Distracted driving leads to increase in car accident deaths

April 12, 2018April 20, 2018 ~ susie

I often wonder if my hit-and-run driver was texting:

In 2017, 1,549 people died in automobile accidents in the State of Georgia. Sixty percent of those accidents were single car accidents, according to the Georgia DOT. Most often, these are situations where the driver was distracted by something in the car, like the radio or even more commonly, a cell phone or smartphone. This means that nearly 700 people died in accidents where distracted driving could have played a role when they were not the distracted driver, not to mention the over 900 people that may have been killed as a result of their own distracted driving. Additionally, over 50 percent of all individuals killed were not wearing their seatbelts.

Everyone has seen another driver on the road, looking down at their phone, completely ignoring the situation around them. Most people have also probably been guilty of doing the same thing. But even though these distractions may seem short, realize that at 60 miles per hour, you will travel 88 feet in one second, meaning that every time you look down at your phone, even just briefly, you will have traveled the length of 1/3 of a football field.

Despite these statistics, distracted driving continues to be a problem, and it continues to cause injuries and death. Do not become a statistic yourself. Keep your phone out of sight while driving. Turn on “Do Not Disturb” mode. If your vehicle has a way to connect to your phone for calls and audio, do that before you begin driving, and only use the hands-free connection for calls if you absolutely must. No phone call or text message is worth injury or death. And always wear your seat belt.

If, however, despite your best efforts, you or a loved one is involved in an automobile accident resulting in injury or death, you need to make sure that your rights are protected and that any individual who is at fault is held responsible for their actions – whether distracted driving or otherwise.

“Distracted driving is such an unnecessary cause of car accident deaths,” said Cade Parian, a partner with The Parian Law Firm, a West Georgia Personal Injury Law Firm. “Every driver is responsible for their own actions, and for acting in a manner that doesn’t pose a danger to the others on the road. These deaths show that not everyone follows that rule – but that’s why we have laws designed to hold someone that acts in that manner responsible.”

Some good news in Georgia

May 5, 2017May 4, 2017 ~ susie

A judge has ordered the state to extend voter registration for the special election in GA-6:

A federal court on Thursday ordered Georgia officials to extend the voter registration deadline through at least May 21 to be eligible to vote in the special election runoff in Georgia’s sixth congressional district between Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff.

Under Georgia law, only those people eligible to vote in the April 18 special election would be eligible to vote in the June 20 runoff.

The Georgia NAACP and others argued in a lawsuit that the rules violate the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which bars states from having registration deadlines greater than 30 days before an election.

Georgia opposed the request, arguing that “[v]oter qualifications in elections are left to the states” and that the runoff was a “continuation” of the initial election.

On Thursday, US District Judge Timothy Batten held a hearing in the case — and sided with the challengers and against the state.

Why Republicans love privatization…

November 17, 2011November 17, 2011 ~ odd man out

… and high incarceration rates:

Last year the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the nation’s largest private prison company, received $74 million of taxpayers’ money to run immigration detention centers. Their largest facility in Lumpkin, Georgia, receives $200 a night for each of the 2,000 detainees it holds, and rakes in yearly profits between $35 million and $50 million.

Prisoners held in this remote facility depend on the prison’s phones to communicate with their lawyers and loved ones. Exploiting inmates’ need, CCA charges detainees here $5 per minute to make phone calls. Yet the prison only pays inmates who work at the facility $1 a day. At that rate, it would take five days to pay for just one minute.

More here.