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Proposals to Mandate Speed Limiters on All Trucks Gather Steam

As Atlanta truck accident lawyers, we have supported efforts by truck safety groups to get the federal administration to mandate speed limiters on all commercial trucks.Ultimately, it might be environmental concerns that help meet that goal.

We’ve known for long that reducing speed limits on trucks can help prevent the catastrophic injuries and multiple fatalities that result during high-speed truck accidents.Besides, even a reduction of 1 mph in truck speed can contribute to a 1% increase in fuel efficiency. Environmental and trucking efficiency concerns are high right now, and this May, the President asked his administration to get to work on developing a policy that would tackle fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emission concerns.Speed limiters will help meet both these targets.

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More Focus on Highway Safety Technologies, Less on Distracting Issues

Does the super-sized focus on specific highway safety problems like distracted driving and auto safety issues like the Toyota acceleration crisis detract attention away from potential safety technologies and processes?It’s an intriguing question posed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and as Atlanta auto accident lawyers, we agree with many of the Institute’s opinions.

What the Insurance Institute is basically saying in its latest report, is that when federal transportation safety agencies focus heavily on a specific highway safety problem like distracted driving, and when already limited resources are devoted to tackling this problem, it takes much attention and effort away from the development of other technologies and processes that can prevent accidents.No one is denying that distracted driving is a serious problem, but it contributes to a small percentage of auto accident fatalities every year.Similarly, we aren’t saying that Toyota doesn’t have acceleration problems.In fact, in our capacity as Atlanta personal injury lawyers, we have always said that the company needs to be held accountable for its negligence.

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Insurers Concerned over Increase in Dog Bite Claims

Insurance companies are beginning to feel the bite as a nationwide increase in dog bite claims chews away at bottom lines.

In 2009, there was an increase of 6.4% in the amount that insurers had to pay out to settle dog bite claims.Companies paid out $412 million to cover dog bite claims in 2009, compared to the previous year, when the payout was $387.2 million.The average dog bite claim in 2009 exceeded $24,000 for the third year in a row.The number of claims increased to 16,586 – an increase of 4.8%.

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The decision to step in and take action when you see an elderly motorist beginning to lose his driving abilities, is never an easy one to make.However, for millions of Americans in the position of caregivers for their parents, it’s a moment that presents itself sooner or later.

Studies estimate that elderly motorist safety is likely to become an even bigger safety concern in the years ahead, as the baby boomer population hits its 70s.According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, in 2008, 78% of the senior population in the United States had driving licenses, compared to 73% just a decade earlier.Those numbers are expected to increase over the next decade.

It’s important for families of these motorists to know when to make the decision to suspend or restrict the person’s driving privileges.It’s also important to gently ease the person into giving up the keys, or at least present him with a set of alternatives to driving.Here are some steps you can take to keep your loved one and others safe.

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Feds to Mandate Seatbelts on All Buses

The worst bus accident in Atlanta in recent memory occurred three years ago, when a bus carrying a baseball team from Bluffton University plunged off a highway overpass, killing seven people including five baseball players.Some of those who were killed or injured were ejected from the vehicle, as the bus swung around sharply before it flipped over.Would those statistics have been different if the students were wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident?It is quite likely, and if a US Department of Transportation proposal to mandate seatbelts on all motor coaches is successful, we might be able to dramatically reduce the number of people seriously injured or killed in bus accidents in the future.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has announced that his agency is considering long-pending proposals by the National Transportation Safety Board, to mandate seatbelts on all motor coaches.The NTSB made the recommendations back in 1968, but any attempts at federal and state legislation to mandate seatbelts on all motor coaches have been thwarted by the powerful bus manufacturer lobby.The industry has managed to get away with putting thousands of vehicles sans seatbelts out there, and the impact has been seen in a series of deadly bus accidents, from California to Texas.

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A new piece of legislation that has been introduced in the U.S. Senate seeks to allow individual states to increase the gross weight limit on trucks plying the Interstate Highway System.The current gross weight limit in Georgia is about 80,000 pounds.If the legislation were to become law, trucking companies would be able to increase that weight to up to 97,000 pounds.

There are several reasons why Atlanta truck accident attorneys have a problem with this.For one, it would mean greater wear and tear on our already stretched highways.These are tough economic times, and funding for highway repairs and maintenance is already hard to source.The increased wear and tear from heavier trucks would leave Georgia’s highways compromised.

There’s another more serious reason why we strongly oppose any bill to increase funding for weight limits on trucks plying interstate highways.No matter how experienced a truck driver, he will find it a challenge to drive a trailer with an additional 17,000 pounds of cargo.Ask any truck driver and he will tell you that this is likely to be a safety concern if the bill actually becomes law.Trucking can be extremely strenuous, physically challenging work, and while experience can help, Atlanta truck accident lawyers often come across devastating truck accidents caused by experienced truckers.

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Georgia Department of Transportation Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit

The Georgia Department of Transportation has agreed to pay $600,000 dollars to settle a wrongful death lawsuit, arising from a taxi accident that killed a 51-year-old woman.Patricia Heller was killed when her taxi went out of control and crashed into a tree.She suffered fatal injuries.

Her husband filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the taxi driver, the taxi company, a former city inspector and the Georgia Department of Transportation.The lawsuit alleged that the taxi had bald tires on the day of the accident, and had passed a city inspection just one day before the crash.The lawsuit also accused the Department Of Transportation of negligent design of that section of Interstate 85, alleging that a tree should not have been allowed to grow so close to the roadway.The lawsuit also alleged that the slope was too steep, and the drainage system was poor.

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NHTSA Data Shows High Rates of Auto Accidents, Fatalities in Rural Areas

Newly released data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that traffic safety in rural areas continues to be a serious concern.According to the statistics, although just 23% of the US population lived in rural areas in 2007, accident fatalities in rural areas accounted for 57% of all traffic accident fatalities that year.

A few very interesting facts stand out from the study.

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Mandatory Electronic Stability Control Systems Would Prevent Truck Rollover Accidents

Electronic stability control systems have been found to significantly reduce the risk of rollover accidents in passenger vehicles.These systems are mandatory on all new passenger vehicles, but have not yet been made mandatory in commercial trucks.According to researchers at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, if electronic stability control systems were made mandatory in all commercial trucks, it would reduce the risk of rollovers, and save approximately 106 lives a year.

Researchers estimate that approximately 3,500 rollover accidents involving commercial trucks could be prevented each year, if all trucks were equipped with stability control systems.These systems could prevent about 4,400 injuries every year.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is waiting for the results of a formal study into the benefits of having electronic stability control systems in all trucks, to make a decision about mandating these in all commercial trucks.

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One of the biggest factors in motorcycle accidents is motorist negligence or lack of motorist awareness.It’s important for motorists to understand that motorcycles are not like cars or trucks.Motorcyclists face peculiar challenges as they jostle for space with motorists, and it helps motorcyclists if other people on the road are more aware of these challenges.

The Motorcycle Safety Foundation has tips for motorists and truck drivers to help them look out for motorcyclists.Here’s a brief rundown of just some of those tips.

· Look out for motorcyclists especially closely at certain spots, like intersections. Because of a motorcycle’s small size, it may be easier to miss.

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