Articles Tagged with police misconduct

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What should I do if I have been injured by another party but I can’t afford a lawyer?”

Almost everyone has heard about the dangers associated with texting and driving. Distraction behind the wheel frequently proves deadly and is thought to be responsible for thousands of deaths across the country each and every year. Despite laws on the books in North Carolina, officers say they have a hard time cracking down on offenders given the way the current law is written.

Texting and driving is a serious problem not only across the country, but right here in North Carolina. Reports indicate that between 2011 and 2012 there were more than 1,500 accidents in the state directly related to distracted driving. Many people might think that given the hundreds of accidents, it was time that troopers in the state paid attention to the matter and cracked down on those who broke the law regarding texting while driving. Unfortunately, it isn’t always so easy.

Numbers gathered from law enforcement officials tell the story. Since the state’s no-texting law was passed in 2009, there have been fewer than 3,100 citations issued by Highway Patrol officers. Dividing that number by the total number of state troopers on the payroll reveals that each officer has issued fewer than two distracted driving citations in almost five years, an alarmingly low number.

The problem is that because of how North Carolina’s law against texting and driving is written, police officers frequently have a hard time catching people in the act. In fact, experts say that if the existing law was rewritten it is likely there would be a huge spike in the number of tickets written every year.

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Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What if the medical condition improves before the hearing?”

April 1^st marks the start of the national Distracted Driving Awareness Month and provides an excellent opportunity to remind drivers across North Carolina of the dangers associated with texting or talking while behind the wheel.

According to recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted driving contributes to more than 3,000 deaths each and every year as well as hundreds of thousands of serious injuries. With increasingly available and complicated personal electronic devices, distracted driving has never been as widespread or as appealing.

 
Given the dangers presented by modern technology, it is critical that drivers learn strategies to avoid being sucked into the trap of distracted driving. The most common and most dangerous source of distraction is undoubtedly a cellphone. Besides placing phone calls, writing emails, looking up directions and streaming music, phones are also frequently used to send text messages. Texting behind the wheel is one of, if not the most dangerous thing that a driver can do.

 
The reason that texting is so dangerous is that it requires the physical, mental and visual attention of a driver, ensuring that the driver is paying little if any attention to what is happening outside the confines of the vehicle. Allowing yourself to be consumed with what’s happening on a cellphone dramatically increases the risk that you could be involved in an accident leading to injuries to yourself or others.

Beyond cellphones, other common sources of distraction include eating and drinking while driving, talking to passengers and even fidgeting with radio controls. These distractions have been around for decades and though they may not seem as scary as texting, the reality is that they too contribute to deadly distracted driving crashes each year.

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Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What can you sue for in a personal injury case?”

Google has taken the interesting step of aggressively lobbying legislators in at least three states that are currently considering measures to restrict the use of Google Glass headsets while driving. The attempts by Google to head-off restrictions on its product have surprised some and worried others who fear the powerful tech company will sway important safety decisions before data has been collected regarding the product.

Currently, eight states in the U.S. are debating regulations concerning Google Glass. The device is a small computer screen that is mounted in the corner of an eyeglass frame. The concern among some is that the device, which is connected to the Internet and can be used to check email, take photos and even watch videos, will be used by drivers when they should be paying attention to what’s going on in the road in front of them.

Google Glass represents part of a larger trend in the tech world toward wearable technology. The sophisticated eyeglasses, smart watches and even some healthcare devices are slowly changing the way we are used to interacting with technology. Many experts believe the category will take off, in much the same way that smartphones did and computers before that and that legislators will need to take a different approach to regulating the products.

To try and avoid what could be commercially damaging series of laws against users of Google Glass, Google has hired a team of lobbyists to try and persuade lawmakers in states like Illinois, Delaware and Missouri that Google Glass-specific restrictions are unnecessary. Google’s main message to legislators is that the regulation is premature because Google Glass is not yet widely available and there is no information about the safety of the device.

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