Now, a federal lawsuit against Apple asserts the company filed a patent back in 2008 for a technology feature that would lock out a driver’s phone with certain sensors to determine when the phone was moving and in use by a motor vehicle driver. The theory goes that Apple is liable because it could have prevented certain functions, like texting, and yet chose not to do so. In that patent filing, Apple indicates that the technology was needed because texting behind the wheel had become so widespread and law enforcement had been ineffective at curbing it. The application even went so far as to say that teens especially were vulnerable to risk, and evidence had shown that while teens know it’s dangerous, it doesn’t stop them from doing it.

So the big question then becomes: Then why wasn’t Apple using this technology? 

Car accident deaths have risen to levels we haven’t seen since the 1960’s. The distraction of drivers is a huge part of this problem. So now this lawsuit asks whether Apple had a responsibility to install this technology because it clearly knew drivers would be using their phones for texting and yet failed to stop them – specifically, this woman – from using this feature, resulting in harm to the victims.

Legal analysts have largely concurred that plaintiffs are unlikely to prevail in this action. In order for that to happen, they’d have to show the use of the iPhone specifically caused this fatal accident. Defendant driver was arrested and later convicted of negligent homicide, sentenced to five years of probation. Her criminal defense lawyer says she now drives with her phone in the back seat of her vehicle. But must it really take causing a double fatal accident and paralyzing a young child for life to get drivers to put down their phones? And if so, why don’t phone companies like Apple use the technology they have to prevent these tragic accidents that are known to be happening each and every day in this country?

Apple, AT&T, Verizon and other communication firms have come out with warnings, cautioning people against using their phones while driving. They also concede the laws intended to stop this practice are not working. What legal experts say this shows is an acknowledgement that their products pose foreseeable danger and are routinely being used for illegal and and sometimes fatal activity.

As a spokeswoman for the National Safety Council has said, while the technology is easily available, it’s not used because phone companies, “Don’t have the stomach” to do so. They fear losing their customer base. Meanwhile, families are continuing to lose their loved ones.

If you have been a victim of a traffic accident, call Chalik & Chalik at (954) 476-1000 or 1 (800) 873-9040.

Additional Resources:

Phone Makers Could Cut Off Drivers. So Why Don’t They? Sept. 24, 2016, By Matt Richtel, The New York Times

More Blog Entries:

Court: Companies Can’t Dictate Own Rules for Worker Injuries, Sept. 26, 2016, Miami Car Accident Lawyer Blog

According to preliminary numbers from the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, there were 2,939 traffic fatalities in Florida in 2015, a 17.8 percent rise over the 2014 total of 2,494.

Not only did highway deaths increase over last year, but the state failed to meet its projected decrease for the third year in a row. In 2012, Florida began its safety initiative with a baseline of 2,431 traffic fatalities, an average of the totals from 2006 to 2010. In 2013, the state had 100 more traffic fatalities than the 5 percent reduction projected, and in 2014 the total was 300 deaths over the reduction goal.

In 2015, if the 5 percent per year projection had held true, there would have been 2,084 deaths on Florida’s roads, but there were 855 more than that, so the state missed its goal by more than 40 percent.

It was no year-end surprise that traffic fatalities in Florida have been accelerating in the wrong direction. Last summer, the National Safety Council conducted an analysis that showed that there was a 29 percent increase in highway deaths in Florida, and a 14 percent increase nationally, in the first half of 2015, compared to the same six-month period in 2014.

Safety experts lay the blame on poorly-designed roads, a lack of focus on traffic safety on the part of state officials, and driver negligence.

If you need to speak with a car accident lawyer, Call Joyce & Reyes at 1.888.771.1529 or visit more of http://www.joyceandreyespa.com/.

Damaged Car Involved In Traffic Accident

Safety experts at the National Safety Council, and insurance companies such as Allstate and Geico, were surprised by the 14 percent increase in fatal auto accidents during the first half of 2015.Geico is part of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway group. Figures for the second half haven’t yet been compiled.

Insurers say drivers could be facing a period of rising premiums. Some companies are reacting to the statistics with rate increases and others are expected to follow.

What caused the accidents?

Buffett’s statement about drivers being worse is not quite on target, though driving longer hours on trips and on crowded roads can be stressful.

* Roadways were more dangerous in 2015 as travel increased to a record 1.54 trillion miles through June, according to the Federal Highway Administration. The average number of miles individual Americans drove remained at the same level as in 2007, but there were more people driving.

* Low gasoline prices, the lowest since 2010, encouraged more travel.

* The low unemployment rate of 5.1 percent meant people could afford to take more trips, according to the American Automobile Association. Allstate president Matt Winter told analysts that increased vehicle complexity could be a factor, but it’s typical for people to drive more and have more accidents as the economy rebounds from a recession.

What you can do?

Traditional cautions are even more important on crowded roads: Take it easy and don’t be aggressive. Allow more time to reach your destination. Drive defensively. Be ready for another driver to make a mistake.

Auto accidents can be financially, emotionally and physically devastating, especially during the holidays. Fortunately, it is easy to reduce the risk of being involved in a crash.

• Stay off the road after 1:00 a.m. Most drunk driving accidents occur between 1:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. Even if most people drive sober, inevitably, some will not. Keep loved ones off the roads in the early morning hours as much as possible.
• Get some sleep. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has found that cutting sleep short by even two or three hours can make an accident up to four times more likely. Anyone who is hung over or sleepy should stay out of the driver’s seat on New Year’s Day or the day after Christmas.
• Talk to young people. According to the CDC, a staggering 32 percent of fatal alcohol-related crashes involve a driver between the ages of 21 and 24. Know a young person coming home for the holidays? Let them know how much they are loved, and warn them about the risks of impaired driving.
• Get the car checked. Around the holidays, the National Safety Council recommends a full inspection and tune up to ensure optimal brake and acceleration response times. Temperature changes and extreme temperatures can cause mechanical problems. In addition, make sure the car has a spare tire, jumper cables and a first aid kit.
  Remember that no-refusal DWI checkpoints may be in effect. The Dallas police have made a habit of setting up mandatory sobriety checkpoints around the holidays. Anyone who refuses to take a breathalyzer or blood test may be arrested and taken to jail for a forced sample collection. Avoid the drama and make sure your driver has had absolutely nothing to drink.

At The Hale Law Firm, we have helped thousands of clients successfully prosecute their personal injury claims including auto accidents, wrongful death, dangerous products, brain injuries, burn injuries, and defective medical devices. Clients depend on their personal injury lawyers for guidance and legal advice across a broad range of personal injury accidents. To learn more, visit http://www.hale911.com/ or call 972.351.0000.

Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill into law on May 28, 2013. The ban prohibits the use of cell phones for sending text messages or email while driving under most circumstances. But “most circumstances” comes with a number of exceptions. The law does not apply to drivers at red lights or in traffic jams. And drivers may still use phones for navigation, weather, and music, and they may also use voice-to-text applications.

But the biggest weakness in the law, some say, is the fact that violation of the ban is a secondary offense. That means that police cannot pull over a driver whose only offense is texting – they must commit some other infraction, such as speeding. They could then be ticketed for speeding and/or texting. Police also cannot require drivers to hand over their phones to show whether they have been texting or emailing. Enforcing the ban may therefore prove quite difficult.

State legislators have tried for years to pass a ban, but Republican leaders in the House have thwarted the efforts. This year, new House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, broke the gridlock when he indicated his support for the legislation.

Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, the bill’s sponsor, defended the measure, saying the fact that texting is a secondary offense will not affect the public’s perception of it.

According to a recently-published study by Cohen Children’s Medical Center, texting while driving is the leading cause of death for teenagers, claiming the lives of more than 3,000 teens each year. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said that texting contributed to nearly 200 crashes in Florida last year. And the National Safety Council said that texting contributes to over 100,000 crashes per year in the U.S.

The law goes into effect on October 1, 2013. A first-time offense carries a $30 fine and is a nonmoving violation. A second violation within 5 years of the first carries a fine of $60 and is a moving violation.

Regardless of the state of the law, drivers as individuals need to take personal responsibility for their safety. This means not only the careful and judicious use of cell phones and other electronic devices in cars, but also defensive driving to protect oneself against the ever-present threat of others’ unsafe driving.

Alston & Baker, an Affiliation of Professional Associations: The Law Office of Robert C. Alston, Esq., P.A. and The Law Office of Marcie L. Baker, Esq., P.A. To contact a Zephyrhills personal injury attorney call 1.888.500.5245 or visit http://www.alstonbakerlaw.com.

The safety council’s study, financed in part by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, analyzed data from 180 fatal crashes in the period from 2009 to 2011, where strong evidence existed that the driver was using a cell phone. The group found that in 2011, only half of the crashes were listed as involving cell phone use in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s database of accidents involving the use of cell phones. This was still an improvement from previous years. In 2010 only 35 percent of the accidents were coded as involving cell phone use; in 2009, 8 percent.

Even in cases where drivers told law enforcement officers that they were using a cell phone at the time of the crash, the crashes were recorded as such in the database only half the time. In other cases, the evidence of cell phone use did not emerge until later. In one case, a teen driver’s last words to her friend during a cell phone call were that she was going to crash. The driver hit a snow bank and was propelled into a lane of oncoming traffic. She died shortly afterwards at a hospital. Police at the scene attributed the crash to an inexperienced driver, not to cell phone use, as the phone ended up in the back of the car and was not found until later.

The database maintained by the safety administration lists 32,000 traffic fatalities in 2011, but only 385 of those are listed as involving cell phone use. The safety council believes the number is much greater. According to the group, there are many factors that contribute to the underreporting, including inconsistency in the way data are collected at crash scenes and the fact that drivers may be reluctant to admit cell phone use.

Researchers rely on the safety administration’s database, but it is dependent on state data collected from police reports. According to the safety council, many people assume that because it is a federal database, the data are standardized, but in fact the data may have been gathered according to varying local standards.

Bob Briskman is a car accident lawyer with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

Google+

If you don’t think that texting and driving in America is a serious issue, then you seriously need to visit the National Safety Council website, and check out their information on distracted driving. It tells a horrendous story about 930,000 car wrecks as a result of drivers using cell phones or texting while driving, just this year alone. That figure bears repeating – 930,000 deaths just this year, and counting, as a result of using mobile technology while driving. What is wrong with that picture? How can we, as a responsible nation of people, countenance a death every 24 seconds, because someone thinks texting while driving or talking on a cellphone won’t hurt anyone?

Who hasn’t seen a distracted driver, weaving from lane to lane, drifting to one side or the other while trying to text, use a mobile map app, a smartphone or talking on a mobile device? Ever had to get out of the way of an erratic driver and cursed them for being inattentive and thought how dangerous it was? Were you holding a cellphone in your hand at the time? It’s one thing to frown on those who drive while distracted, and quite another to also do the same thing, while disapproving of doing it. The simple fact is no one should be doing it. Distracted driving kills – period.

Driving while texting is not safe. It is a real problem. Even awareness campaigns are not making enough headway to prevent texting deaths. The solution? Remove technology from vehicles. It really is just that simple. The problem isn’t so much the technology, as it is people using it inappropriately. It is a disturbing commentary on human behavior that so many seem to feel that texting and driving is a right, and nothing will happen to them. Think again.

There aren’t many teens or younger adults that have not lost a friend to a distracted driver, or have been in a wreck involving one. They may even have caused the car crash themselves, while texting about a prom date, a pizza or what a teacher said. It has to stop. Injury lawyers across the U.S. are in the position of picking up the pieces when these accidents happen. Stop. Think. Do not text and drive. It’s your life, stay alive to live it by being responsible. Stash the phone someplace and pay attention to the road.

Bobby Lee is an Austin personal injury lawyer for Lee, Gober and Reyna. If you need an Austin personal injury lawyer, contact an Austin personal injury attorney from Lee, Gober and Reyna. Visit RWLeelaw.com.