Last year, 3,089 drivers or passengers died in traffic-related incidents, 388 fewer than in 2008.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration attributes the decline to safer vehicles, safer roads and motorists driving less.

Officials also cite public safety campaigns about seat belt usage, drunken driving and distracted driving.

Officials say motorcycle deaths were down 19 percent in 2009, to 432. In 2008, 531 people died in motorcycle wrecks.

Texas Traffic Fatalities down 11 percent in ’09 is a post from: Accident & Injury Law in Texas

Honda said the most recent recall involved 384,220 vehicles and includes 2003 model year Accord and Civics and 2003-04 versions of the Honda Element. Honda told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that the defect with the automatic transmissions could lead to a vehicle rolling away.

The Japanese automaker said it has received several complaints about the ignition interlock and “is aware of a small number of related incidents, including one that resulted in a minor injury.”

Honda recalls Accord, Civic, Element for transmission woes is a post from: Accident & Injury Law in Texas

In addition to texting or talking on a cell phone while driving, lap dogs and other pets left unrestrained inside moving vehicles pose a major distraction that could be deadly, a study released Wednesday warns.

About two-thirds of dog owners surveyed by the AAA organization said they routinely drive while petting or playing with their dogs, sometimes even giving them food or water while maneuvering through traffic.

It’s frisky behavior for the driver and dangerous for the pets too.

An 80-pound dog unrestrained during a crash at 30 mph exerts 2,400 pounds of force in a vehicle, creating a danger for the dog and anyone in its path, according to Motivation Design LLC, a company that manufactures pet travel products, including restraint systems for pets.

Fifty-five percent of 1,000 dog-owning drivers polled by AAA said they have pet their dog while driving, and 21 percent said they held the dog in their lap. Seven percent said they have given food and water to their dog while driving, and 5 percent said they have played with their dog while behind the steering wheel.

While 80 percent of poll respondents said they take their dogs on a variety of car trips, only 17 percent said they use a pet-restraint system to limit distractions and protect their pet.

“As about 40 percent of Americans own dogs, we see this as an increasingly big problem,” said Beth Mosher, spokeswoman for AAA of Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

AAA poll finds pets may pose road risks is a post from: Accident & Injury Law in Texas

About 8:30 a.m. Friday, Johnson was driving a pickup west on Texas 71 when he crossed into the eastbound lanes and hit the dump truck that. Daniel was driving, according to authorities.

The collision occurred about two miles east of U.S. 281 near Shovel Mountain Road, officials said. The dump truck caught fire as a result of the collision.

Fatal accident in Burnet County is a post from: Accident & Injury Law in Texas

About 10:30 p.m. Friday, a woman crossing West Veteran’s Memorial. Boulevard was hit by a Pontiac Bonneville.

The woman, who police had not been able to identify later Saturday, was pronounced dead at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center.

The driver of the Bonneville, a 40- year-old Killeen man, was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated, police said.

Several hours later, about 3 a.m. Saturday, a gray Kia Sorento and silver Hyundai Elantra collided head-on in the 6900 block of East Rancier Avenue after the eastbound Hyundai crossed over the center line into the westbound lane.

The 49-year-old woman drivingthe Hyundai was pronounced dead at 3:56 a.m. at Darnall Army Medical Center.

The man driving the Kia was also taken to Darnall, where he was treated and then released. Police did not release either driver’s name.

Two die in separate wrecks in Killeen is a post from: Accident & Injury Law in Texas

The accident happened on FM 20, half a mile west of County Road 166 near Dale, at 12:30 a.m. Friday, according to authorities. Rachel Anzaldua of Bastrop was driving a Ford Mustang east on FM 20 when she failed to make a curve and drove into oncoming traffic, officials said.

The Mustang was struck by a Ford F-350 pickup driven by Amber Sparks, of Dale, a DPS operator said.

Anzaldua and 9-year-old Christopher Anzaldua died at the scene, according to the DPS. Sparks was injured and treated at the scene, officials said.

A 12-year-old riding in the pickup with Sparks, Brianna Barnes, was injured and taken to Dell Children’s Medical Center, officials was unclear whether she was still hospitalized Saturday.

Two killed and two hurt in collision in Dale, Texas is a post from: Accident & Injury Law in Texas

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that a federal analysis of data from dozens of crashes blamed on sudden acceleration suggested that some drivers who lost control of their vehicles were mistakenly flooring the accelerator when they intended to hit the brakes.

Thousands of cases of unintended acceleration are being investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in conjunction with NASA.

Toyota Motor Corporation spokesman Mike Michels said “virtually all” of 2,000 cases of reported unintended acceleration the automaker has reviewed resulted from drivers stepping on the gas pedal instead of the brake.

NHTSA has received 3,000 reports of sudden acceleration in Toyota and Lexus automobiles, and Toyota has recalled 8.5 million vehicles worldwide to alter gas pedals that might stick or remove floor mats that in some cases have trapped gas pedals and made if impossible for drivers, to stop.

Toyota said that its investigations into the accidents have determined “a number of explanations or causes,” but insisted that “in no case have we found electronic throttle controls to be a cause.”

Many Toyota wrecks may be the result of footwork is a post from: Accident & Injury Law in Texas

The reviewer, Dr. Thomas Marciniak of the Food and Drug Administration, found a dozen instances in which patients taking Avandia appeared to have serious heart problems that were not counted in the study’s tally of adverse events.

Such repeated mistakes “should not be found even as single occurrences” and “suggest serious flaws with trial conduct,” Marciniak wrote.

The detailed report could prove crucial next week, when a panel of experts meets to consider whether to recommend to the FDA that the manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, withdraw Avandia from the market or restrict its sale.

The panel’s decision will have broad consequences for the company, the FDA and perhaps even the entire process by which medical products are approved. The agency rarely does clinical trials on its own, depending on drug companies to conduct them appropriately.

Avandia, which helps patients get better control of their blood sugar levels, has already come under intense criticism. It has been shown to increase the risks of bone fractures and to cause swelling that can lead to heart failure and eye problems. And a number of studies, including some by GlaxoSmithKline, suggest that it could increase the risks of heart attack, stroke, and death.

GlaxoSmithKline has relied heavily on the major clinical trial, named Record, to demonstrate that those risks are exaggerated.

Marciniak’s review of the Record study calls that assertion into question. He found one case in which a seizure patient was hospitalized for bleeding in the brain, but all mention of the episode was deleted from records. Another patient was hospitalized for 67 days after a severe stroke, but the study record showed no sign of a cardiovascular problem.

Another patient died after being hospitalized for a serious heart problem, but the death was listed as arising from an unknown cause and not as being heart-related.

Correctly interpreted, he concluded, the study actually supports critics’ contentions that Avandia may cause heart attacks and strokes.

“One does not have to be a mathematician or to perform calculations,” he wrote, to come to the conclusion that a combined look at all the trials of Avandia would demonstrate that it causes, heart attacks.

Mary Anne Rhyne, a spokeswoman for GlaxoSmithKline, said, “The Record study was conducted according to good clinical practices, and the data are reliable.”

Marciniak’s review is part of a reassessment of Avandia’s safety by FDA medical officers to educate the panel meeting Tuesday and Wednesday.
Debate about Avandia’s safety and how to handle reports of its dangers has split the food and drug agency and led to fierce recriminations, staff departures and questions from Congress.

It was the FDA’s delay in issuing stronger warnings about Avandia that led Congress in 2007 to give the agency greater powers over drug makers.

Within the FDA, some officials insist that the evidence is mixed and others say it is strong enough to merit the drug’s withdrawal. An advisory meeting in 2007 concluded that Avandia did increase heart attack risks but that it should stay on the market.

Although endocrinologists have advised against its use, Avandia remains popular with nearly 2 million prescriptions last year. If the drug were to be withdrawn, GlaxoSmithKline — already facing lawsuits claiming Avandia caused injuries — would likely see its liability soar.

(Except of course, in Texas, where pain and suffering is capped at $250,000)

Study used to support diabetes drug Avandia is denounced in FDA review is a post from: Accident & Injury Law in Texas

“Texans are protected by robust homestead laws that insulate homeowners from the losses depicted in Travelers’ advertisements,” Abbott said in the release.

If Travelers continues to air the ad, the company will face legal action by the state, Abbott said.

Abbott’s action comes two days after Texas Watch, a consumer advocacy group, asked Abbott and Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin to take action against the company.

State attorney general orders Travelers to stop airing TV ad is a post from: Accident & Injury Law in Texas

Texas Watch Executive Director Alex Winslow has written to both Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin, seeking a cease and-desist order to keep the ad off the air in Texas.

In the advertisement, titled “Driving Your House,” a man is seen driving through the desert in what appears to be a wall-less house on wheels. The man gets into an accident, which spreads the house’s contents across the desert roadside.

As the homeowner-driver flies through the air — along with furniture and a cat — a voiceover says: “Without the right auto insurance, a crash might impact more than your car. Make sure you’re properly covered, so when you’re driving your car, you’re not risking your house.”

The ad concludes with the tagline: “Travelers. Take the scary out of life.”

Winslow said the message implies that if homeowners don’t carry adequate automobile insurance, then they could lose their homes. But the Texas Constitution has homestead protections that prevent the forced sale of a home in most circumstances, Winslow said.

“What’s particularly troubling about this ad is that it is preying on the fears that many people have about losing their home in our current economic crisis,” Winslow said. “Insurance companies shouldn’t be allowed to deceive their customers into buying more overpriced insurance.”

The state insurance department and attorney general each have the authority to demand that a company stop running an ad.

In 2005, Abbott issued a cease and desist order to the Allstate Corp. after the company ran an ad that featured a family that lost its home and savings because it didn’t carry enough automobile insurance. In a letter, Abbott’s office told Allstate that the ad violated the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act and the state’s insurance code.

Allstate pulled the ad, so no lawsuit was necessary, Kelley said.

Source: Austin American-Statesman

Traveler’s TV message runs afoul of state law, consumer group says is a post from: Accident & Injury Law in Texas