Te National Transportation Safety Board wants to implement a new rule for millions of truckers and bus driver – No cell-phones while driving, period.

The change proposed Tuesday would be among the most sweeping highway safety measures since the push for mandatory seat belts decades ago, but many truckers think it goes too far, especially because it would bar not only hand-held but hands-free devices.

The safety board enthusiastically endorsed the ban after ruling on a fiery Kentucky wreck that killed a trucker and 10 people in a van on their way to a wedding. The board said the trucker was distracted by his hands-free cellphone.

Board Chairman Deborah Hersman said similar recommendations about phone use have already been made in aviation and for ship operators. CB radio use wouldn’t be affected.

The safety board lacks the authority to make such regulations. It sent its recommendation to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and all 50 states for action.

The U.S. Transportation Department bars commercial drivers from texting while driving and violators are subject to civil penalties of up to $2,750.

Texas bans cellphone use while driving in a school zone. It also is illegal for drivers younger than 18 to use a cell-phone while driving in Texas. Austin is among several cities, statewide, including San Antonio, to ban texting while driving. But Gov. Rick Perry vetoed a bill passed this year by the Legislature that would have outlawed all texting while driving in Texas.

National Ban Urged on Trucker Phone Use is a post from: Accident & Injury Law in Texas

Last week Rick Perry vetoed a statewide ban on texting while driving (House Bill 242).

At least three cities, including Austin, have already banned such texting, and the state already bans texting in school zones.

Perry saw the bill as “a government effort to micromanage the behaviour of adults” (current law prohibits texting and driving if you’re under 18).  I guess he thinks the same of banning driving while drunk or on recreational drugs – he would have vetoed those measures too.

A 2010 study by the U.S. Department of Transportation (relying on fatal crash data from the National Highway Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System and the National Automotive Sampling System General Estimates System) shows that, in 2009, 45,230 drivers were involved in 30,797 fatal crashes in the U.S.  In those crashes, 33,808 people were killed and distraction was reported for 11 percent or 5,084 of the drivers or 16 percent of the fatal crashes.  The vast majority of deaths related to distracted driving (84 percent) were associated with driving in a careless or inattentive manner.

Because accidents are reported differently in different jurisdictions, the actual numbers given above are probably higher.

Texting While Driving OK with Rick Perry is a post from: Accident & Injury Law in Texas

A program credited with cutting car thefts in half across Texas may be on the chopping block.

The Texas Automobile Burglary and Theft Prevention Authority, created two decades ago, pays for about 200 police officers statewide to focus on car-related crime prevention.

Vehicle owners pay $1 a year on their insurance renewals to fund the program, which offers grants to cities and counties — including Travis County.

In a proposal that state legislators are considering, Texans would still pay the $1 a year, but the program would be suspended, and $18 million a year generated by the fee would instead go toward the state’s multibillion-dollar shortfall.

Supporters of the auto theft prevention program say officers whose salaries are covered by the fund could lose their jobs and that Texas will again become a haven for theft rings as it was when the program began.

Last year, about 76,000 cars and trucks were stolen in Texas —fewer than half the 164,000 vehicles that disappeared from parking lots and driveways in 1991.

Travis County officials said the loss of funding could eliminate the Sheriff’s Combined Auto Theft Task Force in Central Texas, which was formed after the Burglary and Theft Prevention Authority was created in 1991.

In addition to recovering stolen property, the 15-county task force investigates car-jackings, vehicle arson and insurance fraud, and apprehends suspects. It also conducts educational events and public awareness.

Cutting the agency would also mean auto theft information shared with Mexico would be lost, despite much legislative attention to the continuing violence on the border, officials from the authority said.

Texas’ ability to combat car theft is known worldwide, and 14 other states, three Canadian provinces and even foreign countries have copied the program.

Since 1991, the Auto Burglary and Theft Prevention Authority has awarded $239 million in grants and recovered $11.6 billion in stolen property.

During a hearing this month, lawmakers on the Legislative Budget Board did not detail why they recommended suspending the program, along with cutting five Texas Department of Motor Vehicles positions in Austin.
It’s the latest bad news for the agency, which is also dealing with an expected $38 million budget shortfall for the next two years. The shortfall was caused by inaccurate revenue projections for new vehicle registration fees that are scheduled to take effect in September.

20-Year Task Force on the Chopping Block is a post from: Accident & Injury Law in Texas

Six Austin doctors were among 77 disciplined by the Texas Medical Board, including one who surrendered his license to practice internal medicine.

Dr. Michael Bowen Pickrell was ordered by the board in May 2009 to be monitored by another doctor, take part in the board’s drug testing program and be treated by a psychiatrist after the board said he improperly prescribed narcotics to some patients and self-medicated for depression and “steroid psychosis,” among other allegations.

Pickrell said Monday that he complied with the board’s order but could no longer afford to keep paying another doctor to monitor his practice. His contract with a major health insurer was canceled, and he was seeing too few patients, he said.

“I really tried to comply, and it was really a financial hardship,” Pickrell said.

He said that much of what was in the 2009 order was inaccurate, but he signed it anyway so he could continue practicing. “I’m still angry,” he said.

The board also:
■    Ordered Dr. Jeffrey L. Butts, who practices addiction medicine, to take a record-keeping course after the board said he did not adequately document a patient’s medication. The order was the result of a mediation agreement. ■    Fined Dr. Stephen Longmoor Brown, a radiation oncologist, $1,000 and ordered him to take a medical record-keeping course. The board said Brown failed to keep an adequate record on a longtime patient he prescribed narcotic pain medicine to and regularly spoke with by phone.
■    Fined Dr. Carlos Rubin deCelis, an oncologist, $500 and ordered him to take a course in medical jurisprudence. The board said he inappropriately gave pre-signed prescription forms for controlled substances to nurse practitioners — only to be used for established patients needing immediate help with pain.
■    Fined Dr. Maureen Lenore Adair, a psychiatrist, $500 for writing prescriptions for controlled substances between January and May while her state certificate was expired.
■    Ordered Dr. Douglas Hall Rankin, in family practice, to take a course in anxiety disorders. He was disciplined for inappropriately prescribing a medication to a patient and failing to properly manage the patient’s anxiety, according to the board’s order.

State board disciplines 6 Austin doctors is a post from: Accident & Injury Law in Texas

I’ve uploaded my first YouTube video and would appreciate your comments.

“The Ant & the Grasshopper – A Texas Tale” is Aesop’s Tale told with a Texas Twist.  Watch this short (3 minute) video and you may just discover something about Texas law you weren’t aware of.  The authors of this video feel a duty, as lawyers, to make the public aware of recent changes in the law that effect the citizens of Texas.

The Ant & the Grasshopper – a Texas Tale

Ant and Grasshopper Video is a post from: Accident & Injury Law in Texas

Federal safety regulators are investigating a few reports of gas pedals becoming trapped by floor mats in 2010 Ford Fusions and Mercury Milans.

Officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Tuesday that the agency opened a preliminary investigation last Friday after receiving three such complaints involving unsecured all-weather floor mats. There are no reports of crashes or injuries. Safety officials said the investigation covers about 250,000 Fusions and Milans.

A Ford spokesman, Said Deep, said the problem was attributable to drivers stacking all-weather mats on top of floor mats that come with the vehicle. Ford’s all-weather mats have warnings advising customers not to stack them and to secure them properly to the floor, Deep said.

US. agency looking into reports of trapped pedals in Ford cars is a post from: Accident & Injury Law in Texas

Here’s another great article about tort reform myths which was written just after the 2003 tort reform legislation was passed.

Here’s an excerpt:

The purpose of Proposition 12′s severe restrictions on victims’ rights was to lower malpractice insurance premiums, which had seen double-digit increases. In Texas, as elsewhere, the tort reformers exploited the rate hikes as part of a scare campaign to sell reform. However, the facts show that the legal system is not driving insurance rates. Tort actions at the state level – meaning personal-injury lawsuits, everything from product liability to traffic accidents to libel have fallen 5 percent in nine years, according to the National Center for State Courts.

More specifically, malpractice filings declined nationally by about 4 percent between 1995 and 2000. And while a recent analysis of the Medicare population estimated that medical errors kill 131,000 people annually, making it the fourth leading cause of death, medical suits are only 5 percent of personal-injury filings, with product liability cases another 5 percent. Plaintiffs lose 60 percent of product cases and 70 percent of malpractice suits.

Not only are socially significant lawsuits like malpractice and product liability a small fraction of the legal picture but numerous studies show that capping damages doesn’t affect insuance premiums. One survey examined insurance rates between 1985 and 1998, then ranked the states according to the severity of their restrictions on lawsuits. Increased severity did not produce lower rates. In Texas, where malpractice filings dropped 20 percent in the nine years before Proposition 12, the liability picture has been little improved by its passage. About a third of doctors will see a decrease of 12 percent after cumulative increases of 147 percent. The rest will either get no relief or double-digit increases.

According to J. Robert Hunter, Federal Insurance Administrator under Presidents Ford and Carter, caps don’t work because liability rates reflect not litigation costs but the insurance industry’s own practices. During good times, insurers write policies even for the worst risks to generate cash for investment. When the stock market tanks, rates climb steeply to cover losses. The current liability crisis, Hunter notes, coincided with the market downturn that began in the summer of 2001. And since the insurance cycle is international, the “hard market” also drove up premiums in Canada, Australia and France. And those countries have totally different legal systems, Hunter says.

…

The numbers show that lawsuits are an insignificant cost both to businesses and to health providers, for whom they represent less than 2 percent of spending. In short, the lawsuit-abuse crisis is a hoax.

More Medical Malpractice Myths is a post from: Accident & Injury Law in Texas

The Texas Department of Insurance officially proposed a rule Tuesday that would ban the use of certain policy clauses that make it easier for insurance companies to deny benefits to some policyholders.

The move is the first step in a potential ban on so-called discretionary clauses — which often exist in disability, life, accident and health policies.

Discretionary clauses give insurance companies the sole authority to interpret the terms of their policies. In other words, the clauses effectively give companies the authority to decide who gets paid and who doesn’t.

In a filing to propose the rule change, the Insurance Department said: “Discretionary clauses are unjust, encourage misrepresentation, and are de- ceptive because they mislead consumers regarding terms of the coverage.”

Deeia Beck, who represents consumers in insurance issues for the state, asked Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin to ban the clauses in October.

And in March, Geeslin made an informal posting of the pro posed rule change to gauge public sentiment. Now, he has taken the next step by formally proposing the change.

The deadline for written comments to the department is June 28, and there will be a public hearing on July 12.

“This is the next step in getting a permanent rule in place,” Beck said. “This is an excellent development to help rid the state of these unfair clauses.”

The insurance industry objected to the proposed change in March.
Jared Wolfe, head of the Texas Association of Health Plans, said the push for a ban is driven by plaintiffs’ lawyers – and shoddy evidence.

Almost two dozen other states have taken steps to reel in discretionary clauses.

State seeks ban on insurance clauses is a post from: Accident & Injury Law in Texas

Blood could soon be drawn at Central Booking at the Travis County Jail, after county commissioners’ 4-0 vote Tuesday approving changes to an agreement between Travis County and the City of Austin.

The Austin City Council is expected to consider the agreement changes later this month.

A law went into effect last year that expanded the circumstances requiring blood or breath tests from DWI suspects. They now include incidents in which victims are injured and transported for medical care and the presence of a child passenger in the suspect’s vehicle. The Travis County sheriff’s office and Austin police estimate that an additional 300 to 400 blood draws will be required each year on top of the 400 to 500 blood draws that have been taken at the request of local law enforcement.

Two primary reasons for having a phlebotomist in Central Booking are to improve officer and public safety and to avoid the costs of blood draws at University Medical Center Brackenridge.

At Brackenridge, for an average 910 blood draws, phlebotomy services are estimated to cost $329,420 a year, or $362 per blood draw, a cost that includes a $275 medical exam.

Though blood draws are taken at jails in Bexar, Dallas and Williamson counties, they are taken at hospitals in Harris and Tarrant counties.

Travis County approves drawing DWI suspects’ blood at jail is a post from: Accident & Injury Law in Texas

Prompted by Toyota recalls, lawmakers considering bills to bolster regulator authority

Congress took the first steps Thursday toward a wide-ranging auto safety bill that would require devices such as black boxes and brake override systems and would strengthen federal regulators’ enforcement powers.

A subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce opened hearings on legislation sponsored by the group’s chair Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. The chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, John D. Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., introduced a similar measure this week.

Both bills come after Toyota Motor Corp.’s recalls of more than 9 million vehicles worldwide since last year, which were the subject of congressional hearings this year.

The biggest recalls are for accelerator pedals that could stick or become encumbered by floor mats.

The bills are Congress’ first serious look at auto safety in a decade, since lawmakers passed reforms
after accidents involving Firestone tires on the Ford Explorer. Further hearings are expected in the House and Senate.

Under the House version, automobiles would be required to contain brake override systems that would stop vehicles even if the throttle was open.

The measure would require event data recorders, so-called black boxes that would provide information from the 60 seconds before a crash and the 15 seconds after. Neither device is now required, and many existing data recorders do not provide that much information.

The bill would also allow the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to order immediate recalls if agency officials thought vehicles posed a threat to driver safety.

“If enacted, these measures would significantly increase the agency’s leverage in dealing with manufacturers,” traffic agency administrator David Strickland said in prepared remarks. Strickland said the legislation would bring his agency’s enforcement powers in line with those of other federal regulators.

In prepared testimony, David McCurdy, chief executive of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said the industry group could support the override and black box standards, which have been sought for years by safety groups.

The House bill also would remove a cap on the civil penalties that can be imposed in recalls, and a Senate bill would raise it from $5,000 per vehicle to $25,000.

Last month, Toyota agreed to pay a $16.4 million fine imposed by the Transportation Department, the largest now allowed by law. The department said Toyota failed to disclose information related to a sticking pedal recall ordered in January.

Toyota did not admit fault in the situation, however, and the department said it was continuing to investigate the recalls.

Congress eyes black boxes for all vehicles is a post from: Accident & Injury Law in Texas