Teen in jail, Snapchat speed filter blamed for 107 MPH crash

A 19-year-old girl is in jail after allegedly causing a 107 MPH car crash outside of Atlanta, GA, while using Snapchat to record her speed.

Snapchat has a filter that allows users to record how fast they’re traveling when they take photos or videos with the app.

As personal injury lawyers who handle car accidents on a daily basis, we can’t help but see the Snapchat speed filter as inherently dangerous, and as an accident waiting to happen. In a society already marred by distracted driving, this filter seems to contradict every effort to deter cell phone use behind the wheel. While representatives of the app claim that the speed filter includes a warning not to use it while driving, that seems contradictory to its very function and offers little comfort to the families of those who have been hurt in other accidents involving a speeding, […]

Fatal Hit and Run Accidents on the Rise in Philadelphia

According to the Philadelphia Daily News, hit and run accidents in the city have reached almost epidemic levels in recent months.

Nonfatal hit and run incidents have increased by 30%, while fatal hit and runs have gone up 55% compared to this time last year.

The most recent fatal hit and run in Philadelphia took the life of 18-year-old Kevin Maldonado, who was struck by a woman driving a stolen white Toyota Prius. After hitting Maldonado, the woman abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot.

Incidents like this one leave many people wondering how someone can run from the scene of an accident and leave a person to die. In 2014, Pennsylvania law was amended to ensure that the minimum legal penalty for fleeing the scene of an accident would be the same as the minimum sentence for DUI, […]

Don’t Call it a Car “Accident”

Safety advocates are trying to change the way we talk about motor vehicle crashes.

Mark Rosekind, head of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration said that the term car “accident” implies that it was no one’s fault, it could not have been prevented or foreseen.

In reality, more than 90% of collisions are caused by driver error – drinking, distracted driving, speeding, and other risky behavior. Relatively few are true “accidents,” caused by uncontrollable situations like a mechanical malfunction, icy roads, or other factors.

So what difference does it make? Why does it matter what word we use to describe these incidents? Road fatalities are on the rise. Safety officials, lawmakers, and aggrieved families feel strongly that language reflects our attitudes, which affect policy. When the language we use implies that nothing could have been done to prevent a tragic “accident,” […]

“Textalyzer” Could Help Reduce Distracted Driving

Distracted driving, perhaps the biggest road safety scourge of the decade, is getting worse nationwide.

In Pennsylvania, for instance, distracted driving citations increased by 43% from 2014 to 2015; in our home of Lackawanna County, the number of distracted driving citations skyrocketed from 32 to 115, according to the Scranton Times-Tribune.

Last week, our own Dan Munley was quoted about a recent case in which a Lawrence County judge ruled that a person texting a distracted driver who then got into a crash could potentially be held accountable.

In order to combat this growing problem, some safety advocates have suggested that we begin viewing distracted driving the same way we view drunk driving.  While distracted driving does not involve the consumption of an intoxicating substance, distraction can impair your driving ability just as much as alcohol, […]

Distracted Driving with Pets

There are lots of pet owners among us here at Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys, so we know that dogs can be the best of companions. But, driving with pets in tow can lead to distracted driving accidents.

Over half of all pet owners report bringing their pet for a car ride at least once a month, and one-third of pet owners do so at least once a week. When bringing your furry friend along for the ride, it’s important to keep safety in mind in order to protect you, your passengers, other motorists, and your pet, too.

According to AAA, some common distracted driving behaviors that pet owners are guilty of include: petting their dog, using hands or arms to restrict dog’s movement or hold dog in place when putting on brakes, using hands/arms to keep dog from climbing from the backseat to the front seat,  […]