Grand Rapids Personal Injury Blog

Michigan residents might like to know about a distracted driving study regarding the use of mobile devices while driving. According to the researchers, who worked on behalf of Root Insurance, 47% of those surveyed reported that distracted driving was their biggest safety concern while on the road. However, many respondents also admitted to driving while distracted despite their reservations about the risks.

This is the second year Root Insurance conducted the study. The collected behavioral data indicated that drivers between the ages of 18-24-years-old used their cellphones an average of 20 times for every 100 miles driven. Incentivizing motorists to avoid distracted driving is one way to turn around this dangerous trend, according to Root Insurance.

In 2017, more than 4,000 people died in fatal large truck accidents on America's roadways. Truck occupants made up 17 percent of these fatalities, and car drivers and passengers made up 68 percent; pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists made up the rest. Unfortunately, these rates of fatalities are 28 percent higher than they were in 2009. Despite this problem in Michigan and other states, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has yet to implement changes that might improve safety on the road.

Highway safety advocates as well as representatives from the National Transportation Safety Board have urged the NHTSA to do something about the increase in fatal semi-truck accidents. Specifically, the have requested that some type of mitigation features be required in large trucks to prevent rear-end accidents. These types of incidents account for an alarming amount of fatalities.

The semi-trucks that carry the freight we need to live our daily lives are huge, massively powerful machines. Even a minor accident with a commercial truck can easily result in serious injury, a totaled vehicle and much worse. It is an unfortunate reality that alcohol and substance abuse by the trucks’ drivers is increasingly the cause of these accidents.

This is evidenced in a report released by USA Mobile Drug Test (USAMDT). In their recent statistical breakdown of substance abuse in the trucking industry, half of the drivers interviewed admitted to drinking and driving. A shocking 30 percent confessed to using amphetamines while on the road.

Serious car crashes or workplace accidents sometimes leave people in Michigan with back injuries. Damage to the spinal cord usually produces lifelong disability. Although medical science cannot cure spinal cord injuries, modern advances have improved life expectancy and quality of life for survivors. The severity of spinal cord damage influences long-term survival, but rehabilitation at facilities specializing in spinal cord injury also promotes longer lives.

Living through the first 24 hours following an accident is critical. For people who do make it through the first day, 85 percent of them are still living a decade later. Death from respiratory illnesses like pneumonia represent the greatest danger for injured people. It is the leading cause of death for all people who have suffered serious spinal cord damage. People who weather the initial difficulties have a good chance of living a life of average length. At 25 years post-accident, the survival rate reaches 60 percent.