Federal Regulators Aim to End Traffic Deaths by 2046

busy freeway If a new coalition of federal regulatory agencies achieves its goal, there will be no more traffic fatalities by the year 2046.

The group is called the Road to Zero Coalition and it consists of multiple organizations under the Department of Transportation (DOT) umbrella, including the Federal Highway Administration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The National Safety Council (NSC) will also work with the coalition.

One of the coalition’s main strategies will be promoting strategies that have been proven to save lives in traffic accidents, including using seat belts and campaigns to change dangerous driving behaviors. The coalition will also work to address infrastructure design, overall system design and enforcement.

The DOT will assist this effort by spending $1 million per year in grants for the next three years to help support organizations that are working to prevent traffic fatalities.

The efforts of the coalition, along with the rapid introduction of automated vehicles and related technologies, could be the key to eliminating all traffic fatalities, according to NSC CEO Deborah A.P. Hersman.

The formation of this coalition comes in the wake of an alarming increase in traffic fatalities in the past year and a half. There were 35,092 traffic fatalities in 2015, a seven percent increase over the number of deaths in 2014. That is the largest increase in car accident deaths since 1966.

The trend has continued into this year, as the number of traffic deaths in the first half of the year was nine percent more than in the first half of 2015.

Traffic fatalities are often caused by negligent drivers who were operating their vehicles recklessly. That is why the law allows families of the victims of these tragic crashes to pursue fair compensation for their injuries.

If you have lost a loved one in a car accident, contact Schmidt Kramer’s experienced car accident attorneys today for a free consultation.

Call (717) 888-8888 or speak to a legal representative.

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Schmidt Kramer, P.C.partner Gerard C. Kramer won a personal injury action for $10,043,952.13 in Northumberland County on behalf of a volunteer firefighter who was the victim of Intentional Tort. The 50-year-old volunteer firefighter was seriously injured when a barn collapsed, causing a spinal injury which left him a paraplegic. The claim was brought against the arsonist who intentionally started the fire. It is believed that the verdict is the highest ever in Northumberland County.
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$4,034,000.00 Personal Injury
Yesterday a Judge in Union County (Lewisburg, PA) awarded a couple from New Berlin, Pennsylvania, over $4,000,000 because the husband was shot while turkey hunting.You might ask yourself, how does a turkey hunting accident end up with that type of verdict? In order to understand the verdict you would have to know our clients. They are good people who had their life wrecked. Plus, you would have to know the defendant, who should not have been hunting with a gun because he was prohibited after a previous criminal conviction.It is a good verdict, because the Judge was able to do two things with his decision. First, he communicated to two very good people that their losses were something that those of us on the outside could appreciate and value. Mike Hobbins (our client) is a 51 year old guy who lost his sight because a convicted felon --who should not have even possessed a gun-- went hunting illegally, and broke with impunity the most fundamental rule in hunting: identify your target before you pull the trigger. The Judge accepted the financial loss Mr. Hobbins' suffered, but listened closely to the evidence of less tangible losses. When Mike broke down on the stand, because his daughter would end up walking him down the aisle at her wedding, as opposed to how it was supposed to go, the Judge was listening. When Mike could not keep it together, because of how emasculating it was for him not to be able to provide financially for his family, the Judge was listening. It was facts like these that the Judge cited to support the $2,000,000 award for non-economic damages. Second, the Judge wanted to send a message. Union County is a hunting county. Many of the residents hunt there, and people from outside the area come to Union County to hunt. It was my impression, from the Judge's statements as he rendered his decision, that he wanted to send a message to the people in Union County to protect them in their sport. The rules in place to restrict people convicted of crimes not to have a gun are not to be broken. Hunting is serious and you have to identify your target before you shoot. When you turn your back on the rules that are set to provide safety in a sport, you risk being an example. Here, the $1,000,000 punitive damage award sends that message loud and clear.When it really comes down to brass tacks, the right action was taken against a Defendant who may never truly appreciate what kind of impact his reckless choices caused.At Schmidt Kramer, we are injury lawyers. That means we work with people who were hurt in car accidents, who were hurt by the neglect of nursing homes, or those that were seriously injured because of the reckless, thoughtless acts of others. If you or a loved one have been injured in Pennsylvania, we may be able to help. While the verdict yesterday is not one that is representative of every case we do, it does show that serious and dedicated representation can bring good results.Joe ChapmanJanuary 18, 2013
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$1,200,000.00 Personal Injury
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Coalition Sets Goal of Eliminating Traffic Fatalities Within 30 Years