Driving Under the Effects of Marijuana

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As Washington State gets closer and closer to legalizing marijuana, the fact that the National Traffic Safety Board (NTSB) found Washington to have one of the highest rates of drugged driving in the country has raised some questions as to what effect that kind of legislation will have on drivers and pedestrians.

Not only is marijuana legal to use as a medicinal pain remedy for various approved illnesses in Washington, but Seattle as a municipality has de-prioritized it for police officers, basically saying to recreational users that it’s okay to use if an officer isn’t around.

In fact, almost every ballot over the past few cycles has marijuana related legislation for voters to give their voice to. Even some politicians can be seen stumping at Hemp Fest, which indicates where the marijuana legislation winds are wafting.

Now this upcoming November ballot has not only a choice for president, but also the option to decriminalize marijuana in Washington and rendering it legal to be packaged and sold to the public as well as being taxed and regulated as such. The Initiative-502, dubbed “New Approach Washington,” is not only expected to inject millions of dollars into the state budget, but also widen access.

This is not only expected to increase the number of customers who wouldn’t have bought marijuana due to the risk and lack of access, this could potentially skyrocket Washington to number one on the list of drugged driving states. Many advocates point to studies that show there is no change in driving ability when a person is high on marijuana, however, a recent study released this week strongly disputes those claims.

Marijuana and Driving

Researchers at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada reviewed nine studies involving 49,411 people involved in accidents on public roads involving one or more motor vehicles. The study including all vehicles licensed to drive on streets, cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles, where the drivers cited the use of marijuana or use was confirmed by blood tests.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) this month, found drivers who had used marijuana within three hours of beginning to drive had nearly double the risk of causing a collision, especially those that were fatal.

“Results show that if cannabis is consumed before driving a motor vehicle, the risk of collision is nearly doubled. Previous results have also found that there is also a substantially higher chance of collision if the driver is aged 35 or younger,” researchers wrote.

Marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug worldwide and rates of its use in drivers are increasing. The study cites a 2007 study in Scotland that found 15% of 537 drivers aged 17 to 39 had used marijuana within 12 hours of driving at the time of the study.

“The consumption of cannabis impairs motor tasks important to safe driving, increasing the chance of collisions and that future reviews should assess less severe collisions from a general driving population,” the authors of the study suggested.

Drugged Driving in Washington State

Currently only 19 states have laws prohibiting any amount of drugs while operating a vehicle, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA). The laws in Washington State for driving under the influence (DUI) are pretty explicit.

According to RCW 46.61.502: (1) A person is guilty of driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug if the person drives a vehicle within this state:

  • (a) And the person has, within two hours after driving, an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher as shown by analysis of the person’s breath or blood made under RCW 46.61.506; or
  • (b) While the person is under the influence of or affected by intoxicating liquor or any drug; or
  • (c) While the person is under the combined influence of or affected by intoxicating liquor and any drug.

Testing for drugs is also a lot different than alcohol. Many times a police officer needs to see the telling signs of drug use and take a suspect in for tests alternative to breathalyzer in order to determine the type and amount of drugs taken. The telling signs vary according to the drug the suspect has taken. Some of the signs of various drugs are:

  • Marijuana – This has a distinctive sweet or nutty and smoky smell. Drivers often speak slowly or take longs pauses before responding. They have blood shot eyes and can show signs of fatigue. Field sobriety tests are unreliable. Blood tests and hair follicle tests required.
  • Amphetamines – This category includes cocaine and meth amphetamine. When smoked, they can have a distinct toxic burning smell. There can also be residue left over on the dashboard. The driver speaks quickly in bursts, interrupts, and elicits paranoid behavior. Field sobriety tests are unreliable. Blood tests and hair follicle tests required.
  • Pharmaceuticals and Opioids – Many people don’t view these as dangerous or illegal to drive on, however, many pain killers are made from opium, the same as heroin. These drugs are known as opioids, and they can cause numbness, drowsiness, and blackouts. Field sobriety tests are effective in detecting that the person is under the influence. Blood tests and hair follicle tests required.

Seattle DUI Victims Lawyers

Marijuana legislation and the outcome is only our concern when it comes to the safety of our roads. DUI has been on the decline and is expected to further decline as laws become more strict and the consequences become more costly. Hopefully, if marijuana laws are passed, the proper education programs and media are implemented in order to warn the public and kids about the dangers of marijuana use and driving.

If you or someone you know have sustained serious personal injuries as a victim of a negligent driving accident then you need experienced counsel to protect your interests with the insurance companies and health care providers. Call the Seattle car accident attorneys at Phillips Law Firm for a free consultation.

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FDA Panels – Drospirenone Effects Yaz Lawsuit

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December 2011 was not a pretty month for the nearly 10,000 women seeking justice from the birth control drug Yaz. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) created two advisory panels earlier in the year in order to investigate the dangers of the active ingredient drospirenone, resulting in even more questions and concerns.

Drospirenone has shown in numerous clinical studies to promote clotting in the blood stream. This has caused the blood of generally healthy and active women who take birth-control pills to clot when it’s not supposed to, creating what is called “deep vein thrombosis.”

Deep vein thrombosis happens when clots form in the legs and stay there until they suddenly dislodge, travel quickly to the lungs, where they get caught and in some cases can cause victims to die of suffocation. These clots can also inhibit movement and overall blood health of the women. Depending on the size and location of the clot they have also been known to cause heart attacks, strokes, and sudden death.

However, the findings of the studies seemed to not effect the FDA advisory panels’ controversial decision to keep the drug on the market as the Yaz Lawsuits march on.

Concerns About the FDA Panel

The panel voted 15-11 that the benefits of drospirenone-containing birth control pills, such as Yaz and Yasmin, outweigh the risks. It has now been revealed in a joint investigation conducted by the Washington Monthly and the British Medical Journal (BMJ) that at least 4 members of the committee have either done work for the Bayer (the manufacturer of Yaz and Yasmin), are licensees, or received research funding from them.

Though this is not unheard of, the problem is that this is the exact margin in which the drug was approved. You see, FDA guidelines state that when advisory committee members have a financial relationship with a drug company whose product is under review, the agency can issue waivers that acknowledge the advisors’ links to industry. This frees them to vote if their expertise is needed and “no other specialists are available.”

However, investigative reports state that the FDA neglected to issue these waivers for this particular panel. According to public records, recently unsealed court documents, and interviews with some of the FDA advisors, at least four of the advisory committee members in this case have served as paid researchers, consultants, “key opinion leaders,” or speakers for Bayer.

Not only this, some have also worked for other manufacturers of drospirenone and may know that the ruling against Yaz may have ripples throughout the industry. On the same panel, it was also found that a fifth advisor agreed to serve as a consultant but never executed the agreement and sixth actually received consulting fees from a law firm that represents Bayer in drug litigation.

It seems like the FDA let everyone in on the panel vote or at some point weren’t paying attention to exactly who had a conflict of interest or not, but that’s not the case. FDA officials did bar one member of the panel from voting. Sidney Wolfe, a former researcher and consumer advocate, was barred on the grounds that he had and “intellectual conflict of interest.”

What effect does this have on the thousands of lawsuits brought by victims of Yaz and Yasmin currently in Multidistrict Litigation (MDL)?

Yaz and Yasmin Lawsuits

As unscrupulous and unjust as this whole business seems, it doesn’t stop the Yaz lawsuits from happening. The growing group of women who are suing Bayer over serious injuries from Yaz and Yasmin, after the December decision, urged U.S. District Judge David Herndon to examine evidence of conflicts of interest at the FDA.

On Jan. 17, the plaintiff steering committee, overseeing the federal litigation, opposed a motion to exclude opinions of former FDA commissioner David Kessler who claims conflicts of interest had stymied a joint meeting of two advisory committees over drospirenone to at the very least issue a black box warning, the next best thing to taking the drug off the market. The black box warning is given to drugs in order to warn the public of the drug’s potential to kill them.

“Due to the complex dynamics that are part of the FDA advisory committee meetings, and in light of the fact that a reasonable person with knowledge of the relevant facts could question the above members’ impartiality, it is my opinion that the FDA advisory committee was not independent of Bayer, and its recommendations and votes need to be viewed as such,” Kessler said.

Certainly, these concerns expose the FDA to more scrutiny, however, nothing’s going to come of it because the majority of the FDA’s funding is derived from the pharmaceutical companies and it would take an act of congress to change that.

Certainly, Bayer’s lawyers will try to use this decision in an effort to slow the process or effect the cost of a settlement because the longer Yaz and Yasmin stay on the market, the longer Bayer is able to cash in on the billions of dollars those drugs pull in annually. You see, 4 million women around the world are currently taking the drug. Many of these countries use the FDA as a bellwether to determine their policy on certain drugs.

Regardless, the Yaz and Yasmin MDL soldier on. There are nearly 10,000 women involved in lawsuits that charge a series of problems caused by the drug including:

  • Deep vein thrombosis
  • Pulmonary embolisms
  • Stroke
  • Gall bladder damage

Because of these very different ailments, Judge Herndon has asked for 9 bellwether lawsuits to take place. These lawsuits are intended to help test the validity of each claim and examine the evidence in each case for these separate ailments.

These bellwether cases are scheduled to begin in April.

Yaz Lawyers

Calls for a new panel have already begun under allegations that Kessler’s investigation and opinions were not adequately reviewed as they were only allowed into evidence two days before the panel’s deliberation. Unfortunately, a new panel – if accepted – would most likely not happen until long after the bellwether trials are well on their way.

If you or someone you know are taking Yaz, Yasmin, or Ocella and have been stricken with one or more of the side effects listed above, some of the best advice you can give is to seek legal council right away to find out your legal options. Protect yourself. Call Phillips Law Firm for a consultation.

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Are Tour Busses More Prone to Accidents

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You may be surprised to hear that there is more than 100,000 charter, tour, and transit bus accidents in the United States every year. That’s nearly 12 bus crashes every hour somewhere in the US, most of them happening in urban areas.

Last year had some horrific news regarding bus accidents including fatal bus crash in the Bronx that killed 15 passengers returning to New York City from a Connecticut casino. This was followed by a tour bus load of Canadian tourists traveling back to Ontario that killed one person and sent another 46 people to the hospital with personal injuries.

One of the issues raised by bus safety advocates is the lack of laws surrounding the use of seatbelts. This was highlighted just last month when a tractor-trailer clipped a bus full of students, flipping the bus onto its side, ejecting a 9-year-old boy out the hatch on the roof and sending 32 people – 29 of them children – to the hospital with serious personal injuries.

Now, a new study conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has found that the fatal bus accident rate for discount intercity carriers is seven times higher than the rate for conventional bus operations.

Why are tour buses and charter buses more prone to accidents than other operators?

NTSB Findings

The NTSB research intended to study curbside bus companies as a distinct sector of the interstate motorcoach carrier industry. These curbside motor coach operations are defined as “interstate bus companies that conduct scheduled trips between cities and serve passengers at locations other than bus terminals.”

These operations pick up passengers at a series of advertised locations and bring them to destinations such as casinos and other attractions. The study set out to compare relative safety records and evaluate existing federal safety oversight of these companies.

NTSB Researchers found that:

  • Newer and smaller companies have a higher accident rate – Ten is the magic number. Tour and Charter operations with ten or less buses or have been in operation less than 10 years have both higher bus accident rates and higher violation rates during roadside inspections.
  • Higher fatal accident rate – The six-year fatal accident rate for curbside carriers leading up to March 2011 (the date of the Bronx fatal bus crash) was seven times the rate of terminal-based bus operations.
  • Less Regulation – Terminal operations are easier to monitor and inspect. However, because pick up and drop off is often by appointment or not in established bus areas, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has found it difficult to fully inspect these operations to detect and enforce safety violations.
  • Lack of regulation resources – The FMCSA, like many organizations, runs o a shoestring budget and thus does not have budget or manpower to regulate properly. In fact, the organization only has 1.15 investigators for every 1,000 motor carriers nationwide. To ensure compliance with federal regulations, the NTSB recommends an increase in the number of inspectors.
  • Operator hours – The FMCSA has been going back and forth with carriers and the trucking industry about the issue of number of hours worked, number of breaks, and operator fatigue. Fatigue is one of the biggest causes of bus and trucking accidents.
  • Regulating curbside ticket brokers – Curbside ticket brokers can be potentially regulated by many agencies, but the NTSB recommends that the FMCSA be given the authority to regulate them both on site and online.

Charter Bus and Tour Bus Safety

In Washington State and across the country, there are major problems with bus safety overall. In 2010, Texas implemented a program to install seatbelts into all school buses. This has run into serious budgetary and monitoring issues. Almost every school district has put up resistance, not because they’re not concerned about safety, but because they were given the order to do the task, but no money with which to achieve it.

With this as an example and a fair amount of lobbying money, the bussing industry has been successful in staving off many regulations that may prove to save lives. However, as more people die and studies are conducted, they will not be able to stop the inevitable. That is why many regulators and legislators from around the country are contemplating some sweeping changes.

Some of these regulations are:

  • Seat belts – Industry representatives contend that the installation of seat belts would be cost prohibitive, raise operating costs, and thus ticket prices in an already struggling industry. They cite that there is little evidence that seat belts on busses would save lives. This is the same argument that the car industry used to fight installing seatbelts in cars and they have long been proven wrong. The bussing industry also says they cannot control who uses the belts, however, safety advocates say that passengers should be given the option.
  • Training – According to regulators and safety advocates, more stringent training and supervised driving time would go a long way to improving safety. Industry reps dispute that their training standards are strict enough and say that these regulations may shrink the pool of drivers and raise the cost of eligible drivers, thus driving up operating costs.
  • Operator rules – Regulating strict rules around when and how long an operator can drive, plus the number of breaks, will go a long way to increasing safety by curbing driver fatigue. The NTSB says that 36% of motor coach collision deaths during the past 10 years have been caused by driver fatigue. This needs to change.
  • Crash Sensors – In the coming years you will see some innovative new technology that will help drivers avoid accidents such as crash sensors that not only tell the driver how many cars are around them, but also where the cars are located. Some bus companies have utilized this technology, but the majority has not. This will go a long way to preventing accidents involving lane changes and narrow roads.

Washington Bus Accident Lawyer

When people are on vacation or wishing to move a large group from one place to another, they choose charter bus companies because they have trained drivers who know the area and are licensed to drive large vehicles. However, if this employee is under paid and forced to work long hours to make ends meet or is not adequately trained, this can put passenger’s lives in jeopardy.

If you or someone you know has sustained an injury in a bus accident some of the best advice you can get is to seek legal council from a law firm that is successful in bus accident litigation. Call Phillips Law Firm for a consultation.

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Why Does Washington State Top The On-The-Job Injury List?

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Washington State is one of the four states in the U.S. that has a state run workers compensation program, Washington State Labor and Industries (L&I). It has come under pressure in the last few years as private insurers and giant companies in the state pump money into efforts to privatize the system. Now, some disturbing statistics have come out that may help their effort.

According to an investigation conducted by KEPR TV in Tri-Cities, Washington State had the most work-related injuries last year out of any state in the country. Their investigation revealed that 52 people died in a work related incident last year, nearly twice the national average.

This statistic also includes thousands of workers who were personally injured in various accidents from everything ranging from falls to chemical burns. The investigators confirm that many of the accidents occurred in Eastern Washington at jobs involving manual labor.

But, why are these happening and what are state regulators doing about it?

Why Is This Happening?

This is where it gets a little complicated. The reason why there is so much pressure on the L&I over privatization is over the fact that rates for workers compensation has been steadily rising for employers since 2007 as state revenue has begun to dwindle and a mounting number of employers default on their premiums.

In fact, 2012 is the first year that the agency has confirmed that there will be no increases in what employers pay for workers compensation. This suggests that they have finally covered shortfalls in the funding, however, those who work closely with injured workers and workplace safety advocates suggest that this has perhaps come at the cost of employee safety.

Cuts in the number of inspectors has been deep and some suggest that this has caused workplace safety standards to falter. You see, the national standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are generally enforced by OSHA inspectors. Washington is an exception to this, as L&I sends out their own inspectors to sites such as the Tesoro plant explosion that claimed 7 workers.

These kinds of incidents are well publicized and garner a huge reaction, but thousands of injuries at construction sites and farms around the state remain barely investigated. In some cases, when the injury involves an immigrant, they will go unreported.

What Is Being Done?

Unfortunately, the problem with low resources means that much of what is done is reactionary instead of proactive, so many of the new rules implemented by L&I come after the fact. Some of the new rules this year involve:

  • Rules regulating the safety of cranes.
  • Rules surrounding handling of hazardous material.
  • Rules regarding training in hospitals and pharmacies specifically if working with chemotherapy drugs.

Aside from hiring new inspectors, L&I has decided to focus its resources on enforcing dead-beat employers and the care workers receive in order to get worker back to work faster. Thus, this pumps more money into the organization and costs them less in output rather than addressing the problem at the source. However, these policies have resulted in a promising project known as L&I’s Centers of Occupational Health and Education (COHE). COHEs are community-based organizations that work with medical providers to encourage the best ways to treat injured workers.

This whole program sprouted out of research published in the December 2011 issue of the American Public Health Association journal. Dr. Gary Franklin, medical director for the L&I), was one of the researchers involved in the study; Dr Thomas Wickizer, Ohio State University, College of Public Health, was the lead investigator.

L&I teamed up with physicians in Washington and throughout the country, health care researchers at the University of Washington, as well as business and labor leaders to find the “best practices” of helping workers in the first 12 weeks after a work-related injury.

These “best practices” focus on the safe, healthy return of injured workers to full function and full employment. Examples of best practices include:

  • Promptly filing the workers’ compensation claim.
  • Phoning the employer to talk about the worker’s ability to return to work or a light-duty job.
  • Regularly assessing a worker’s ability to do work activities.

The study found that when injured workers are treated using COHE best practices, they had 19.7% fewer disability days than other injured workers receiving treatment, and a reduction in total disability and medical costs of $510 per claim. Workers suffering from back strain had a reduction in disability days of 29.5%.

“We’re especially encouraged that the outcomes for workers with low-back strain were significantly better,” said Dr. Franklin. “Lower-back strain is a costly and common disabling condition in workers’ compensation.”

Currently, four COHE sites serve 2,000 providers and hundreds of employers, treating about one-third of injured workers in Washington. The findings of the study led to new legislation 2011 that will expand access to COHEs to all injured workers in the state by 2015.

Washington Workers Compensation Lawyers

It is clear that the efforts of L&I is successfully bringing in money and turning around some forecasting oversights. However, the new statistics are disheartening. Workplace safety is our priority, but that doesn’t specifically mean that privatization is the answer. L&I has proven to be a very effective and sustainable organization with a good safety enforcement track record in the past. It is only with renewed dedication by legislators that Washington State can have a fully functional public worker’s compensation system.

Phillips Law Firm has a team of legal professionals dedicated to seeking just compensation for workers injured on the job. Our workers compensation attorneys will look at your case for free and give you options on what you need to do to move forward. Call Phillips Law Firm now for a free consultation.

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Native American Car Accidents on the Rise

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Washington State has a robust population of Native American residents living both in and out of reservations. As with any statistically measurable group, driving to work and conducting errands is a normal part daily life for almost all Native Americans. However, it seems that this group as well as Native Alaskans tend to be killed in a car accident far more that of any other minority group in the United States.

Washington State is aggressively moving towards eliminating road deaths for good. Governor Chris Gregoire has introduced a program called Target Zero with the aim to eliminate car accident deaths on Washington Roads by 2030. One step in this daunting effort is to touch the most at risk groups.

One of the obstacles is that Washington Tribes may not have rules or laws that mimic the efforts of Target Zero in order for the program to be a 100% success. However, there has been a national call to raise awareness of this disparity in motorist death.

More Research = More Concern

New research from the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, in a review of the evidence on risk factors and interventions addressing this disparity published in the January issue of Epidemiologic Reviews, has highlighted the fact that there needs to be more research and programs to address the elevated rate of motor vehicle-related deaths among American Indian and Alaska Native populations.

 

The research team conducted a systematic review of literature published over the past 20 years and found only peer-reviewed 7 studies across all academic sources and government agencies described the problem in any way and tested interventions.

“The small number of studies in the peer-reviewed literature is surprising given the enormous human and economic impact of motor vehicle-related deaths in this population,” said lead study author Keshia Pollack, PhD, MPH, an assistant professor with the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, part of the Bloomberg School of Public Health. “If injury disparities are going to be eliminated, support for research and programs targeting those groups disproportionately impacted needs to be made more readily available.”

Researchers identified published studies in peer-reviewed Journals between 1990 and 2011. They also searched websites such as Indian Health Service (IHS), the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and issues of the IHS Primary Care Provider, a journal devoted to IHS articles and tribal and urban Indian health care professional providers.

The study data found that, even though car accident deaths are declining overall in the U.S., deaths are highest among American Indian and Alaska Natives. According to the Center for Disease Control, car accidents are the leading cause of unintentional injury among Native Americans ages one to 44. Adult motor vehicle-related death rates for Native Americans are more than twice that of whites and almost twice that of African Americans and three times the rate for the Asian and Pacific Islander population – the population with the lowest rate.

The existing literature suggests that multiple risk factors involving behavior, policy, and environmental factors are behind the disparity. These include:

  • Living in rural communities – Statistically rural communities of any demographic have higher death rates over urban areas. This is due to speeding, lack of enforcement, and merging from rural roads to high speed highways.
  • Road conditions in rural areas and/or reservations – Directly related to availability to services such as road clearing, utility services, and emergency services in the event of an accident.
  • Availability of alcohol – Many Native American communities have lowered or eliminated the availability of alcohol, however, this does not curb the lowered or less stringent enforcement in some communities, which invariably lead to higher DUI related death rates.
  • Pedestrian involvement in crashes – Lack of proper sidewalks and crosswalks in many rural communities is a concern regardless of the demographic, but has translated into higher Native American death rates.
  • Lack traffic control devices – This is also a resource issue as flashing lights and traffic signals in rural areas can be expensive to put up and maintain.
  • Lack of artificial lighting – Like the lack of traffic devices this is a resource issue. Along state highways, proper lighting can be put up and maintained due to the power of state revenue, which may not be fully available to the reservation at the same level.

Researchers point out that frequency of pedestrian-related deaths is the one factor that is mentioned across all studies that they reviewed. The authors of the study were not able to identify any interventions implemented that specifically sought to improve pedestrian safety, however, there are many studies that suggest multiple affordable solutions.

“Studies like this give a bird’s-eye view on the problem,” said Pollack. “In addition to discovering gaps in the existing research and programs, we’re able to identify promising interventions worthy of replication. Priority should be given to interventions that combine multiple methods and use partnerships to change policy, the environment, and individual behavior.”

Seattle Car Accident Lawyer

One of the big parts of trying to achieve the lofty goals of Target Zero is to establish what is called a Traffic Safety Culture. This is defined as a culture that is aware that one of the biggest causes of death is road deaths and that this wholly preventable as long as a policy is in place to curb it. The Target Zero program has done that by providing a 4 pronged approach:

  • Education – Give drivers the information to make the best choices.
  • Enforcement – Use driver behavior data to help law-enforcement officers pinpoint locations with a high number of serious collisions.
  • Engineering – Use best practices to prevent or reduce the severity of collisions.
  • Emergency Medical Services – Provide high-quality and rapid emergency and medical response to injury collisions

By bolstering the funding and emphasizing the importance of these factors, Individuals may be safe drivers, but those who take their own lives in their hands by speeding, DUI, drowsy driving, and distracted driving need to recognize that they are putting everyone around them in danger, not just themselves and their passengers.

If you or someone you know has been injured in a car accident anywhere in Washington state, you need a skilled lawyer to deal with the insurance companies to assure you the best settlement. Call the Seattle car accident attorneys at Phillips Law Firm for a free consultation.

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Dangers of Driving with a Cold

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It is cold season and with all of these people walking around the streets or sitting at their desks sneezing and coughing and downing shots of Dayquil like it’s Jagermeister at a frat party, it’s no wonder that they may have some trouble getting home and sometimes get into auto accidents.

And if a person is sick and single, or at least left to fend for themselves at home while their spouse or significant other is at work, it seems that driving is required to get to the store in order to get some (any) relief…and ice cream. Walking long distances when you barely have the energy to lift your head seems overwhelming, but getting to the car is just as hard.

However, now science has stepped forward and proven that driving with a heavy cold can affect ability to the same extent as drinking more than four double whiskies. Wow, now that IS a frat party!

Driving With A Cold

Could the most dangerous people on the road potentially be totally sober, if not for the bacteria that’s trying it’s hardest to consume them? Safety experts suggest the answer could be “yes.”

 

British Insurance company Young Marmalade, which carried out the research jointly with UK car and bike accessory manufactuerer, Halfords, say that they have found a dramatic increase in poor driving when cold sufferers were subjected to scientific tests.

Researchers say that driver’s reaction times dropped sharply when they had severe cold symptoms, sudden braking became much more frequent and cornering became erratic as the test subjects were found to be less aware of what was around them.

The research team used what is called a “telematic” box, which records drivers’ speed, braking, and cornering, just like the little black box one might find on an airplane. After a thorough examination of the data, researchers found that a participant who had an “excellent” driving rating of 95% when healthy dropped to 60% when suffering from a cold.

Based on a common UK rating system, a person at 60% should expect to be involved in an accident and may be deemed uninsurable by normal insurance companies. It inspired Young Marmalade to issue a warning for motorists not to drive with heavy colds or flu.

“We would advise a commonsense approach. A heavy cold can impair a driver’s mood, concentration and judgment, if you don’t feel well don’t drive,” they said.

Cardiff University Common Cold Unit in South Wales has also come out with similar conclusions from research they conducted in 2011 involving cold and flu sufferers. They found that their subjects had poor reaction times and alertness, putting them at risk of being involved in an serious car accident.

Symptoms of Bad Driving

Though it is almost impossible to truly gauge statistically, insurance companies suspect sick drivers are responsible for thousands of accidents every year. Police warn that drivers getting behind the wheel while suffering a heavy cold could potentially be putting other drivers at risk and could be found to be driving under the influence (DUI) if they’ve been found to have consumed too much over the counter medicines with alcohol in them. However, they also warn that flus and colds can lead to dangerous, even reckless, behavior.

“Sneezing can be very violent, especially with a severe cold and causes the sufferer to close their eyes temporarily,” said Pc Steve Rounds, of the Central Motorway Police Group.

Symptoms that should make you reconsider driving:

    • Fever (100º F or greater) – Fevers can cause lightheadedness and confusion and have even been known to cause hallucinations if they are greater than 104º. Every flu is accompanied a temperature, but if it exceeds 100º do not operate a vehicle.
    • Headache – A mild headache and operating a vehicle can be fine, but a flu headache resembles that of a migraine. Light and sound are abrasive and painful causing the sufferer to close their eyes and beg for quiet and darkness. Flu headaches can cause blurred vision, excessive blinking, confusion, and severe shooting pain. You should not drive with those symptoms.
    • Muscle aches – These are irritating, but driving with them is not a potential cause of a car accident unless pain medication is taken (see below).
    • Chills – This is a sign of a fever and should prompt the sufferer to stay in bed.
    • Extreme tiredness – This is a very bad symptom to be driving on. Drowsy driving causes thousands of car accidents and thousands of deaths and injuries every year as tired drivers drift into oncoming lanes and off of roads.
    • Coughing or Sneezing – A hacking cough or excessive sneezing can cause the driver to take their hand temporarily off of the wheel and may cause them to close their eyes. This can be a problem when accidents can happen in a split second.
    • Runny nose – This symptom is just irritating and gross, but doesn’t really contribute to accidents. But driving with one hand while the other is occupied with a tissue only adds to the over dangerousness of driving with a cold.

Seattle Car Accident Attorney

Washington law is very specific about its reckless driving laws, including such things as tailgating, speeding, and driving erratically. Though it may be found that sick drivers are not under the influence of cough syrup or other cold and flu drugs, if they get into a car accident they could potentially be found negligent reckless driving by driving erratically.

If you or someone you know has been injured in a car accident in the state of Washington, you need an experienced representative to assure you receive the best settlement. Call the Seattle car accident attorneys at Phillips Law Firm for a free consultation.

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