Many teens say they text while driving: Get the facts
Posted: July 13, 2012 | Author: Lawyer | Filed under: Auto Accident Lawyer | Tags: Los Angeles Accident Attorney, Texting while driving in Los Angeles | Comments Off on Many teens say they text while driving: Get the factsTexting while driving in Los Angeles continues to be a dangerous trend, particularly among teenage drivers. An alarming new survey reveals that more than half of high school seniors admit they text or email while behind the wheel. The survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provides the first federal statistics on how common the texting is among young drivers.
The national survey, which was conducted in 2011, found that 58 percent of high school 12th graders said they read or wrote text messages or emails while driving during the previous month, according to a report in The Associated Press. About 43 percent of high school juniors also admitted to texting while driving or emailing while driving.
As a personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles, Mickey Fine knows first-hand how dangerous texting and driving, or emailing and driving, can be. Serious accidents resulting in catastrophic or fatal injuries can be traced back to someone who was looking at a phone instead of at the road.
The U.S. Department of Transportation recently announced it was sending Sacramento $1.5 million for a “Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other” campaign. The money will be used to boost advertising and increased police enforcement, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Distracted driving is an epidemic,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a news release.
California law bans texting and hand-held cellphone use while driving. According to the Office of Traffic Safety, 10.8 percent of Californians use cellphones while driving at any given daylight hour.
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The Law Offices of Mickey Fine – Bakersfield, CA
1801 Oak Street
Bakersfield, CA 93301
Phone: (661) 369-7735
Nc New Bern Passes Law Closing Loophole for Workers Comp Cover
Posted: July 13, 2012 | Author: Lawyer | Filed under: Car Accident Lawyers | Tags: North Carolina Rate Bureau, workemans comp nc | Comments Off on Nc New Bern Passes Law Closing Loophole for Workers Comp CoverThe commission contracts with the North Carolina Rate Bureau to collect information about when an employer purchases, renews, or cancels an insurance policy. The commission has acknowledged that it uses the database to find out which insurer is responsible for paying a claim, but it does not monitor for cancellations.
In June, legislators approved a bill that would require the commission to get all the information about these policies from the bureau so that it can more readily detect which employers do not carry the required insurance and enforce compliance. On July 2, Governor Bev Perdue signed the bill into law.
Prior to her signing the bill into law, many were calling on Governor Perdue to veto the bill because a last-minute amendment was added stating that information provided by the Rate Bureau to the commission will no longer be public record.
Call for Transparency
A group of media representatives and open records advocates pushed for a veto of the new law. The group includes the North Carolina Press Association, the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters, and News & Observer publisher Orage Quarles III.
Open records laws allowed the News & Observer to obtain the information for its investigation, which put a spotlight on the problem of employers not carrying required workers’ compensation insurance. If this information were to be kept private, not only would it prevent public scrutiny, but it would also prevent workers from finding out if their employers had the required insurance.
Representatives who supported the amendment said that it will protect private information, such as social security numbers. However, personal information such as this has long been redacted from public records.
North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Lawyers
If you have been hurt on the job or have been denied workers’ compensation benefits, possibly because your employer did not carry the required insurance, the North Carolina workers’ compensation lawyers at the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin may be able to help you. Call 1-866-900-7078 for a free evaluation of your case 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. By Austin Baird The News and Observer
