While seat belt laws remain a secondary offense in many states, only allowing police to issue a citation for not wearing a seat belt if a driver is pulled over for another offense, states that have adopted stricter seat-belt laws, which make the lack of a seat belt a primary offense, are seeing positive results, reducing the risk of death or serious injury from auto accidents.

According to a recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health, strict seat belt laws have a big impact on teen drivers, creating good seat belt habits that are likely to increase their safety throughout the rest of their driving years.

Researchers looked at the 2006 National Young Driver Survey and a sample of 3,126 high school drivers. They found that teen drivers were 12% less likely to wear a seatbelt while driving in states that do not have primary seat belt laws. The rate was even worse for teen passengers, who were 15% less likely to wear a safety belt in those states where the police cannot pull you over simply for not buckling up.

In states where seat belt laws are only a secondary offense, teens were less likely to get into the habit of wearing a seat belt as they went from learner to unrestricted license holder. Teens were also less likely to wear safety belts in those states if they lived in rural areas, drove pickup trucks, were academically challenged or were African Americans.

The undisputed fact is that seat belts save lives and prevent catastrophic injuries every day. Auto accidents are going to happen (at least until we are all riding in self-driven Google cars), so it is important to establish the habit of seat belt use early and strict enforcement laws have a clear impact on increasing use of seat belts.

According to the report, “Miles to go: Monitoring Progress in Teen Driver Safety”, substantial progress is being made to reduce the risks associated with car accidents involving teen drivers. However, injuries sustained in accidents continue to be the leading cause of death for teens, with traumatic brain injuries and skull fractures following car crashes accounting for about 30% of the 55,000 serious injuries that occurred in 2009 and 2010.

Researchers determined that states with the most stringent driving laws had lower numbers of children who died in car crashes. States with loose driving laws had significantly more teen car accident deaths. Those laws often require the teen to have at least 50 hours of adult-supervised driving experience, limits the number of passengers a teen driver can carry, requires seat belt use and restricts the amount of driving that can be done at night.

The report also found that teens were more likely to adhere to seat belt laws in states with the strictest driving rules.

Overall, researchers saw improvements in teen driving safety over the last several years. From 2005 to 2010 the death rate among teen drivers dropped 46 percent, according to the report.

In an editorial published last month in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Dr. Donald Redelmeier indicates that the current approach of restricting a senior citizen’s ability to drive only after they have a number of moving violations may need a more proactive approach.

According to the editorial, mandatory screenings should be required, because seniors are not only likely to have slower reflexes and perception, but may be on medications that impair their reaction and ability to drive well. A study by the AAA foundation in 2009 found that 69% of Americans 55 and older are using medications that may impair their driving skills.

While the odds any such a measure becoming law in the U.S. seems extremely remote, it raises the question of why stop with seniors? If doctors believe that drivers must establish that they are medically fit to drive, why not make that a requirement for all drivers, as even younger adults could develop conditions that impact their ability to safely drive?

The study was published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), indicating that there was an average of 13 more road fatalities annually on the day income taxes are due in the United States than on any other day.

Researchers collected crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on tax day from 1980 to 2009.

They found a six percent spike in road fatalities that affected drivers, passengers and pedestrians. On a normal day around the same time of year, there were an average of 213 fatal crashes. However, on tax day the average rose to 226.

Although the data does not provide causes, the researchers speculate that the increase is a combination of the increased number of people on the road trying to file at the last minute, many of whom are stressed out. Some of that stress comes from waiting until the last minute, but in other cases it is possibly because tax filers waited until the last minute because they owe, often for the first time, and are worried about their tax situation.

The stress leads to distracted drivers, which leads to auto accidents which sometimes turn fatal, researchers said. While the study focused on fatal crashes, the researchers noted that they saw an increase in non-fatal accidents as well.

Although April 15 is typically tax day, this year tax day falls on April 17th due to the weekend, so be careful. While it is probably too late for advice like “file earlier”, hopefully with the increasing number of electronic filings, this increased risk of auto accidents on tax day will disappear in future years.

The use of 15 passenger vans is particularly common among churches, colleges and other organizations, and they are typically not operated by commercial drivers or companies with a focus on the safe transport of people.

The advisory was issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on March 22, urging everyone travelling in 15 Passenger Vans to use a seat belt on every trip.

The NHTSA also warns that the vans are particularly sensitive to loading and warns that they should not be overloaded under any circumstances. When overloaded, the vans are at an increased risk of suffering a rollover accident, and the vans generally handle poorly and are more unstable when overloaded.

Another factor that could increase the risk of a rollover accident with a 15 passenger van is poor tire pressure. The NHTSA urges all vehicle users to insure that the tires for their vans are the appropriate size and properly inflated before every trip. Spare tires should not be used as anything more than emergency replacements, as they are often older, and most tire manufacturers call for vehicle operators not to use tires that are older than 10 years.

Other tips from the NHTSA include:

• Owners should make sure the vehicles are regularly maintained.
•  Owners should have suspension and steering inspected according to the manufacturer’s recommended schedule and make repairs and replacements as needed.
•  Drivers should be properly licensed and should have experience operating 15-passenger vans.

Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings Code Ann. §10-1101 to §10-1105 (2011) outline the new requirements for a Maryland accident lawyer or individual injured in an accident to obtain information about the maximum amount an insurance company may be required to pay to satisfy all or part of a claim.

After written documentation is provided about the circumstances surrounding a Maryland accident and the injuries sustained, an insurance company must fully disclose the extent of the insurance policy limits within 30 days so long as the claim involves a death or injuries that resulted in at least $12,500 in bills or lost wages.

According to the requirements of the statute, the lawyer or claimant must provide written documentation including the date of the accident, the name and last known address of the driver or tortfeasore, a copy of any accident report, the insurance company’s claim number, lost wage documentation, medical bills and copies of medical records for injuries caused by the accident. If the accident resulted in death, a copy of the death certificate, letters of administration for the estate and the name and relationship of each beneficiary of the deceased must also be provided.

Previously, a lawyer or claimant was only able to Maryland accident insurance policy limits information once a lawsuit was filed. However, obtaining this information prior to a complaint being filed may provide valuable information to assist individuals injured from an automobile accident in Maryland when deciding how to proceed with their claim and whether to accept a settlement offer.

In a study published online in the August edition of the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention, researchers found that pedestrians using mobile devices tend to distract them from their surroundings, making them 2 to 5 times more likely to get hit while crossing the street.

Most surprising to researchers was the fact that listening to music was the most distracting activity while crossing the street, with those listening to portable music devices having a 33 percent risk of getting hit by a car when crossing a two-lane road. Talking on the cell phone while crossing the street resulted in a 12% chance of being hit, and there was a 25% chance of being run over for pedestrians who texted while crossing the street. There was only a 6% chance of being struck by a car for those who were not using any electronic devices.

The study was conducted by the Youth Safety Laboratory at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in a virtual environment lab using 125 college students. Researchers said the outcomes showed a stark difference from what caused drivers to be most distracted. Listening to music isn’t considered a major distraction when behind the wheel, but apparently pedestrians rely far more heavily on their ears when crossing the street, they said.

August often sees a spike in auto accident deaths in Maryland, many of which occur at night, making it the deadliest month of the year. Police agencies across the state will use a battery of measures to increase road safety until the last major weekend of the summer.

One area of intense focus by the state police has been the Capitol beltway, which has been the target of an initiative known as Operation Centipede. On the night of August 5 and early morning August 6, state troopers stopped 195 vehicles, issued 91 speeding tickets, 66 tickets for other violations, and arrested 11 people with driving on suspended or revoked licenses.

Other law enforcement agencies across the state will be increasing the number of officers performing road patrols, and state troopers will begin aggressively enforcing HOV lane restrictions.

State police officials say their goal is to target the drivers who represent the most danger to fellow motorists, including speeders, drunk drivers and overly aggressive drivers. Their goal is to achieve a zero fatality August on Maryland roads.

Photo Courtesy of MikeSchinkel via Flickr CC2.0

The study, conducted by the Governors’ Highway Safety Association (GHSA), found that 15 to 30% of all crashes included reports that the driver was distracted. While true numbers are hard to ascertain, the study determined that cell phone use and typing text messages are likely large contributors to those numbers.

Distracted driving occurs when a driver voluntarily takes his or her attention off of the road. It could involve looking down to read a text message, trying to put on make-up using a rear-view mirror, trying to fit a cup of coffee in a cup holder or even a cognitive distraction, like thinking about a big project at work.

Most of those distractions are hard to measure, but the study was able to come up with some data on electronic device use that is troubling. According to the researchers, drivers are distracted from one-quarter to one-half the time they are on the road. One out of every three drivers regularly uses a cell phone while driving and one-eighth of all drivers admit to having been texting while driving.

Maryland is one of 34 states, plus the District of Columbia, that have texting bans in place, and researchers are encouraging more states to follow suit. However, the bans are difficult to enforce and there is no conclusive evidence yet that the bans reduce the number of crashes.

The Click It or Ticket campaign, coordinated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will run through June 5, 2011. This year, it will be focused heavily on increasing seat belt use among men ages 18 to 34, which is one of the groups least likely to wear seat belts.

The NHTSA reports that in 2009, 53% of the 23,383 killed in auto accidents were not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. Among men ages 18 to 34, 66% of those killed in 2009 auto accidents were not wearing seat belts. The highest percentage of fatalities involving vehicle occupants not using seat belts was among 13 to 15 year olds of both genders.

Researchers also identified pick up truck drivers and passengers as another area of concern. They found that 68% of passengers and drivers in pick up trucks who died in accidents in 2009 were not buckled up.

Nationwide, seatbelt use has increased from 2009 to 2010, from 84% to 85%, according to the NHTSA. In an effort to continue this trend, the agency is pushing for more states to adopt primary seat belt laws that allow police to pull over and issue citations for drivers for not wearing a restraint in a motor vehicle. The NHTSA reports that in states that have primary seat belt laws, compliance is 89%.

Currently, 31 states have primary seat belt laws. In states with only secondary enforcement laws, where police have to have another reason to pull a motorist over before issuing a citation for not wearing a seat belt, compliance was only 76% and actually decreased from 77% in 2009.

According to a report released last year, Maryland is among the top 10 states for seatbelt use. Maryland drivers had a seatbelt compliance rate of 89.6% in 2008, which is nearly 5% higher than the national average.