Category: Auto Accident

Whiplash injuries are one of the most common injuries sustained by drivers and passengers involved in car accidents on Kentucky roadways.  Whiplash injuries are painful and debilitating and require as much as six months or more to recover.  Making them even more dangerous is the fact that whiplash injuries often do not display any initial symptoms until days or weeks after the accident occurs.

What is a Whiplash Injury?

Whiplash is a type of soft-tissue injury that occurs when a driver or passenger’s head moves forward or backward in a rapid and violent motion, like the cracking of a whip.  This sudden and forceful movement causes damage to the ligaments, tendons, and surrounding tissues of the neck and spine.  Whiplash injuries occur upon vehicle impact, and are most often seen in rear-end and head-on collisions.

Leaving the scene of a car accident in Kentucky is a serious offense.  Kentucky traffic laws require that any person involved in any crash must remain at the scene to offer aid to people who are injured and to share their vehicle registration number and contact information.  Depending on the severity of the accident, the penalties for leaving a hit-and-run crash scene in Kentucky range from paying a potentially hefty fine to spending time behind bars.

Hit-and-run accidents occur when a driver is involved in an accident with a pedestrian, another car, or a fixed object, and leaves the scene without identifying themselves or rendering aid to anyone who may need help.  The violation is committed when the driver leaves the scene, regardless of whether or not they caused the accident.

Automobile accident deaths last year in the United States were estimated to be greater than 40,000, the highest total in nearly a decade.  A recent study by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) on distracted driving calls the problem an “epidemic”.  Yet not much is being done to combat the issue, especially considering the combination of cell phone use and automobile operation is increasingly encouraged by new automaker technology.

Most people think that texting while driving is the problem and eliminating hands-on texting behind the wheel is the solution.  Texting while driving is certainly dangerous, and the frequency at which teens text combined with the number of teen driver fatalities each year indicates that teen driver texting is tough to dispute.  But texting is not the only dangerous distraction for sober drivers.

Distracted driving leads to thousands of fatal car accidents on United States roadways every year.  Many items and activities can create distracted drivers, but without question, the most common source of distraction in vehicles is driver use of cell phones.

About a decade ago, it became a nationwide priority to reduce hands-on cell phone use while driving a car.  It was at this time that car companies began manufacturing vehicles with sophisticated Bluetooth voice recognition software designed to allow a driver to use their cell phone while still keeping their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel.

Partnered with Uber and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Tostitos brand has made a limited edition “Party Safe” bag that can tell if someone has been drinking and will help them get home safely on Super Bowl Sunday.  The special bag comes equipped with a sensor that can detect small traces of alcohol on a person’s breath.  If any alcohol is detected, the sensor turns red in the shape of a steering wheel and displays a “Don’t Drink and Drive” message and a code for $10 off an Uber ride during or after the game.

The bag uses near-field communication technology which allows fans to tap their phone on the bag to call their Uber ride.  This innovative idea should encourage people to think twice before driving drunk on Super Bowl Sunday.  Jennifer Saenz, Frito-Lay’s chief marketing officer, said, “Our goal is to remove 25,000 cars from the roads that Sunday evening.”