Due to the rigors of everyday life -- going to work, attending school, raising children, managing a household, etc. -- many people find themselves operating on a sleep deficit on a regular basis. In fact, even those people who don't have these types of concerns can still find themselves sacrificing sleep, perhaps staying up late to read, watch television or spend time with friends. While most people try to offset the loss of a few hours of sleep with an extra cup of coffee or two, the reality is that most will end up going through the day feeling altogether drowsy. As rough as this can be, it can also prove to be incredibly dangerous should they make the decision to get behind the wheel. According to a recently released report by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, those drivers who sleep less than the seven hours per day recommended by the…

For the last twenty years or so, public policy around driving privileges and the ways they are licensed has been the center of an active and ongoing debate. One of the key topics when it comes to licensing drivers and regulating their safety has been the country's methods of training and licensing drivers. Many states have responded to pressures from public safety advocates and parents' groups by instituting graduated licensing programs. They claim these programs increase oversight and help teens learn to be more responsible on the road, pointing to the multi-stage process of earning various levels of driving privilege as evidence of a more adaptive learning curve when these laws are put into place. As of 2011, all 50 states now have some form of graduated license program, and the evidence about their effectiveness has started to come in the form of studies designed to look at the impact…

At this moment, thousands of people throughout Georgia are busy relaxing after what has likely proven to be an exceptionally busy Thanksgiving week complete with cooking a huge dinner, visiting with seemingly innumerable relatives and, of course, making a long car trip. Indeed, AAA has estimated that as many as 1.2 million people here in the Peach State will travel 50-plus miles away from home from Wednesday through Sunday, a considerably larger number than in recent years owing in large part to lower gas prices. While the first part of the trip is now in the books, traffic experts are warning motorists that there is still the return voyage to consider and, by extension, that there is still the matter of safe driving to consider. In case you remain unconvinced, consider that the National Safety Council has estimated that as many as 50,300 people will be seriously injured and another 437 will…

It is a well-known fact that distracted driving is incredibly risky, yet it still causes many of the accidents on the road today. This is partially because of the nature of driving - any task that requires constant attention and vigilance is also going to have operator distraction as a weak point, because the human attention span is finite. At the same time, there are a few key ways you can minimize distraction to add to your personal safety. Types of distraction The first step is to understand the main types of driver distraction. They are: Cognitive Visual Manual Most people are fairly used to handling visual distractions, and vehicles are typically designed to minimize them. It's why many people stream music or podcasts in the car, but very few attempt to watch a movie while they are in the driver's seat. Most visual distractions come from roadside spectacles, including landmarks,…

While the last few decades have seen automakers make tremendous strides in protecting vehicle occupants involved in crashes, the last few years have seen these safety efforts shift considerably. Indeed, the focus now seems to be more on preventing car crashes altogether via so-called self-driving technology than enhancing existing safety technology. Indeed, there are many vehicles currently out on the roads and highways equipped with some degree of self-driving technology right now, such as cruise control systems that don't just set a speed, but also help steer the vehicle and keep it within its lane. As fascinating as this development has been, it goes without saying that drivers of vehicles equipped with this sort of technology are in no way able to take their eyes off the road completely and, by extension, that we are still several years away from fully self-driving vehicles. Interestingly enough, a group of researchers at…

Several weeks ago, our blog discussed how a recently released study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that road debris was responsible for over 200,000 car accidents from 2011 through 2014, and, even more shockingly, caused roughly 39,000 injuries and another 500 fatalities from 2001 through 2014. If these numbers still seem hard to believe, consider the story of a woman right here in Georgia who suffered devastating bodily trauma after the car in which she was riding struck a piece of equipment that had fallen off a work truck. What exactly happened? On New Year's Eve 2010, the woman was riding in the passenger seat of a friend's car on Georgia 400, just north of former toll plaza, when a metal vice grip, later discovered to have fallen from a Department of Transportation truck, came crashing through the windshield. Tragically, she was placed on a hospital ventilator…

The National Safety Council, the nonprofit dedicated to preventing injuries and deaths "through leadership, research, education, and advocacy," recently released data showing that not only do we have a long way to go to make the nation's roads and highways safer, but that we've actually taken a step backward in this important endeavor in recent years. According to the NSC's preliminary data, there were 19,100 fatalities on roads and highways here in the U.S. during the first six months of 2016. As shocking as this figure is on its own, consider also that it constitutes a 9 percent increase from the first six months of 2015, and an 18 percent increase from the first six months of 2014. Breaking the numbers down further, the NSC found that at least seven states have seen even higher jumps in fatalities since 2014, including Illinois (24 percent), Indiana (33 percent), California (31 percent), North Carolina…

As you made your way to work, school, or another location on the highway over the last month, there's a good chance you've witnessed fellow motorists engaging in all sorts of rather dangerous and altogether frightening conduct behind the wheel. Indeed, you may have seen people texting, speeding, changing lanes without signaling, tailgating, and even driving with objects hanging precariously from trailers, trunks, and roofs. While this last practice on the part of motorists certainly elicits headshakes and gasps, a recently released study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety shows it should perhaps elicit outrage. What exactly did the study find? The AAA researchers set out to determine just how much of a toll debris was taking on road safety here in the U.S., focusing on the number of accidents it was responsible for causing from 2011 through 2014. Among their shocking findings: Road debris was responsible for over 200,000 crashes…

From traffic jams and road construction to inattentive pedestrians and inconsiderate motorists, there's no question that driving can sometimes prove to be a harrowing, if not slightly maddening, experience. While many of us are able to manage our frustration and anger while behind the wheel, a recently released study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety suggests that a surprisingly large number of motorists are now failing to keep their emotions at bay. Indeed, close to 80 percent of drivers surveyed confessed to expressing anger, aggression, or some other form of road rage over the course of the last year, while close to eight million confessed to taking their anger to another level by exiting their vehicle to confront another motorist or, perhaps unbelievably, purposely ramming another vehicle. Some of the more noteworthy findings of the study included: 51 percent of drivers confessed to purposefully tailgating 24 percent of drivers confessed…

Experienced Georgia personal injury attorneys know what to look for when a negligent driver causes an accident. Usually, the laws that are broken that cause accidents are common, such as speeding or illegal turns. However, Georgia police have said that many accidents happen because people break laws they don't even know exist. Whether you live in central Georgia or were just passing through, if you were injured in a motor vehicle accident in Georgia, make sure your personal injury lawyer investigates beyond the usual laws. Going the speed limit in the fast lane. You may think it's common knowledge that the left lane on the highway, interstate, or expressway is designated as the passing lane. But some people get comfortable in the left lane and linger in it, despite the cars speeding up on their bumper. It turns out you can get pulled over in the fast lane even if…