The recent holiday season kept the Missouri State Highway Patrol particularly busy – especially due to the high number of car accidents and drunk drivers on Missouri roadways.

2012 holiday drunk driving arrests and car accidents

During the recent Christmas weekend – from 6:00 p.m. on Friday, December 21, through December 25 – the Missouri Highway Patrol reports that they arrested 130 motorists for drunk driving. Continuing this trend, the Highway patrol made 124 drunk driving arrests over New Year’s – which was compiled from December 28 at 6:00pm through January 1, 2013.

What is of special concern is that these numbers are drastically higher than last year’s drunk driving arrests during the corresponding periods. For instance, the Highway patrol arrested a mere 56 drivers for drunk driving over the Christmas weekend in 2011 and only 90 over New Year’s weekend.

Tragically, drunk driving arrests are not the only rates that experienced a recent increase. For example, the  Missouri Highway Patrol reports that eight people died in traffic fatalities over New Year’s weekend – compared to only six last year.

To make matters even worse, the Highway Patrol investigated 239 traffic accidents – with 91 reported injuries – in Missouri over Christmas weekend; which is higher than last year’s numbers of 213 accidents investigated with only 67 injuries.

Unfortunately, this increase was even greater over New Year’s as there were 486 traffic accidents investigated by the Highway Patrol over New Year’s weekend, while only 163 accidents were investigated by the Highway Patrol during the corresponding weekend last year.

Drunk driving consequences in Missouri

As the recently reported numbers indicate, dangers are ever-present on Missouri roads. Not only did the Highway Patrol report an increase in investigated traffic accidents during the recent holiday season, but also an increase in drunk driving arrests.

Fortunately, there are remedies available for those who are injured by careless and negligent drivers who elect to get behind the wheel after having too much to drink. For instance, drunk drivers are not only held responsible for their actions in criminal court, but can be found liable for the injuries and damages they cause through a personal injury action in Missouri civil court.

Also, it is important for those injured not to quickly accept a settlement without first speaking to an attorney. For instance, an attorney can not only help by explaining your rights and options, but also in investigating your claim and ensuring you are compensated for all of the damages you may have suffered.

Patients trust their lives with trained medical professionals, expecting that health providers will exercise due care in the execution of medical tasks and surgical procedures. Nevertheless, medical negligence occurs all of the time, and unfortunately, some of these errors are completely preventable.

Surgical “never events” are being used increasingly as a measure of quality in the United States health care system. Such events are classified as serious mistakes that could have been avoided. A never event could include operating on the wrong patient, performing the wrong surgery or leaving a surgical tool inside the body cavity of a patient.

According to the Atlantic Wire, comprehensive research suggests that the number of real never events has been underreported for the last 20 years. To supplement research, a study was recently conducted to describe the number and magnitude of malpractice claims for surgical never events.

The study was published in the January issue of Surgery and authored by a group of researchers from Johns Hopkins University. Researchers analyzed 9,744 paid malpractice settlements and judgments for surgical never events occurring between 1990 and 2010. The study compiled information from the National Practitioner Data Bank, a federal database of medical malpractice claims. Payment amounts, patient outcomes and provider characteristics were examined in the investigation.

Results of the study

The analysis concluded that medical malpractice payments for surgical never events totaled $1.3 billion during the studied period. Increased payments were associated with severe patient outcomes. Furthermore, greater damages were awarded to victims of physicians with multiple malpractice reports.

Tragically, death was common in 6.6 percent of never event patients. Permanent injury and temporary injury occurred 39.9 and 59.2 percent of the time, respectively. Based on the findings, researchers estimate that 4,082 surgical never event claims occur in the country each year.

When a health care provider significantly departs from acceptable standards of medical care, never events occur. The findings of the study ultimately suggest that surgical never events are costly to the health care system and bring about serious harm to patients.

People in every profession make mistakes, but much more is at stake for patients on the operating table. Whatever precautions that are in place to stop preventable errors are not doing the job. Hopefully, health care facilities will take the time reevaluate effective standards of medical practice.

However, if you have been already been harmed by a health care provider, you should contact a skilled medical malpractice attorney. A lawyer can help you assess your situation.

Driver fatigue is now suspected as a contributing factor in a deadly trucking accident that recently left two dead in southwestern Missouri. According to a report from the  Associated Press, the driver of the truck involved in the accident has since been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the two fatalities.

Specifically, the trucking accident occurred on U.S. 60 when the truck driven by the accused crashed into two other vehicles that were stopped behind a second truck at a traffic light – sandwiching the two smaller vehicles between the two large trucks in the process, according to investigators. Tragically, the drivers of both the other smaller vehicles were killed in the accident.

A report by  KY3 News indicates that the accused truck driver may have been driving longer hours than permitted by law at the time of the accident. Sadly, these extra work hours opens up the possibility that  truck driver fatigue may have played a role in the recent Missouri trucking accident.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time a truck driver for this particular trucking company has been mired in allegations of federal regulation violations. In fact, according to FMCSA records, as reported by  KY3 News, roughly half of the drivers for this company were “deemed out of service” in the last four inspections over a two year period.

FMCSA Hours of Service Rule

Interestingly, the FMCSA amended their trucking  hours-of-service rules a little over a year ago as a way to combat truck driver fatigue and make the nation’s roadways safer. However, many of these changes do not go into effect until July 1, 2013.

Included in these amendments is a provision that creates a maximum average driving time limit of 70 hours in seven days – a reduction from the old rule that permits a maximum average of 82 hours in the same period.

In addition, a provision has been added stating that drivers will not be permitted to continue driving their truck after working eight hours unless they take a break of at least 30 minutes.

Seek help of injured

As this recent accident illustrates, truck driving accidents can have devastating consequences – meaning much still needs to be done to make our roads safer. However, if you or a loved one has already been injured by a truck driver that should have been in bed instead of behind the wheel, it may be advisable to speak with an experienced truck accident attorney to learn what your rights may be given your particular circumstances.

For many, younger motorists are believed to be the generation of drivers most likely to have their noses buried in their cellphones while driving. In fact, here in Missouri, texting while driving is currently only prohibited for drivers aged 21-years-old or younger.

However, a recent survey conducted by AT&T directly challenges these preconceived notions as it indicates that teenagers may be getting a bad rap for being the worst at texting while driving. In particular, the survey discovered that adults may actually be more likely than their younger counterparts to be sending texts while behind the wheel.

AT&T texting survey

Interestingly, the recent survey discovered that 49 percent of adult respondents admit to texting while driving – compared to only 43 percent of teen drivers. Even more frightening is the fact that a whopping 98 percent of adult survey respondents acknowledged that texting or emailing while driving is unsafe – although almost half continue to do it.

However, the results of the survey did indicate that texting while driving may be a recent phenomenon among adults. For instance, 60 percent of adult respondents claimed they never texted while driving a mere three years ago – meaning the texting-while-driving epidemic is getting worse despite public awareness that it is extremely dangerous.

Based on these results, it may be time for many states to revisit their texting-while-driving prohibitions, or in the case of Missouri, expand them since they currently only apply to younger drivers.

Missouri texting-while-driving law

Specifically, the Missouri texting-while-driving ban expressly states that no person aged 21 or below may use a hand-held electronic wireless communications device – such as a cellphone, blackberry or other portable electronic device – to write, read or send a text message while operating a vehicle in Missouri. However, the does not apply if:

• The driver is operating an authorized emergency vehicle
• The driver is reporting illegal activity
• The driver is requesting medical assistance or preventing an injury
• The driver is using a communications device that is “permanently embedded” into the vehicle

Unfortunately, while it is still technically legal for Missouri motorists over the age of 21 to text while driving, that does not mean these drivers cannot be distracted by their phones just as easily as younger drivers. Both young and old drivers need to be held accountable if their texting habits result in car accidents

If you or a loved one has been injured by a texting driver, it is often important to contact a knowledgeable distracted driving accident attorney to be advised of your options given your circumstances. An experienced attorney can assist in gathering important evidence and help ensure your rights are protected.