Entries categorized as ‘Dangerous Roads’
Erie Insurance issued a report a few days ago on the PRNewswire detailing the rise in deer-vehicle collisions in West Virginia. Generally, across the country deer-vehicle collisions cause more than 200 deaths, tens of thousands of injuries, and up to 1.1 billion in property damages. But across the country, deer insurance claims have declined over the past 10 years. But the report notes that deer insurance claims frequency is highest in West Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
In West Virginia, deer collisions have been on the rise for the last two years. Erie notes that in 2007, claims increased 11 percent. Apparently, in Wirt, Pleasants, Calhoun and Pocahontas Counties, drivers are three times more likely to hit a deer than in other parts of West Virginia.
Erie offers 10 tips for “bucking” the deer-vehicle collision trend:
1. Stay alert, awake and sober.
2. Always wear your seatbelt and drive at a safe, sensible speed for
conditions.
3. Do not rely on devices such as deer whistles, deer fences and reflectors
to deter deer.
4. Deliberately watch for deer — including the reflection of deer eyes and
deer silhouettes on the shoulder of the road — particularly when driving
late at night or early in the morning.
5. Use high-beam headlights at night when there is no opposing traffic.
6. If you encounter a deer, assume nothing, slow down and blow your horn to
urge the deer to leave the road.
7. If you see a deer in or near your path, brake firmly but stay in your
lane.
8. Never swerve your vehicle to avoid striking a deer — if a collision is
imminent, hit it while maintaining full control of your vehicle.
9. If you do strike a deer, and are uncertain whether or not the deer is
dead, keep your distance.
10. If the deer is blocking the roadway, contact the Game Commission or a
local law enforcement agency.
– John H. Bryan, West Virginia Car Accident Attorney
Categories: Car Accident Statistics · Dangerous Roads · Safe Driving · Single Vehicle Accidents
There was a report just released from the federal government indicating that younger drivers are more likely to die on West Virginia roads than anywhere else in the country. According to an article on WSAZ.com, statistics show that West Virginia’s death rate among younger drivers was 70 percent higher than the national average. Thirty six West Virginians between the ages of 16 and 20 died in crashes in 2006.
The article notes that “experts say traffic fatalities are twice as high in rural areas where drivers are more likely to speed and less likely to wear seat belts.”
I think those are two factors involved, but not the only ones. A reporter called me today and asked me what I thought were the main reasons for this problem. I responded that I think that younger drivers are reckless drivers no matter what state you are in. But when you put them on windy, mountain roads with no enforcement of the speed limit, you are asking for disaster. And that is my theory at least, about why the young fatalities are so high on West Virginia roads. But certainly the advent of new cell phone technologies and their 24/7 usage by younger persons is playing a part as well.
– John H. Bryan, West Virginia Car Accident Attorney
Categories: Car Accident Statistics · Dangerous Roads · Teen Drivers
The Associated Press published an article yesterday, a copy of which appeared in the hard copy of the Register-Herald:
More than two-thirds of young drivers and passengers killed in nighttime car crashes aren’t wearing seat belts — deadly proof of what can happen when young people don’t heed parents’ pleas and authorities’ threats to “click it.”
Though seat-belt use actually is rising slightly nationwide, fatality figures published Monday offered a somber contrast as law enforcement launched its annual pre-Memorial Day drive to persuade Americans to buckle up.
Total belt use rose to 82 percent last year — from 81 percent in 2006 — the government said. Twelve states had rates of 90 percent or better, led by Hawaii and Washington. Only three were below 70 percent: Arkansas, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. West Virginia was ranked between 85% and 90%, which is well above the national average of 82%. But the study was hardly encouraging.
Sixty-eight percent of drivers and passengers between the ages of 16 and 20 who were killed in car crashes at night in 2006 were unbuckled, said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. During daytime, 57 percent of the young motorists and passengers who were killed were not wearing seat belts.
The problem isn’t just with teens. The percentage of unbuckled drivers and passengers who died at night is well up in the 60s through the age of 44. It declines to 52 percent for people 55-64 and 41 percent for those older than that.
The problem still remains however, that when you combine carloads of teens, with inexperience and poor judgment, the result is often disastrous, especially in West Virginia with our winding roads. I am reminded of a car wreck that took place on the border of Monroe County and Greenbrier County not too long ago, where a car load of teenagers were killed as the result of excessive speed, poor vehicle maintenance, and unbuckled seat belts.
– John H. Bryan, West Virginia Car Accident Attorney.
Categories: Car Accident Statistics · Car Accidents · Children · Dangerous Roads · Seatbelts · Teen Drivers
From the Register-Herald:
Yet another accident involving a school bus loaded with children, this time in Greenbrier County, WV.
A Greenbrier County school bus with seven children aboard collided with another vehicle Wednesday in what school officials called a “minor accident.”
Superintendent John Curry said the accident happened in the Ft. Spring area about 4:30 p.m.
“We had a bus going around a blind curve and the bus and the car side swiped,” Curry said. “Nobody was hurt and the seven middle school children aboard were all transported home by their parents, who lived close by.”
No citations were issued by police.
Its odd that the police did not issue any citations. One of the drivers had to have been left of center in order for them to have collided – assuming this was a two-lane road. Regardless, both are probably at fault. If you are going around a blind curve, you have to slow down and approach with caution, keeping as far as you can on your side of the road – especially if you are driving a school bus. Fortunately none of the children were injured. It amazes me how children come out of the school bus crashes with no injuries, despite the fact that these buses don’t even have seat belts (to my knowledge).
Read the full article here.
– John H. Bryan, West Virginia Car Accident Attorney.
Categories: Children · Dangerous Roads · Fault · Safe Driving · Seatbelts
According to the NHTSA Study released in February of 2008, West Virginia is one of the highest states for fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles of travel (VMT) when it comes to fatalities in alcohol related accidents. The study covered 2005 and 2006. The rate in West Virginia was much higher than all of its surrounding states.
In 2005, there were a total of 374 fatalities overall in West Virginia car accidents. That yields a total of 1.82 fatalities per 100 million VMT. 110 of those fatalities in 2005 were alcohol related. That yields a percentage of .54.
In 2006, it got worse. There were a total of 410 fatalities, yielding a total percentage of 1.96 per 100 million VMT. 129 of those fatalities were alcohol related, thus yielding a percentage of .62 fatalities per 100 million VMT.
Just to compare, in 2006, Virginia’s was .37, Ohio’s was .34, Maryland’s was .34, Pennsylvania’s was .45 and Kentucky’s was .46.
Complete .pdf file containing the study:
810920.pdf
– John H. Bryan, West Virginia Car Accident Attorney.
Categories: Car Accident Statistics · Dangerous Roads
The National Highway Traffic Safety (NHTSA) report indicated that 16 year-old drivers have a vehicle crash rate that is fully five times higher than the rate for 18 year-olds and nearly 10 times higher than the rate for drivers between 30 and 59 years-old.
n addition, Ford Motor Company research revealed that teenage drivers are four times more distracted when using a cell phone while driving, compared to adult drivers. The National Transportation Safety Board has a suggested “prohibition of the use of wireless communication device by young novice drivers” on it list of “Most Wanted” safety recommendations.
In a 2007 survey of 16- and 17-year-old drivers by Seventeen magazine and the American Automobile Association, 61% of the teens admitted to driving habits such as sending text messages while driving (46%) and talking on a cell phone while driving (51%).
I believe that the newer surveys that will be coming out will show that an enormous percentage of accidents are caused by teen drivers on cell phones, whether talking on them or texting on them. It would be a good idea to keep an eye out for these drivers, especially on West Virginia roads where they like to push their cars to the limit around each and every curve.
– John H. Bryan, West Virginia Car Accident Attorney.
Categories: Car Accident Prevention · Car Accident Statistics · Children · Dangerous Roads
I had no idea that the West Virginia turnpike had its own Wikipedia page, which can be found here. It contains a lot of interesting facts about the turnpike that I was unaware of. Interestingly, it details the first car accident on the turnpike.
The first accident occurred on November 5, 1955 at 12:05 AM at MP 55. Ray Gould dropped off the road, soared off a cliff, and then to the streets of Milburn on Paint Creek beneath the highway after he fell asleep at the wheel of his vehicle. The accident left him with a fractured back, fractured skull, fractured face, crushed shoulders, and assorted dislocations.
Because of the accident, Gould said he is still a “big fan of the highway but won’t drive after dark.” Thankfully, Gould did not have any lasting injuries as a result of the accident.[10]
He adds, “It’s a wonderful highway. Turnpike was a fantastic feat. But people abused it and foreigners didn’t understand it.”
Gould was heading to Charleston to pick up an employee of C&P Telephone who was flying from Wheeling to Charleston for training. He adds, “I did not want her staying there alone. My wife and I came in our personal car to pick her up. I had to take a company car back. So I drove the company car and she and my wife followed me.”
Gould said he awoke briefly during his fall. “I woke up in midair noticing the headlights weren’t shining on anything and it was extra quiet. That’s all I remembered for three weeks.”
On his way down the embankment, Gould said his car hit a rock. He adds that, “if I had not, I could have smashed into a house where seven children were sleeping.” He later learned that he was strapped onto a board by coal miners who saw him come crashing down into their town.
“The miners saw me trying to walk. I took a few steps and fell. They grabbed me and strapped me to a board. I attributed my survival to mine safety training.” Gould said that his wife and the employee did not see the accident. “They thought that I had gone around the next bend. She went on home thinking I had gone on.”
– John H. Bryan, West Virginia Car Accident Attorney.
Categories: Car Accidents · Dangerous Roads
WSAV TV reports on a particular road in Cross Lanes, WV that has gotten so bad, that the emergency vehicles can no longer make it back to the 12 homes located on the road.
It’s a private road meaning the Department of Highways isn’t responsible for fixing it, but the road is now so dangerous that Kanawha County has submitted an application to the Department of Homeland Security, for emergency repairs.
Pine Terrace Drive has been slipping away for a few weeks, but in the last few days it has fallen about 8 inches. Now the land underneath part of the road is completely washed out, bending and exposing a gas line and that’s not the only danger, 12 families live beyond this slip and this road is their only way in and out.
The road is also falling right into a creek and home below.
Pine Terrace Drive is so unstable fire trucks and ambulances have now been told its too dangerous to try and drive across.
The county has submitted an application to the Department of Homeland Security for emergency repairs, that will now go onto West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin for his approval.
Read the full article here.
– John H. Bryan, West Virginia Car Accident Attorney.
Categories: DMV · Dangerous Roads
