Jul 11 2012

Why Do Some Car Rental Companies Risk Renter Safety with Unrepaired Recalled Cars?

For professionals who travel frequently on business, the idea of being involved in a rental car accident while away from home is a continual possibility. When we’re in new cities, just driving away from a busy airport car rental lot can be daunting. New reports about car rental companies choosing not to do repair the vehicles they own which have been recalled make the prospect of driving a business trip car rental even more unnerving. I could mean rental car accident injuries while attending a business conference.

According to recent media report, Senator Barbara Boxer has asked car rental companies to make a public promise “not to rent or sell any vehicles under safety recall until the defect has been remedied.” The only company that took her up on her challenge was Hertz; all their competitors declined to make any such pledge. For anyone who was thinking of renting a car from one of those other rental companies, there is new worry about defective rented car accident injuries.

The Tulsa, Oklahoma personal injury lawyers at Jeff Martin Law hope Hertz’s competitors rethink their decision and that consumers become more vigilant about checking out the cars they rent, before driving them off the car rental lot. Once you know what make and model you’re renting, for instance, you could go online and check for any car recalls it may have had imposed on it.

In a letter addressed to Sen. Boxer, Hertz said its pledge was aligned with a “long-standing Hertz policy.” New legislation sponsored by Sens. Boxer and Charles Schumer would make it a legally binding issue, so that it would be mandatory for car rental companies to stop renting recalled cars until necessary repairs have been made. Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety says Hertz has been supporting efforts to write the policy into law.

Shahan says Avis Budget Group and Enterprise are among numerous rental car companies who are seeking to propose alternative legislation. One of the ways they want to change the language is so that it allows car rental companies to hold off on repairing recalled cars until it becomes “practicable”. Another possible modification to the legislation would let them only verbally apprise customers of needed repairs before rental agreements are signed.

Because Hertz has publicized their policies on this issue, they’ve set the bar for the car rental industry as a whole. Hopefully, car rental company competitors will respond in kind and rethink their repair policy. It could make roads and highways throughout the country far safer, particularly those just outside of airport car rental counters.

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Jul 10 2012

Motorcycle Helmet Laws in Massachusetts Save $400 per Motorcyclist Annually?, Says CDC

Hot off the presses: motorcycle helmets don’t just save lives, they save money as well-a lot of money. When someone is involved in a motorcycle accident, the last thing on the injured biker’s mind is money, and yet in our society, money talks. So the Center for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a study from 2008 to 2010 to find out just how much is saved when motorcycle riders and passengers strap on a helmet before hitting the road.

According to the study, over $3 billion was saved in 2010 alone, with total costs saved due to helmet use ranging from $2.6 million in New Mexico to $394 million in California. Economic costs saved from helmet use per registered motorcycle ranged from $48 in New Mexico to $1,627 in North Carolina, with a median of $286. In Massachusetts, the savings was over $400 per registered motorcycle.

Massachusetts personal injury attorney Mark E. Salomone is always glad to hear of any new research that supports the prevention of motorcyclist injuries and their passengers. See : Worcester Massachusetts Motorcycle Accident Attorneys Having defended countless victims of motorcycle accident injuries, however, he knows how much helmets do to protect riders. “Every time riders take their bikes to the streets,” he says, “they’re placing themselves at risk of serious injury and death. When a motorcyclist is hit by a distracted driver in a high-speed collision or if their bike has brake defects, helmets are even more crucial, as they can prevent serious head injuries and brain damage. ”

Over 40 percent of motorcyclists killed in accidents between 2008 and 2010 did not have a helmet on, says the CDC report. On the other hand, helmets reduced fatalities by 37 percent for motorcycle drivers and 41 percent for passengers, which translated to 1,544 fewer motorcyclist deaths in 2010.

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Jul 09 2012

Waterbury CT High Speed Motorcycle Crash Fatality YouTube Video

Apon approaching the insurance companies they agreed with us that this was a very significant case. And we were able to obtain a policy limit recovery consistent with such a catastrophic loss. The client was very pleased that we were able to get a prompt resolution to this case and it was though our efforts in obtaining both the DVD and all of her medical records, making sure she obtained the doctors she needed to go to that we were able to obtain a successful result.

Motorcycle Accident Lawyers Connecticut

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Jul 09 2012

Could Texas Truck Accident Personal Injuries Rise, Per Consumer Reports Worst Cars List?

Buyer beware: Consumer Reports has released its annual list of worst cars, and one of the country’s most popular pick-up trucks is at the top of the list due to poor car test ratings. The Consumer Reports website is a common resource for new car and truck buyers, with a great deal of information on safety such as car accident statistics, crash avoidance systems and “rollover 101.” In place with long stretches of highway on which drivers speed fairly often, such as Texas, catastrophic truck accidents can cause roll-over wrecks and head-on collisions.

According to an article in the New York Daily News, the list is based on testing scores from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Consumer Reports, the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration and consumer analyst JD Power. Due to low ratings on car roll-over accidents, side impact collisions and seatbelt safety concerns, there are several defective cars on the market.

Fort Worth, Texas personal injury attorney David Glenn encourages new car and truck buyers to study as many safety and crash ratings as possible before making their purchase. By being informed, they will not end up with a vehicle that has safety problems such as a dangerous risk of roll-over, defective airbags, faulty brakes or unreliable seatbelts.

Due to overall poor crash test results, the Dodge Ram 1500 pick-up truck was been named as 2012’s most dangerous car in the United States, despite being a popular, high-selling vehicle. With so many trucks in Texas, catastrophic accident injuries here could be lowered if truck buyers consult Consumer Reports ratings first. Traumatic brain injury, brain and head injury, spinal cord injury are some of the most devastating Texas accident injuries, and while many are due to drunk driving, sometimes it is just a case of a dangerous car on the road.

Other cars that on the list of most dangerous cars on the road were the Chevrolet Colorado Super Cab, the Mazda CX-7, the Mazda CX-9, the Nissan Pathfinder, the Jeep Wrangler and the Suzuki SX4. No European automakers are among the worst-scoring seven models, which contained three US-made cars and four Japanese-made models.

Glenn Law Firm
210 W. Wall Street
Grapevine, Texas 76051

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