Seattle Motor Vehicle Accident Law Blog

A national survey released by the Ad Council found that 60 percent of drivers ages 16 to 24 say they have texted while driving. Washington's State Attorney General Rob McKenna says that statistic is alarming, especially since the dangers of texting and driving are already well-known. For young license-holders who are already more accident-prone than other drivers, texting while driving often leads to terrible crashes including fatal motor vehicle accidents.

The National Association of Attorneys General, of which McKenna is the president, joined the Ad Council and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to create a national coalition that is releasing a series of new nationwide public service announcements. The group is also introducing a nationwide "Stop the Texts Day" during National Youth Traffic Safety Month.

The NHTSA reported that more than 3,000 people were killed and nearly a half million were injured in 2010 because of distracted driving, such as texting. The commercials, social media sites and other organizations are helping teens learn facts about risky driving behaviors and how to curb their texting addictions.

Seattle residents who are thinking about buying a motorcycle might be interested in the results of a couple of new studies. Motorcyclists are most likely to crash during their first year riding, and the heaviest risk time is the first month, according to the Highway Loss Data Institute. Another study found that licensing classes that are fast-tracked do not lower crash risks.

According to statistics from the Highway Loss Data Institute, motorcyclists are four times more likely to crash during their first 30 days on the bike than in their entire second year riding. In fact, the Institute's study revealed that 22 percent of about 57,000 motorcycle accident claims from 2003 to 2007 took place less than 30 days after an insurance policy went into effect.

Those who were stuck in traffic on Interstate 5 in Seattle Thursday may have now heard about the cause of that major traffic jam. A semi truck that was driving too fast caused a rollover car accident, which blocked all lanes of traffic for several hours.

The five-vehicle crash took place just after 2 p.m., but lanes did not reopen until after 4 p.m. and even after that gridlock continued from the Interstate 90 interchange all the way to Northgate. Surprisingly, the truck accident did not cause any serious injuries, but it is an example of the dangers semi trucks can pose.

It does not appear that any information has been released about what might have caused the school bus crash in central Washington last week that injured 39 students. There is much to investigate in bus accidents--including the driver's history, log books, vehicle maintenance records as well as information about the bus company.

The bus overturned on a highway before coming to rest off the road on its side, according to news reports. All of the students on board at the time of the bus accident were injured; three were injured seriously. The bus apparently veered off of Highway 281, south of Quincy, and then overcorrected and rolled off of the roadway, according to the Washington State Patrol.