Keeping a level head after a motor vehicle accident isn’t easy, especially if there are injuries or fatalities involved. And early estimates of traffic fatalities for the first quarter of 2022 from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show a disturbing trend.  According to NHTSA, 9,560 people died in motor vehicle crashes in early 2022, which represents an increase of 7 percent compared to the 8,935 fatalities from the same quarter in 2021. This is the highest number of first-quarter fatalities since 2002.  An estimated 42,915 people died in motor vehicle traffi

Many companies have joined the race to develop the first autonomous semi-trucks that could change the future of shipping. Undoubtedly a self-driving semi that can crisscross the country for 17 hours straight would improve efficiency, especially as e-commerce sales skyrocket and a driver shortage persist. Advocates argue that automation makes trucking less safe, especially when there’s no such thing as a fender bender with an 80,000-pound truck. There needs to be indisputable evidence an autonomous truck is safe; otherwise it puts drivers at increased risk when sharing the road. According

Pull Aside • Stay Alive: Will you know what to do?     Avoid driving into or through a dust storm. If you encounter a dust storm, check traffic immediately around your vehicle (front, back and to the side) and begin slowing down. Do not wait until poor visibility makes it difficult to safely pull off the roadway — do it as soon as possible. Completely exit the highway if you can. Do not stop in a travel lane or in the emergency lane; look for a safe place to pull completely off the paved portion of the roadway. Stop the vehicle in a position ensuring it is a safe distance from the main

In the article, “Run of the Mill Justice” Nora Freeman Engstrom of Stanford Law School interviewed lawyers and paralegals at high volume law firms, and analyzed their not-infrequent disciplinary files. Her conclusion is surprising, but logical:  high volume "settlement mill" law firms work because insurance companies, which pay the bills, like them. Insurance companies might be choosing to cooperate with settlement mills, in part because settlement mills appear willing to settle the largest claims — which present the highest chance of a catastrophic verdict — at an attractive discou

Over the past several years, there has been a public outcry about the deaths of almost one hundred motorists in low speed motor vehicle collisions as a result of air bags. Children and small adults continue to die because of the violent exposure to inflating air bags. We can and should understand the cause of such tragedies. Air bag systems were installed in the United States in thousands of automobiles during the model years 1974 through 1976. These air bags were designed and installed in large size vehicles by both General Motors Corporation and Ford Motor Company. At the time, the intent