DuBose Law Firm, PLLC

Main navigation

You are here: Home / Archives for DuBose Law Firm News / Personal Injury

Personal Injury

Less Traffic, More Fatalities

By

When the Covid-19 pandemic lock down began in earnest March of 2020, streets took on an eerie emptiness rarely seen in the Dallas area. It would seem to be good thing; in fact, there were fewer accidents and you would expect fewer serious personal injuries. However, an interesting statistic emerged that with less traffic, more fatalities happened.

In the four counties of Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, and Denton, there were 72 more fatalities than during the same period in 2019. These totaled 480 deaths from vehicle accidents. Robert Wunderlich with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute said, “It’s a very interesting phenomenon. We were surprised to see that. What you would like to see is a proportional decrease in serious crashes in conjunctions with the decrease in total crashes.”

Less traffic, more fatalities: Why?

A couple of reasons came to the forefront. Speed was number one. With fewer cars on the road, people felt they could exceed the speed limit. Engineers are now studying ways to reduce risks on less congested highways.

Another behavior adding to the deaths is an increased use of alcohol and drugs. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “drug prevalence was high among seriously and fatally injured roadway users before the public health emergency began and was even higher during, especially for alcohol, cannabinoids (active THC), and opioids.” Before the pandemic, 50% of serious or fatal accidents involved these thought-altering substances. Now these account for 65% of serious or fatal accidents.

Are there other factors?

Perhaps not as directly involved with the problem of less traffic, more fatalities, but definitely a contributor, is the condition of streets and roadways throughout the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

In 2017, Dallas had the 5th highest rate of fatal traffic accidents among the largest 25 cities in the U.S. In addition, it has a backlog of $2 billion in unfunded street improvement needs. Not surprising that so many streets are in disrepair. Also in 2017, Ft. Worth had the 6th highest fatality rate of the same study.

Not only are accidents caused by bad drivers, but by poorly marked lanes, illegible or non-existent signage, pot holes and a myriad of other factors. These are not only an on-site problem, but can damage cars leading to brakes needing repair and other vehicle damage.

In a Dallas City Council traffic safety plan briefing, it was noted that half of the serious accidents in Dallas are on just 8% of the city’s streets. At that meeting, the council endorsed a program called Vision Zero, run by a non-profit group. Its goal is to improve safety on those streets desperately needing attention with the target of zero fatalities.

How to stay safe?

Obviously, first is to be a good driver yourself – no speeding, no thought-altering drugs while driving.

If you live or work in Dallas, there is an interactive map showing street status, planned work, and bond projects. A look at this may help avoid an accident or car repair.

Last, remember to be a defensive driver. A long-remembered line from drivers’ training, “You can be right, dead right as you speed along, but just as dead as if you’d been wrong.”

Stay safe.

A Two Wheeled Risk of Harm in Dallas

By

In 2018 at the onset of electric scooters in Dallas, this new transportation option was advertised as a boon for commuters and residents alike with little if no mention of safety concerns.

Fast-forward to today and the trendy vehicles are becoming a safety risk and potential source for personal injuries.  According to city officials, scooter companies have not been disabling them late at night when their use is banned.  That has led to a recent explosion of complaints about groups of people joyriding late at night and menacing downtown business owners and residents alike.  Another problem with the scooter companies’ negligence – joy riders discarding scooters in piles on the pavement.

Since COVID-19 has closed many downtown businesses, city officials said that before the pandemic, scooters were used mostly for commuting but that peak use now is between 8 p.m. and midnight — mostly for entertainment purposes.

It is these safety concerns and the possibility of bodily harm to the joy riders and others alike that the city’s transportation department decided to halt the scooter program temporarily so it can work on tightening the rules.  As of right now, scooter operators must remove the approximately 5,000 vehicles that are currently out on the Dallas streets.

The city’s ordinance, tweaked in March of this year, allows scooters to operate until 9 p.m. in Deep Ellum and until midnight everywhere else.  Other regulations include a 20 mph speed limit.  The council lifted a ban on motorized scooters in June 2018 to encourage alternative transportation.

Police report that criminals sometimes use the scooters after hours as a quick getaway, while large groups of young people are motoring around the city to get better views of illegal street races late at night.

Reports have detailed the misuse of scooters.  They are no longer being used mostly for transportation to the bus station or a bar as intended – but rather have become a form of entertainment.  From a public safety standpoint, they have become a problem.”

Unfortunately, the scooters come with a risk of injury and have also been used in connection with crimes such as purse snatchings.  Personal injuries resulting from the scooters and public safety concerns with their misuse are the main reasons the city council has paused their availability.  A Parkland Memorial Hospital spokeswoman said 68 people were treated in the ER over the past year for scooter injuries.

The city council hopes that their temporary ban gives the city a “second chance” to do a better job of regulating scooters.  Five companies have permits to operate scooters in Dallas: Lime, Wheels, Gotcha, Bird and OjO.  The city told the scooter companies about the late-night violations and they vowed to fix it – however that did not happen.

In some cases, up to 40 scooters have been discarded in streets and on sidewalks.  A similar situation doomed the city’s bike-share program, which preceded the scooters but fizzled out in 2018. At the program’s peak, as many as 20,000 bicycles once rolled through the city.

City officials will meet with the scooter vendors and community leaders and come up with recommendations to make the scooters as safe as possible to all, he said. That includes adding corrals where people can leave the scooters.

The Life or Death Decisions of Autonomous Vehicles

By

Though not seen often – yet – autonomous vehicles are on the streets bringing the advantages of artificial intelligence (AI). The goal is to make driving decisions without the human tendencies toward distraction or impaired driving. These autonomous vehicles also must make life or death decisions when an unexpected event occurs. On what basis are these critical decisions made? Can this be programmed into a software driven car or truck?

Autonomous Vehicles Making Life or Death Decisions

Can moral decisions be programmed? If a self-driven car judges a potentially fatal accident is imminent, does it choose to sacrifice passengers or pedestrians? Does the number in each group matter; two passengers or five pedestrians? What if the passengers include a child and the pedestrians comprise a group of elderly citizens? Should it endanger passengers to avoid hitting an animal? These and millions of other difficult scenarios have been discussed for years. There is even a website platform, the Moral Machine, created by MIT Media Labs where anyone is invited to make judgements in these situations. So far, people in over 200 countries have contributed.

What does data show?

Interesting data has been uncovered from the Moral Machine regarding the decisions people would make. In general, there is a consensus to save children over adults. Yet, in Far Eastern countries, the elderly would be saved first. So, even areas of the world come to different decisions – Western, Eastern, Southern – especially in complex situations.

Nicholas Evans, philosophy professor at the University of Massachusetts, writes, “You could program a car to minimize the number of deaths or life-years lost in any situation, but then something counter-intuitive happens. When there’s a choice between a two-person car and you alone in your self-driving car, the result would be to run you off the road. People are much less likely to buy self-driving vehicles if they think theirs might kill them on purpose and be programmed to do so.” What people say in surveys versus what they would want to happen if they, or loved ones, are involved varies greatly.

Though extremely difficult to program to fit so many scenarios, there must be moral programming for the AI to make the autonomous vehicles accepted. This is especially true since there is not a global consensus for the morality of any given situation. In addition to life or death decisions, the vehicle is computing routes, traffic, obstacles, speed, condition of vehicle and countless other parameters.

What is next?

The ultimate goal is reducing accidents exponentially. Until almost all vehicles are controlled by AI and can interact, that will not happen. Even then, everyone who has anything electronic knows that there can be bugs and glitches, service going down, hackers, and the unknown.

Once there is an accident, there will need to be a decision on liability. These computer-driven vehicles will be equipped with essentially “black boxes” that record the previous 30 seconds or so of data. This information will make it easier to reconstruct what occurred, but who is to blame? What stage of the vehicle’s development created this accident: software developer, vehicle manufacturer, communication provider, or one of the other multiple vendors supplying parts?

Much is still unknown as this is a huge change in transportation globally. As more and more of these vehicles are introduced to our streets and highways, data collected will lead to more answers and probably more questions as well.  

Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage

By

It is a sad situation when a victim of a serious car accident discovers that their auto insurance policy doesn’t provide them with the type of protection they need.  Or, if the insurance company for the person at fault denies coverage for the collision.

Although the law requires that all Texas drivers have auto liability insurance, not everyone follows the law.  In some instances, many drivers only carry the minimum auto insurance requirement, which is $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident.  If you are involved in a car accident, your medical bills alone can exceed $30,000.00.  Your auto liability insurance policy alone won’t help you recover those medical costs if the driver at fault either didn’t carry insurance or didn’t carry enough to cover your damages.  In that situation, if all you have is liability insurance, through no fault of your own you would be on the hook for your own damages, like your medical bills.  That’s where Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage comes into play.

Even if you’re the most learned and careful driver on the road, your skills won’t protect you alone from other drivers with no insurance or not enough insurance.  You should consider UM/UIM (uninsured/underinsured) auto coverage.  With UM/UIM coverage, you’ll be able to recover your losses such as medical bills or lost wages.

In Uninsured Motorist coverage in an auto policy, you are essentially buying auto insurance for another driver who causes an accident and did not have auto liability insurance of their own.  In Underinsured Motorist coverage, claims are paid up to the policy limit of the underinsured driver and the insurance company pays the balance of the coverage that you purchased in your policy.  In other words, if the underinsured driver was only able to cover $10,000 in your damages, and your policy limits for underinsured drivers with your insurance company covers damages up to $60,000, the insurance company is required to pay the remaining amount of damages after the first $10,000 is collected from the other driver’s insurance.  

UM/UIM insurance also covers you and any household family member riding in any car as well as any non-family members riding in your insured auto.  Most UM/UIM policies will provide coverage for hit-and-run accidents, as long as there was physical contact between the vehicles and the accident was promptly reported.  Typically, UM/UIM coverage will pay for losses including medical bills, personal injuries, lost wages and property damage.

Although Texas law does not require you to purchase UM/UIM coverage, your insurance company must get you to sign a valid written waiver in order to exclude the coverage from your policy.  Many drivers carry UM/UIM coverage without even knowing it, and some drivers think they have it even if they don’t.  Those who choose not to buy UM/UIM coverage should think again.  It is usually quite inexpensive, even as little as $43 per year, and can provide much needed coverage if you are injured in an accident with an uninsured or underinsured motorist.

So, if you are a Dallas resident, you should check to see if you have UM/UIM insurance coverage.  Should the unfortunate happen and you are involved in a wreck on the Dallas roadways, UM/UIM coverage will provide you some insurance protection if the driver at fault is either uninsured or underinsured.

Personal Injury on Your Property: What is Covered?

Dallas Electric Scooter Rentals May Lead to Injuries

By

Dallas electric scooter rentals have been very popular, with nearly 4-million rental rides tallied since they first debuted in June, 2018. Until the time of COVID-19 and the eventual quarantine, an ever-increasing number of electric rental scooters were seen zipping around Dallas. As public health precautions began in earnest, two of the scooter companies, Ojo and Lime, temporarily removed their dock-less vehicles. That possibly left fewer than half of the 13,000 scooters deployed before the coronavirus pandemic shut down Dallas.

In addition to the reduction due to the quarantine, numbers dropped further because of people staying at home and social distancing. Along with the factors noted above explaining the drop of electric scooter rentals, are the stricter guidelines, newly passed, limiting the use of the scooters.

Even with the new limitations, reports about serious accidents that can occur with these scooters – truly motorized vehicles – still present safety and legal issues.

Stricter regulations with Dallas electric scooter rentals

New stricter regulations that deal with these rentals now include a 20 mph speed limit, a ban on rides after midnight – even 9 p.m. for some areas – and fines for companies if they leave a vehicle parked incorrectly. These new rules also ban riding scooters on sidewalks and impose a $200 fine on riders who don’t follow the rules.

Even with the recent limitations on the use of scooters, there are still issues with their speed and the resulting injuries.

Hospital reports of injuries seen due to motorized scooters

The Emergency Department at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas has tracked scooter mishaps and found 57-percent of injuries happened after 7 p.m.  For those who showed up at the ER, 58-percent had broken bones, 43-percent had facial injuries, and 35-percent suffered brain injuries. In total, Baylor recorded 322 emergency room visits from July 2018 through September 2019 – 55 of those visits required hospitalization, including 14 ICU patients and one reported death.

Dallas is not unique in in this matter. Around the nation, ER doctors have pointed out an increase in the number of serious accidents that accompany the rise in use of motorized scooters.  These statistics are probably low as it should be remembered that not everyone who gets in an accident involving an electric scooter is going to go to the ER or call 911. 

Causes of electric scooter accidents

In some scooter accidents, the scooter operator is inexperienced and simply loses control and crashes. In this type of accident, there generally is no possibility of a personal injury claim since the operator was at fault. Though, in some circumstances, it is possible that a lawsuit could be brought if it can be shown that the manufacturer, or company that rented the scooter, did not provide sufficient warnings and/or instructions about how to use the scooter safely.

Other accidents with electric scooters may involve automobiles. If a car driver does not yield to a scooter rider in a crosswalk, the rider could be entitled to serious compensation for injuries sustained. In most of these automobile-scooter crashes, the scooter rider suffers serious injuries, such as broken bones, head trauma, and internal injuries.  When this type of collision occurs, the rider could be entitled to compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, and lost wages.

Will electric scooters survive COVID-19 and stricter rules?

It remains uncertain whether the electric scooter rental market will survive COVID-19 and the new stricter regulations at all, much less at the level it had attained.

Regardless of their future, the scooters can present significant safety and legal issues that cannot be understated.