Articles Posted in Automobile Accidents

We urge anyone who was involved in this accident to contact our office immediately to protect your rights. Having a good car accident attorney on your side is essential to making sure your medical bills, lost wages, and any other damages are covered.

Recently, there was a major crash on Interstate 81 near Minersville, Pennsylvania. According to the police, 80 vehicles were involved in the crash — 39 commercial and 41 passenger vehicles. Six people were killed in the crash. Twenty-four people were injured and then later taken to local hospitals.

The pile-up began around 10:30 a.m. as a snow squall — an intense short-lived burst of heavy snowfall that leads to a quick reduction in visibilities and is often accompanied by gusty winds— blinded drivers, which led to the severe crash and pileup.  Three tractor trailers caught fire and at least two other small fires were reported.

Following a disturbing trend, Mercedes-Benz has announced another recall of nearly 750,000 vehicles in the United States.  The recall, which is due to faulty sunroofs at risk to detach from the car, impacts Mercedes-Benz model years spanning over a decade.  The model years in question are 2001-2011; the models in question are the C-, CLK-, CLS-, and E-Class.

The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration (NHSTA) has been on top of this recall and elaborated on exactly what the defects are and how they can impact your Mercedes-Benz.  Last week, they offered this, “The bonding between the glass panel and the sliding roof frame may deteriorate, possibly resulting in the glass panel detaching from the vehicle.” The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration also claims Mercedes-Benz will notify its owners on or after February 14th.  The company is expected to offer free inspections and replacements to those possibly afflicted by the recall.

The following is a comprehensive list of all models possibly affected:

Four major automakers have landed squarely in the crosshairs of a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation.  According to documents posted on December 19th, 2019, Audi, Toyota, Honda, and Mitsubishi are the companies under investigation.  The probe revolves around a Takata airbag recall, which involved 1.4 million airbag inflators.

The inflators are reported to have a unique problem that can cause them to blow apart, sending metal shrapnel into drivers’ and passengers’ faces and bodies.  The issue stems from problems caused by insufficient seals and a chemical deterioration within the product.  Takata, the maker of the air bags, has already recalled approximately 100 million inflators worldwide, while 19 automakers have recalled approximately 70 million inflators, making it the largest grouping of automotive recalls in United States history.

Takata, who has gone bankrupt due to the recalls, believes it’s made about 4.5 million of the faulty inflators.  However, Takata claims only a portion are still in use, because the vehicles equipped with the inflators are so old.

Auto Accidents

The Facts About Truck Accidents 

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ( FMCSA ) makes new laws and regulations regarding our safety all the time. But, regardless of how many laws and regulations are put in place to keep us safe, if we don’t actively do our part to keep ourselves and others safe, none of those things will matter. 

We have all seen more than our fair share of recalls over the years for all different parts, of all different makes of cars. We have even had a few recalls over the last few years for seatbelts and airbags which are obviously big safety issues for these cars and trucks. We have had engine parts that cause fires. We have had electrical parts that cause fires.  What we haven’t seen in recent memory are seatbelts that can cause fires. There typically are not any parts in a seatbelt that you would even think of that could cause a fire.

Ford has reports of over 23 vehicles having an issue where smoke was generated. The seat-belt pretensioners can malfunction and send sparks out when activated. What is a seatbelt pretensioner? It’s a small part that you likely have never seen in action because it typically only fires when your car is in an accident. Similar to how the airbags in your car will deploy when you hit something, the seatbelt pretensioner will fire when you are in an accident which causes a piston to block the seatbelt from allowing you to move forward.

The National-Highway Traffic Safety Administration received reports of 5 fires caused by the seatbelts, with 3 of those leading to the car being engulfed in flames.

Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of avoidable motor vehicle accidents.  The most common form of distraction behind the wheel is cell-phone use while driving.  This is why so many states have enacted laws to cite those that drive while using their cell phone in a hope to decrease distracted driving accidents.

From 2016 to 2017, distracted driving-related citations increased by 52% in Pennsylvania.  Pennsylvania law enforcement officials issued 5,054 distracted driving citations in 2017, up from 3,336 citations in 2016. 15,542 citations have been issued in Pennsylvania since 2013.

According to the NHTSA, 3,477 people were killed and 391,000 were injured in crashes involving distracted drivers in 2015.  They estimate that around 660,000 drivers are using an electronic device while driving daily.

Previous studies have shown that properly installed rear-facing car seats will protect children in front end and side impact accidents.  However, a new study performed at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center shows that rear-facing car seats are also effective in protecting children in a rear end accident.

According to the university, the research team performed crash tests with multiple rear-facing car seats and found all the seats were effective in absorbing the force of the crash and controlling the child when properly installed.  The study was authored by Julie Mansfield who is a Research Engineer for the Injury Biomechanics Research Center at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

Pennsylvania law requires that children under the age of 2 must be secured in a rear-facing car seat until the child outgrows the maximum weight and height limits designated by the car seat manufacturer.

A 49 year old woman was fatally hit, while crossing the street by a self-driving Uber vehicle in Tempe, Arizona earlier this month.  The crash happened around 10 p.m. Sunday March 18th near Mill Avenue and Curry Road.  This incident is believed to be the first pedestrian death involving an autonomous or self-driving vehicle.

The vehicle was a Volvo that was in autonomous mode when the accident happened.  It did however have a backup driver behind the wheel, which is common for Uber in case the vehicle has to be taken out of self-driving mode.   The victim was walking her bike across the street when she was struck by the vehicle and suffered fatal injuries.  The vehicle captured a video that Tempe police released that shows the moments before the pedestrian was struck.  According to the police, the vehicle was going 40 miles an hour in a 45-mile-an-hour zone and it did not slow down before impact.

Police in Tempe and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.  This incident adds to the ongoing debate of the safety and feasibility of autonomous vehicles and how close they are to becoming more common on the roadways.

Most holidays, alcohol consumption increases for many people.  St. Patrick’s Day is one of the holidays where alcohol consumption is at its highest level.  This also makes it one of the deadliest times of year on the roadways.  This is because many individuals make the unfortunate decision to get behind the wheel after drinking.  The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are promoting their annual campaign to avoid the dangers of driving impaired as part of a national Saint Patrick’s Day “Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving.”

The NHTSA reports that drinking and driving account for nearly 1/3 of vehicle fatalities in the United States. NHTSA also reports that St. Patrick’s Day is one of the deadliest holidays on our nation’s roads.

PennDOT data shows there were 28 alcohol related motor vehicle accidents on Saint Patrick’s Day in 2017.  That was an increase from 26 in 2016 and 23 in 2015.size0

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