersey requires Uninsured Motorist Insurance (UMI) be built into automobile insurance policies issued in the State. While UMI covers the policyholder in the event of an accident with an uninsured or underinsured driver, the coverage is subject to strict limits. This was evident in a recent lawsuit in which a Middlesex County jury awarded a New Jersey woman in excess of $8 million dollars, but her actual compensation was capped at less than $500,000. Read “Woman awarded $8.4 million in suit against own insurer.”

Victor Rotolo, founder of Ragland Law Firm, has spoken out on this issue previously, noting that being seriously injured in an accident with an uninsured or underinsured driver was one of the worse scenarios you could be involved in. He urges drivers to protect themselves by acquiring as much coverage as possible. To read more about his comments on this matter, see “Attorney Victor A. Rotolo Explains What to Expect if You Are in an Accident with an Uninsured New Jersey Driver.”

Was Fatal NJ Turnpike Crash Due to an Act of God or Negligence?

February 16, 2015 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

A total of 40 vehicles, including at least two tractor trailers, were involved in a fatal accident on the New Jersey Turnpike last Monday evening. Some attribute the day’s wintry storm, which dropped snow, sleet and freezing rain on the roads, with causing the collision. Others say the crash could have been avoided had the roadway been properly treated. For more on this accident, read nj.com’s “Icy, fatal Turnpike crash ‘should never have happened,’ road’s former engineer says.”⁽¹⁾

http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2015/02/icy_fatal_pileup_on_nj_turnpike_should_never_have.html

Did a Cost-Cutting Modification Affect the Safety of a Guardrail Element?

November 10, 2014 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

In another case of what may be safety equipment doing more harm than good, states across the country are joining in a boycott of certain guardrail end terminals manufactured by Trinity Highway Products, LLC, a business of Texas-based Trinity Industries, Inc. Last week New Jersey became the thirty-first state to join this ever-growing list when the State’s Department of Transportation and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, which also oversees the Garden State Parkway, announced they were banning the use of these products in both new construction and maintenance projects at least until further safety tests can be conducted.⁽¹⁾

The end terminals in question, part of Trinity’s ET-Plus System, have been connected to about 14 motor vehicle accidents that reportedly resulted in numerous injuries and at least 5 deaths. In theory, guardrail end terminals, when struck, are supposed to move with the vehicle and absorb at least some of the impact of the crash. According to reports, the ET-Plus end terminals have a tendency to lock rather than move when hit head-on by the front of an oncoming vehicle. This can result in the guardrail cutting through the oncoming vehicle like a spear. Numerous injuries, including amputations, have been blamed on this malfunction.⁽¹⁾

These allegations from crash victims were the topic of a broadcast on “20/20,” the investigative news program produced by ABC television, last September. Then, last month, a Texas jury found the parent company, Trinity Industries, guilty of defrauding the federal government by covering up a change in the product’s design. According to reports, the company made modifications to the design of its guardrail end terminals in 2005, but failed to report those changes either to federal or state transportation officials at the time. The change in question reduced by an inch the size of a metal piece used in the guardrail end terminal. This change, it was reported, saved the company about $2 on each guardrail it produced for an estimated savings of $50,000 per year.⁽²⁾