Read through our articles that relate to drunk driving and how Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys can help you be whole again through our legal services.
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PA School Bus Driver Charged With DUI
When parents put their children on a school bus they assume the children will arrive safely at the school. They also assume the driver is experienced and responsible. Unfortunately, for children and their parents in Washington, PA, recently that wasn’t the case. Their school bus driver was charged with DUI after transporting 3 loads of children while legally drunk.
According to the Observer-Reporter.com, after the school bus driver had made three rounds of bringing students to school, he was preparing to take another group on a field trip. A teacher noticed that the man appeared to be under the influence and notified the proper authorities. Police found the driver had a blood alcohol content of .081 – four times the legal limit. The Huffington Post reports the driver was fired.
Fortunately, no one was injured in this incident. However, there have been far too many school bus accidents across the United States this year. […]
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PA Drivers to Observe Distracted Driving Awareness Month
Pennsylvania just enacted its anti-texting law in March. Now, Pennsylvania drivers will get additional incentive to adhere to the law – April has been designated National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
“The traffic safety community has a simple message for drivers: One Text or Call could Wreck it All,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood in his blog announcing National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
According to the National Safety Council (NSC), almost 25 percent of car crashes involve cell phone use. In addition, approximately 1.3 million auto accidents each year can be attributed to cell phone usage while driving. The NSC also points out that distractions now join alcohol and speeding as leading factors in all automobile accidents. In a press release announcing the distracted driving campaign, the NSC asks all drivers to pledge: “I will not use my cell phone while driving in any way.”
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that while cell phones are the primary cause of distracted driving, […]
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Teenagers Binge Drinking Lead to Highway Crashes
ABC News Nightline uncovered a disturbing trend among teenage girls – binge drinking. Monday night the network reported that one in every four teen girls binge drinks. Faced with enormous pressure to fit in, Ju Ju Chang reports teenage girls are turning more and more to alcohol.
Unlike social adult drinkers who may drink a glass or two of wine to “unwind,” teenage drinkers drink to get drunk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in a study released earlier this year that 90% of the alcohol consumed by teens is consumed while binge drinking. That means that teens are drinking four to five alcoholic drinks per occasion, two or three times per month.
While any amount of drinking by teens can be dangerous, binge drinking comes with additional dangers. Beyond the immediate effects of alcohol that can cause sickness, and more seriously, […]
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PA Woman Campaigns Against Texting While Driving
Even though Pennsylvania just enacted its anti-texting law, Jacy Good won’t stop spreading the word that texting and driving is a deadly combination. The Pennsylvania woman knows firsthand the devastation a distracted driver can cause. She is using her personal tragedy to urge Americans to put down their phones when driving.
Jacy and her parents were driving home after Jacy’s graduation ceremony at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA in May 2008, when an 18-year-old driver who was talking on his cellphone ran a red light, according to an article in the Reading Eagle. A tractor trailer had to swerve to avoid the teen, but then slammed head-on into Good’s car. Jacy’s parents both died instantly. Jacy ended up in the hospital with just a 10 percent chance of surviving. Jacy did survive, and she wants to make sure no one else suffers the way she has. […]
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Pennsylvania Graduated License Program Aimed at Saving Teen Lives
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports automobile accidents are the number one cause of death for teens. Last month we urged teenagers in Pennsylvania to focus on driving carefully and following the laws when taking to the local highways to help prevent other teens from becoming a statistic. Last Thursday, the USA Today, also hoping to get the message out that teen drivers are at risk on America’s highways, published a special report entitled “Making Teen Driving Safer.”
Although the USA Today points out that nationwide deaths for 16- and 17-year-old drivers declined between 2007 and 2010, the special report hones in on the fact that every day, an average of 11 teenagers die in car crashes in the United States. The teen driving section is, in part, sponsored by Allstate Insurance that is sponsoring the “Save11” campaign to encourage Congress to pass the STANDUP Act. […]
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SOUND Devices Act Closes Product Liability Loophole
Scranton, PA, February 23, 2012 – Pennsylvania product liability lawyer Caroline Munley today called for passage of a bill that would enable the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to reject medical devices that are modeled after devices already known to be flawed.
“The SOUND Devices Act closes a loophole that allows medical device manufacturers to basically skirt the FDA approval process,” said Munley, a partner in the regional law firm of Munley, Munley & Cartwright, whose Pennsylvania product liability attorneys represent consumers and patients who are harmed by defective products, including flawed medical devices.
“A process that avoids scrutiny is wrong and should be unnecessary,” Munley said. “Every new medical device submitted for approval for the American marketplace should be able to stand on its own merits.”
The Safety Of Untested and New Devices Act of 2012 (SOUND Devices Act) eliminates a loophole in the Food and Drug Administration’s device-approval process known as section 510(k), […]
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Pennsylvania Drivers Urged to Slow Down
Many of our articles have focused on the dangers of distracted driving and drunk driving. However, with key safety campaigns aimed at raising awareness of the hazards of these two dangerous behaviors, drivers are beginning to put down their cell phones and drive only when sober. Now, according to a new study, speed-related crashes are on the rise.
The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) reports that 31 percent of all traffic-related deaths in the United States in 2010 were caused by a speeding driver. Further, speeding is the “one highway safety area where progress has not been made in almost three decades.
According to the 2010 Pennsylvania Crash Facts and Statistics, 1,324 people died in auto accidents during the year. Of those, 459 were alcohol-related and 404 were speed-related. Just as the GSHA reports of the nationwide data, accidents caused by speeding drivers in PA accounted for 31 percent of the fatal accidents in the state. […]
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Widows Sue PA Bars for Serving Drunk Driver
July 1, 2011, two men leading the Last Chance Motorcycle Club, a group of riders who have overcome alcohol and drug addictions, were ironically struck head-on by a drunk driver, resulting in the death of two men and injuries to four others. Now, the injured men and the widows of the deceased men have filed a lawsuit against the driver responsible and three bars that served alcohol to the drunk driver.
The group of motorcyclists was traveling from New Jersey to a friend’s funeral in Pennsylvania. As they traveled on Route 512 in Bangor, PA, a pickup made a wide turn, crossed the center line and plowed head-on into the group traveling in the opposite direction. The driver was charged with vehicular homicide while driving drunk and aggravated assault.
Under Pennsylvania’s “dram shop law,” business owners can be held liable for the sale of alcohol to patrons who are clearly and visibly intoxicated. […]
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NHTSA Delays Ruling on Making Back-Up Cameras Mandatory
At the end of 2010 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced it was considering a proposal to require all passenger vehicles to install back-up cameras to limit back-over accidents. Last week, however, the NHTSA announced it has postponed ruling on the mandatory requirements saying it needs to conduct “further study and data analysis.”
The Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act was named for a child who was killed by his father as he was backing out of his driveway not realizing the two-year-old boy was playing behind the vehicle. The ruling would be especially beneficial in protecting the lives of children, the elderly, and hearing and sight impaired pedestrians.
At the time the change was recommended, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said: “There is no more tragic accident than for a parent or caregiver to back out of a garage or driveway and kill or injure an undetected child playing behind the vehicle. […]
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Car Accident Round-Up: Fatal Nine-Car Accident in CA
Three dead, 10 injured in car accident caused by woman suspected of being drunk
Nine Car Accident Leaves Three Dead in CA DUI Accident
A nine-car crash in Monterey County, CA left three people dead and approximately 10 people injured, two seriously. According to police, the Wednesday evening accident occurred when a woman suspected of drunk driving reached for her cell phone and crossed the center line in her SUV, striking a Volkswagen head-on. Three occupants of the Volkswagen died and a fourth was seriously injured. After the two vehicles crashed, another seven cars were involved in a chain-reaction crash. The occupants of the Volkswagen and those in another car following them were returning from a funeral in King City. The pileup occurred on Highway 101 near King City, CA.
Man Dies Crossing Street at Busy Philadelphia Intersection
A 77-year-old man crossing the road at Henry Avenue and School House Lane in the East Falls section of Philadelphia was struck by a vehicle last week. […]
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Alcohol-Related Crash in PA Kills WV Policeman
Police officer killed by drunk driver in crash during car chase
A man fleeing police led them on a chase from West Virginia into Pennsylvania where the suspect slammed into a police cruiser, killing 41-year-old Monongalia County, WV Sgt. Michael Todd May. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the suspect was arrested on suspicion of homicide by vehicle, and police are awaiting BAC test results. Police believe the man was driving drunk and taking prescription anti-anxiety drugs.
The Saturday morning accident occurred after police stopped a 35-year-old man suspected of an earlier hit-and-run accident. Instead of getting out of the car, the man drove off. May had pulled his SUV off the road on I-79 near the one-mile marker and was ready to assist in stopping the vehicle when the suspect crashed into him.
May leaves behind his parents and a younger brother. […]
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Pennsylvania Teen Drivers Urged to Stay Alert
The start of 2012 has seen far too many teens lose their lives in car accidents. Just last week a local Pennsylvania teen died when his car skidded on ice and he crashed into a building, dying at the scene. Earlier this month, three teenagers traveling together went the wrong way on a MD road resulting in a crash that killed all three. And in Virginia at the end of January, one teen died and three others were seriously injured when the teen driver crossed the center line striking another vehicle.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), car accidents are the number one killer of teenagers in the United States, claiming nearly 5,600 teenage lives each year. While the above accidents are all unique, the cause of each of the accidents may not have been that different. The NHTSA has identified four primary causes for serious teen injury accidents: inexperience and immaturity combined with speed, […]
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Munley Supports Ban on Cell Phones While Driving
Pennsylvania car accident attorney Caroline Munley today applauded a federal agency’s recommendation for the prohibition of cell phone use by drivers of all personal and commercial vehicles.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in December that all drivers be prohibited from using cell phones and other electronic devices behind the wheel.
The proposal grew from the NTSB’s investigation of a multi-vehicle collision in Missouri in 2010 that was caused by a pickup truck driver who was distracted by a text-messaging conversation. The wreck killed two and injured 38.
“We support the NTSB’s recommendation for a complete ban on cell phone use by drivers of all motor vehicles,” said Munley of the Pennsylvania personal injury firm of Munley, Munley & Cartwright, P.C., which represents victims of car crashes and truck accidents throughout the Northeast. […]
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California Family Settles Civil Suit in Vehicular Manslaughter Case
Family receives undisclosed amount of money in vehicular manslaughter case settlement
The Modesto Bee reports the family of a California man who died when he was maliciously struck by a car has been awarded an undisclosed amount of money in a civil lawsuit. The man’s family sought compensation for wrongful death, loss of financial support, and payment for his funeral expenses.
The lawsuit was brought after the criminal case concluded June 14, 2010, with a jury conviction for felony hit-and-run and misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in the 2008 attack. The deceased was found near his north Modesto house after he was hit by a car “with enough force to throw him onto the hood of his car, then off the roof,” according to testimony in the criminal case. Apparently, the attack was over loud music.
The defense attorney argued that the man acted in self-defense from a drunk and angry man who approached the other man’s vehicle and began climbing up the hood. […]
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Florida Families Settle Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Traffic Accident
The families of two teenagers who died in an accident in Stuart, FL in August 2009 have settled in a wrongful death lawsuit with a construction company that owned the front-end loader the teens’ vehicle struck. The amount Sheltra & Son Construction Co will pay was not released in the confidential settlement.
Three teenagers were riding in a Jeep Cherokee traveling on Southeast Cove Road around 2 a.m. when they came upon a road-widening project. A front-end loader was halfway into the eastbound lane of the road without any flagmen or signs to warn drivers to slow for the vehicle.
The Jeep slammed into the equipment killing all three teens. The Florida Highway Patrol found the 18-year-old driver had a blood-alcohol level of 0.251, more than three times the legal limit, at the time of the accident. The other teens were also impaired, according to the police. […]
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Car Accident Round-Up – Fatal Accidents Throughout East Coast
Car accidents include death of Ithaca College student
PA Accident Takes Life of College Student
The Scranton Times Tribune reports a 20-year-old driver died in a fiery wreck on I-81 Saturday. The accident occurred near mile-marker 211 in Susquehanna County, PA around 2:30 a.m. as the young man passed through the state on his way to Ithaca College. The car went off the right side of the highway then hit a rock embankment before coming to rest on the highway’s shoulder on the driver’s side of the car. The vehicle became engulfed in flames. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
NC Legislator Involved in Fatal Car Accident
One man is dead and a North Carolina state legislator is in critical condition after their two cars collided late Friday night in Winston-Salem, NC. Police report that the 70-year-old NC representative, […]
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New Jersey Town to Pay $10 Million to Family of Boy Who Drowned in Town Pool
The Village of Ridgewood, New Jersey has been ordered to pay $10 million to the family of a boy who drowned in the town-owned Graydon Pool in July 2008. A Hackensack Superior Court jury found the pool was negligently supervised at the time of the 13-year-old boy’s death.
During the incident, there were more than nine lifeguards at the pool and none of them saw the child struggling to stay afloat. One of the boy’s friends tried to save him, but his efforts were unsuccessful. He alerted the boy’s mother who then alerted the pool manager and lifeguards.
The lawsuit alleged the manager had the lifeguards search the nearby area for the boy, as opposed to looking in the water. It took 40 minutes for the lifeguards to find the boy in the pool, at which time he had already died.
About Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys
Munley Law is a Pennsylvania accident and injury law firm that represents car accident victims and their families throughout the state of Pennsylvania and the Northeast, […]
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New York Man Awarded $1.5 Million After Debilitating Auto Accident
A man who suffered “a permanent, significant physical limitation” as the result of a serious automobile accident on Route 104 in Ontario, New York, has been awarded over $1.5 million by a Monroe County Supreme Court jury.
The man was stopped at a stop light in 2009 when he was hit from behind by another vehicle. He was diagnosed with acute lumbar spine injuries. The defendant’s insurance company, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., offered to settle the case for $5,000 and refused mediation or arbitration to settle the case, forcing the case into trial.
InsuranceNewsNet.com reports the man was awarded $1.25 million in past, present and future pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life, along with $321,250 in past and future medical expenses.
About Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys
Munley Law is a Pennsylvania accident and injury law firm that represents car accident victims and their families throughout the state of Pennsylvania and the Northeast, […]
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LA County Hospital Likely to Pay $2.8 Million in Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
Los Angeles County officials will likely agree to a $2.8 million settlement in a lawsuit brought by a woman whose child suffered birth injuries at the County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in March 2008.
In a lawsuit filed by the then 18-year-old, the woman claims the medical staff failed to perform an emergency cesarean section when she was showing signs of distress during labor. Her son was later diagnosed with neurological injuries from fetal distress, according to an article in the Contra Costa Times.
The hospital will also waive the nearly $20,000 hospital bill and will cover the $16,000 lien placed against the woman’s home. In addition, the hospital was required to implement safety measures to prevent future incidents similar to this one.
About Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys
Munley Law is a Pennsylvania accident and injury law firm that represents car accident victims and their families throughout the state of Pennsylvania and the Northeast, […]
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Car Accident Round-Up – Car Plunges into Lake Killing Three
Three pronounced dead after divers pull them out of submerged car
Three Men Drown in Florida When Car Plunges into Lake
Local10.com reports three men drowned after their car ran off the road and plunged into a Pompano Beach, FL lake. The early Saturday morning car accident occurred when the car was traveling south on Andrews Avenue off Sample Road. Apparently, the car ran off the road, hit a guard rail then veered into the lake. Rescue divers pulled the men from the water, and they were then rushed to the hospital where all three were pronounced dead. Police are continuing to investigate, and autopsies will be performed on all the men.
Fatal Dayton, Ohio Accident Kills Two
Two young adults lost their lives in a violent crash early Saturday morning when a car smashed into their Ford Neon while they were stopped at a light in Dayton, […]
