Tuscaloosa Car Accident Victum Lawyer

Car accident

A car accident is a collision involving an automobile and anything that causes damage to the automobile, including other automobiles, telephone poles, buildings, and trees. Sometimes a car accident may also refer to an automobile striking a human or animal. Car accidents — also called traffic collisions, auto accidents, road accidents, personal injury collisions, motor vehicle accidents, and (particularly by American radio traffic reporters) crashes — kill an estimated 1.2 million people worldwide each year, and injure about forty times this number (WHO, 2004). The term "accident" is considered an inappropriate word by some, as reliable sources estimate that upwards of 90% are the result of driver negligence. In the UK the Department of Transport publish road deaths in each type of car. These statistics are available as "Risk of injury measured by percentage of drivers injured in a two car injury accident."

These statistics show a ten to one ratio of in-vehicle accident deaths between the least safe and most safe models of car.

The statistics show that for popular, lightly built cars, occupants have a 6%-8% chance of death in a two car accident. (e.g. BMW 3 series 6%, Subaru Impreza 8%, Honda Accord 6%). Traditional "safety cars" such as the Volvos halve that chance (Volvo 700 4% incidence of death, Volvo 900 3%).

SUVs are better for their occupants in two-vehicle crashes than 'safety cars', with the Jeep Cherokee and Toyota Land Cruiser giving 2% incidence of occupant death in actual crashes. However, in multiple-vehicle crashes SUVs are probably between three (Bicycle Safety Almanac) and six (International Injury & Fatality Statistics) times more likely to kill the occupant of the other vehicle (car, cyclist, or pedestrian) than cars.

Overall the four best vehicles to be in are the Jaguar XJ series 1%, Mercedes-Benz S-Class / SEC 1%, Land Rover Defender 1% and Land Rover Discovery 1%.

Motorcyclist deaths within England and Wales stand at 53% of the annual road death statistics. Scooters/mopeds up to 50cc only account for 3% of those deaths. 2% of the scooter deaths were 16-19 year olds who had not taken CBT (Compulsory Basic Training). Studies show that the #1 cause of car accidents in North America is automobiles. (Statistics taken from 2004/2005 DSA annual road deaths percentages)

Bessemer, Alabama

Bessemer is an American city and suburb of Birmingham located in southwestern Jefferson County, Alabama. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 29,672. According to the 2005 U.S. Census the  city has a population of 28,641.

Geography

Bessemer is located at 33°23′29″N, 86°57′24″W^GR1, about 18 m. S.W. of Birmingham, a little N. of the centre of the state. (33.391343, -86.956569)

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 105.6 km² (40.8 mi²). 105.4 km² (40.7 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.17%) is water.

Bessemer is situated in the midst of the iron ore and limestone district of Alabama, in the southern part of Jones Valley (about 3 miles wide). Iron ore was mined on the hills on the city's southeast side, coal was (and still is) mined to the north and west, and limestone deposits were also nearby. All three ingredients were necessary for steelmaking, which led to the area becoming a major steel center from about 189020th Century. Steel is no longer made within the city limits, but is still manufactured in nearby Fairfield. through the

History

Bessemer was surveyed in 1887, and was incorporated in 1889. Its rapid growth in its early days led to the nickname of "The Marvel City," a moniker which still finds occasional use today.

Government

Bessemer uses the mayor-city council form of government. The council has seven members, one from each council district. As of 2006, Edward E. May is the city's mayor.

A satellite Jefferson County courthouse is located in downtown Bessemer. This practice hails from the special county government district known as the "Bessemer Cutoff," established in the middle of the 20th Century when Bessemer was a major city in its own right; the "Cutoff" even had a separate series of Alabama license plates, with a different numeric prefix than the rest of the county. Bessemer's status in that respect has largely been supplanted by other Birmingham suburbs such as Hoover, but Bessemer retains its own branch courthouse to this day, and the term "Bessemer Cutoff" remains in everyday usage by area residents.

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DAILY Photo by Eric Fleischauer A steel coil transported Monday on Wilson Street Northwest was secured by chains. Some want stricter regulations that require truckers to use cradles to secure the coils, which weigh as much as 22 tons, to reduce the number that are dropped on Decatur roads.

Keeping Steel
Coils Secure
More regulations or tighter enforcement of existing rules?
State, local officials disagree

By Eric Fleischauer
DAILY Business Writer

The way to keep massive steel coils from falling on Decatur roads is not through more regulations, but tighter enforcement of existing ones, according to the commander of the state's Motor Carrier Safety Unit.

Lt. Mike Woods of the Decatur Police Department is not so sure.

Home to Nucor Corp., a major producer of the coils, this area has dealt with many of the coils — which weigh up to 22 tons — bouncing through traffic. The most recent coil dropped on U.S. 31 North on Friday, in front of Calhoun Community College. No one was injured.

Nucor officials did not return calls Monday.

Woods said the department does not track the number of dropped coils in Decatur, but he's sure there have been at least a half dozen in the last year or so.

Sharp turn

"Usually it's when they're making that sharp turn at Wilson (Street Northeast) and U.S. 31 (North). If they go a little too quick, the momentum either rolls the truck or starts breaking that net of chains or straps that hold down the coil," Woods said.

Coils coming from Nucor are almost always situated with eyes crosswise; however, coils sometimes drop when a trucker must hit the brakes hard, causing the coil to roll forward and break its restraints.

A Bessemer lawyer recently filed suit against U.S. Steel's plant in that city, demanding that the company discontinue steel shipments until it can develop a secure method that avoids dropped coils.

Federal regulations require different methods of securing steel coils, depending upon the position of the "eye," which is the hole in the center of the coil. The methods vary, depending upon whether the eyes of the coil are lengthwise, crosswise or eyes up.

Inappropriate driving

Capt. Harry Kearley, commander of the state Department of Public Safety's Motor Carrier Safety Unit, said the federally mandated securement methods work. The problem, he said, is a combination of failure to follow those guidelines and inappropriate driving practices, such as taking turns too fast.

"Combining those problems tends to sling them off the truck," Kearley said, "or when the truck turns over, they tend to fall off."

Kearley said increasing the regulations on securing steel coils would lead to more violations, not fewer dropped coils. Federal regulations contemplate the use of cradles, but do not require them.

"It's like speed limits," said Kearley. "If people are running 90 miles per hour, you don't lower the speed limit from 70 to 60. You just enforce the law you've got and make them do right. I can't see making the load-securement rules more stringent when they're not following the ones we've got."

Stricter regulations would also cause problems on interstate shipments, Kearley said.

"We don't want anyone coming into the state to have to stop and readjust the coils. It would be time-consuming and cost-prohibitive," Kearley said.

He said most of the problems with dropped coils are coming from shipments that originate in Alabama.

The Alabama Trucking Association, a trade association consisting of members of the trucking industry, opposes more restrictive requirements — such as mandated cradles — to secure steel coils.

"To put it bluntly, we don't think it's necessary," said ATA spokesman Ford Boswell.

Several states require that truckers secure steel coils with cradles, a method Boswell and Kearley agreed works. They both said it is more than is necessary.

"Properly chained on, you don't need a cradle," Kearley said. "If you have the proper grade of chain and the chains are positioned appropriately per the regulations, we won't have any problems."

Cost to customers?

Boswell said the cost of a significant change in hauling practices would require truckers to retool their fleets at great expense, a cost they would ultimately pass to their customers.

Decatur's Lt. Woods' cost-benefit analysis is different. Cradles, he said, are an obvious answer to the problem.

The ATA is correct that trailers with cradles are more expensive, Woods said. At least in Decatur, though, the expense would be worth it.

"In the long run it would be cheaper to have a cradle trailer," Wood said. "If it saves lives or avoids injuries, it reduces liability."

The ATA says requiring cradles would be overkill.

"If current guidelines are followed properly, if enough chains are used and they're secured properly, nothing else is needed," Boswell said. "The problem is that drivers aren't following those guidelines."

ATA supports more driver training and more aggressive state enforcement.

Enforcement means money, something not in great supply at the state Department of Public Safety. Kearley said the solution is more overtime, some of which would be covered by federal grants.

"We can spend our off days enforcing these laws," Kearley said. "I had people working a saturation two-week detail in Birmingham focusing just on (coil load securement)."

He said he was using overtime hours to enforce securement regulations across the state, including Decatur.

Courtesy checks

Later this month, Kearley said, the DPS will have courtesy checks of steel-coil loads at U.S. Steel in Birmingham. Part of the goal of the event, he said, will be to increase awareness of the problem, especially to those involved in securing the loads.

He said the state is also considering increasing the fine for those who lose steel-coil loads, but that would require legislation.

The state Department of Transportation already fines truckers to cover the cost of damage to bridges and roads caused by dropped coils.

While Kearley opposes stricter regulations, he does not dispute the severity of the danger the coils pose to motorists.

"It's a huge risk, if you happen to be the car that's under the coil that falls."

Amen, said Woods.

He said Decatur has been lucky.

"We've been fortunate so far in that the coil has generally fallen on the side away from the other traffic," Woods said. "But it will happen again. I hope we stay as fortunate."

Possible Solutions

Stricter regulations: Several states require that truckers secure steel coils with cradles. Trailers with cradles are more expensive, said Lt. Mike Woods of the Decatur Police Department. He said he thinks the expense would be worth it. Capt. Harry Kearley, commander of the state Department of Public Safety's Motor Carrier Safety Unit, said increasing the regulations on securing steel coils would lead to more violations, not fewer dropped coils.