Texas bus injury
Driver Fatigue Plays a Big Role in Bus Crashes

Bus crashes may not be as common on the roadways as crashes involving smaller vehicles, but they can be catastrophic for everyone involved. Because buses are so large and carry so many people, severe injuries and extreme financial loss are likely. As a result, these accidents often lead to lawsuits.

When reviewing bus crashes, both government authorities and legal professionals try to understand why these crashes occur. Determining the cause of the crash is necessary in order to create legislation that reduces the number of bus accidents, as well as to assign blame for legal purposes after a specific accident occurs. Recent research shows that one of the most common contributing factors in these situations is driver fatigue.

Acute Sleep Deficit Leads to Fatal Accidents

According to the Texarkana Gazette, acute sleep deficit was responsible for a bus accident that …

Should Texas Consider a Hands-Free Smart Phone Law?

Texas law prohibits texting while driving, but some safety advocates say that’s not enough to make the state’s roads safer. They’re pushing for a state law that would ban a driver’s talking on a smartphone using his or her hands while driving.

Distracted drivers kill and injure people every day.

  • The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that across the U.S. in 2016, 3,450 people were killed by distracted drivers; and 391,000 were injured in vehicle accidents involving distracted drivers in 2015. An estimated 481,000 drivers are using cell phones while driving during daylight hours.
  • 100,687 accidents, or 19% of all reported vehicle accidents in Texas in 2017, involved distracted driving, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. These accidents caused 444 deaths and 2,889 serious injuries in the state that year.

KXAN reports that under a proposal filed …

How Dangerous are Electric Scooters? Austin Will Help the US Find Out.

Electric vehicles in all shapes and sizes are becoming more common in Texas. Governments are trying to decide how to regulate them just as users are trying to learn out how to safely use them. Electric cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles and scooters are entering the market. As this new technology improves, you may find that getting around was never easier. But was it safer?

The injuries and accidents involving electric scooters in Austin from last September through November will be studied by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reports USA Today. These scooters, narrow, two-wheeled vehicles with a handlebar for steering, first became popular when they were powered the old-fashioned way, by pushes by the rider’s feet and gravity pulling downhill. Now, electric motors do the work.

The CDC is studying the “dockless scooters” …

New Years Eve
4 Ways to Stay Safe in Austin on New Year’s Eve

As 2018 winds down and you begin looking forward to 2019, remember: The best way to get the new year off to a good start is to stay safe on New Year’s Eve. Some common sense, planning ahead, and situational awareness will help ensure a smooth and festive transition from Dec. 31 to Jan. 1. These four tips are a good place to start.

  1. Have a house party where you control the environment.

Sometimes it makes sense to avoid strange places and unfamiliar situations—and if you want to celebrate but stay in a safe environment, what could fit the bill better than your own home? If you host festivities at your place, you get to stay in control of all the elements of the evening: the guest list, the atmosphere, and what (and how much) people are drinking. Have a …

Product Liability Attorney
Toys on the Naughty List: This Year’s Most Dangerous Toys

Parents need to use good information and common sense to keep their kids safe and away from dangerous toys. Every year toy sellers are eager to make as much money as they can during this, the most wonderful, time of the year.

Consumer safety group World Against Toys Causing Harm (WATCH) unveiled this year’s list of most dangerous toys last month. They’re advising the public not to buy them because of the potential harm they may cause.

They include, according to Fox Business News:

  • Nickelodeon Nella Princess Knight Pillow Pets Sleeptime Lites: These are soft Pillow Pets sold as nightlights for infants’ rooms. Nella features a small, felt-like flower and a heart tag. If removed, they could cause choking, and your child may never wake up. The manufacturer also warns of possible battery acid leakage … never a
…

Seatbelts Work Only If You Use Them
Seatbelts Work Only If You Use Them

In every seat in every vehicle sold in Texas and across the U.S. there are seat belts. They’re not optional, and there’s no extra charge for them. Whether you purchased your vehicle, are leasing it or are driving a rental, you paid for that seat belt. Why not use it? If you’re involved in an accident, using a seat belt could mean the difference between life or death, or between a serious or a minor injury, or maybe no injury at all.

Nearly 3,000 people not using seat belts were killed or seriously injured in vehicle accidents in Texas in 2017, reports the Texarkana Gazette. Using a seat belt improves your chances of surviving a vehicle accident by 45% to 60%. The Texas Department of Transportation Austin District is trying to increase seat belt use through a public safety …

Texas Road Safety Makes Progress - but There’s Still a Long Road Ahead
Texas Road Safety Makes Progress – but There’s Still a Long Road Ahead

The bad news is that Texas is still No. 1. With 3,722 deaths on Texas roads last year, the state once again had the most traffic fatalities in 2017, according to statistics released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Texas also held this spot in 2016.

The good news is that the numbers show improvement. The 2017 figure is down slightly from the 3,797 who died on the road in 2016. This 2 percent drop narrowly beat the national average in a year when overall road deaths decreased across the country. California—the only other state with more than 3,500 deaths—saw a 6 percent drop, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Also, Texas falls in the middle of the field in deaths per capita, behind much smaller states in the West and Midwest, the Chronicle says.

Alcohol-related driving fatalities made …

Cmv Inspections Reveal Hours-Of-Service Struggles in Trucking
CMV Inspections Reveal Hours-Of-Service Struggles in Trucking

A fatigued driver is an unsafe driver. That’s the rationale behind the Hours of Service (HOS) rules that apply to the trucking industry. These rules, set in place by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association (a division of the federal Department of Transportation), dictate how many consecutive hours a driver is allowed to drive his vehicle, as well as how long and how frequent his breaks must be. The goal, stated by the FMCSA, is “to keep fatigued drivers off the public roadways” and make sure that drivers stay awake and alert while driving.

However, Hours of Service violations continue to be common among commercial truck drivers, and some in the industry are pushing for change.

“Today’s truckers have never faced more regulations or greater enforcement and compliance with those regulations. Yet, crash numbers are going in the wrong direction,” …

How to Have a Safe Thanksgiving in 2018
How to Have a Safe Thanksgiving in 2018

Summer is over and fall is in full swing, which means that the holiday travel season is right around the corner. For many families, Thanksgiving is the first major travel occasion of the fall, as drivers hit the road to reunite with friends and family. In fact, it is usually the most-traveled holiday for American travelers. Whether you’re going across the country or around the corner, staying for a week or just dropping in for supper, all travelers need to keep basic safety in mind to avoid accidents that can be costly—and even deadly.

Here are some tips to make sure you and your family get there—and back—safely and happily.

Get your vehicle checked. Especially if you’re going to be traveling a long distance, you want to make sure your car is ready for the trip. Have your mechanic check …

What Every Limousine Renter in Texas Should Know
What Every Limousine Renter in Texas Should Know

The limousine that crashed in New York state in early October, killing 20 people, should not even have been on the road. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo stated days after the Oct. 6 accident that the vehicle had failed its latest safety inspection—and the driver did not even have the proper license.

The limousine itself was what some have called a “Frankenstein vehicle”—basically an SUV that has been cut in half and stretched out.

“When we look at limousines and stretch limos, we see a really Frankenstein system of cars that potentially are cut up and put back together with parts and pieces that were not original to them,” Deborah Hersman, president, and CEO of the nonprofit National Safety Council and former chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, told Texas Public Radio. “And additionally, some things may be …