There are an estimated 300,000 casualties from road accidents every year in the UK and knowing some First Aid could help save a life. Carrying a First Aid kit in a car or on a motorcycle is highly recommended, so that there is basic equipment available should there be an accident.
It must be stressed that there is no comparison to going on a First Aid training course, and that the following advice must be taken in that context. www.sja.org.uk is the St John’s Ambulance website where more information about going on a First Aid course can be found.
A car accident isn’t just a physical trauma - it can be a huge financial and legal burden as well, especially if you don’t have knowledgeable legal help in your time of need. Whether the car accident was your fault or not, it’s a good idea to get in touch with someone who can help you through the difficult and often confusing time that follows an auto accident.
So, what is a car accident lawyer?
While on a trip, or even close to home, we all want to keep driving for as long as possible. Yet nobody, in their right mind, wants to be a threat to ourselves (or others) because we’re too sleepy to operate our motor vehicle. Self-awareness of our sleepiness is always the key to driving safely!
In a report dated just last year 2004, the National Safety Council wrote that traffic death rates are 3 times greater at night - - than during the day!
At this time of year driving can become perilous. A combination of ice, wind, rain, snow, fog and dark, wintry evenings can lead to hazardous road conditions and car accidents. When you take your car out on a wintry morning you are more at risk of being involved in a car crash than during the light warm summer months. The worst months of the year for accidents are October and November between the hours of 4pm and 5pm. 42% of road deaths occur in the dark.
As weather conditions deteriorate in autumn and winter the roads become more dangerous. The roads are maintained by the Highways Agency, an Executive Agency for the Department of Transport, who salts and grits the motorways and trunk roads. Other smaller roads are gritted by local councils although some rural roads are not covered at all. The Highways Agency aims to reduce delays and the amount of road traffic accidents by clearing snow and preventing the formation of ice.
I’ve got a confession to make. I’ve been in a car accident before. Granted, it wasn’t my fault at all (both my opinion and the insurance company’s opinion). However, once it happened, I realized that I should have been better prepared for the car accident the day it happened. Since I realized this, I decided to make a checklist for things to have in case of a car accident. Here we go
1)Insurance Papers. Make sure you have your insurance papers ready to give to the other party in case they need to see them. These can also come in handy to give to the Police if they arrive on the scene of the accident. In some states, having car insurance is mandatory for the operation of a motor vehicle and you can be fined if you don’t have any insurance. Make sure you insurance paperwork is in order before finding out that it is necessary to have.
In holding a driver’s license, a person is agreeing to be a good driver: not reckless and not negligent. However we know that others are often not as careful as we could hope. Other times, an accident can be caused by vehicle malfunction, bad driving conditions or road layout. If you have been in a car accident and wish to pursue your case in court, you as the plaintiff will need to show the court that the defendant caused the wreck through failing to follow driving law and that this breach of duty caused the injury that you the plaintiff sustained in the accident.
In court, you can file suit against the other driver for various reasons. If the accident left you disfigured or scarred or injured, the defendant must pay for your medical expenses as well as those that a doctor feels will arise in the future and you could also be compensated for the emotional suffering caused by injuries. If you are injured and should you win the suit, you should be compensated for permanent disability, pain, emotional anxiety, medical expenses and surveillance, lost wages, lost work or earning capacity, loss of consortium or society, and household services you can’t take care of while you are injured.
Over the past few weeks the weather has taken a turn. The sky is grey more often than it is blue and there is a damp chill in the air. The seasons are changing and the UK is on the verge of yet another dreary winter, in fact this winter is predicted to be exceptionally long and cold. We’re all used to it by now, but unfortunately our resignation and acceptance of wet winters doesn’t mean that we adjust to the changes in driving conditions quite as easily. There are 6,393 more accidents involving cars on the UK’s roads in winter than there are during the summer months. A frightening statistic which clearly shows why we all need to buckle up and drive more carefully when it’s cold out.
We all know how unpredictable the British weather can be. One minute the sun will be shining and the birds singing, the next minute you’ll be struggling to see out of the car window because of freezing fog or driving rain. Situations like this are precarious as icy and wet roads make it difficult to stop quickly and low visibility results in collisions. It is recommended that you stay at home and avoid unnecessary car journeys when the weather conditions take a nose dive. However, many people simply cannot avoid leaving home for whatever reason. If this applies to you there are some vital safety measures that you should take to avoid being involved in a car accident.
Posted in Vehicles | Also tagged Personal Injury |
Britain’s roads can be treacherous; every journey, even popping to the shops, requires drivers to concentrate hard and take in hundreds of facts, processing them instantly to avoid accidents. Every obstacle and danger must be registered by the brain so that action can be taken instantaneously. From the motorbike approaching from the right at a roundabout, to the bus that looks like it’s about to pull out without signalling, the human brain needs to be on top form and your vehicle needs to be roadworthy and responsive in order to avoid major calamity.
There are literally millions of vehicles lining our highways every day, around 22 million to be more precise. More than 151 billion vehicle kilometres of journeys take place every year on England’s road network alone and there are a whopping 4,818 miles of road to be covered. It’s hardly surprising then that accidents happen quite frequently. Just one momentary lack of concentration can lead to a serious accident involving loss of life and serious personal injury. In fact there are a some roads notorious for their danger factor. Number one on the list is the A989 near Dalwhinnie in Perth and Kinross, number two is the A537 between Macclesfield, Cheshire and Buxton in Derbyshire and the number three is the A12 near Romford in Essex. We may rate our roads as the safest in the world, carrying a third of all traffic we only see one eigth of all accidents, but we still endure massive loss of life every year. The UK statistic for death and serious injury on our roads in 2001 was 34,764.
So you’ve been in a car crash. It came out of nowhere and now your mind is racing and you aren’t sure what to do. These things happen, and no one expects them, but stay calm and take things one step at a time. Everything will be all right if you follow a few simple steps.
1. Never leave the scene of a car crash. The stress and shock of getting into a car crash may feel like more than you can handle, but it isn’t. Keep calm and focused and never leave the scene of the car crash. If the fear and worry overwhelms you, and you flee the scene, you have committed a crime far worse than simply causing a car crash (which might not have even been your fault!) Being convicted of a hit-and-run can land you in prison, and is far, far worse than the discomfort of being accused of causing a car accident.
What is the safest, a forward or rear facing child safety seat? Everyone has a different answer on this and many states have different laws governing the age, weight or size of the child or infant in question. By looking at and interpreting car accident reports and data it is an obvious finding that the severity of accidents were reportedly lower when a rear facing child safety seat was used properly.
It is important to say when used properly here as data from fire department personnel through the years shows upwards of 50% of child safety seats are not properly installed. This could be as simple as the belt tensioner not being pulled tight enough, but there have been instances where the child was sitting on top of the restraints (the restraints were only protecting the seat in this instance and not the child). The latest most famous instance of abuse of child safety seat laws is Britney Spears driving with her child in her lap. There is a lot of literature available on how to properly install and adjust a child safety seat, but more needs to be done to reduce unnecessary injuries due to improperly installed child safety seats.
What is the safest, a forward or rear facing child safety seat? Everyone has a different answer on this and many states have different laws governing the age, weight or size of the child or infant in question. By looking at and interpreting car accident reports and data it is an obvious finding that the severity of accidents were reportedly lower when a rear facing child safety seat was used properly.
It is important to say when used properly here as data from fire department personnel through the years shows upwards of 50% of child safety seats are not properly installed. This could be as simple as the belt tensioner not being pulled tight enough, but there have been instances where the child was sitting on top of the restraints (the restraints were only protecting the seat in this instance and not the child). The latest most famous instance of abuse of child safety seat laws is Britney Spears driving with her child in her lap. There is a lot of literature available on how to properly install and adjust a child safety seat, but more needs to be done to reduce unnecessary injuries due to improperly installed child safety seats.
Headlight glare is now on the forefront of research by the National Traffic Safety Institute as it is a leading cause of nighttime crashes. It greatly reduces the drivers ability to see and react appropriately. Most of the time this glare comes from another vehicle in front or behind the drivers vehicle.
Headlight glare greatly reduces ones ability to see safely at night. According to a study by the AAA traffic safety foundation:
When you have children your priorities change and you suddenly have to be completely responsible for someone else’s life. A small child relies on you completely for its protection and welfare. A child’s safety is particularly important when travelling. It is the drivers’ responsibility to ensure that all passengers are properly strapped into the car, especially children until they can be taught to strap themselves in.
Every year around 30 children between the ages of 0 and 11 are killed in car accidents, 450 are seriously injured and another 8,000 are slightly injured, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). Many of these children could have been spared from injury if they had been properly restrained in the car they were travelling in. For example in a crash at 30 mph where a child is unrestrained they would be thrown forwards with a force of between 30 and 60 times their own body weight. There is no substitute for a proper child seat that is fitted according to the manufacturers’ guidelines. Holding a child without restraint is dangerous as it would be impossible to hold on tight enough to them in the event of an accident.
Posted in General | Also tagged free legal advice |
Car accidents are currently the number one killer of people between the ages of 1 and 37 in the United States. Car accidents, crashes, and collisions cause about 3 million injuries a year, 2 million of which are permanent and crippling injuries per year. 40,000 people die in car accidents every year in the United States alone. The Department of Transportation reports that most of these car accident deaths can be avoided. About 40% of car crash fatalities involve drinking alcohol and driving. Many accidents involve some combination of alcohol and speeding. Additionally, seatbelt use is only around 68% despite the proven fact that seatbelts protect drivers and passengers and save lives. In more than half of all car accident fatalities, the deceased were found not to be wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash.
Reckless and drunk driving is a serious offense and the law treats a car, when it causes injuries, as a dangerous weapon. When victims are injured and killed in drunk driving accidents, the driver can be charged the same as if he or she had attacked their victims with any other weapon, like a gun. A drunk driver who kills a person can be sent to prison for murder. Such dangerous activities as drunk driving and racing are often treated casually by young people, but they do not understand the inherent risks associated with this behavior. Every twelve minutes somebody in the country dies in a car accident.
You didn’t expect it, but no one ever does. An auto accident can be one of the most frightening and nerve-wracking experiences you’ll face. If you’ve been injured in an auto accident, the situation can be even more frightening, with lost time at work and mounting bills, pain and suffering, and other physical, legal, and financial burdens. It’s important to keep a level head and reach out to someone who can help you through this difficult and trying time.
The moments after the auto accident are the most critical. If you’ve been injured, be sure to seek medical attention. Even if you don’t think you’ve been injured immediately after the auto accident, while still at the scene, symptoms can appear hours or even days later. See a doctor right away to get checked out. Some internal injuries might not have any symptoms at all, but might be fatal in a few hours or days. Seeking medical attention after the auto accident could be the most important step you take.