Mainers: The Deadliest Form of Distracted Driving

Distracted driving is a dangerous epidemic on America’s roadways.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that in 2009 alone, nearly 5,500 people were killed and 450,000 more were injured in distracted driving crashes.  Any activity that could divert a person’s attention away from the primary task of driving constitutes distracted driving.  All distractions endanger driver, passenger, and bystander safety.  The most common include:

·         Texting

·         Making/accepting phone calls

·         Eating/drinking

·         Talking to passengers

·         Grooming

·         Reading, including maps

·         Using a navigation system

·         Watching a video

·         Adjusting radio, CD player, or MP3player

The deadliest form of distracted driving is texting.  Texting requires visual, manual, and cognitive attention from the driver and, as a result is by far the most dangerous form of distracted driving.  Sending or reading a text can take your eyes off the road for 4.6 seconds.  At 55 mph, this would be like driving the length of an entire football field while blindfolded. http://www.distraction.gov/content/get-the-facts/facts-and-statistics.html

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently examined distracted driving and the frequency of texting among drivers in the United States.  The results of the analysis included findings that:

• In the month of June 2011, more than 196 billion text messages were sent in the U.S. alone.

·         9% of drivers in the United States reported texting or emailing “regularly or fairly often” while driving.

·         52% of drivers ages 18-29 reported texting or emailing while driving at least once in the last 30 days and more than 25% report texting or emailing “regularly or fairly often” while driving.

The CDC survey also reported that the proportion of drivers reportedly distracted at the time of a fatal crash has increased from 7 percent in 2005 to 11 percent in 2009.  Every day more than 15 people die and more than 1,200 are injured in crashes that reportedly involve a distracted driver. http://www.cdc.gov/Motorvehiclesafety/Distracted_Driving/index.html

All distracted driving is dangerous and in Maine it’s illegal too.  Title 29-A M.R.S.A. Section 2118 makes it a crime to operate a motor vehicle in Maine while distracted.

Have a safe trip, don’t text and drive, so you can arrive home alive.

Don Briggs, Esq.

Copyright 2012:  Briggs & Counsel, LLC

Rockport Attorney C. Donald Briggs, III has been named to the list of New England “Super Lawyers” once again.  For the fourth year in a row the Michigan based publication “Super Lawyers” listed Don Briggs among the ranks of only 5 percent of the lawyers in Maine to receive this honor. 

Don Briggs is well known for helping Maine victims of car accidents, medical malpractice, and other personal injury negligence cases. Though he has handled thousands of personal injury cases in his career, Don is also known for his attitude that “Everyone’s injury is unique, and everyone deserves individualized legal services “. 

Don Briggs is one of only two board certified Civil Trial Advocates in Maine, and served as past president of the Maine Trial Lawyers Association.   

Though mindful that  even so called “minor” injuries can have a major impact on  hard working Mainers, Don Briggs often takes on the most catastrophic injury cases in the State of Maine.  He is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum  and has been recognized as a Fellow by the National College of Trial Advocacy.

Attorney Briggs emphasizes that winning top compensation for Mainers’ injury cases requires a lawyer willing to stay on top of national litigation trends and legislation.    He goes the extra mile for Mainers as a State Delegate to the American Association for Justice, the leading national organization protecting ordinary Americans’ right to jury trial.  On the local level, Don Briggs is currently president of the Knox County Bar Association.

You feel terrible.  You feel beyond terrible. You just found out that your parent or grandparent has been neglected, injured, abused, killed in a Maine nursing home.  It happens.  You can take action, right?  Not so fast.  The outgoing adminstration of George Bush quietly inserted language into federal law that pretends that all those nice Maine people who regulate Maine nursing homes are (even though they are not) federal employees who can’t be forced to tell the truth about what they find out about Maine nursing home safety.  Keith Olbermann blasted the law at the end of a recent MSN “Countdown”  piece.   Think it’s outrageous to silence Maine nursing regulators?  So do we. But it isn’t going to stop Briggs & Counsel from prosecuting cases of nursing home negligence.    If your loved one was injured or died from negligent care at a Maine nursing home, call an attorney who specializes in nursing home litigation.  And write to your U.S. Senator (Olympia Snowe or Susan Collins)  to allow State of Maine employees to tell the truth about what they find at Maine nursing homes.

Copyright 2009 Briggs & Counsel

Alison Wholey Mynick, RN, Esq.

Honesty is the basis of good science. Government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) count on good, honest science used by the government to protect the public.

In a recent letter to President-Elect Obama, several FDA scientists allege that dishonesty is prevalent at the agency and that the “scientific review process for medical devices has been corrupted and distorted by current FDA managers, thereby placing the American people at risk.”

Among the charges: scientists and doctors have been threatened and told, on occasion, to ignore FDA regulations; devices have not been properly labeled; managers without appropriate experience have been given authority to make final decisions about device regulation and have done so while ignoring serious safety and effectiveness concerns; FDA experts have been excluded from product meetings because manufacturers felt that they were “biased”; and manufacturers have been allowed to market their products without FDA approval.

An internal investigation of the charges, according to the scientists, has resulted in absolutely nothing. “No one was held accountable, no appropriate or effective actions have been taken, and the same managers who engaged in the wrongdoing remain in place and have been rewarded and promoted.”

With the transition to President-Elect Obama’s administration will come changes to the leadership of both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

According to a recent statement from the FDA, “We have been working very closely with members of the transition team and any concerns or questions they have on any issue, we will address directly with the team. Separately, the agency is actively engaged in a process to explore the staff members’ concerns and take appropriate action.”

By: Eliza Stoll for Briggs & Counsel

Copyright 2009 Briggs&Counsel