Indiana Injury Law Blog

As Indiana truck accident lawyers, we think it’s great that the federal administration has set off several steps in motion to enhance truck safety and prevent accidents. In the latest such measure, the Department of Transportation has imposed a ban on text messaging while driving for all commercial truck drivers. Under the new rules, truckers who break the rules could face fines of up to $2,750.

This ban is meant to tackle the issue of distractions in truck drivers, which is obviously a far greater concern than texting by motorists. While a distracted motorist is at a serious risk of an accident, the risks are greatly magnified when you substitute the motorist with a tractor trailer driver operating a massive rig that can weigh up to 80,000 pounds.

The move is part of a greater initiative by the Department of Transportation to cut down the risks of distracted driving. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has made clear his commitment to the issue. Last year, Secretary LaHood convened a Distracted Driving Summit after which President Obama signed an executive order banning all employers of the federal government from using government-issue cell phones while driving government-issued vehicles.

As Indiana truck accident lawyers however, we would have appreciated the ban more if it included a ban on the use of computers in the trailer cab. These computers are frequently used by truckers to keep in touch with trucking companies, receive orders and for other activities. Drivers are forbidden from using these computers while driving. However, the fact is that many truckers either don’t pull over before using the computer, or are not able to do so on a busy highway. The risk of distractions from these computers may be several times more than that from cell phones. Fortunately, Secretary LaHood agrees, and has confirmed his interest in dealing with such distractions too.

The Indiana truck accident attorneys at Theodoros & Rooth represent injured victims of truck, tractor trailer and 18-wheeler accidents in Lake County and around the state of Indiana.

The New York Times is running a series of investigative pieces on the alarming numbers of injures caused by radiation errors, and the web of silence that surrounds these. The NYT report focuses on several cases where patients were injured by massive overdoses of radiation or radiation therapy aimed at the wrong site. These medical errors have increased even as radiation therapy has become more sophisticated.

New equipment like linear accelerators now allow oncologists to target radiation only at the cancerous region, leaving the surrounding healthy cells unaffected. This has dramatically changed the face of radiation therapy, and doctors are now able to treat even those cancer patients for who radiation therapy was not recommended earlier. However, the new equipment has come with a shocking lack of technical safeguards that prevent over radiation and other risks.

Some of these systems have only the most basic safeguards in place to warn technicians and staff that the equipment has not been configured correctly. If technicians miss these warnings - and they have on more than one occasion - then there is nothing to stop the patient from receiving dangerously doses of high radiation that could seriously injure or kill him. While these new machines have altered the quality of treatment that patients receive, they have been misused on more than one occasion by improperly trained staff, and faulty operations and processes. Besides, the machines come with few safety devices that can prevent errors.

The New York Times report focuses on hospitals in New York that have been the scene of an alarming number of radiation errors. Last year however, officials at the renowned Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles admitted that dozens of patients had been exposed to high levels of radiation from a CT scanner that was not configured properly.

Making matters worse for patients who are injured by such radiation errors is the factor that there is little in-depth knowledge of radiation injuries. Doctors are only aware of the wounds, nausea and other basic conditions that result from over radiation, but there is little knowledge of the severe injuries that can result from over radiation or other serious errors.

The Indiana medical malpractice lawyers at Theodoros & Rooth represent victims injured by radiation errors and other kinds of medical errors, in the Lake County area and around the state of Indiana

A few days after Toyota Motor Company announced an extended recall for unintended acceleration issues in some of its vehicles, the company said that it would stop manufacture and sales of several of its models that had been linked to the acceleration safety issues. Production of eight models, including the Corolla and the Camry will be stopped, while Toyota tries to understand the reason for the acceleration, and develops solutions for it.

There is more bad news for Toyota. Consumer Reports magazine has withdrawn its recommendations for 8 Toyota vehicles that have been linked to the jammed acceleration pedals. Consumer Reports says that the massive recalls of the vehicles are behind its decision to withdraw its recommendations. According to Consumer Reports, although the episodes of sudden acceleration are rare, it was withdrawing its recommendations because thus far, Toyota has not been able to find a solution to the problem.

The Consumer Reports decision is the latest drawback for the automaker in a series, which began with a devastating accident in California that was later found linked to a jammed accelerator. Other Toyota owners had reported earlier that their cars began to accelerate suddenly without any input from the driver. But, there had been no major injuries or accidents related to such acceleration, until August when the California crash made headlines internationally.

All this has caused great concern to Toyota owners in Indiana, many of who have no choice but to continue driving these cars, while the automaker grapples with this problem. It could be weeks or months before Toyota finds a solution to the acceleration problem, and until then, owners of the vehicles that have been included in the recall and Indiana product liability attorneys will have to wait patiently for answers.

The Indiana product liability lawyers at Theodoros and Rooth represent victims injured by the use of defective automobiles and other products.

This month, an Indianapolis woman died in a tragic pedestrian accident after she was hit by two separate drivers in a span of minutes. The woman was crossing a street when she was hit by a first vehicle. She had barely recovered from that impact when a second vehicle hit her. The first vehicle driver stopped after hitting the woman, and saw the second accident. The second driver however didn’t bother sticking around to help the woman. He fled the scene of the crash. The victim was rushed to the hospital, and died a couple of hours later.

The New Year seems to have begun with a terrible start for the family of this young woman who was just 32 years old. The woman also seems to have been on duty at the time of the hospital. She was working for a nursing center called Regency Place of Castleton. At the time of the crash, she was on her way to pick up something for a patient when she was hit by the car. The litigation in this matter is likely to be complicated because Workers’ Compensation laws could also apply.

This accident is yet another reminder of how careful motorists should be driving in the kind of bad weather we have seen over the past few weeks. Driving on slick streets requires extra attention to the road. Driving at high speeds can place you at risk of hydroplaning or sliding off a road when you apply the brakes. With more snow-covered days expected, we would advise motorists to above all drive slowly. Stay buckled up, and look out for pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists and other people who may be in your blind spots.

The Indiana personal injury lawyers at Theodoros & Rooth represent injured victims of auto accidents in and around the state of Indiana.

Indiana auto accident lawyers are looking forward to the passing of a new law that would ban text messaging while driving for all motorists. New statistics released by the National Safety Council should ensure that the bill receives support in the legislature. The bill which seeks to ban text messaging while driving for all motorists in Indiana has received support, and as Indiana personal injury lawyers, we remain optimistic that the bill will pass.

Last week, the National Safety Council released new data which shows that 28 percent of all auto accidents are caused by motorists using cell phones while driving. The NSC estimates that up to 1.4 million accidents are caused by motorists having conversations on their cell phones while at the wheel. Approximately 200,000 accidents are caused by motorists texting while driving.

Also last week, the Department of Transportation and the National Safety Council announced the launch of a new group dedicating to supporting the families of victims of accidents caused by distracted driving. The group is called FocusDriven, and hopes to galvanized public opinion and pressure state legislatures in the same manner that Mothers Against Drunk Driving has done for intoxicated driving. FocusDriven plans to increase pressure on states to enact their own legislation to minimize distracted driving

In an ideal world, we would not need a law that tells us to switch off anything that takes our attention away from the road. However, our experience and practice as Indiana auto accident lawyers tells us that awareness and education activities are never enough to tackle any safety problem. There must be strong laws that ban unsafe practices, and strict enforcement of these laws.

As Indiana auto accident lawyers, we frequently monitor new developments in auto and highway safety. It has been very encouraging to note a widespread public preference for cars that are safer. Seatbelts and airbags are two of the most important safety devices you could have in your car, but as the New England Auto Show last month revealed, Indiana motorists will soon be able to choose many more high tech auto safety features to prevent accidents and injuries.

Many of these features are now also coming with more affordably priced models. You shouldn’t have to be wealthy to able to afford a car that protects you in an accident. Some of the better features that we hope become more and more widely used in cars in Indiana are:

1. Forward Collision Systems
These are built to detect objects or vehicles in front of your vehicle, and prevent collisions.

2. Face Recognition Monitors
These futuristic devices work by taking a picture of your head while you are driving and monitoring for sudden jerky movements, like when you begin to nod off. As soon as the system notices such signs, it sounds a warning. Considering the lack of attention paid by Indiana’s lawmakers to the problem of drowsy driving, this system may be the next best thing to preventing the serious accidents that result from fatigued driving

3. Post Collision Systems
These do a number of things in the seconds after an accident - shutting off the fuel pump, unlocking the doors and turning the car’s hazard lights on. The seconds after an accident can set off complications like a fire, and this system prevents such adverse and dangerous events.

4. Active Head Restraints
These protect the head in the event of an accident, by adding extra padding around the skull.

The increased use of seatbelts and air bag systems has been credited with contributing to the decline in the national highway fatality rate. With more advanced features on their way or already here, Indiana auto accident lawyers will be hoping for a further decrease in those rates.