Articles Posted in Motor Vehicle Accidents

We are right in the middle of “regular-firearm” (as opposed to bow-and-arrow) deer hunting season in New York State. It started October 23 and ends December 12. So let’s talk about car-on-deer collisions, how to avoid them, and the legal consequences if you don’t.

Deer are a lot like you in that, if they are smart, they try to avoid personal injuries.  This means running from bullets.  And spooked deer don’t look both ways before crossing any roads that lie between them and safety.

Just like those deer, you need to watch out for your own safety, but instead of fleeing bullets, you need to avoid the fleeing deer.

This has been a snowy February in Upstate, New York, especially in contrast to our January, which was green. More snow is predicted in the Finger Lakes and Syracuse area this week. So it seems like a good time for this New York car accident lawyer to review some safe driving tips for winter weather.

In fact, the New York Times just published an article on this very subject. But what do they know?  They’re in balmy downstate.  The REAL snow-and-ice driving experts are up here in the Syracuse area – the snowiest City in New York State. (No, it’s not Buffalo, it’s Syracuse, the winner of the “Golden Snowball Award” most years!)

FIRST, THE OBVIOUS: 

Governor Cuomo recently signed into law legislation requiring passengers in motor vehicles over the age of 16 to buckle up in back.  This is a change from the current law which requires them to wear seat belts only when in the frontseat. The new law takes effect November 1.

Note that in New York the driver of the vehicle is responsible for ensuring that his or her passengers are all wearing seat belts. Buckle up in back or your driver gets the ticket.

Why the new law?  Studies have more conclusively proven that you are much less likely to suffer serious injuries or death if you wear a seat belt, even in the backseat.  In fact, studies show that the use of a backseat seat belt could reduce death rates by 2/3.

This Syracuse car accident lawyer keeps getting too many rear-end collision cases.  This uptick in my rear-end collisions case load has nothing to do with me. The same uptick is experienced by all Syracuse car accident lawyers, and in fact by auto accident attorneys everywhere in the USA.  This has been a trend for at least a decade, ever since smart phones really took off so that everyone and their mother has one.  Not only does everyone have one, but it seems almost every one at some point in time uses their phone while they are driving.  Be honest, have you?  Ever?

If not, you are in the minority. According to a recent study, almost 90 percent of drivers in the USA admit to using their cell phones (at least sometimes) when they are driving.  Scarier still, the average driver is on his phone 3.5 minutes for every hour of driving.

This doesn’t sound like a lot but it totally explains my uptick in rear-end collision cases.  If you look down at your phone for only one second at a speed of 55 miles per hour, your car travels 80 feet during that second.  So guess where the hood of your car ends up if, during that second, the car you were following decides to stop?  That’s why car accident lawyers all around the Syracuse area, and in fact all around the nation, surely have, like me, increased their rear-end collision case portfolio over the last decade.

Photo of newest roundabout in Ontario County

Before I explain why roundabouts (also called traffic circles) are popping up all around us, let me digress.  I lived in France for five years back in the 70’s and 80’s and I never once came across a four-way stop.  That’s because they don’t exist there.  In fact, I recently had a French visitor driving my car in Geneva, New York, with me as passenger.  When we approached the four-way stop on Castle and Brook Streets, he did not know what to do. After I explained to him the “first come first go” principle,  he seemed perplexed, and asked me, “but what if we get to the stop sign at the same time?” Touché!  Good question.