Seattle Car Accident Lawyer Blog

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) just reported that Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) have improved their safety ratings from having some of the most dangerous vehicle out there to having lower driver death rates in motor vehicle accidents than most other vehicles. (Read the full report here.)

SUV manufacturers have made huge improvement in SUV design in the past 20 years by incorporating safety features such as Electronic Stability Control (ESC) which help prevent rollover accidents and also prevents skids.

In the past, top-heavy SUVs had the highest driver fatality rates, in part due to the fact that the top-heavy vehicles had a propensity to roll over in certain types of crashes. The death rate has dropped from 110 per million vehicles between 1989-1993 model years to 48 per million registered vehicle years between 2006-2009. Now, SUV death rates for drivers are half that of other cars.

Other factors in SUV safety is that they are heavier than other vehicles and have a higher clearance.

The IIHS keep statistics on driver death rates for each model style. Minivans still are the some of the safest vehicle out there. The following vehicles are some of the safest recording less than 22 driver deaths per million registered vehicle years in the 2005-08 models.

• Audi A6 4-door 4WD
  
• Mercedes E-Class 4-door 4WD
  
• Toyota Sienna
  
• Ford Edge 4WD SUV
  
• Nissan Armada 4WD SUV
  
• Land Rover Range Rover Sport 4WD SUV
  
• Land Rover LR3 4WD SUV
  
• Honda CR-V 4WD SUV
  
• Jeep Grand Cherokee 4WD SUV
  
• Acura MDX 4WD SUV
  
• Mercedes E-Class
  
• Lexus RX 400h 4WD SUV
  
• Lexus GX 470 4WD SUV
  
• Mercedes M-Class 4WD SUV
  
• Saab 9-3 4-door
  
• Kia Sedona minivan
  
• Honda Odyssey minivan
  
• Jeep Wrangler 4WD SUV
  
• Honda Accord
  
• Jeep Wrangler 2-door 4WD SUV
  
• Honda Pilot 4WD SUV
  
• Honda Pilot 2WD SUV
  
• Dodge Dakota
  
• Acura 3.2 TL
  
• Acura RL
  
• Nissan Armada 2WD SUV

This information is provided by Seattle Car Accident Lawyer blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents and the family of those killed.

Related Posts:

New car feature drivers most want? Blind spot detection

2 "Green" cars earn highest safety ratings -- Top Safety Pick

Washington State motor vehicle accident fatality rates for 2009

Continue reading " Electronic Stability Control greatly reduces fatal accidents in SUVs " »

Three women visiting Bellevue from Mexico for a Costco convention took a wrong turn on Bellevue Way and ended up in Mercer Slough reports The Bellevue Reporter. The culprit for the wrong turn? GPS directions. The women apparently followed the GPS directions and drove down the Sweylocken Boat Launch off of Bellevue Way and into Mercer Slough.

GPS navigation systems have become ubiquitous throughout the U.S. as the systems are built into cars, on cell phones or available as stand-alone devices. GPS -- Global Positioning System -- is a set of satellites which communicate to a device's navigation software to help pinpoint the device location. The software also has mapping and navigation software which can suggest driving directions, routes around traffic jams or help find local landmarks like hotels or gas stations.

The Bellevue accident is not the first time a GPS system has been known to cause a car or truck accident. The reason is that drivers are increasingly relying on these devices and they ignore common sense and take their eyes off of the road.

Often a driver will have so much confidence in their GPS system they navigate down unpaved roads or private drives because GPS systems don't recognize these as roads that should not be traveled.

One village in Wedmore, England saw more than their share of truck accidents because truck drivers followed their GPS systems through the village. Truck drivers fail to take heed signs saying that trucks were prohibited to drive through the village because the roads narrowed to 6 feet and trucks got stuck between buildings.

There have also been several reports of drivers driving on train tracks at the direction of their GPS navigation system.

Driver distraction caused by using the device can also lead to an accident. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that in 25-30% of all traffic accidents, driver distraction was a factor. Just a few days ago, a driver was ticketed for causing a head-on car accident when he crossed the centerline line of a highway and collided with an oncoming vehicle. The driver said he was distracted by his GPS device. In May, a teenage driver relying on his GPS device made an illegal U-turn and caused a four-car accident.

Drivers overly confident in their GPS system are the ones most apt to get into a car accident. We recommend that a person check a map before making a trip and use the voice command option on the GPS system and keeping one’s eyes on the road.

This information is provided by Seattle Car Accident Lawyer blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in car accidents and the family of those killed.

Continue reading " When GPS systems cause car accidents: women end up in Bellevue's Mercer Slough " »

Seattle's KOMO News reports that a 16-year-old Carli Alvarado was found guilty of Vehicular Homicide in the death of Anna Marie Brulotte and the injury of Anna Marie's mother. The unidentified teen driver was distracted when she struck Anna Marie and her mother while they were crossing a Bellingham crosswalk along with two other siblings.

The pedestrian accident occurred in September 2010 on Cornwall near Assumption Catholic school. Brulotte rear-ended a car that had stopped to let the family cross the street. Brulotte was distracted driving according to the report when she hit the stopped car, pushing it into the crosswalk.

According to the report, Brulotte was directing a friend in searching for something in her backpack which was on the floor of the car when the accident occurred. Alvarado was driving on a restricted license which disallowed her driving a car with two friends in it. She was also exceeding the speed limit.

Vehicular Homicide, Washington State Code RCW 46.61.520, can be charged if a person is killed in a car accident and the driver with driving recklessly, driving with reckless disregard to the safety of others or driving under the influence of alcohol of drugs.

Washington state has a graduated driver's license which imposes special rules for teenager drivers for the period after licensure. These include:

• For the first 6 months after receiving a driver's license, the teen driver can not drive with passengers under the age of 20 unless they are members of the driver's immediate family.
  
• For the following 6 months, the teen driver is not allowed to have more than 3 underage passengers in their vehicle.
  
• For the first 12 months, the teenage driver is not allowed to drive between 1am and 5pm unless driving with a licensed driver 25 years old or older.
  
• Teenager drivers are not allowed to use wireless devices including hands-free devices.

This information is provided by Seattle Car Accident Lawyer blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in pedestrian accidents and the family of those who have died.It will be interesting to watch this case and see how lenient the judge will be based upon the defendant's age. The sentencing range is from 3-9 months in jail.

Continue reading " Teenager found guilty of vehicular homicide in car accident death of 2-year-old, mother " »

We came across an article by Tina Susman writing for the Los Angeles Times, Crosswalks are increasingly deadly for the elderly. In the article, Susman discusses a serious problem cities across America and that is pedestrian safety. Of special concern is the safety of our increasing elderly population who are disproportionately killed in pedestrian accidents.

In 2009, there 4,092 people killed in pedestrian accidents. The rate of pedestrian deaths to the elderly -- those 70 and over -- is 62% higher than for people younger than 70 according to the Federal Accident Reporting System (FARS). In 37% of the fatal accidents among people age 60 or older, the pedestrian occurred at an intersection.

Susman's article quotes Noah Budnick, the deputy director of Transportation Alternatives who says,

"… older people simply don't have enough time to cross the street."

One study that appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 2002 found that marked crosswalks with out signals or stop signs were more dangerous for pedestrian-motor vehicle accidents to the elderly than those without signals or stops.

Elderly people have various problems associated with crosswalks including:

• difficulty with curbs
  
• difficulty in judging vehicle speeds
  
• confusion with the Walk, and Don't Walk signal indicators
  
• difficulty seeing signal indicators
  
• difficulty in anticipating turning drivers
  
• discourteous drivers

Transportation officials are looking at ways to make walking safer for all pedestrians including street designs which slows down vehicles, improving visibility, retiming signals, creating median refuges or sidewalk "bulb-outs", creating curb ramps, creating sidewalk seating, improving lighting and signage and improved pavement striping that will benefit walkers and drivers alike.

This information is provided by Seattle Car Accident Lawyer blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in pedestrian accidents and the family of those killed.

Continue reading " Pedestrian accidents, a concern for the elderly " »

Judge Alan Hancock in Island County Superior Court sentenced two Oak Harbor women to prison, finding them guilty of Vehicular Homicide and found both responsible for the Whidbey Island car accident that killed Brian Wood, Jacob Quistorf and Francis Malloy.

Judge Hancock sentenced Samantha Bowling to at least five years in prison and Jordyn Weichert to eight years.

The judge was visibly moved as he pronounced sentence.

Weichert, who was 20 at the time, was driving a Chevy Blazer on Highway 20 when she asked Bowling to steer for her so she could remove her sweater. Bowling apparently let go of the wheel before Weichert resumed control of the vehichle and when the Blazer started drifting, both women grabbed the steering wheel, over-corrected and crossed into the oncoming lane where they collided with the car driven by Brian Wood.

Quistorf and Mallory were in the backseat of Weichert's car and were both killed.

Bowling took a plea bargain in April and she pleaded guilty to Vehicular Homicide and agreed to testify against Weichert.

Weichert was found guilty in May of multiple felonies including three counts of Vehicular Homicide and two counts of Vehicular Assault.

A charge of Vehicular Homicide (Washington Vehicle Code RCW 46.61.520 ) can be charged if one or more persons are killed in a motor vehicle accident and the driver was found to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident or found to be driving with reckless disregard to the safety of others. There was evidence that both women had taken drugs or smoked marijuana before the accident.

The Vehicular Assault http://www.washingtoninjuryattorneyblog.com/2011/04/oak_harbor_woman_seriously_inj.htmlcharges (RCW 46.61.522) stem from the injuries to Wood’s wife, Erin, who suffered serious injuries. She was pregnant at the time but fortunately, the baby was not injured.

Source:
Judge Chokes Up At Sentencing In Crash That Killed Father, 2 Others
Lee Stoll
KIRO 7 Eyewitness News North Sound Reporter

Continue reading " 2 Oak Harbor women sentenced in deadly car accident " »

The U.S. Congress is considering federal legislation aimed at making roads and highways safer for people on bicyclists and pedestrians. The House is considering H.R. 1780 the Safe and Complete Streets Act of 2011, and the U.S. Senate is considering Senate Bill 1056 led by U.S. Senator Tom Harkin.

The Washington State Legislature also has two bills pending which would amend the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) to ease design standards giving cities and municipalities more leeway in road design projects following “Complete Streets” principles: HB 1700 and HB 1701.

Between the years 2000 and 2009, 47,000 Americas were killed in pedestrian accidents and another 688,000 pedestrian were injured. The startling fact is that an American is injured or killed in a pedestrian accident every seven minutes.

Continue reading " U.S. Congress looking at "complete streets" in effort to reduce pedestrian and bicycle accidents " »