Posts Tagged ‘Missouri Car Accident Attorneys’

Distracted Driving Remains a Serious Threat in Missouri

Saturday, April 12th, 2014

A person traveling in a vehicle may not even realize that they are driving while distracted.  It is normal to reach for that travel mug with the necessary caffeine to jump start the day or to surf the satellite options, looking for the right song.  As typical as these behaviors are, when a driver takes his focus off the road, whether that it his visual or mental attention, the risks of getting into a serious accident increase tremendously.  When the distraction is even more involved, such as taking a “selfie” and updating a social networking site, the consequences can be deadly.

In the news recently was the tragic story of a young woman who wanted to tell the world that she was in a great mood.  That impulse was so strong that she did not want to wait until she arrived at her destination to broadcast her update.  Unfortunately, this decision resulted in a fatal car accident.  While driving to work in North Carolina, this woman crossed the center section and collided with a recycling truck.  There was no evidence that speed, alcohol, or drugs were an issue in this crash.  The woman’s friends alerted authorities to the near simultaneous posts and crash times.  In this case, only the driver who was on the Internet while driving was killed, but many distracted driving accidents result in more than one victim.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), distracted driving leads to ten percent of fatal traffic crashes and 18 percent of accidents that result in injuries.  According to the NHTSA’s recent Distracted Driving Safety Facts sheet, 16 percent of all accidents involve distracted driving.  In 2012, this resulted in more than 3,300 fatalities and 421,000 injuries.  Young drivers, ages 15 to 19 years, are involved in the greatest number of distracted driving crashes.

Distracted driving, which is included as a subset of inattentive (fatigue, emotional or physical conditions, etc.) driving by some researchers, includes many different behaviors.  Part of the problem is that most drivers do not think about the many of the following circumstances as a distraction to be avoided:

  • Eating in the car – drive-thrus were created for the propensity of people to multi-task, but this leads to a serious loss of focus;
  • Looking at the billboards – they were designed to catch drivers’ attention and they are affective;
  • Daydreaming – when traveling the same route for years, many people will zone out in their commute, but this distraction could have severe consequences;
  • Bringing your pet in the car – while pet owners may be committed to giving their animals as much time as possible, a loose pet can distract a driver at a critical moment;
  • Checking the directions on the GPS – as a way to get where a person is going, GPS devices are wonderful, but when a person picks it up to review the map, it could delay permanently getting to the desired destination;
  • Paying attention to the children in the backseat – when a parent is watching what his kids are doing, he is not paying attention to the stopped traffic in front of him;
  • Applying makeup or fixing hair – traveling at 65 miles per hour is not the right time to make certain that a person is camera-ready;
  • Using electronic devices – this is what most people think of when distracted driving is discussed.

Distracted driving leads to tragic accidents that are entirely preventable but for the negligence of the driver. 

A serious accident that results injuries always is traumatic for the victims.  When the crash was caused by the negligence of another person, it is important to have a knowledgeable attorney who can get the compensation that you deserve for the harm that you suffered.  The experienced Missouri Car Accident Attorneys at Hubbard & Kurtz, LLP are ready to advocate on your behalf.  Call us at (877) 535-1163 so we can discuss what happened to you and develop an effective legal strategy.

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Traumatic Brain Injuries are a Serious Consequence of Missouri Accidents

Friday, February 28th, 2014

There are many terrible consequences of a car accident or other horrific event, but a victim who suffers from traumatic brain injury following an accident endures some of the most debilitating pain and challenging recoveries.  A traumatic brain injury results from an impact to the head that occurs in a fall or an impact event.  The two categories of traumatic brain injury (often referred to as TBI) are:

  • A penetrating injury: An injury that involves an intrusion into the brain area by a foreign object.  The damage occurs along the path of penetration as well as the final impact point.  These types of injuries may be caused by a bullet or shrapnel, as well as an object forced into the brain during a serious car accident, including parts of the metal car frame.
  • A closed head injury: When there is an impact to the head, the brain may be jarred inside the skull, causing damage to the brain tissue.  This can happen in a fall where the person strikes his head or a car accident, when the victim’s head strikes the steering wheel, window, or dashboard.

In the United States, there are 1.7 million victims who suffer from a TBI each year.  These serious injuries can lead to death, but if the damage to the tissue is not too severe, the person may recover over time.  Many accident victims suffer from the consequences of a TBI for the remainder of their lives after the time of the injury.  Falls result in the greatest number of TBIs each year with motor vehicle accidents coming in second at seventeen percent (17%).  However, vehicle accidents result in the highest percentage of fatalities from TBIs.

The nature of the injury means that there are many immediate signs of trauma, including:

  • Intracranial pressure that can have devastating consequences if not treated immediately (this pressure build-up leads to many deaths from TBIs);
  • Swelling of the brain itself;
  • Hematomas;
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorders;
  • Anemia;
  • Cardiac abnormalities; and
  • Behavioral changes.

The long-term effects on the victim of a TBI may include debilitating pain and severe headaches, loss of muscle control impacting movement and coordination, vision, hearing, or speech impairment or loss, emotional turmoil, and cognitive impairment.  A child who suffers from a TBI may not be able to return to the educational program that he or she attended before the accident.  He may need adaptive technology, round-the-clock assistance, modifications to the home and family vehicle, and intensive medical rehabilitation.  These specialized, and expensive, requirements may be necessary for the rest of the child’s life, meaning that there must be funds available to provide the appropriate level of care after the parents are no longer able to care for the child.

An adult with a traumatic brain injury may no longer have the ability to perform the job that he or she held before the accident.  This injury may prevent him from working at all, especially if the tissue damage was extensive and the damage is permanent.  Family members may have to give up a career, or take reduced hours, in order to provide the type of support that a TBI victim needs, including driving him to medical appointments and providing basic care.  Many times, it is necessary to hire in-home nursing care.  In order to ensure that the victim has the best quality of life possible, even if a return to normal is never possible, it is imperative that the settlement or jury award takes every physical, emotional, and financial need into account.

When you or a loved one has been severely injured in an accident, it is critical to have the right attorneys who understand that it is not merely the suffering of the moment that must be considered, but the long-term consequences of the accident that must be raised before it is too late to recover.  The skilled and caring Missouri Car Accident Attorneys at Hubbard & Kurtz, LLP are dedicated to getting the justice that our clients deserve.  To set up an initial consultation to discuss what happened to you and how we can help, please call us at (877) 535-1163.

 

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