Alabama Injury Attorney Blog

Teenage drivers are at a much higher risk for being involved in a car accident than any other age group.  In 2005, 4,544 teenagers 16 to 19 died of injuries caused by automoblie accidents.  The risk of motor vehicle accidents is higher among 16 to 19 year olds than amoung any other age group.  In fact, per mile driven, teenage drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to be involved in automoblie accident. 

In an effort to reduce the number of teenages involved in car accidents in Alabama, the Alabama House of Representatives just passed (House Bill 282) that puts new restrictions on 16 and 17 year old drivers.  This new bill would be a form of a graduated driver's license program, which has been shown to reduce fatal crashes in 16 year old driver's by 38%.  This new legislation calls for an 11 p.m. driving curvew on weekends and mandates that only one passenger can be in the car with these young drivers with restricted licenses. The bill also calls for an adult 21 or older to ride with 15 and 16 year olds with learner's permits.  Hopefully, the Alabama Senate will pass this bill and the number of Alabama teens involved in car and truck accidents will decline.          

  An Alabama jury returned a 78.4 million dollar verdict on Tuesday February 24, 2009, against the drug manufacturer Sandoz, a subsidiary of Novartis.  The Alabama lawsuit was one of more than 70 lawsuits that have been brought on behalf of the state of Alabama against various drug manufacturers.  The Alabama lawsuits center around Average Wholesale Prices (AVP) that drug manufacturers were posting that were much higher than the prices doctors and pharmacists were actually paying for the drugs.  Essentially, the state of Alabama is claiming that these drug manufacturers were committing a fraud upon Alabama's Medicaid program by having the state pay an average wholesale price for a drug that was actually being sold at a much cheaper rate. 

  This is the third large verdict the state of Alabama has obtained in these average wholesale price cases.  In 2008, a jury returned a $215 million dollar verdict against drug manufacturer AstraZeneca and a second jury returned a $114 million dollar verdict against drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline.  These were two of the 20 largest jury verdicts of 2008. 

As any Alabama lawyer can tell you, the real battle will now begin.  Novartis will surely appeal this verdict to the Alabama Supreme Court, which has a history of overturning and throwing out large jury verdicts.  This appeal will likely take a year to year and half, so whether the state of Alabama ever sees a penny out of this litigation is yet to be determined.  However, its comforting to know that in today's tough economic times that one corner stone of our society - our civil justice system - is still available to ensure a level playing field. 

A recent report has found that there has been at least one bright spot of the recent economic downturn and that is a reduction in fatal car accidents in Alabama.  The report found that traffic accident fatalities have dropped by nearly half in Alabama's wiregrass area over the last year.  Alabama Governor Bob Riley recently reported that early numbers showed a 17% reduction in fatal motor vehicle accidents state wide in the last year. 

One of the factors that has lead to this decline in fatal car accidents is higher gas prices and the overall downturn in the economy.  As gas prices rose and the economy tanked last year, fewer drivers hit Alabama's highways and when they did they drove slower to conserve gas.  Studies have found that there is a direct correlation between higher speeds and fatalities.  In addition to fewer drivers on Alabama Highways, enforcement campaigns such as "Take Back Our Highways" and "Click It or Ticket" have had a positive impact on the safety of Alabama's highways.  Hopefully when the economy starts to rebound there will not be this same correlation to an increase in Alabama car accidents.    

A new Alabama trauma system is being evaluated for 11 west Alabama counties.  The hope is that this new trauma system will streamline the process of getting critically injured people the best possible treatment in the fastest possible manner.  According to a report, trauma from car accidents, falls, and shootings is the number 1 killer of people between ages 1 and 44.  It is important that critically injured people receive treatment within a 60 minute window or their chances for survival greatly diminish. 

  According to this report, twice as many accidents occur in cities compared with rural areas; however, the death rate from accidents in rural areas is twice as high because of delays in getting care.  When the system is implemented it will classify hospitals as level 1, 2, or 3 trauma centers. A hospital with more equipment, surgeons and specialists will be classified at a higher level than a hospital with fewer resources.  For example, when EMS arrives on scene at an Alabama car accident the paramedic would report the victim's condition to the operator who would then classify that patient and use a computer system to determine the closest hospital with the best ability to care for that person.  In addition, hospitals would be able to set their status as red or green to alert dispatchers whether certain surgeons or specialists were available.

This system was implemented in Birmingham in 1996 and since that time the trauma death rate has decreased 12 percent. As Huntsville Alabama Car Accident Attorneys it is our hope that this system will be implemented statewide giving each Alabama accident vicitim the best possible chance for survival.               

Two fatal North Alabama motorcycle accidents have occurred in the past week.  According to a report from the Times Daily a Franklin County man and his wife were involved in a motorcycle accident on Sunday February 7, 2009.  According to the report, the motorcycle collided with the passenger side of a car.  Upon impact, the male driver of the motorcycle was thrown 10 to 15 feet past the point of impact.  Tragically, the driver of the motorcycle died from massive blunt-force trauma to the head and neck.  Just three days later on February 10, 2009, an 18 year Gadsden teenager was killed when he lost control of his motorcycle and it struck a light pole.

According to NHTSA, 4,810 motorcyclists were killed in the United States in 2006, which was an increase of 5% from the previous year.  There were 88,000 motorcyclists injured in 2006. In 2006 in Alabama, there were 105 fatal motorcycle accidents  Suprisingly, of these 105 fatal accidents helmets were worn 90.5% of the time.  As one would expect to find, statistics show that per vehicle mile traveled in 2005, motorcyclists were about 37 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die in a motor vehicle accident and 8 times more likely to be injured. 

Based upon the increased likelihood for accidents and injuries to motorcycle riders it is imperative that motorcycle riders be properly trained and outfitted with the proper safety equipment.  For more information on motorcycle safety visit the motorcycle safety foundation.        

Uninsured/Underinsured motorist coverage is insurance coverage that provides a driver and his/her passengers protection if they are involved in a motor vehicle accident with an uninsured driver or a driver that does not have an adequate amount of insurance to coverage the damages.  Alabama's uninsured motorist statute requires automobile insurers to offer uninsured motorist coverage with their liability policies.  A recent study by the Insurance Research Council (IRC) has found that there is a strong correlation between the percentage of uninsured motorists and the unemployment rate.  Based upon current unemployment rate projections, the IRC forecasts that the percentage of uninsured motorists will likely rise from 13.8 percent in 2007 to 16.1 percent in 2010. 

Alabama was found to be one of the states with the highest number of uninsured drivers.  According to the IRC, 24 percent of drivers in Alabama were uninsured.  This number is surely to increase as the unemployement rate rises in Alabama. Alabama driver's should check with their liability insurance carrier to determine the amount of uninsured motorist coverage they have.  The cost of increasing these limits is very inexpensive and can often mean the difference between making a satisfactory recovery for a persons injuries or little to no recovery when a person is involved in a car accident with an uninsured motorist.     

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), every day, 36 people in the United States die, and approximately 700 more are injured, in motor vehicle accidents that involve an alcohol-impaired driver.  In 2006, 13,470 people died in alcohol -impared driving crashes, accounting for nearly one third of all traffic-related deaths in the United States.  The same ratio held true for Alabama, as there were 1,206 traffic accident fatalities in Alabama in 2006, 384 (32%) involved drivers who had a BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) of .08 or higher. 

Often, the intoxicated driver's condition is set into motion by a bar, restaurant or package store that unlawfully sells or furnishes alcohol to this intoxicated driver. Many states, including Alabama, have laws in place that regulate the sell and distribution of alcohol.  These laws are also known as Dram Shop Laws. 

Alabama code section 6-5-71 provides a cause of action for spouses, parents, and children  who shall be injured in person, property, or means of support by any intoxicated person.  This section grants these individuals a right of action against any person who shall, by selling, giving, or disposing of alcohol to another, contrary to the provisions of law.  

The Alabama ABC Board controls alcoholic beverages through distribution, licensing, and enforcement.  Pusuant to Ala. ABC Reg.§ 20-X-6-.02(4):  No ABC Board on-premises licensee, employee or agent therefore shall serve any person alcoholic beverages if such person appears, considering the totality of the circumstances, to be intoxicated.  This means that if a bar, restaurant or package store sells an alcoholic beverage to someone who under the totality of the circumstances appears to be intoxicated that establishment can be held liable for any damages that result from that sell.  For example, if John Doe goes into Bar X and he is slurring his speech, staggering, and exhibiting the signs of being intoxicated and Bar X continues to serve John alcohol and John leaves Bar X and gets involved in a car accident with Sally Jones, then Sally Jones could potentially have a lawsuit against not only John Doe, but against Bar X for violating Alabama's Dram Shop laws. 

For more information on drinking and driving visit the mothers against drunk driving (madd)'s  website.