Phoenix Personal Injury Law Blog

Normally, we write about the human victims of car and other motor vehicle accidents in our Phoenix personal injury law blog. But after reading about a three-vehicle crash that resulted in the death of a horse, as well as the injuries of two people, we decided that it deserved a blog post.

The motor vehicle accident took place at about 7:30 p.m. in south Phoenix and involved a car, a tow truck and a pickup truck which was towing a horse trailer with three horses inside. When the car and tow truck collided with the pickup, the trailer was knocked onto its side, trapping the horses inside.

In the majority of medical malpractice cases, the plaintiff is required to show that some sort of physical injury occurred as the result of the doctor or other medical practitioner's negligence. However, a state court recently released a groundbreaking decision in which it stated that a plaintiff could sue for emotional distress, despite the fact that neither she nor anyone in her family had suffered any physical harm as a direct result of the doctor's actions.

In the medical negligence lawsuit, the plaintiff is claiming that her doctor committed both negligent and intentional emotional distress by failing to notice severe deformities in her unborn baby during a routine ultrasound. Specifically, the suit claims, her doctor explicitly said that the baby was healthy and that there were no fetal abnormalities.

On December 12, a University of Arizona student was riding on the back of a motorcycle through a remote island in Nicaragua when he and his friend, who was driving the bike, were hit head-on by a second motorcycle being driven by a drunk driver. Thankfully, the student survived the accident, but he suffered major injuries requiring transport back to a hospital in Tucson, which would ultimately cost his family more than $80,000.

The reason for the high cost was simply because of timing. The student's study abroad program had ended on December 9, just three days before the motorcycle accident. On that same day, his study abroad health insurance also expired. If his insurance had still been in effect, the expenses associated with medical evacuation to a home country would have been covered. But because his insurance had expired, his family had to pay out-of-pocket to get him home.

It has probably happened to you: you're out driving late at night or on a long road trip, and your head starts to nod. You start to struggle to stay awake, drifting back and forth in your lane, until you decide to pull off the road and designate a different driver or take a nap.

If you've been in this situation, you have hopefully always been able to catch yourself before you fell completely asleep and got into a car accident. Many people, however, are not that lucky. That's why several automakers have begun experimenting with technology aimed at preventing drowsy driving accidents.

It is no secret that teenage drivers are more likely than other, more experienced drivers to be involved in car accidents. For the most part, transportation officials chalk the higher accident rates up to teen drivers' inexperience behind the wheel. However, two new studies indicate that other factors may contribute to car accidents involving teenage drivers, such as distraction and aggressive driving.

But the most dangerous factor, researchers found, was having another teenager in the car. In particular, one of the two studies found that teenagers who drive with multiple passengers generally consider themselves to be thrill-seekers, were not aware of the risks of driving, and did not feel that their parents were strictly monitoring their whereabouts or driving habits.

In recent years, the number of serious or fatal injuries to walkers, bicyclists or other pedestrians who are listening to headphones has more than tripled, according to a new study. This increase in pedestrian accident deaths is affecting young people the most, as they are more likely to be listening to headphones while they walk or bike than many other demographics.

The study was completed through a review of about 120 pedestrian accidents that took place from 2004 to 2011. All of the crashes studied involved a pedestrian who was wearing headphones when he or she was struck by a car, train, or other motor vehicle. Researchers found that the pedestrians were injured in nearly all of the accidents, and that they suffered life-ending injuries in about 70 percent of the motor vehicle accidents studied.

In a new report from the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a national highway safety group, Arizona was ranked second to last in terms of the state's traffic safety laws. According to the group's president, implementing the recommended laws could prevent many car accident deaths in the state. However, state lawmakers say that traffic fatalities have significantly decreased in Arizona in recent years, and there is no indication that the additional laws recommended by the group would have any significant effect.

According to the highway safety group's ninth annual report, Arizona has adopted fewer than five of the 15 laws that the group considers "basic to traffic safety." These laws include required use of motorcycle helmets and seat belts and stricter laws on teen and distracted driving.

Last week, a man who was kayaking in the Gulf of Mexico off of the Florida coast noticed something unusual: a dog in the water, swimming for his life. The kayaker paddled over to the dog and lifted him out of the water. He saw that the animal was terrified, exhausted, and injured, with bleeding wounds on his legs.

The kayaker headed toward shore and took the dog to a nearby veterinary office. When the vet scanned the dog's microchip and identified his owner, the sad truth was learned. It turned out that the dog had fled a fatal pedestrian accident that morning. His owner, however, had not survived the crash.