St. Louis Personal Injury Blog

AAA: high-tech braking systems in new cars not very effective

On behalf of The Wilbers Law Firm LLC posted in car accidents on Tuesday, October 15, 2019.

Regular readers of our St. Louis personal injury blog might well recall a post we published about a month ago about a study that showed that high-tech safety features were helping drivers of new cars to avoid crashes, collisions and traffic accidents. We wrote that the research "shows that safety tech such as automatic emergency braking is doing exactly as it was designed to do: reduce motor vehicle crashes and keep drivers, passengers and pedestrians safer."

However, even newer research from AAA states that pedestrian-detection systems on new vehicles are going little to protect the pedestrians they detect. The data indicates that pedestrian accidents were avoided less than half the time on the four tested vehicles.

Tips for overcoming a post-accident disability

On behalf of The Wilbers Law Firm LLC on Friday, October 4, 2019.

A car accident leaves you with permanent injuries. The worst part, in some ways, is that you don't even remember the crash. You know that you didn't do anything wrong; you've seen the footage from a nearby security camera as another car runs the red light and slams into the driver's side of your vehicle.

It's not your fault, but it changed your life. The other driver was fine. How are you supposed to move forward and overcome this type of issue? Here are a few tips that can help you live a happy, healthy life moving forward:

My Amazing Client

On behalf of The Wilbers Law Firm LLC posted in blog on Monday, September 23, 2019.

From Faith Earley, Senior Paralegal:

Study helps pinpoint why teens are at higher risks of crashes

On behalf of The Wilbers Law Firm LLC posted in car accidents on Monday, September 23, 2019.

With high schools across St. Louis back in session, this is a good time to examine again the leading cause injury and death to teens ages 16 to 19: motor vehicle crashes. A new study of the dangers to teenagers finds that brain development plays a critical role in the frequency of violent motor vehicle collisions.

Researchers say the slow development of what is called working memory is associated with the traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities among teens. They add that cognitive development screening could help identify those teenagers at high risk of causing crashes.

How do truck accidents differ from car accidents?

On behalf of The Wilbers Law Firm LLC on Friday, September 20, 2019.

Collisions involving trucks have the capacity to cause significant damages because of the force created by large vehicles. Many car drivers who are involved in collisions with trucks assume that the truck drivers will be deemed to be at fault. However, a report conducted by the American Trucking Association found that the majority of car-truck crashes are caused by car drivers.

If you are a car driver and you have recently been in a collision involving a truck, conduct research into the nature of these incidences. By understanding the key differences between collisions involving cars and collisions involving trucks, you will be better prepared to engage in an insurance or personal injury claim. The following are some key differences that you should be aware of.

High-tech safety features reducing motor vehicle crashes

On behalf of The Wilbers Law Firm LLC posted in car accidents on Tuesday, September 17, 2019.

When people drive around St. Louis, they are constantly making use of their vehicle’s common safety features: brakes, headlights, seat belts, etc. We often use those features reflexively; we’ve used them so many times that not a great deal of thought goes into each implementation.

Some of the emerging safety technology included on new vehicles isn’t quite as familiar and not quite as trusted by many drivers. But a new study shows that safety tech such as automatic emergency braking is doing exactly as it was designed to do: reduce motor vehicle crashes and keep drivers, passengers and pedestrians safer.

Missouri launches high school safe driving campaign

On behalf of The Wilbers Law Firm LLC posted in car accidents on Wednesday, September 11, 2019.

When the St. Louis night air begins to get crisp and the leaves on the trees slowly start to change their colors, it is a sure sign that schools have reopened their doors to students and autumn is on its way. While it’s important that high school students study math, history, geography and more, perhaps the most important lesson they will learn in this school year will be how to drive safely.

That’s why the Missouri Department of Transportation is asking high schools to help educate young drivers to use their seat belts and put down their phones while they are behind the wheel. Good driving habits help to keep students, their passengers and other motorists from being in motor vehicle crashes that can cause serious injuries and fatalities.

Study: "threat appeals" reduce inclination to text while driving

On behalf of The Wilbers Law Firm LLC posted in car accidents on Monday, September 9, 2019.

Each year, the toll of distracted driving mounts in lives lost, injuries caused and dollars wasted. Thousands dead, hundreds of thousands injured and billions of dollars squandered. We all know of this horrific toll taken by distracted driving, yet you can still go around St. Louis and see people texting as they drive.

A study by researchers at Penn State University and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) appears to have devised a promising strategy to reduce texting while driving and the motor vehicle crashes it causes. The researches found that video-based "threat appeals" can make drivers aware of the dangers of texting and discourage risky phone-focused behavior.

Talking to your teen about deadly distractions while at the wheel

On behalf of The Wilbers Law Firm LLC on Friday, September 6, 2019.

Teen drivers are still in the process of familiarizing themselves with the best practices of managing a motor vehicle that experienced drivers have long since internalized. From learning how to efficiently scan for danger on the road to tuning out potential distractions, teenagers have many years of practice ahead of them before they master these critical safety skills.

As parents, one of the most nerve-racking things about high school and the teenage years may be handing over the keys to your child, knowing that they are at higher risk than adults for experiencing a serious car crash or dying on the road.

Study: Deaths in red-light-running vehicle crashes rising

On behalf of The Wilbers Law Firm LLC posted in car accidents on Thursday, August 29, 2019.

It is a sight that, unfortunately, many in St. Louis have gotten used to seeing: two mangled cars sitting in an intersection after a crash. Many of these violent collisions occur because a driver gambled on speeding through the intersection though the light had already turned red.

According to a new study by AAA’s Foundation for Traffic Safety, these types of red-light motor vehicle crashes are steadily increasing. The group said its research shows driver deaths in red-light-running collisions reached a 10-year high in 2017 (the most recent year for which complete traffic statistics are available).