GJEL Blog » Driving Information

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood emerged victorious after an odd scuffle between his agency and an anti-government regulation lobbying group. The Washington-based Seward Square Group circulated a memo this week, claiming that anti-distracted driving efforts are equivalent to “a full-throttle assault on mobile technology,” and that “auto, tech, and insurance industries…have become collateral damage.”

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For a state bogged down by a $19 billion budget deficit, any idea to raise money without increasing taxes is attractive. That’s why a handful of California lawmakers have lined up to support a futuristic plan for electronic license plates which flash advertising information when the vehicle has stopped for more than four seconds, a plan critics say could induce an increase in dangerous distracted driving.

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Last week, I pushed back against the assertions that Toyota plaintiffs will be disappointed by the fate of their lawsuits against the Japanese automaker that has recalled nearly 9 million vehicles worldwide this year. While unintended acceleration claims were unsuccessful against companies like Audi in the past, I wrote, Toyota’s mistakes are publicly well known, which could indicate that plaintiffs will be satisfied this time around.

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There are a handful of great reasons to drive safely. If you want to avoid vehicular injuries, car damage, or just dodge tickets from police officers, obeying traffic signs while paying close attention to the habits of other drivers are good ways to do so. But I suspect the most common reason that drivers stay under the speed limit is a fear of getting a ticket or being harassed by police officers. And why operate based on fear when we don’t have to?

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A front-page story in the San Francisco Daily Journal yesterday predicted that plaintiffs filing lawsuits against Toyota based on unintended acceleration problems could be disappointed by the results. The article points to past acceleration-related lawsuits, mostly against German automaker Audi, which failed to convince juries that electrical problems were to blame for the accidents rather than driver error.

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Is your teenager getting enough sleep? If not, he or she could be in danger of an early morning collision, says a new report by Eastern Virginia Medical School professors. Using data from the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles, the study compares crash rates for teenage drivers from two towns: Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. In Virginia Beach, where high school classes begin at 7:20 am, the crash rate was 41 percent higher than Chesapeake, where classes begin at 8:40 am.

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Your car’s definitely not supposed to catch on fire. Recognizing this, General Motors has announced a recall of nearly 1.5 million trucks and SUVs over windshield wiper fluid that can cause fires. In 2004, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigated a similar windshield-wiper defect among GM models and fined the Detroit-based company $1 million for failing to conduct a timely recall.

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New and improved laws against distracted driving are popping up nationwide. This is partially thanks to the statistical consensus that talking, texting, and typing while driving has a significant impact on vehicle accidents and has made distracted driving the number one killer of teenagers. It’s also the restult of a media offensive that culminated on April 30 with Oprah Winfrey’s No Phone Zone Day. This Thursday, June 10, Washington State will become the newest state to jump on the safer driving band wagon and make the use of a handheld cellular device a primary offense.

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Chrysler announced today that it will recall more than 600,000 vehicles for safety problems in the brakes and wiring of popular Jeep and Dodge models. The company will recall a quarter of a million 2008-2009 minivans for an electrical problem with sliding doors that could “possibly result in a fire”; nearly 300,000 2007-2010 Jeep Wranglers for brake fluid leaks and break failure “increasing the risk of a crash”; and 25,000 2007 Dodge Calibur and Jeep Compass models for sticky accelerator pedals.

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On Wednesday, GJEL Managing Partner Andy Gillin hosted a personal injury 101 webinar for Avvo on the first steps drivers should take after a car accident. In addition to discussing the five most important actions to take, Andy talked about the situations in which drivers should hire a lawyer and when they would be better off representing themselves. The webinar concluded with some fantastic questions from the audience on subjects like detecting when the other driver is simply looking for a pay day, legal complications that arise from not wearing a seat belt, and the impact having just one beer before driving can have on the lawsuit. Click through for the whole segment.

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