Georgia Injury Law Blog
Summer driving season will be upon us soon, and with more people out and taking road trips this summer, the number of automobile accidents is bound to increase. The National Transportation Safety Board last month released its list of transportation safety recommendations for 2021, and tackled critical areas like distracted driving, speeding and drunk driving.
Every year, the National Transportation Safety Board releases its much awaited Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements. In the recent 2021- 2022 list, the National Transportation Safety Board gave its recommendations on a number of critical traffic safety areas that are responsible for causing thousands of accidents every year.
As expected, and as on most of its annual lists, the National Transportation Safety Board calls on state and federal authorities to invest in the prevention of accidents caused by the use of alcohol and drugs. Accidents involving alcohol and drug- impaired driving are far too common, even in 2021. The Board has drastic recommendations for the prevention of drunk driving accidents and recommends that states, like Georgia, roll back their minimum blood alcohol concentration limits to 0.05%, and require all motorists convicted of drunk driving to have ignition interlock devices installed in their vehicles.
The Board also wants states to focus on more vulnerable users of our roads like pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists, and calls for the education of motorists, infrastructure enhancements, revisions of speed limits as well as post-accident care.
The National Transportation Safety Board also wants authorities to focus on the elimination of the distracted driving menace. Interestingly enough, the National Transportation Safety Board believes that hands-free devices are not necessarily a solution to the problem of distracted driving. The distraction comes from the cognitive effort involved in having a conversation while driving, and not on whether the individual is actually using his hands. Georgia currently allows motorists to use hands- free sets while driving, but using handheld devices is prohibited behind the wheel.
Another prominent traffic safety hazard that the Board addresses is speeding. The National Transportation Safety Board wants authorities to design and implement comprehensive strategies to reduce the risk of speeding-related accidents. High-speed collisions caused by speeding almost always result in fatalities, if not life-long catastrophic injuries.
The National Transportation Safety Board is also calling for the expansion of collision avoidance technologies and connected vehicle systems on all vehicles, including commercial trucks. According to the Board, systems that identify hazards ahead and automatically slow down speeds in order to avoid accidents should be in place on all passenger vehicles as well as commercial vehicles and trucks.
The Board is calling for speed limits on motor vehicles as well as commercial trucks in order to reduce the risk of speeding-related accidents, automated speeding enforcement and expansion of education campaigns as these strategies are currently “underutilized.”
The National Transportation Safety Board in its list also addresses other areas of safety, including commercial aviation, pipeline detection, rail worker safety, and safety on passenger and fishing boats.
The Atlanta car accident attorneys at the Katz Personal Injury Lawyers represent persons injured in car accidents in the metro Atlanta region and across Georgia, helping them recover compensation for their losses. If you or a loved one have been injured in a car accident, talk to a lawyer at our firm and determine your legal options for a claim for damages.