How Safe is Your Rental Car

Vacation days have been stockpiled.  Babysitters have been confirmed.  Emergency contact information has been checked, double checked, and checked again.  Boarding passes in hand, you've never been more excited for the next 5 hours to sit between the guy who has already had one too many Mai Tais and the kid who doesn't understand the concept of headphones.  Nothing is going to spoil your long-awaited Maui Vacation.

But what if the bright green Mustang convertible you're about to hop into is on a recall list?  What do you do then?  Most rental car companies are pretty good about removing cars from their fleet when they have been recalled.  But how can you be sure that the company you are renting with is as fastidious with regulations as they should be?  In several states, provisions have been proposed to force rental companies to comply with recalls, but those provisions have failed.  The rental car industry has been quite successful in its efforts to make sure that these measures are not passed.

Perform your due diligence.  The National Traffic Safety Administration maintains a website called safecar.gov that allows consumers to search for recall information.  If the vehicle you want to rent appears on the recall list, ask the rental company if the proper repairs were carried out.  They would have detailed information about the fixes.  Unfortunately, there is no law that definitively requires rental companies to repair recalled vehicles prior to them being rented.  So before booking that sweet drop top, make sure it has not been recalled.

Know Your Policy

Knowing your insurance policy is more important than you might think.  It not only protects you, but it also covers any others who may be riding in your car.  And when you toss the keys over to your teenager, you can worry just a smidge less knowing they are protected as well.  But think twice before opting for the cheapest coverage.  Saving a buck or two each month is not worth the bills that will overwhelm you when your policy falls short.

Although driving without car insurance is illegal, there are countless uninsured motorists on the road every day.  According to the Insurance Research Counsel, as many as 25% of drivers are uninsured.  If you're among them, not only will you be responsible for paying for damages to your own car, but you could be shelling out quite a bit to pay for every dent and scratch for the other guy's car.

With the amount of insurance companies that exist today, driving an uninsured vehicle is not only irresponsible, but it's inexcusable.  Do your research and find a policy that best fits your needs.  Grab a cup of coffee, sit down at your keyboard, and start searching.  There are even interactive programs that can simulate accidents and give you an idea of the kind of coverage that you would need.

Okay, but what happens to you if the other driver is zipping around town without insurance?  That's when you should get familiar with your own policy.  Do you have Uninsured Motorist Insurance?  You better hope so.  If you get into an accident with someone who is uninsured and they are legally responsible for the damages, you won't get any money from them if they don't have money to give you.

Bottom line: you can't afford to drive without insurance.

The Dangers of Mopeds

Driving down South Kihei Road, you're likely to pass half a dozen moped rental companies in the span of a mile.  Maui's beautiful, tropical weather and recent hikes in gas prices make driving a moped not only fun, but a reasonably priced way to travel.  However, fun comes at a price, and I'm not talking about how much you need to shell out before you can start darting around all over town.

Just as motorcycles often go unnoticed, mopeds run the risk of being overlooked by distracted or negligent motorists.  This lack of visibility can result in some pretty gruesome accidents that could lead to significant medical bills.  Be safe and be smart when you're cruising around town on your nifty rental scooter.

Dog v. Mailman

Though Dog Bite Prevention Week was May 19 - 25, the information that the United States Postal Service released on May 15, 2013 is always relevant.  Dogs and postal service workers have an age old rivalry that is often depicted in cartoons to be a funny incident.  However, there is nothing funny about a dog attack, and no one knows this better than the 5,879 postal employees who were attacked by dogs in 2012.  Los Angeles ranks the most probable for dog versus mail carrier duals to take place.  Ken Snavely, acting postmaster of Los Angeles states, "If our letter carriers deem your loose dog to be a threat, you'll be asked to pick up your mail at the Post Office until it's safe to deliver."

It's not as if dogs have taken a certain liking to letter carriers.  No, while nearly 5,900 attacks is nothing to ignore, it pales in comparison to the 4.7 million Americans who find themselves victim to a dog attack.  Unfortunately, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than half of the 4.7 million victims are children.

If you're a dog owner, it is imperative that you're aware of the potential for any dog to attack, even Oscar, your beloved dachshund.  Make sure you're pup is properly socialized.  Not only is it good for everyone to get out and toss the ball around, but it's a key factor in ensuring that your dog does not perceive every stranger as a threat.

Below is the list of the top cities whose postal employees had a less than pleasant run in with Fido in 2012.  Let's keep Maui off this list:

Ranking	City, State	Attacks
1	Los Angeles, California	69
2	San Antonio, TX and Seattle, WA	42
3	Chicago, Illinois	41
4	San Francisco, California	38
5	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	34
6	Detroit, Michigan	33
7	St. Louis, Missouri	32
8	Baltimore, MD and Sacramento, CA	29
9	Houston, TX and Minneapolis, MN	27
10	Cleveland and Dayton, Ohio	26
11	Buffalo and Brooklyn, New York	24
12	Denver, Colorado	23
13	Dallas, TX and Tacoma, WA	21
14	Wichita, Kansas	20

Do I Have a Personal Injury Case?

When accidents happen, and they do happen, many people don't realize they have a personal injury case.  How do you know?  Well, if the actions of another individual operating a motor vehicle were careless, chances are you have a case.  Careless is simply another word for negligent, and a person is negligent when they fail to act in a way a reasonable person would in any given circumstance.  For example, if an individual failed to stop their vehicle at a red light, as a reasonable person would, they could be considered negligent and responsible for any damages that may arise. 

Types of Personal Injury Cases:

Auto accidents: When a motorist is injured because of another's negligence, financial compensation could be owed you.  Negligence includes speeding, driving while under the influence, or simply operating a vehicle recklessly.

Workplace injuries: Worker's compensation programs are put in place for incidents that occur at your workplace.

Defective products: Manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers have an obligation to ensure their products are safe for public use.  Inadequate instructions or warnings could hold the manufacturer liable for any consumer injuries.  

Slip and fall: When conditions are unsafe and a person slips and/or falls, the building or property owner may be liable for their injuries. 

Boating accidents: On Maui, thousands of people board sailing vessels every day.  When a person's negligence leads to an accident and causes injuries, they can be liable for all persons onboard.

Trucking accidents: Truckers travel all over the country for long stretches at a time.  If a driver is fatigued, fails to inspect their vehicle, or is traveling with unsecured loads, the driver, the company, and truck part manufacturers can be liable for injuries.

If you think you have a personal injury claim, contacting an attorney is your first step in recovering compensation for your pain and suffering. 

Distracted Drivers: Driving While Intexticated

"DWI" now has another meaning: "Driving While Intexticated."  While it may be a clever play on words, the issue of texting while driving is a serious one.  In 2011, at least 23% of auto collisions involved cell phones.  At the very least, when someone decides to take a look at an incoming text message, they divert their attention for a mere five seconds.  If you were traveling at 55 miles per hour, you would travel the length of a football field without looking at the road!

The finger is usually pointed at teenage drivers when the topic of texting while driving is mentioned.  But adults do it, too.  If you're honest, you're probably guilty of glancing at your phone a time or two while driving.  48% of teens say that they have been in a car with someone while the driver was texting.  And if an adult is caught in the act, their justifications usually go something like this: "Reading a text is safer than composing and sending one."  Or, "I hold the phone near the windshield for 'better visibility.'"  Or, "I only text at a stop sign or a red light."

What can be done about it?  Well, in Hawaii, there are laws in place to help reduce the number of distracted drivers.  Hawaii is one of 39 states that flat out ban drivers from cell phone use while driving.  That includes texting at stop signs and red lights, and it even includes pulling over and operating your phone while your engine is still on.

We have pretty clear laws about driving while intoxicated.  Here are a few statistics that might make you think twice before sending that text.  

Texting While Driving Causes:
- 1,600,000 accidents per year (National Safety Council)
- 330,000 injuries per year (Harvard Center for Risk Analysis Study)
- 11 teen deaths EVERY DAY (Institute for Highway Safety Fatality Facts)
- Nearly 25% of ALL car accidents

Texting While Driving is: 
- About 6 times more likely to cause an accident than driving intoxicated
- The same as driving after 4 beers (National Highway Transportation Safety Administration)
- The number one driving distraction reported by teen drivers

So what is being done about it?  Social media has championed a campaign targeting drivers between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four.  The hope for campaigns like this is that it will do for distracted drivers what drunk driving campaigns have done for reducing alcohol-related accidents.  Not too long ago, taming the beast that is drunk driving seemed like an insurmountable task.  Thanks to a number of anti-drunk driving campaigns, as a nation, we have seen a decrease in alcohol-related accidents.  There is hope for this new generation of texters when they take to the wheel.  The task at hand is not too large.  By raising awareness and working together as communities, we can affect change. 

Statistics from: Texting and Driving Safety

Facebook is Fair Game

Can Facebook and other social media outlets be used in discovery in the face of a personal injury claim?  According to some judges, yes, Facebook is fair game.  Demanding login information in order to uncover something damaging is something defense attorneys have been trying to do for quite some time.  They argue that a smiling profile picture, taken and posted after an alleged injury, could potentially be proof that the plaintiff might not be in as much pain as they’re claiming.  A case in New York, Romano v. Steelecase, 2010, dealt with this exact issue.  The defendant cried, “Foul!” and did not believe the plaintiff’s claim of injury.  To him, her Facebook updates and photos told a different story.  The defense was granted access to accounts, including deleted content, to go fishing for more damaging material to discredit the plaintiff.

E-discovery is not a new practice, but these days, it seems like a new social media application is created as soon as you get comfortable with the current one.  It begs the question, what information is admissible and what crosses the line?  If you’ve got your finger on the pulse of the social media world, chances are, you not only have a Facebook account, but you Tweet regularly about your Pinterests and Instagrams that you StumbleUpon as you Tumble through MySpace.  If that’s the case, your cyber footprint spans the social media galaxy, and certain judges have decided that updates and posts can be discoverable.  The main justification for this is the belief that social media users publish certain things, both generic and personal, with the intent that those posts circulate the Internet.

Before you object, not everything is admissible.  Judges have begun challenging the defense to be more specific in their requests for information.  In order to gain access to accounts, they must be able to show that the plaintiff is acting in such a way that contradicts their alleged restrictions, disabilities, and losses.  Believe it or not, the court is not interested in sifting through all the nonsensical status updates, food pictures, and GIFs of cats in the hopes that they might uncover something that is relative to the case.

With everyone and their brother informing the world of their latest conquests – “in 140 characters or less” -- the amount of information stored in the digital world is overwhelming.  And when an overzealous attorney is given access to this rabbit hole, the court gets stuck rifling through all the foolishness unrelated to the case.  A blurry picture on a third-party’s Facebook wall of someone that looks a little like the plaintiff standing near what looks to be something that could possibly, maybe, potentially contradict their claims to injury is not something to discover.

If you find yourself in the middle of a personal injury claim, think twice before you post a picture of yourself bungee jumping in New Zealand.  Facebook is fair game.