Month: February 2017

At this point, Americans are quite familiar with product liability claims related to automobiles. The Takata air bag scandal is just the latest in a frequent string of recalls for dangerous and defective parts in cars and trucks. Sometimes these defects cause motor vehicle accidents and sometimes they make crashes more likely to be fatal.

It is far rarer to hear about auto accidents caused by defective products that are not actually part of the vehicle. That was apparently the scenario in a recent 18-wheeler accident in the Midwest. According to news sources, the driver of the truck lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a highway guardrail when the e-cigarette he was holding suddenly exploded.

Thankfully, no other vehicles were involved in the crash and the truck driver's crash-related injuries were minor. He did, however, suffer injuries related to the exploding device.

In recent years, e-cigarettes have become an incredibly popular alternative to traditional smoking. This is despite a lack of evidence to support claims that they pose less of a health risk than smoking tobacco products. While this seems to be one of the first reported cases of a crash related to e-cigarettes, there have been other reports of the devices exploding during use. Incidents like this one could lead to personal injury lawsuits, product liability claims and more stringent regulation of these devices.

Although the truck accident occurred in the Midwest, it just as easily could have happened here in California, and with deadlier results. Hopefully, any problems with these apparently dangerous devices will be resolved before such an accident happens again.

We have previously written about the intriguing possibilities of self-driving cars. This topic is especially interesting to people here in the Bay Area, because Google's autonomous vehicle technology seems to be further along than that of other groups working on this important project.

In December, we wrote about proposed rules issued by the California Department of Motor Vehicles that would require licensed, human drivers to "be present inside the vehicle and be capable of taking control in the event of a technology failure or other emergency." Critics have said that these rules could really slow the progress of innovation. But earlier this month, news from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration seemingly cleared away a major regulatory hurdle.

In a letter that the NHTSA sent to Google, the agency said it "will interpret 'driver' in the context of Google's described motor vehicle design as referring to the (self-driving system), and not to any of the vehicle occupants." In other words, the car's self-driving software could be considered a "driver" for regulatory purposes.

The possibility of self-driving vehicles is exciting from both a convenience standpoint and a safety standpoint. Human error is the cause of or a contributing factor to the vast majority of car accidents. Many tech enthusiasts have predicted that once self-driving vehicles become ubiquitous, the rate of car accidents in the U.S. will decrease dramatically.

On the other hand, we truly don't know how such software will perform. The high number of safety recalls in recent years is a reminder that automakers are not always giving vehicle safety the attention it deserves. If and when accidents do occur, auto companies (and software developers they contract with) could potentially be held liable as both negligent manufacturers and negligent drivers.

The time for self-driving vehicles has not arrived yet, but there is reason to believe it is just around the corner. Hopefully, regulators will not wait to address these important liability questions.

The safety of road travel in the United States has been improving for decades. Between 2000 and 2014, for instance, annual traffic fatalities declined by 22 percent. That is real, measurable progress.

Unfortunately, preliminary numbers from 2015 suggest that the trend is quickly reversing. In the first nine months of 2015, the rate of traffic fatalities in the U.S. increased 9.3 percent, compared to the same period a year earlier. In human terms, 2015 saw an estimated 26,000 car accident deaths in less than a year.

According to a press release from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, regulators are very concerned by these statistics. In response, the NHTSA is holding a series of regional summits to discuss mitigation strategies and address the human factors underlying many fatal crashes. These include drunk driving, distracted driving, drowsy driving, speeding, failing to wear a seat belt and failure to use child seats. The agency also wants to address ways to increase pedestrian and bicyclist safety.

The first summit was held earlier this month in California's capitol. Commenting on the effort, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx noted that “For decades, U.S. DOT has been driving safety improvements on our roads, and those efforts have resulted in a steady decline in highway deaths. But the apparent increase in 2015 is a signal that we need to do more. The safety summits that NHTSA is kicking off today in Sacramento will provide us with new approaches to add to the tried-and-true tactics that we know save lives.”

Observers may have noticed that this increasing concern about human driving behavior comes at a time when autonomous vehicles could soon become a reality. It will be interesting to find out whether dangerous driver choices will hasten the adoption of self-driving vehicles.

In recent years, California roads and highways have been plagued by some devastating and high-profile bus accidents. Many of these accidents involved commercial motor coach companies offering low-fare trips between cities (and states).

There are certainly reputable and reliable carriers. But overall, the motor coach transportation industry is plagued by companies seeking to make a quick buck however and whenever they can. Sadly, the very low fares some companies are able to offer come at the cost of safety.

Since it first began operating in 2006, the company Megabus has made a name for itself across the United States – primarily by offering incredibly low fares for certain trips. In some cases, passengers can ride one way for as little as $1.

But those low prices may come with hidden costs – and not just in the form of extra fees. Megabus has been associated with several injurious and fatal accidents over the past few years. In 2010, four passengers were killed when a double-decker Megabus struck a railroad overpass in New York State.

In 2014, a rollover accident injured 26 passengers in Indiana. A year later, another Megabus crash resulted in 19 injuries.

And recently, a columnist for the New York Times wrote about his own harrowing experience when the Megabus he was riding in caught fire for inexplicable reasons. Passengers were able to escape uninjured, but nearly all luggage stored in the lower compartments was destroyed when the whole bus became engulfed in flames.

To be sure, Megabus is not the only motor coach company with a bad safety record. In fact, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has found it very difficult to regulate this industry overall. Fly-by-night companies may get shut down, only to reopen under different names.

If you ever rely on bus transportation between cities or states, please understand the risks that often hide behind the promise of low fares. Before you buy a ticket from any carrier, take the time to do some online research. A company's safety record should tell you all you need to know.

It is rare for people to walk away unscathed after a highway car wreck, but crashes that involve entire families are especially tragic for survivors. This is even more devastating when car accidents leave young children behind without parents, which could very well change the course of their entire lives. A recent wreck in California demonstrates how a single accident can have terrible consequences.

According to authorities, two vehicles were involved in an crash on Highway 4 in Contra Costa County. A van carrying six family members was traveling westbound on the highway when an eastbound truck crossed the center line. The van tried to swerve to miss the truck, but was unsuccessful and the two vehicles collided. The van landed upside down in a canal beside the highway.

A bystander saw the accident, and helped the passengers out of the submerged van. Three children, ages 10, nine and two and a 24-year-old cousin were all taken to a nearby medical center with minor injuries. The mother and father of the children perished from injuries sustained in the crash. In addition, the truck driver suffered major injuries and was taken to a hospital.

According to a GoFundMe page, the oldest child of the couple stated that the children’s lives “were changed forever” due to this accident and blamed it on the truck driver falling asleep at the wheel. The California Highway Patrol is still investigating the cause at this time. Alcohol has not been listed as a contributing factor for the wreck.

After catastrophic car accidents such as this, it is vital that survivors and family members seek legal representation quickly. The surviving victims of such a terrible wreck may need financial support for mounting medical bills due to injuries sustained and potential lost wages. Likewise, the family of a deceased victim may need compensation to defray funeral costs or the loss of a financially providing family member. An experienced California legal representative can explain the options available.

Source: Martinez, Ca. Patch, “Martinez parents killed in crash identified; GoFundMe account set up to help children“, Dave Colby, March 17, 2016