Bellingham Police Vehicle Totaled in Crash Caused by Suspected Drunk Driver

As reported by skagitbreaking.com, a Bellingham Police Department (BPD) Crime Scene Investigators vehicle was totaled early on December 5, 2020 – around 2 o’clock in the morning at the intersection of Barkley and Orleans Street. The collision was caused by a suspected drunk driver: an 18-year old male who was driving a pick-up truck. The violent crash was immediately preceded by running a red light while driving over the speed limit. Upon impact, the BPD truck was sent spinning 180 degrees from the path it had been travelling. The at-fault driver’s truck was also totaled in the accident.

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Single-Vehicle I-5 Crash Reveals Empty Vodka Bottle inside Abandoned Vehicle

A single-car collision on I-5 near Blaine on Sunday, November 29 damaged about 50 yards of cable barrier after the vehicle struck the median. When State Patrol and Blaine Police arrived at the scene of the accident about 5:30 p.m., they found an abandoned vehicle and an empty bottle of peppermint vodka along with the suspect’s driver’s license through the broken driver’s side window. When police later contacted the suspect, he admitted to crashing his vehicle and walking away from the scene but claimed he had fallen asleep while driving. Questions about the bottle of vodka went unanswered.

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How Pain and Suffering is Calculated in Washington State Personal Injury Cases

In a personal injury case, pain and suffering is the legal term for the part of the settlement that compensates the victim for the physical and emotional distress caused by an injury. Some examples of pain and suffering damages include depression, loss of enjoyment of life, limitations on activity and chronic pain.

One of the many advantages of hiring a personal injury attorney to help with a personal injury claim is their help calculating a dollar value for your pain and suffering. The injury lawyer factors in a settlement range that is most likely to be offered in negotiations or in a jury award. This information gives the plaintiff a good idea of what compensation they can expect for their pain and suffering from a reasonable offer.

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Safety Tips for First Time Turkey

With COVID-19 in full swing, many families are choosing to have Thanksgiving at home with their immediate family members. That means many chefs will be roasting, deep frying, brining or smoking a turkey for the first time and learning the ropes as they do it. When it comes to turkey, there are all kinds of tricks for keeping it moist and delicious but there are also safety tips that should be taken into consideration to avoid a Thanksgiving Day accident or injury.

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Wrongful Life Lawsuit Awards Plaintiff $10M After Seattle Nurse Gives Flu Shot Instead of Birth Control

According to reporting by the Seattle Times, a federal judge has awarded just over $10 million in a wrongful life lawsuit brought against the government for the negligence of a nurse at a federally funded health care clinic. The suit was brought because of an unwanted pregnancy caused by the nurse’s negligence when she administered a flu shot instead of the quarterly birth control injection. The negligent action ended in the birth of a severely disabled child and the birth injury award is intended to pay for the future care of the child, now eight years old.

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What is a 50/50 Car Accident Claim?

When a car insurance company investigates a car insurance claim against one of their members, they are hoping to find a way to assign at least 50 percent of the blame to the other driver. It is very common for at least some fault to be assigned to each driver. A 50/50 car insurance claim is when an insurance agency determines that liability – or fault – for the accident is shared equally between the drivers. Even a small mistake made by one of the drivers could cause a 50 percent fault determination; particularly if the accident could have been prevented had the mistake not been made. If it is a 50/50 at-fault accident, and both parties agree on their share of the fault, it is called a split liability agreement. In practical terms, this means that any treatment for injuries or property damage costs will be shared equally between the parties and that the claimant will only be able to collect 50 percent of the value of their claim.

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GM Voluntarily Recalling 69,000 Chevy Bolts Over Fire Concerns

Car manufacturers have been ramping up production of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in recent years as demand has grown for more environmentally friendly vehicles. Unfortunately, several manufacturers have had to issue recalls of their battery-powered models in recent months, including Ford, Hyundai, and BMW.

Last week, Detroit auto manufacturer, Chevrolet, issued a voluntary recall of 68,667 Chevy Bolts that were built between 2017 and 2019 worldwide. The reason? There were at least five reported “fire incidents” involving the electric vehicle model; all vehicles had either fully charged or almost fully charged batteries at the time the fires erupted. As a result of the fires, there are two reports of smoke inhalation injuries.

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Great Daytime Visibility Reduces the Risk of Car Accidents

Visibility is incredibly important to our ability to drive safely. We know that our visibility declines when it’s dark, rainy or foggy and that car accidents increase during these times. But what about daytime visibility? Drivers tend to take it for granted and can become overly confident on a sunny day. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there are more motor vehicle accidents during daylight hours than at night. This could be because of the glare of the sun, but also because there are typically more cars and pedestrians on the road during the day.

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How To Reduce Your Risk of a Night Time Driving Accident

Many studies have shown that night is the most dangerous time to drive, with accidents peaking on Saturday nights. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drivers are three times more likely to have a fatal accident at night than during the day. There are various reasons for this including, rush hour, the large percentage of drivers – especially older drivers – who don’t see well in the dark, the increase in impaired drivers and feelings of fatigue. According to stack.com, our bodies produce more melatonin when it’s dark and this increase leads to a surge in feeling fatigued and tired.

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Nov. 1-8 is Drowsy Driving Prevention Week

Thanks to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), Nov. 1-8, 2020 is Drowsy Driving Prevention Week. It makes sense when you consider that we “fall back” to Standard time this week, which affects our sleep pattern. The goal of their annual campaign is to reduce the number of drivers who drive while sleep-deprived by raising awareness and education about the dangers of drowsy driving and how to prevent it. There are many dangers associated with driving drowsy and the alarming statistics presented in this article show why we need to raise awareness.

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