Drill Rig Gear Hit Bridge, Caused Collapse

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Posted on 24th May 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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I blog about about transportation news, including major accidents, and I don’t remember hearing about a case like this in recent memory.

It was all over the media yesterday that a bridge in Washington State had collapsed into a river. And now we know the cause of this accident: A semi truck, which was hauling drilling rig equipment, was crossing over the bridge when its tall load struck one of the bridge’s overhead girders, according to USA Today.  That caused the bridge to collapse.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/24/bridge-washington-state-collapsed-truck/2357389/

Two cars that were on the bridge, which spans the Skagit River,  plunged into the water, a 50-foot fall, USA Today reported. Three people wound up being sent to the hospital, but their injuries weren’t life threatening. No one was killed, miraculously.

‘The truck got off the bridge before it fell into the river.

As its turns out, the truck’s load hit the bridge’s support girder. That was all it took to trigger the collapse. That bridge was built in 1955, and apparently a bridge constructed today would not have reacted the same way as the one in Washington, according to USA Today.

Modern bridges have what the newspaper called “redundant features … designed to stay intact of a single section is damaged.” The Washington bridge is described as “fracture critical,” meaning that that whole shebang can come down if just one major part “fails,” USA Today said.

The bridge is part of what you might call this nation’s aging infrastructure. It was declared “functionally obsolete” by the National Bridge Inventory, according to USA Today, and was inspected two times last year and underwent some repairs.

The National Transportation Safety Board will be on the scene investigating the accident, and it will likely be weeks before the bridge is fixed.

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Past Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

Two Commuter Trains Crash In Connecticut

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Posted on 17th May 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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During the evening rush hour Friday, two commuter trains serving New York City collided in Fairfield, Conn., with 60 people sent to local hospitals, according to the Associated Press. Five of the victims were critically hurt, and another one very badly injured.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/17/metro-north-train-crash_n_3295562.html?ncid=webmail1

The crash involved the Metro-North Railroad, which was caused by a derailment. A train that had left Grand Central Station to go to New Haven derailed near Fairfield, AP reported. Then a westbound train on an adjacent track hit the derailed train, causing some of its cars to derail.

Rail officials told AP that there was major damage to the to the two trains and the track.

Authorities were investigating the cause of the collision.

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Past Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

NTSB Asks States To Reduce DWI Alcohol Threshold

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Posted on 15th May 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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The National Transportation Safety Board Tuesday urged states to reduce their threshold for a driver to be considered legally drunk by nearly a half, to 0.05 percent blood alcohol from 0.08 percent.

http://www.ntsb.gov/news/2013/130514.html

The NTSB cited research that showed that although impairment begins with the first drink, by 0.05 BAC (blood alcohol concentration), most drivers experience a decline in both cognitive and visual functions, which significantly increases the risk of a serious crash.

“Currently, over 100 countries on six continents have BAC limits set at 0.05 or lower,” the board said in a press release. “The NTSB has asked all 50 states to do the same.”

All in all, the NTSB released a list of 19 recommendations to eliminate alcohol-impaired driving crashes. The suggestions call for stronger laws, swifter enforcement and expanded use of technology.

“Most Americans think that we’ve solved the problem of impaired driving, but in fact, it’s still a national epidemic,” NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman said in a statement. “On average, every hour one person is killed and 20 more are injured.”

Each year in the United States, nearly 10,000 people are killed in crashes involving alcohol-impaired drivers and more than 173,000 are injured, with 27,000 suffer incapacitating injuries, according to the NTSB.

Since the mid-1990s, even as total highway fatalities have fallen, the proportion of deaths from accidents involving an alcohol-impaired driver has remained constant at around 30 percent. In the last 30 years, nearly 440,000 people have died in alcohol-related crashes.

“The research clearly shows that drivers with a BAC above 0.05 are impaired and at a significantly greater risk of being involved in a crash where someone is killed or injured,” said Hersman.

Among the other findings, investigators said that high-visibility enforcement efforts, such as sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols paired with media campaigns, deter alcohol-impaired driving. And to increase the effectiveness of these programs, the NTSB recommended that police use passive alcohol sensors to help better detect alcohol vapor in the ambient environment.

The NTSB, which in December 2012 recommended that states require ignition interlocks for all DWI offenders, said that because only about one in four offenders ordered to have an interlock actually have one installed, states should employ measures to improve interlock compliance.

Further, the board said that an intervention known as administrative license suspension, which allows law enforcement authorities to immediately suspend or revoke a driver’s license at the time of a DWI arrest, would be more effective if states required offenders to have an ignition interlock on their vehicles before licenses could be fully reinstated.

The NTSB recognized the effectiveness of specialized state DWI courts in addressing the particular challenges represented by repeat offenders. DWI courts hold offenders accountable through intensive monitoring, treatment for underlying disorders, alcohol testing and graduated sanctions. The NTSB recommended that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration assist states in maximizing their effectiveness by providing the courts with current best practices.

Over the past year, the NTSB sharpened its focus on impaired driving and has taken a number of actions, including issuing recommendations following a December 2012 special report on wrong-way driving.

That report found that more than 60 percent of wrong-way crashes were caused by alcohol-impaired drivers. In May last year, the NTSB hosted a forum on substance-impaired driving to understand how the latest research, technology, and countermeasures were being used by a range of advocacy groups as well as federal, state and local authorities to address substance-impaired driving.

Tuesday the NTSB issued 10 safety recommendations and reiterated nine others to NHTSA, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriffs’ Association, the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety, all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.

“Alcohol-impaired crashes are not accidents,” said Hersman. “They are crimes. They can – and should – be prevented. The tools exist. What is needed is the will.”

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Past Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

Fatal Crashes Due To Cellphone Use Under-Reported

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Posted on 8th May 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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The number of fatal motor vehicle crashes caused by cellphone use are vastly under-reported, according to a study released this week by the National Safety Council.

http://www.nsc.org/Pages/Study-Car-Crash-Deaths-Involving-Cell-Phones-Vastly-Under-Reported.aspx

That was the finding of a recent analysis of national statistics on fatal motor vehicle crashes, part of a report entitled, “Crashes Involving Cell Phones: Challenges of Collecting and Reporting Reliable Crash Data.”

http://www.nsc.org/safety_road/Distracted_Driving/Documents/NSC-Under-Reporting-White-Paper.pdf

Based on risk and prevalence of cellphone use, as reported by research and NHTSA, the Council estimates that 25 percent of all crashes involve cellphone use. That may be a factor why in 2012 highway fatalities increased for the first time in seven years.

The report from the Itasca, Ill., advocacy group reviewed 180 fatal crashes from 2009 to 2011 where evidence indicated driver cellphone use. Of those fatal crashes, in 2011 only 52 percent were coded in the national data as involving cell phone use.

“We believe the number of crashes involving cellphone use is much greater than what is being reported,” National Safety President and CEO Janet Froetscher said in a statement. “Many factors, from drivers not admitting cellphone use, to a lack of consistency in crash reports being used to collect data at the scene, make it very challenging to determine an accurate number.”

Even when drivers admitted cellphone use during a fatal crash, the Council’s analysis found that in about one-half of these cases, the crash was not coded in federal data (the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatal Analysis Reporting System).

There were also an unknown number of cases in which cellphone use involvement in crashes is impossible to determine, according to the Council. One example of that would be when a driver reading an email or text message dies in a crash without any witnesses.

The report also notes the large differences in cellphone-distraction fatal crashes reported by different states. For instance, in 2011 Tennessee reported 93 fatal crashes that involved cellphone use, but New York, a state with a much larger population, reported only one. Texas reported 40, but its neighboring state Louisiana reported none, the Council pointed out.

“The public should be aware that cellphone-involved fatal crashes are not accurately being reported,” said Bill Windsor, associate vice president of consumer safety at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., which partially funded the analysis.

“These statistics influence national prevention priorities, funding decisions, media attention, legislation and policy, even vehicle and roadway engineering,” he said. “There are wide-ranging, negative ramifications to safety if a fatal crash factor is substantially under-reported, as appears to be the case of cell phone use in crashes.”

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Past Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

N.J. Appeals Court Considers Liability Of Texter In Crash

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Posted on 7th May 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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Here’s a case that could have national impact: A New Jersey appellate court is being asked whether a texter can be held liable if the message’s recipient “crashes and causes harm to other while reading and driving,” according to The Daily Record of Morristown.

http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20130506/NJNEWS/305060023/Is-texter-liable-person-receiving-text-crashes-?gcheck=1

The three-judge appeals panel heard arguments on the case Monday, for an appeal of a judge’s ruling a year ago. Back then Superior  Court Judge David Rand decided that Shannon Colonna of Rockaway, N.J., couldn’t be held civilly responsible for aiding and abetting the actions of Kyle Best, then 19, of Wharton, N.J., The Record reported.

While reading a text from Colonna, Best got into an accident with his pickup truck and hit a couple traveling on a motorcycle in Mine Hill, N.J. As a result of the 2009 accident, David and Linda Kubert each lost a leg.

During Monday’s arguments, the Kuberts’ attorney maintained that texters have a “duty of care” not to send messages if they know the recipient is driving and shouldn’t be distracted, according to The Record. The Kuberts want Colonna added back as a defendant in the lawsuit stemming from the accident.

In turn, Colonna’s lawyer told the panel that she can’t be held liable for when Best decided to read her texts, The Record reported. She had sent Best more than 60 texts during the hours before the 2009 accident.

According to the local newspaper, last year the Kuberts settled their lawsuit with Nest for $500,000, the limit on his truck’s insurance. He also pleaded guilty to driving while using a hand-held phone, and for his sentence he had to lecture at 14 high schools on the dangers of distracted driving.

 

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Past Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

Four Workers Hurt In Louisiana Oilfield Accident

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Posted on 19th April 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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An accident at an oilfield in DeSoto Parish, La., left four workers injured Friday morning, according to KTBS-TV.

http://www.ktbs.com/news/Four-injured-in-oilfield-accident/-/144844/19823456/-/e7tmff/-/index.html

The four workers fell from a workover rig, according to the DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Office. Three of the workers were critically hurt, KTBS reported, with one airlifted to a local hospital.

The accident took place shortly before 10 a.m. in Kingston on Bradshaw Road.

 

 

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Past Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

South Dakota Offers Subsidies To Draw Lawyers

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Posted on 9th April 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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Across the nation, law schools are downsizing their classes. Law school graduates are struggling to find work. There appears to be a glut of attorneys — everyplace but rural America.

The New York Times recently did a story headlined “No Lawyer For Miles, So One Rural State Offers Pay.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/09/us/subsidy-seen-as-a-way-to-fill-a-need-for-rural-lawyers.html?hp&_r=1&

The story is about South Dakota becoming the first state to offer lawyers a subsidy to hang there shingles there. As The Times points out, this program is modeled after one that offers doctors, dentists and nurses a special stipend to work in the depths of America’s Heartland.

States such as South Dakota are desperately in need of lawyers. In Bennett County, the retirement of Fredric Cozad means there’s not a working lawyer for 120 miles, according to The Times.

Only 2 percent of small law practices are located in rural America, even though about 20 percent of the country lives there, The Times reported. And on not only South Dakota but states such as Arizona, Georgia and Texas most lawyers are clustered in major urban areas.

The South Dakota law, which takes effect in June, is being looked at by other rural states, such as Iowa.  According to The Times, the subsidy requires a lawyer to commit for five years and will establish a pilot program for up to 16 participants.

The subsidy will be $12,000 a year, which amounts to 90 percent of tuition at the University of South Dakota Law School, The Times reported.

That’s a lot less than doctors receive under the National Health Service Corps. It pays up to $60,000 in tax-free loan repayment for two years working in rural areas and as much as $140,000 for five years of service, according to The Times.

Americans in rural regions need lawyers like everyone else, to draw up wills and deeds, buy homes, and defend themselves in court.

I hope that this South Dakota program is successful, and that it establishes a model for other states in dire need of lawyers.

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Past Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

Metrolink Train Hits Truck In Los Angeles

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Posted on 6th April 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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A Metrolink commuter train Saturday crashed into a dump truck in Los Angeles, according to the Associated Press.  The accident is under investigation.

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/us/article/Metrolink-train-collides-with-truck-in-LA-12-hurt-4415197.php

A city fire department spokesman told AP that there were 190 passengers on the train, and that 11 were sent to the hospital for treatment.

The truck driver was released after being treated at the scene.

The truck was on the tracks near Pacoima in the San Fernando Valley when it was struck by the train, AP reported.

 

 

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Past Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

95-Vehicle Pileup Kills 3, Hurts 25 Near Va.-N.C. Line

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Posted on 1st April 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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Fog is a mass murderer.

I’ve written several blogs about vehicular accidents where dozens of cars and trucks pile up when they hit foggy patches on highways. And unfortunately, one of these horrific accidents happened this weekend.

On Sunday a chain reaction of crashes involving 95 vehicles killed three people and injured 25 others on Route 77 near the Virginia-North Carolina border, according to the Associated Press. Heavy fog had descended on that stretch of the highway, near Fancy Gap Mountain.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/3-killed-25-injured-massive-crashes-n-va-border-article-1.1304464?localLinksEnabled=false

There were about 17 different crashed in the pileup, AP reported. The wire service cited stats from The Roanoke Times, which said that 1997 there have been at a half dozen similar pileups in this mountainous area.

Highway authorities tried to warn motorists of the danger.  Since 6 a.m. Sunday morning, there were overhead signs telling  told drivers to slow down because of the thick fog, according to AP.

At the core of the pileup was a crash that involved eight vehicles, including a tractor-trailer, AP reported.

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Past Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

Oilfield Worker Killed In North Dakota Accident

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Posted on 25th March 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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A 31-year-old worker was killed earlier this month in North Dakota, according to the Minot Daily News. It wasn’t the typical oilfield accident, but it just illustrates once again how dangerous this kind of work is.

http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/574065/Minot-man-dies-in-oilfield-accident.html?nav=5010

Joshua Lee Hoiland of Minot was in a vac truck owned by his employer, First Choice Energy Services of Minot, cleaning it up when an agitator inside the vehicle started up. It hit him in the chest and head, the Daily News reported.

Emergency responders found Hoiland unresponsive, and pronounced him dead at the scene.

The accident happened around 7 p.m. March 14 at a site owned by Fidelity Exploration and Production, just a few miles south of Stanley, N.D., according to the Daily News.

 

 

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Past Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

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