After a speedy passage through the state legislature, Leandra's Law, which makes it an automatic felony to drive drunk with a passenger under 16, goes into effect this Friday.
The law is named after 11-year-old Leandra Rosado. Leandra was killed earlier this year when a car she was traveling in with a host of other children while heading to a sleepover overturned. The driver, Carmen Huertas, was charged with DWI following the accident. Huertas' own daughter was also in the car but survived the accident.
This incident was just one of many involving child passengers this year in the state of New York. One similar tragedy occurred this summer on the Taconic Parkway when Diane Schuler took the life of 8 people, including herself and her daughter, while under the influence of alcohol and marijuana.
Governor Paterson pushed for the tougher laws to be quickly passed, and the Senate and Assembly responded, assuring their respective versions of the bill were identical so it could be signed into law.
Now, DWI with child will be punishable with up to 25 years in prison. As a separate but related part of the provision, all New York DWI drivers convicted of their offense will have to install an ignition interlock device. New York has taken aggressive steps to make this law one of the toughest in the country, and its enforcement period will begin this Friday.
Source
Monday, February 15, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Law must punish distracted drivers
And it shouldn’t take a law to end this bad habit, but we support any proposal that will.
State lawmakers are again trying to make it illegal for drivers to text or read texts or e-mails while driving. They should get the job done before the holiday recess.
Under the proposal, passed by the House Dec. 9, distracted driving would become a secondary offense. That means police would need some other reason to pull motorists over before they could be cited for texting. Drivers who are caught messaging while driving would receive a fine — a non-negotiable $100 — but no points would be added to their driving record.
While many lawmakers and law enforcement agencies would like the misdemeanor to be a primary offense, it doesn’t look like that will happen. Some lawmakers have pointed out the law can eventually be amended — like the seat-belt law was — to change the offense from secondary to primary. ...
Distracted driving has become a major problem on our roads. According to a 2006 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 80 percent of accidents and 65 percent of near-accidents involve a driver looking away from the roadway within three seconds of the event
Several recent Muskegon area accidents also have been caused by distracted driving. A car-pedestrian accident in Ravenna in November was believed to have been caused because both the driver and the walker were distracted. The driver had dropped his cell phone and was trying to pick it up off the floor when he crossed the center line. The walker was listening to her iPod and unaware of the car coming toward her.
She was seriously injured. Numerous others across the state have been killed.
It shouldn’t take too much debate in the state Senate to get this bill approved. Anyone who has driven a couple miles in the past week has seen a driver distracted by his or her cell phone. The bill should not be stymied again because of a disagreement over making the offense secondary or primary.
Michigan needs to join the 18 other states that have laws prohibiting all drivers from texting and the 10 that have laws just affecting teens.
Saving lives should be an easy decision.
Source
State lawmakers are again trying to make it illegal for drivers to text or read texts or e-mails while driving. They should get the job done before the holiday recess.
Under the proposal, passed by the House Dec. 9, distracted driving would become a secondary offense. That means police would need some other reason to pull motorists over before they could be cited for texting. Drivers who are caught messaging while driving would receive a fine — a non-negotiable $100 — but no points would be added to their driving record.
While many lawmakers and law enforcement agencies would like the misdemeanor to be a primary offense, it doesn’t look like that will happen. Some lawmakers have pointed out the law can eventually be amended — like the seat-belt law was — to change the offense from secondary to primary. ...
Distracted driving has become a major problem on our roads. According to a 2006 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 80 percent of accidents and 65 percent of near-accidents involve a driver looking away from the roadway within three seconds of the event
Several recent Muskegon area accidents also have been caused by distracted driving. A car-pedestrian accident in Ravenna in November was believed to have been caused because both the driver and the walker were distracted. The driver had dropped his cell phone and was trying to pick it up off the floor when he crossed the center line. The walker was listening to her iPod and unaware of the car coming toward her.
She was seriously injured. Numerous others across the state have been killed.
It shouldn’t take too much debate in the state Senate to get this bill approved. Anyone who has driven a couple miles in the past week has seen a driver distracted by his or her cell phone. The bill should not be stymied again because of a disagreement over making the offense secondary or primary.
Michigan needs to join the 18 other states that have laws prohibiting all drivers from texting and the 10 that have laws just affecting teens.
Saving lives should be an easy decision.
Source
Friday, January 15, 2010
Distracted Driving Special Report
Most of us are guilty of it- answering the phone while driving or sending a quick text message to let a friend know we're running late. Our actions may seem innocent enough, but the results can be tragic. It's happened time, and time and time again- deadly accidents caused by drivers armed with cell phones.
David Teater, victim of distracted driving: "I think it's something we all have been doing, we all learned to do it, we all became dependent upon it and we had no idea how dangerous it was."
But David Teater and his family are living with the pain and devastation every day. In 2004. Teater's wife was driving his 12-year-old son Joe to an after school tutoring session.
David Teater: "She crossed a busy highway, went through a green light, and she wasn't the first one through the intersection, she was probably the fourth or fifth, and a young lady driving in one of the southbound lanes did not see the red light, she did not see four other cars and a school bus that were stopped in the other southbound lane, she didn't see the traffic in front of her, she was on her cell phone."
The distracted woman sped through the stop light and smashed into the vehicle carrying Teater's wife and youngest son. The impact destroyed the Teater's car and knocked young Joe unconscious. He never woke up.
David Teater: "He was just a, gosh, he was just a great kid. He had a lot of friends, he was getting into video production, he loved making movies with his friends."
In just an instant, Joe's plans for college, his goals and his dreams were all gone. At the driver's sentencing, Teater told a judge how his family's life would never be the same.
David Teater: "It's been 5 and a half years and I miss him as much today as I ever did. It never changes, you know, that just never changes. You learn to live with it a little bit more, but it changes your life forever, and in our case it was because of a cell phone. You know, that just doesn't seem right."
The distracted driver, Holly Jo Smacker, was put on probation and forced to pay a hefty fine, but if it was up to her, the punishment would have been far worse. 6 months after the fatal accident, Teater quit his job and devoted his life to making sure this never happens again. His campaign has taken him from Michigan's Capitol to Capitol Hill.
David Teater: "I want people to know I think we all understand that texting or looking at our emails is extremely dangerous, we shouldn't do it."
Several bills that ban cell phone use while driving have been introduced at the state's Capitol, and the lawmakers behind them say it's vital that the legislation gets passed quickly, so no more lives are lost.
Rep. Lee Gonzales, (D) Flint Twp.: "It's about our families, it's about our friends. This is an epidemic of major proportions, this is a safety issue."
Representative Lee Gonzales has personally felt the impact. His pregnant daughter in law was hit by a distracted driver. No one was injured, but that accident fueled his motivation to move legislation that bans texting while driving.
Rep. Lee Gonzales: "It's time that we have better driving habits, two hands on the wheel, two eyes on the road."
If the bills pass, Gonzales says he will push even further.
Rep. Lee Gonzales: "Hopefully in the future we can ban cell phone use."
Teater supports Gonzales' efforts.
David Teater: "What's important about legislation is that it kind of sets the ground rules, it kind of says this is not okay."
But he hopes the rules and his own testimony will be enough to convince drivers to think twice before getting behind the wheel with a cell phone.
David Teater: "It would be rewarding to know that Joe's death had some meaning, and that maybe we prevented even one family from going thru what we are going through."
Source
David Teater, victim of distracted driving: "I think it's something we all have been doing, we all learned to do it, we all became dependent upon it and we had no idea how dangerous it was."
But David Teater and his family are living with the pain and devastation every day. In 2004. Teater's wife was driving his 12-year-old son Joe to an after school tutoring session.
David Teater: "She crossed a busy highway, went through a green light, and she wasn't the first one through the intersection, she was probably the fourth or fifth, and a young lady driving in one of the southbound lanes did not see the red light, she did not see four other cars and a school bus that were stopped in the other southbound lane, she didn't see the traffic in front of her, she was on her cell phone."
The distracted woman sped through the stop light and smashed into the vehicle carrying Teater's wife and youngest son. The impact destroyed the Teater's car and knocked young Joe unconscious. He never woke up.
David Teater: "He was just a, gosh, he was just a great kid. He had a lot of friends, he was getting into video production, he loved making movies with his friends."
In just an instant, Joe's plans for college, his goals and his dreams were all gone. At the driver's sentencing, Teater told a judge how his family's life would never be the same.
David Teater: "It's been 5 and a half years and I miss him as much today as I ever did. It never changes, you know, that just never changes. You learn to live with it a little bit more, but it changes your life forever, and in our case it was because of a cell phone. You know, that just doesn't seem right."
The distracted driver, Holly Jo Smacker, was put on probation and forced to pay a hefty fine, but if it was up to her, the punishment would have been far worse. 6 months after the fatal accident, Teater quit his job and devoted his life to making sure this never happens again. His campaign has taken him from Michigan's Capitol to Capitol Hill.
David Teater: "I want people to know I think we all understand that texting or looking at our emails is extremely dangerous, we shouldn't do it."
Several bills that ban cell phone use while driving have been introduced at the state's Capitol, and the lawmakers behind them say it's vital that the legislation gets passed quickly, so no more lives are lost.
Rep. Lee Gonzales, (D) Flint Twp.: "It's about our families, it's about our friends. This is an epidemic of major proportions, this is a safety issue."
Representative Lee Gonzales has personally felt the impact. His pregnant daughter in law was hit by a distracted driver. No one was injured, but that accident fueled his motivation to move legislation that bans texting while driving.
Rep. Lee Gonzales: "It's time that we have better driving habits, two hands on the wheel, two eyes on the road."
If the bills pass, Gonzales says he will push even further.
Rep. Lee Gonzales: "Hopefully in the future we can ban cell phone use."
Teater supports Gonzales' efforts.
David Teater: "What's important about legislation is that it kind of sets the ground rules, it kind of says this is not okay."
But he hopes the rules and his own testimony will be enough to convince drivers to think twice before getting behind the wheel with a cell phone.
David Teater: "It would be rewarding to know that Joe's death had some meaning, and that maybe we prevented even one family from going thru what we are going through."
Source
Monday, December 28, 2009
16-year-old shot with dad's gun at home
A 16-year-old boy was shot Saturday while playing with his father's handgun, Detroit police said.Sgt. Eren Stephens said the accident occurred at 11 a .m. in the 8200 block of Fielding.
Detroit police are not sure how the teen, whose 14-year-old brother was with him at the time, was shot.
Stephens said the boy underwent surgery but did not know his condition.
Free Swine Flu Vaccinations Still Available
The Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion is to continue to administer free H1N1 flu vaccinations at several community centers, including:
• Butzel Family Center, 7737 Kercheval, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays.
• Coleman Young Community Center, 2751 Robert Bradby Drive, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays.
• Heilmann Recreation Center, 19601 Crusade, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays
• Northwest Activities Center, 18100 Meyers, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Judge: Utility Should Refund Surcharges
Michigan's second-biggest utility has until Wednesday to appeal a judge's recommendation that it refund $106 million to customers.
The state Attorney General's Office said Friday in a news release that Michigan Public Service Commission Law Judge James Rigas determined that Consumers Energy Co. billed surcharges from 2001 through 2003 to tear down a former nuclear power plant in the Charlevoix area.
Rigas has said the utility should refund excess money to customers.
Total refunds are to depend on how much electricity a customer uses each month.
Source
Detroit police are not sure how the teen, whose 14-year-old brother was with him at the time, was shot.
Stephens said the boy underwent surgery but did not know his condition.
Free Swine Flu Vaccinations Still Available
The Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion is to continue to administer free H1N1 flu vaccinations at several community centers, including:
• Butzel Family Center, 7737 Kercheval, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays.
• Coleman Young Community Center, 2751 Robert Bradby Drive, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays.
• Heilmann Recreation Center, 19601 Crusade, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays
• Northwest Activities Center, 18100 Meyers, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Judge: Utility Should Refund Surcharges
Michigan's second-biggest utility has until Wednesday to appeal a judge's recommendation that it refund $106 million to customers.
The state Attorney General's Office said Friday in a news release that Michigan Public Service Commission Law Judge James Rigas determined that Consumers Energy Co. billed surcharges from 2001 through 2003 to tear down a former nuclear power plant in the Charlevoix area.
Rigas has said the utility should refund excess money to customers.
Total refunds are to depend on how much electricity a customer uses each month.
Source
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Defense Wins Trial Over Railway Accident at General Mills Plant
After a Newton County, Ga., man had both his legs partially amputated as a result of a railroad car accident, he filed suit in federal court. One defendant, the owner of the railroad car that ran over the plaintiff, settled for undisclosed terms in the midst of a deposition. But the railroad, CSX Transportation, went to trial last month.
The railroad may have made the right decision. Attorneys for CSX, Casey Gilson partners Robert E. Casey Jr. and Joyce Gist Lewis, last month secured a defense verdict for their client after a week-and-a-half-long jury trial before U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr.
The trial has some unusual aspects. All 12 members of the jury were women, while lawyers for General Mills, which was the plaintiff's employer but not a party to the suit, kept a close eye on matters -- at one point asking to sit at one of the counsel tables.
The plaintiff's lawyer, Michael J. Warshauer of Warshauer Poe & Thornton, said one of the grounds for an appeal may be the judge's 20-hour time limit for his examination and cross-examination of witnesses to the accident and experts.
The accident occurred in June 2005 at General Mills' cereal production plant on Alcovy Road in Covington, Ga. Doug Burchfield, a General Mills employee, was working on a rail spur where grain was being delivered to the factory. During the process of moving hopper cars, a type of railroad freight car used to transport bulk commodities such as grain and coal, one car rolled out of its position, pulling two cars along with it. All three cars ran over Burchfield, whose legs were amputated at the knees as a result. He also suffered broken bones and other injuries.
Warshauer, Burchfield's attorney, argued that CSX had delivered to General Mills a hopper car with an inefficient and illegal handbrake and that CSX should have inspected the brake and ensured it was working properly. Warshauer asked for $36.6 million on behalf of Burchfield.
But CSX's legal team argued that Burchfield had not properly applied the hopper car's handbrake during the repositioning maneuvers, Casey said.
"[Burchfield] didn't have any recollection of actually setting [the brake]," Lewis said. "His co-worker, the only eyewitness, didn't see him set the brake."
Warshauer has filed an appeal with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
"We were surprised by the result," Warshauer said. "We expect to have another opportunity to get a different result."
Burchfield also has a workers' compensation claim pending against General Mills, according to Casey and Lewis.
The defense lawyers said they had never seen a case tried in front of an all-women jury -- although the single-sex makeup did not appear to bother anyone. Neither side challenged it.
Settlement negotiations with the hopper car's owner occurred about a week before the end of the discovery period as depositions were being taken at Casey Gilson's office at Six Concourse Parkway.
"In the middle of a deposition, the plaintiff's counsel goes out in the hallway during a break and calls the lawyers for [the car owner] and made some sort of deal with them," Lewis said.
Weinberg Wheeler Hudgins Gunn & Dial partner Earl W. "Billy" Gunn, counsel to the hopper car owner, The Andersons Inc., reached the settlement agreement with Warshauer for Burchfield. The Andersons, an agribusiness corporation based in Maumee, Ohio, had been named as the second defendant in Burchfield's complaint, although The Andersons was dismissed as a defendant in December after it reached the settlement agreement.
The Andersons had filed a third-party complaint against a Michigan flour manufacturer, Star of the West Milling Co., which leased the hopper car from The Andersons. The third-party complaint against Star of the West was dismissed in June.
Gunn could not be reached for comment on the settlement or the third-party complaint.
Another unusual element was the behavior of counsel for General Mills, Casey and Lewis said.
General Mills' lawyers, Jerry W. Blackwell and Alyssa L. Rebensdorf of the Minneapolis firm Blackwell Burke, filed a motion asking to sit at the same table as counsel during the questioning of two of its employees "to represent General Mills' interests during questioning of these witnesses." The Blackwell Burke lawyers also wanted to sit at counsel's table -- they did not specify which side -- arguing that the questioning of General Mills employees could "encroach upon the privileges and protections afforded to non-party General Mills pursuant to the attorney client-privilege ... [and] the work-product doctrine."
Thrash denied the motion. But during the trial, Rebensdorf on multiple occasions stood up from the public seating area and attempted to lodge objections, Casey and Lewis said.
"I'm not going to say [Thrash] ignored her, but he did not sustain her objections," Casey said.
General Mills apparently was justified in wanting to protect its interests in the case. Casey and Lewis said they are considering filing a claim against General Mills seeking payment of attorney fees. The request would be based on a contract between CSX and General Mills related to the operation and shared liability of the rail spur at the Covington plant.
Rebensdorf declined to comment on both the request to sit at counsel's table and on CSX's potential motion for attorney fees.
Warshauer, the plaintiff's lawyer, said that Thrash limited to 20 hours his time to examine and cross-examine experts and witnesses. Warshauer said he cut short his examination of the experts he called, because CSX had listed 30 potential witnesses and he wanted to save time to cross-examine them. But CSX called only a handful of people to the stand, which meant Warshauer needlessly made his direct examination shorter than he had wanted.
"It affects the integrity of the system, to say that, regardless of how things are going, you only get a limited number of hours," Warshauer said. "[Thrash] is the only judge I know who does this."
Thrash's time limit on his questioning of witnesses and experts may form a basis of his appeal, Warshauer said. Other facets of the appeal will include "faulty evidentiary rulings" and errors in the jury charges, he said
Source
The railroad may have made the right decision. Attorneys for CSX, Casey Gilson partners Robert E. Casey Jr. and Joyce Gist Lewis, last month secured a defense verdict for their client after a week-and-a-half-long jury trial before U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr.
The trial has some unusual aspects. All 12 members of the jury were women, while lawyers for General Mills, which was the plaintiff's employer but not a party to the suit, kept a close eye on matters -- at one point asking to sit at one of the counsel tables.
The plaintiff's lawyer, Michael J. Warshauer of Warshauer Poe & Thornton, said one of the grounds for an appeal may be the judge's 20-hour time limit for his examination and cross-examination of witnesses to the accident and experts.
The accident occurred in June 2005 at General Mills' cereal production plant on Alcovy Road in Covington, Ga. Doug Burchfield, a General Mills employee, was working on a rail spur where grain was being delivered to the factory. During the process of moving hopper cars, a type of railroad freight car used to transport bulk commodities such as grain and coal, one car rolled out of its position, pulling two cars along with it. All three cars ran over Burchfield, whose legs were amputated at the knees as a result. He also suffered broken bones and other injuries.
Warshauer, Burchfield's attorney, argued that CSX had delivered to General Mills a hopper car with an inefficient and illegal handbrake and that CSX should have inspected the brake and ensured it was working properly. Warshauer asked for $36.6 million on behalf of Burchfield.
But CSX's legal team argued that Burchfield had not properly applied the hopper car's handbrake during the repositioning maneuvers, Casey said.
"[Burchfield] didn't have any recollection of actually setting [the brake]," Lewis said. "His co-worker, the only eyewitness, didn't see him set the brake."
Warshauer has filed an appeal with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
"We were surprised by the result," Warshauer said. "We expect to have another opportunity to get a different result."
Burchfield also has a workers' compensation claim pending against General Mills, according to Casey and Lewis.
The defense lawyers said they had never seen a case tried in front of an all-women jury -- although the single-sex makeup did not appear to bother anyone. Neither side challenged it.
Settlement negotiations with the hopper car's owner occurred about a week before the end of the discovery period as depositions were being taken at Casey Gilson's office at Six Concourse Parkway.
"In the middle of a deposition, the plaintiff's counsel goes out in the hallway during a break and calls the lawyers for [the car owner] and made some sort of deal with them," Lewis said.
Weinberg Wheeler Hudgins Gunn & Dial partner Earl W. "Billy" Gunn, counsel to the hopper car owner, The Andersons Inc., reached the settlement agreement with Warshauer for Burchfield. The Andersons, an agribusiness corporation based in Maumee, Ohio, had been named as the second defendant in Burchfield's complaint, although The Andersons was dismissed as a defendant in December after it reached the settlement agreement.
The Andersons had filed a third-party complaint against a Michigan flour manufacturer, Star of the West Milling Co., which leased the hopper car from The Andersons. The third-party complaint against Star of the West was dismissed in June.
Gunn could not be reached for comment on the settlement or the third-party complaint.
Another unusual element was the behavior of counsel for General Mills, Casey and Lewis said.
General Mills' lawyers, Jerry W. Blackwell and Alyssa L. Rebensdorf of the Minneapolis firm Blackwell Burke, filed a motion asking to sit at the same table as counsel during the questioning of two of its employees "to represent General Mills' interests during questioning of these witnesses." The Blackwell Burke lawyers also wanted to sit at counsel's table -- they did not specify which side -- arguing that the questioning of General Mills employees could "encroach upon the privileges and protections afforded to non-party General Mills pursuant to the attorney client-privilege ... [and] the work-product doctrine."
Thrash denied the motion. But during the trial, Rebensdorf on multiple occasions stood up from the public seating area and attempted to lodge objections, Casey and Lewis said.
"I'm not going to say [Thrash] ignored her, but he did not sustain her objections," Casey said.
General Mills apparently was justified in wanting to protect its interests in the case. Casey and Lewis said they are considering filing a claim against General Mills seeking payment of attorney fees. The request would be based on a contract between CSX and General Mills related to the operation and shared liability of the rail spur at the Covington plant.
Rebensdorf declined to comment on both the request to sit at counsel's table and on CSX's potential motion for attorney fees.
Warshauer, the plaintiff's lawyer, said that Thrash limited to 20 hours his time to examine and cross-examine experts and witnesses. Warshauer said he cut short his examination of the experts he called, because CSX had listed 30 potential witnesses and he wanted to save time to cross-examine them. But CSX called only a handful of people to the stand, which meant Warshauer needlessly made his direct examination shorter than he had wanted.
"It affects the integrity of the system, to say that, regardless of how things are going, you only get a limited number of hours," Warshauer said. "[Thrash] is the only judge I know who does this."
Thrash's time limit on his questioning of witnesses and experts may form a basis of his appeal, Warshauer said. Other facets of the appeal will include "faulty evidentiary rulings" and errors in the jury charges, he said
Source
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Cup drivers expecting intense heat at Michigan
BROOKLYN, Mich. — After watching rain wipe out the races for two Sundays in a row, drivers will have to contend with a different weather element in scorching heat Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.
"It's going to be a battle inside the car," Kurt Busch said. "You just hope that you're hydrated enough and that you can keep as much heat out of the car as you can. Mentally, you just have to suck it up and concentrate on driving the race car and not worrying about how hot you are."
Sunday's forecast is for temperatures in the high 20s C, with only a slight possibility of scattered afternoon thunderstorms. The heat won't be fun, but drivers will anything over yet another rained-out race.
Jimmie Johnson called for earlier start times to races, perhaps allowing more time to get races in even when rain postpones the action on a Sunday.
"I think we need to start the races early enough so that you can have a rain shower, you can get the track dryers out to dry the track and go back racing and have a chance to complete the event," Johnson said. "I was thinking the same thing when I was sitting in my bus (last Sunday) knowing we were going to go to our second Monday race."
Johnson understands the argument for starting races late enough to target fans on the West Coast - he's from California - but he'd rather have a better chance at racing Sundays instead of Mondays.
"It's great to target the perfect time zone, the perfect viewing audience, and I understand those factors given a perfect situation," Johnson said. "But when you race as often as we do and all around the country and weather being an issue, I guess my point of view is from living it ... week to week. We should have raced on Sunday and been home on Monday."
TESTING, TESTING: NASCAR president Mike Helton said officials are close to a decision on the sport's testing policy for next season. NASCAR banned all testing at racetracks where it sanctions events this season, a move intended to cut costs for teams.
"Right now, the question is, 'Why do anything different right now?"' Helton said. "And again, I go back to the fact that suspending testing was an economic issue more than anything, and the input that we get from the team owners and the crew chiefs has a lot to weigh in on what we would do if we do anything different."
Helton also said officials from NASCAR and track ownership group International Speedway Corp. are looking at potential safety changes at Watkins Glen after Sam Hornish Jr.'s multicar accident there Monday.
Source
"It's going to be a battle inside the car," Kurt Busch said. "You just hope that you're hydrated enough and that you can keep as much heat out of the car as you can. Mentally, you just have to suck it up and concentrate on driving the race car and not worrying about how hot you are."
Sunday's forecast is for temperatures in the high 20s C, with only a slight possibility of scattered afternoon thunderstorms. The heat won't be fun, but drivers will anything over yet another rained-out race.
Jimmie Johnson called for earlier start times to races, perhaps allowing more time to get races in even when rain postpones the action on a Sunday.
"I think we need to start the races early enough so that you can have a rain shower, you can get the track dryers out to dry the track and go back racing and have a chance to complete the event," Johnson said. "I was thinking the same thing when I was sitting in my bus (last Sunday) knowing we were going to go to our second Monday race."
Johnson understands the argument for starting races late enough to target fans on the West Coast - he's from California - but he'd rather have a better chance at racing Sundays instead of Mondays.
"It's great to target the perfect time zone, the perfect viewing audience, and I understand those factors given a perfect situation," Johnson said. "But when you race as often as we do and all around the country and weather being an issue, I guess my point of view is from living it ... week to week. We should have raced on Sunday and been home on Monday."
TESTING, TESTING: NASCAR president Mike Helton said officials are close to a decision on the sport's testing policy for next season. NASCAR banned all testing at racetracks where it sanctions events this season, a move intended to cut costs for teams.
"Right now, the question is, 'Why do anything different right now?"' Helton said. "And again, I go back to the fact that suspending testing was an economic issue more than anything, and the input that we get from the team owners and the crew chiefs has a lot to weigh in on what we would do if we do anything different."
Helton also said officials from NASCAR and track ownership group International Speedway Corp. are looking at potential safety changes at Watkins Glen after Sam Hornish Jr.'s multicar accident there Monday.
Source
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Michigan Attorney says Time to Put the Brakes on Dangerous Trucks
Michigan Attorney Steve Gursten has reached his breaking point with bad truckers. With years of experience representing people injured or killed by dangerous trucks and truckers in truck accidents and a former president of the Truck Litigation Committee for the American Association of Justice (AAJ), Gursten says he is frankly “disgusted” with what he sees.“We keep seeing the same kinds of cases over and over: trucks with safety violations, unfit drivers who have had licenses revoked several times or even kill people and they are still on the road,” Gursten says. “And I am tired of seeing preventable tragedies.”
Gursten recently represented the family of a man who was killed on a Michigan highway after a truck with a cracked steering column, bad brakes and bald tires had a blowout and knocked the man’s car into a median. “The car smashed into the median and a husband and father of two little girls was burned alive because of a truck that never should have been on the road,” says Gursten, his voice tinged with anger and frustration at the situation.
The lack of safety in the trucking industry is a “national public safety crisis” according to Gursten and he has the facts to back him up.
According to a new analysis of information gathered by the AAJ from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), as many as 4000 Americans a year are killed in collisions with trucks that have incurred thousands of safety violations, such as defective brakes, bad tires or loads that dangerously exceed weight limits. Many of the truck drivers involved have little or no training and many others have a history of drug and alcohol abuse.
Gursten recently obtained documents through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) application for his home state of Michigan. Gursten says the documents revealed more startling information about an industry that continues to recklessly roam American roads.
“There are 1,072 trucks just in Michigan that have less than satisfactory ratings according to the federal government,” says Gursten, "and about one in four is dangerously out-of-service according to road side checks.”
Gursten is a recognized leader in personal injury litigation against truckers and the trucking industry and probably handles more trucking cases than any other attorney in the state of Michigan. His firm has at least 50 cases going through the courts right now.
As Gursten sizes up the situation, financial troubles in both the trucking industry and state agencies are making an already dangerous situation even worse. “You have trucking companies cutting back on safety because money is tight and at the exact same time you have less regulatory authority from state agencies because governments have no money,” he says.
Even more troubling to Gursten is Michigan law that prevents courts from awarding punitive damages in personal injury and wrongful death suits against trucking companies--a situation he believes allows trucking companies to take chances they wouldn’t take in other states.
“What I have found is many of the truckers come to Michigan because they are so dangerous that they can’t get jobs in other states where they punish companies for hiring unfit drivers,” says Gursten. “The companies know they will never be held accountable here and or have to pay punitive damages. They know the worst that will happen is that the insurance company will pay for the accident.”
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Gursten recently represented the family of a man who was killed on a Michigan highway after a truck with a cracked steering column, bad brakes and bald tires had a blowout and knocked the man’s car into a median. “The car smashed into the median and a husband and father of two little girls was burned alive because of a truck that never should have been on the road,” says Gursten, his voice tinged with anger and frustration at the situation.
The lack of safety in the trucking industry is a “national public safety crisis” according to Gursten and he has the facts to back him up.
According to a new analysis of information gathered by the AAJ from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), as many as 4000 Americans a year are killed in collisions with trucks that have incurred thousands of safety violations, such as defective brakes, bad tires or loads that dangerously exceed weight limits. Many of the truck drivers involved have little or no training and many others have a history of drug and alcohol abuse.
Gursten recently obtained documents through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) application for his home state of Michigan. Gursten says the documents revealed more startling information about an industry that continues to recklessly roam American roads.
“There are 1,072 trucks just in Michigan that have less than satisfactory ratings according to the federal government,” says Gursten, "and about one in four is dangerously out-of-service according to road side checks.”
Gursten is a recognized leader in personal injury litigation against truckers and the trucking industry and probably handles more trucking cases than any other attorney in the state of Michigan. His firm has at least 50 cases going through the courts right now.
As Gursten sizes up the situation, financial troubles in both the trucking industry and state agencies are making an already dangerous situation even worse. “You have trucking companies cutting back on safety because money is tight and at the exact same time you have less regulatory authority from state agencies because governments have no money,” he says.
Even more troubling to Gursten is Michigan law that prevents courts from awarding punitive damages in personal injury and wrongful death suits against trucking companies--a situation he believes allows trucking companies to take chances they wouldn’t take in other states.
“What I have found is many of the truckers come to Michigan because they are so dangerous that they can’t get jobs in other states where they punish companies for hiring unfit drivers,” says Gursten. “The companies know they will never be held accountable here and or have to pay punitive damages. They know the worst that will happen is that the insurance company will pay for the accident.”
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