Car Crash Deaths Decreased in 2017: SUV is Most Deadly Vehicle

The annual report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released last month showed that 2017 had a slight decrease in traffic fatalities over 2016 but it was small comfort when crash deaths were up 6.5 percent in 2016 and 8.4 percent in 2015. In addition, evidence keeps mounting that the SUV, which is America’s most popular vehicle, is becoming more and more deadly on the roads. Traffic deaths decreased by 1.8 percent in 2017; the first drop since 2013. The one type of vehicle that saw an increase in fatalities was SUVs.

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Prevent an SUV Accident with Top 8 SUV Safety Tips

There is a learning curve for drivers switching from a car to an SUV. With SUVs now representing 60 percent of new vehicle sales in the US and making up 12 percent of all vehicles on the road, it’s time to acknowledge the jump in SUVs involved in deadly motor vehicle accidents and help prepare drivers to drive safely in an SUV.

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Two Car Accidents in Ferndale, WA Last Monday Night Blocked Lanes

Two car accidents in Ferndale the night of Monday, November 5 required attention from first responders.

Two car accidents in Ferndale, WA

The first car accident was a multi-vehicle accident involving four vehicles in a chain reaction of rear-end collisions. The accident happened on Slater Road between Haxton Way and Red River Road; it closed the roadway at 5:30 p.m. All people involved were treated and released at the scene.

The second accident happened about an hour later at 6:40 p.m. and blocked one lane of Grandview Road. The two-vehicle crash happened at the intersection of Olson and Grandview Roads. Altogether, four people were in the vehicles and one was transported to PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. One of the vehicles landed on its roof in the ditch. Emergency responders gave credit to the cars’ airbags for preventing major injuries.

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WA State Supreme Court: State is Liable for Safety of Foster Kids

In a 5-4 decision, the Washington State Supreme court ruled that the state is liable for safety and welfare of the more than 10,000 foster children in the state’s foster system. Specifically, the majority opinion says that the state Department of Social and Health Services – now the Department of Children, Youth and Families “owes a duty of reasonable care to protect foster children from abuse at the hands of their foster parents…the foster children produced sufficient evidence from which a jury could find that DSHS breached its protective duty, and that the breach of that duty caused their injuries.” In the dissenting opinion, Justice Barbara Madsen disagreed that “a special relationship exists between foster children and DSHS and that, therefore, the state shouldn’t be held responsible for child abuse that occurs after custody is transferred to the foster parent.”

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How to Drive Safely through a Flash Flood

The U.S. National Weather Service looked at a 30-year national average in 2005 and found that about 127 people die every year in floods in the United States; much more than the number who die in tornadoes, hurricanes or by lightening. A Zevin 1994 report found that 80 to 90 percent of flood deaths are caused by flash floods. About 40 percent of flash flood fatalities were pedestrian accidents or motor vehicle accidents as the person or vehicle attempted to cross the flooded area.

What is a flash flood?

A flash flood is an intense flooding of low-lying areas over a period of six or less hours. In the Pacific Northwest flash floods are generally caused by a severe rain or thunderstorm.

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Bus Accident Injury Claims Can Involve Unique Procedural Rules

According to a study by the University of Michigan, buses are involved in 63,000 motor vehicle accidents every year. People who are injured in or property that is damaged by a government owned bus will need to follow specific procedural rules unique to filing bus accident injury claims.

Bus accident injuries

Like for all types of motor vehicle accidents, bus accident injuries vary from minor to severe and most commonly involve whiplash-related soft tissue injuries, traumatic brain injury / head trauma, broken bones, cuts and bruises. While risk of a bus accident is smaller than the risk of a standard motor vehicle accident, buses do carry a higher danger of a rollover or tip-over accident. When a bus does tip or rollover, injuries tend to be more severe because passengers are not wearing seat belts. When buses hit a regular passenger vehicle the damage and injuries are more prone to being serious because of the enormous size difference of the vehicles.

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10 House Fire Prevention Safety Tips for Fire Prevention Month

Fire departments across the United States are called to extinguish almost two million fires every year; three-quarters of them are house fires. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, fires take the lives of over 4,000 Americans and injure about 20,000 more each year. Prevent property damage, burns, smoke inhalation and death with these fire prevention safety tips.

10 House Fire Prevention Safety Tips

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Medical Malpractice Lawsuit for Bowel Injury Caused by Hernia Repair Surgery

Hernia surgery is common and has positive patient outcomes the vast majority of the time. This is no comfort to the two percent of ventral hernia surgery patients that experience bowel injuries as result of the procedure however. Bowel injuries can lead to serious complications including sepsis and fistulas and even death. Bowel injuries also increase the length of the hospital stay after hernia surgery from four to seven days and increases the likelihood of reoperations and readmissions.

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Common Carrier Injury Claims: Limousine Personal Injury Case

A common carrier is a person or company that transports goods or passengers on regular routes at set rates. People traveling in a rented limousine, sightseeing bus, taxi, train, airport shuttle, cruise ship, airplane or any form of private group transportation are using a common carrier to get where they need to go.

Common carrier injury claims are filed when a passenger is injured while traveling on one of these types of transportation.

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Fatal 3-Vehicle Accident on Bow Hill Began with Deer Car Crash

A fatal three-vehicle accident on Bow Hill on the afternoon of October 10 caused both northbound I-5 lanes to be blocked for over two hours. According to a Washington State Patrol (WSP) press memo, the situation started with a deer car crash when 31-year old Kayleigh Thomas of Lynden struck a deer in her 2015 silver Mitsubishi Outlander. After hitting the deer she stopped in the left lane. A 2010 silver Toyota Prius driven by 34-year old Jeremy Permen of Ferndale then stopped behind the Mitsubishi in the left lane. Sixty-three year old Valery Kalashnikov of Bellevue was driving a 2005 red Volvo semi-truck trailer northbound in the right lane when he noticed the cars stopped in the left lane. He moved over to the left lane to avoid slowing traffic in the right lane but hit the Toyota, pushing it into the Mitsubishi. No injuries were reported for the other people involved but sadly Permen’s passenger, 73-year old Delton Walter of Blaine, did not survive the crash.

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