Modesto Injury Lawyer Blog

In 2010, Stanislaus County recorded more than a dozen pedestrian- or bicycle-involved fatal Modesto car accidents, the Modesto Bee reports.

Early morning on Jan. 13, the first pedestrian victim of 2011 was killed while crossing McHenry Avenue. He was not using the crosswalk, but investigators reported that other vehicles stopped for the man. The driver has yet to be cited or arrested, but Modesto police say it appears the 32-year-old is at fault. Such accidents frequently lead to serious or fatal injuries and should always be handled by an experienced Modesto personal injury lawyer.

In an effort to make streets safer for our youngest pedestrians, school districts in Stanislaus County, across California and, literally, around the globe, participated again last October in the International Walk to School Day.

About 500 area school children and their parents hit the streets and walked to school, the Modesto Bee reports. IWS is a global health-awareness initiative that promotes community, good health practices, conservation and traffic safety.

IWS began in 1997 in Chicago as an effort to bring families and their local representatives together to experience the importance of developing walkable communities. Last year, there were 3,500 registered IWS events nationwide drawing participants from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Paired with the international community, U.S. students and families added to nearly 3 million walkers around the globe.

The Centers for Disease Control reports that in America a pedestrian-linked fatal car accident was responsible for one death every two hours and one pedestrian injury every eight minutes in 2008.

More than 4,300 pedestrians were killed walking along America's roadways. Another 69,000 were injured.

In California alone, almost 21 percent of pedestrian traffic fatalities were children aged 15 and younger; and nearly 10 percent of car accidents were linked to hit-and-run incidents. In 2008, 457 men and 185 women were struck and killed while walking along a California roadway. Men aged 45 to 54 were the most frequent victims, the California Highway Patrol reports.

IWS encourages students and parents to make walking a regular family affair. To help get families started, Walk to School provides a simple checklist that parents and children can use to evaluate the "walkability" of their community streets. Steps include:

STEP ONE: Pick a place to walk somewhere around your neighborhood. You can have a destination in mind or a more circuitous route. For parents of elementary-school age children, try introducing the subject as though it were an adventure; and you, explorers. Before you head out, review your walkability checklist together.

STEP TWO: Once you have a potential route selected, put on your walking shoes, bring a copy of the walkability checklist, and, hit the road. As you walk, evaluate. Make notes.

STEP THREE: Once you have identified areas for improvement, figure out what you can do to resolve them.

Continue reading "Walkers in Modesto, Stockton, at High Risk of Pedestrian Accidents" »

On the one-year anniversary of the launch of FocusDriven, a national non-profit that advocates for victims of distracted driving, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood promised to keep distracted driving "at the top of his agenda," the Modesto Bee reports.

"Distracted driving is a deadly epidemic and when it comes to road safety, we will not take a backseat to anyone," said LaHood. "That's why distracted driving will continue to be a major part of DOT's robust safety agenda."

With an annual estimate of 5,500 motorist killed in car accidents linked to distracted driving and another 500,000 left injured, Modesto car accident lawyers understand the risks motorists face each day as a result of careless drivers.

California, along with 29 other states and Washington D.C., has banned texting for all drivers. State lawmakers have also banned use of a hand-held device for all drivers. The law further prohibits school or transit bus drivers, and drivers aged 18 and younger, from using cell phones while behind the wheel.

But the California Department of Motor Vehiclesfrequently reminds motorists that cell phones and iPods are not the only distractions a driver faces. Distractions can be visual, cognitive or manual. Eating while driving, for example, is a particularly hazardous distraction that most all drivers engage in from time to time. Unwrapping of packaging, the chow down and the clean up may only take seconds, but in two seconds a car can travel anywhere from 50 to 100 feet or more.

Chatting it up with your fellow passengers, giving the family pet some attention, putting on makeup, adjusting vehicle controls and gawking at an accident, a billboard or a scenic part of your trip are all common daily occurrences that can, literally, drive you to distraction and put you, your passengers and other drivers at risk.

Continue reading "Distracted Driving a Common Cause of Car Accidents in Modesto and Stockton" »

From a foggy morning in Turlock to the ongoing hearty ski season snowfalls blanketing Yosemite, to Sequoia national parks and beyond, drivers in Modesto, Stockton and the surrounding areas face a variety of driving conditions that can impact their risk of being involved in a serious or fatal accident.

Our Stockton car accident attorneys know that with snow and wet weather comes increased chances of a serious or fatal Central California car accident.

Sure ski resort owners are thrilled. As are Modesto water officials who see the winter snow and rain as "money in the bank" for the dry weather season ahead. With that said, the California Highway Patrol is less impressed with copious amounts of rain, fog and snow we've experienced this winter, and more concerned about the safety of Modesto drivers.

In 2007, nearly 8,000 people were injured in weather-related California car accidents. And, more than 100 fatalities were tied to car accidents in foggy, rainy or snowy conditions.

The CHP provides the following tips for area winter weather travelers:

~ First and foremost: S-L-O-W D-O-W-N. Driving the posted limit when roads are icy, snow covered, or wet may not be safe. Adjust your speed to road and weather conditions. If visibility is near zero due to fog, the speed your vehicle is traveling should reflect that.

~ Unless it is an emergency, never come to a complete stop on a highway while driving in foggy conditions.

~ Remember, State law requires that drivers turn their headlights if windshield wipers are engaged. To be effective, make sure your wiper blades are in good working condition.

~ Running low-beam headlights when driving in a fog not only helps your visibility penetrate the mist; it also helps make you more visible to other drivers.

~ Avoid lane change maneuvers and crack your window so you can listen for traffic.

~ Watch your speed. CHP reports that fog creates a "visual illusion of slow motion" that may trick you into thinking you're driving slower than you are.

~ When driving in the rain, watch for vehicle hydroplaning. Put more space between you and the car in front of you Be gentle with the brakes as braking on wet roads may cause your car to pull.

~ Travel with an emergency kit. It should include: blankets and a change of clothes (preferably warm and waterproof), water and non-perishable food, flares, a small shovel, a ice scraper, a flashlight and extra batteries, a charged cell phone, and snow chains.

Continue reading "Modesto Car Accidents often caused by Fog, Inclement Weather" »

As more and more details emerge from the long-running high-profile coverage of prescription medication abuse scandals allegedly responsible for the deaths of Michael Jackson and Anna Nicole Smith, our Modesto car accident lawyers know that illicit and prescription drug abuse is a frequent contributor to serious and fatal car accidents.

Now, a recent study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reveals that post-mortem testing of fatally injured drivers reflects a spike in drug use by drivers involved in fatal car accidents. With that said, the NHTSA notes that drug involvement does not mean the driver was impaired or that drug use caused the crash. It does, however, validate the notion that prescription and over-the-counter medication use and abuse has emerged as a national issue when it comes to driver safety.

Based on the NHTSA's Fatal Accident Reporting System census, in 2009 one in three car accident fatalities involved drivers who tested positive for drugs in a post-mortem screening. This represents a five percent increase over the last five years despite overall falling numbers of drivers killed in car accidents nationwide.

"Drugged driving is a much bigger public health threat than most Americans realize and unfortunately, it may be getting worse," said Gil Kerlikowske, Director of National Drug Control Policy.

In 2009, the NHTSA reports that California screened 1,678 fatally injured drivers for the presence of an array of drugs (prescription and over-the-counter meds included). Of those, 388, or 23 percent tested positive.

The Chicago Sun Times reports that prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the U.S. That deaths from unintentional drug overdoses have increased five-fold over last two decades - killing more people than any other accidental injury save car accidents.

In 2007, prescription painkillers like OxyContin, Vicodin and fentanyl were responsible for more overdose deaths than heroin and cocaine combined.

The surge in prescription drug abuse was first documented in the 1990s and is linked to a change in how medical professionals address chronic pain management. Namely, docs are now writing more prescriptions for opioids, or synthetic opium, commonly administered to alleviate pain. More prescriptions led to more abuse.

A 2010 Centers for Disease Control survey of high school students found that one in five admits to having taken a prescription drug without a prescription. Drugs of choice include Ritalin, OxyContin and Xanax. White students lead the pack for abuse with 23 percent admitting to taking someone else's prescription medication; Hispanics follow at 17 percent, and African-Americans at 12 percent.

Female students were as likely as their male counterparts to abuse prescription medication. More than a quarter of seniors admitted to experimenting with prescription meds, as did 15 percent of freshmen.

Dispose My Meds estimates that nearly 4 billion prescriptions are filled in the U.S. each year and nearly a third of those drugs - roughly 200 million pounds of medication - go unconsumed. Since unfinished meds are a prime source for cribbing (and flushing them down the toilet has been linked to environmental damage), the site recommends taking the following steps to ensure proper disposal of any unused medication:

~ Take remaining meds from their prescription bottle.

~ Mix with an "undesirable" substance - used cat litter, coffee grounds, uneaten foods.

~ Seal mixture in a nondescript container and throw away.

Continue reading "Modesto car Accidents Frequently Caused by Drugged Drivers" »