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

In Farmington, Maine yesterday, the driver of a  Volkswagen died in a crash that is reported to have been caused by the sun blinding another driver’s eyes.  Car crashes are a leading cause of lawsuits based on Wrongful Death.

We are all responsible for our driving.  If it is sunny, we have to beware of being blinded by the sun.  There are two simple steps that drivers can take to minimize the blinding effects of sun when driving.

First, avoid creating glare reflected from the dashboard by using a dash board cleaner that won’t give your dashboard a glossy finish.  Avoid any dashboard cleaner that promised to give your dash a “high-gloss finish.”

Second, wear sunglasses, and make sure they have polarized lenses. Most ordinary sunglasses lenses are not designed to cut through glare. Polarized lenses are designed to cut through glare.

How could you help  if someone you love has lost a family member in a senseless car crash? You need someone who has experience trying car crash cases. You need someone knowledgeable about Maine’s complex legal system. You need Briggs & Counsel.

Do all trial attorneys have the same amount of experience handling wrongful death cases?  No.

When you choose Briggs & Counsel, both  Don Briggs and  Alison Mynick are dedicated and determined to winning your wrongful death case. With over 20 years experience with Wrongful Death cases, we are committed to you.

Don’t let a careless driver injure or kill, and walk away without a backwards glance. Fight back. Contact Briggs & Counsel.

Alison Wholey Mynick/Briggs & Counsel/May 1, 2011

Tragic death in a horrific car crash is too common on Maine’s rural roads.  Last week a Knox County grand jury indicted Brian Boody of Rockland, Maine for manslaughter in the death of young woman from Appleton.  What happens to a Maine driver if a jury finds the driver ”recklessly or with criminal negligence causes death to another human being”?

Since manslaughter is a criminal charge, the District Attorney’s goal in a Maine manslaughter trial is to to have a jury find the defendant “Guilty” and have a Superior Court Judge sentence the convicted killer to jail.  Manslaughter is a step below murder in the Maine criminal scheme of things.  A reckless driver who kills is charged with “criminal negligence”.     The jury begins the trial presuming the defendant innocent, and the prosecutor has to prove, through evidence, that the defendant driver “did recklessly or with criminal negligence cause death to another human being.”

On the other hand, Maine wrongful death suits are also personal injury cases.  There’s no prosecutor, and nobody goes to jail.  Instead, a Trial Attorney introduces evidence before a jury, the jury finds the defendant “responsible” , and the jury–not a Maine Judge–decides the  compensation for the family as a result of their loss.  A negligent Maine driver does not have to be found guilty of manslaughter or murder to be held responsible in a wrongful death suit.  But, if a reckless Maine driver is found guilty in a criminal manslaughter or murder trial, the driver (usually through his car insurance company) may also have to pay compensation to the surviving family members in a wrongful death suit. 

How could you help  if someone you love has lost a family member in a senseless car crash? You need someone who has experience trying car crash cases. You need someone knowledgeable about Maine’s complex legal system. You need Briggs & Counsel.

Do all trial attorneys have the same amount of experience handling wrongful death cases?  No.

When you choose Briggs & Counsel, you get both  Don Briggs and  Alison Mynick.  We are dedicated and determined to winning your wrongful death case. We each have over 20 years experience with Wrongful Death cases, and we are committed to you.

Don’t let a reckless driver walk away without a backwards glance. Fight back. Contact Briggs & Counsel.

The brain is a complex and vital organ that shapes who we are. It allows us to understand questions and solve intricate problems. It produces our emotions while crafting our personalities and it helps us to live on both a biological and spiritual level. If the brain should experience damage then the essence of who we are could be lost forever. This is why traumatic brain injuries can cause grave damage to the life of its victim. 

According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a traumatic brain injury (also known as TBI) is an affliction that 1.4 million Americans sustain each year, 50,000 of whom don’t survive. While TBIs have differing levels of severity (ranging from mild to severe), they are usually caused by a simple injury to the head and/or neck.  Falls are the leading cause of TBIs, accounting for 28% of all TBIs, while motor vehicle accidents account for 20%. However, motor vehicle accidents have a higher frequency of TBI-related hospitalizations, which studies have shown effect over 280,000 people each year. There is a variety of causes of head injuries. TBIs result from open or closed head injuries, as well as deceleration injuries (also known as a diffuse axonal injuries), but the complexities of head injuries delve much deeper.

A traumatic brain injury can have life-altering effects on a victim’s emotional and physical well-being, and can do severe damage to the physical nature of the brain. A head injury may require years, if not decades, of special care and rehabilitation from care facilities like CareMeridian, Las Vegas Nursing Home. The impairments from a brain injury can affect speech, vision, coordination, short-term and long-term memory, and may even result in mood swings and behavioral changes in personality. Considering that every brain injury is different, rehabilitation depends on the individual case and injury; yet, prevention is possible. 

For an injury as debilitating as TBI, prevention is essential. Luckily, prevention is not difficult. When driving, the best way to avert a TBI is by wearing a seatbelt and not being under the influence of alcohol. In fact, according to the Brain Injury Association of America more than 50% of people with a brain injury were intoxicated at the time of their injury. It’s also smart to always wear a helmet when riding a bike, thus reducing the risk of a head injury by almost 90%. If the right precautions are taken, the severity of TBIs can be reduced if not prevented.  

There is a lot that is still unknown about the inner workings of the human brain. However, what is known for certain is the life-changing affects that a TBI can have on its victims and their families as a result of irreversible damage to the function of the brain.

C. Donald Briggs, III, Esquire

Briggs & Counsel, LLC

An accident in a home, or a car, can result in serious injury, even death.  Many accidents cause only property damage, or injuries that are not fatal (for example, those in You Tube’s “Real Car Crash” (Real Car Crash on You Tube).

However, when death occurs, detailed knowledge of Maine’s Wrongful Death Act becomes important.  Maine’s Wrongful Death Act is especially problematic when a parent dies as the result of the decedent’s spouse’s negligence.

The Act, MRSA 18-A §2-804 (b) limits wrongful death benefits to the surviving spouse if there are no minor children. Surviving adult children are only entitled to wrongful death benefits if there is no spouse that survives the death of the adult child’s parent.

What does this mean in real life? Suppose, for example, you are eighteen years old, just starting college, and your parents, though still married, have been separated for years. Suppose, also, that your father, who raised you, is well paid and is your sole source of support (and tuition money). If your mother is driving your father somewhere, and crashes her car causing the death of your father, can you, the adult child, recover damages for the loss of your father’s life under Maine’s Wrongful Death Act?

Maine’s Law Court says “no”. Under the Act, the adult child cannot recover if the adult child’s parent is married at the time of death. In a 2008 case, Amica Mutual Insurance Company v. Estate of Pecci, the Court held that Maine wrongful death benefits do not go the negligent spouse, and they do not go the adult children either.

There is a helpful “but if” to all this. If the surviving spouse renounces an interest in any recovery under the Wrongful Death Act, and permits the adult child to be named as the Personal Representative of the Estate of the deceased spouse, then the surviving spouse is treated as having predeceased the decedent, and the adult child may recover wrongful death benefits.

Very sad news demands that you focus on the immediate needs of your family and yourself. The complexities of Maine law shouldn’t be an additional worry when tragedy strikes. Briggs & Counsel, LLC, will confer with you at no charge to determine whether you are eligible to maintain a claim under Maine’s Wrongful Death Statute. Every case is different, and every call is important.  Call our firm, or contact our website for a live conversation.

Alison Wholey Mynick, RN, Esq./Briggs & Counsel, LLC

It is both shocking and sad when obvious nursing negligence occurs in Maine. For almost every nursing procedure, there is a standard way of performing the procedure that every Maine nurse is expected to know.

Take, for example, the common nursing procedure of placing a feeding tube in a patient’s stomach. If a patient cannot eat, the doctor will often write an order in the hospital chart telling the nursing staff that the patientis to receive nutrition by a tube that goes in through the nose, down the back of the throat and into the stomach.

Placing the tube is a nursing function that takes place on a routine basis. Sometimes the tube goes in easily, other times it can be difficult to pass the tube into the stomach easily due to the patient’s condition or because the tube gives the patient the feeling of gagging during the insertion and causes the patient to thrash. It is important for all Mainers to know that even if placing a tube is “challenging”, there is not a hospital in Maine that is allowed to deviate from the standard of care in nursing as it relates to insertion of a feeding or “enteral” feeding tube. In fact, if placing a tube is especially difficult in a particular case, it is all the more reason for the nurse to be especially careful.

The most serious potential misadventure of a feeding catheter or nasogastric tube is placement in the lung. If not recognized in time, lung collapse and death may result from placement of a feeding tube in the lung.

This x ray shows a feeding tube in the lung of a 64 year old woman recovering from spinal surgery. ( There is also a nasogastric tube properly positioned in the stomach.) This case illustrates the importance of looking at the lung bases where a feeding catheter is seen passing through the bronchial tree of the right lower lobe and extending well into the right pleural space.

There are simple devices that allow nurses to be 100% sure that the tube is in the stomach and not the lungs. One article describes some modern methods of checking for placement as follows:

Enteral feedings are an integral part of care for many hospitalized patients. Accessing the gastrointestinal (GI) tract safely and in a timely manner can be challenging. Various techniques and devices to enhance the safety of bedside feeding tube placement are available for clinicians. Three specific devices are highlighted, including the colorimetric CO(2) detector (CCD), a magnetically guided feeding tube (MGFT), and the electromagnetic tube placement device (ETPD).

The CO(2) detector is applied to detect the presence or absence of CO(2), thus assisting in correct placement of the feeding tube tip into the GI tract vs the lung. The MGFT uses a magnetic device to manipulate the feeding tube through the GI tract into the small intestine.

The ETPD provides real-time visualization of the feeding tube as it progresses into the small intestine. Training and repetition are essential for safe and successful feeding tube placement, and the highlighted devices can contribute to both of these goals.

As a Registered Nurse as well as a medical negligence lawyer, it is especially disheartening to hear when such a basic nursing procedures is carelessly handled.

Briggs & Counsel has successfully litigated numerous cases of medical and nursing malpractice on behalf of patients. Maine has very specialized laws and procedures for handling medical malpractice cases and few Maine law firms handle medical malpractice on a routine basis as we do.

If you or someone close to you has suffered from the careless actions of nurses at a Maine hospital, attorneys from our firm would be willing to meet with family members individually, or as a family group, to begin the process of sorting out what needs to be done to fix what can be fixed, and make up for the problems that can’t be fixed.

Copyright 2009 Briggs & Counsel