Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys Discuss Ejection Accidents

Three people are fortunate to be alive following a car crash on a bridge on Highway 605. The early morning accident happened when the car struck a guard rail. None of the three people who were in the vehicle at the time of the crash were wearing seatbelts. A woman and a ten-year-old child got ejected from the vehicle during the collision, and they landed in a grassy area below the bridge. The ten-year-old was hospitalized with a possible skull fracture, and the woman was taken to the hospital with injuries as well.

The aforementioned wreck could have ended much worse than it did. When a person gets ejected from a vehicle, they very often die. In that crash, two people got ejected, and both survived. Ejection accidents are doubly tragic because the risk of fatality is so high and because ejection can often be prevented by wearing a seatbelt.

Seat belts are perhaps the most important safety feature in your vehicle. They are also the most efficient way to avoid car accident deaths and injuries. In any given automobile accident, there is a seventy-five percent chance that any person who gets ejected from the vehicle will perish. They may die at the crash scene, or they may die later on as a result of their injuries, but three out of every four people who get ejected from a vehicle get killed. When a person wears a seatbelt, they reduce by thirty times the likelihood that they will get ejected from the vehicle if it crashes. That is an enormous reduction in risk!

Seat belt use also leads to lower medical bills for car crash victims. When a person remains in a vehicle during a wreck, they are likely to be hurt less severely than if they get ejected. Injuries that are less severe require less costly treatment. On average, accident victims who wear seat belts have medical bills that are fifty percent lower than the medical bills for accident victims who do not wear seat belts.

Children who get ejected from vehicles are very likely to die because their small size takes the impact that follows ejection harder than adults do. Fortunately, there are specially designed child restraints that keep kids safely inside of vehicles during accidents.  Choosing and using the right child safety seats and seat belts can prevent approximately eighty percent of child and infant car accident deaths. If you drive a vehicle and you have child passengers, be sure to select an appropriate car seat for each child’s age, height, and weight. Read all of the directions that come with each car seat and take care to adjust each seat properly for the child who uses it. Install car seats in your vehicle carefully, according to the instructions. When children are old enough to use seat belts, it is still a good idea for them to sit in the back seat whenever possible.  Parents who have questions about car seats can often get a free car seat safety check at a fire station or a police department.

Barrett Law PLLC:  Serving Mississippi Automobile Accident Victims and Their Families

If you or someone that you love got hurt or killed in a car crash, a Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorney can help you file a claim for your damages or loss. Call the Mississippi Automobile Accident attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC, at 1 (800) 707-9577, to learn more.

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Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys Discuss Drunk Driving Accidents

A Gulfport man got hit and killed while he was putting gas into his pickup truck, which he had parked on the side on Interstate 10 after it ran out of gas. As the man was using a gas can to put gasoline in the truck, the driver of a large SUV lost control of his vehicle. The SUV hit a parked car, struck the man, and rolled over before coming to rest in the median.

The man who got hit died at the accident scene. The driver of the SUV got hurt in the crash and got transported to a hospital where he got treated for his injuries. When the driver got out of the hospital, he got charged with DUI causing death and went to jail.

In Mississippi and other states, drunk driving laws contain strict penalties for people who drink and drive. The penalties are even harsher when a drunk driver causes an accident, especially if the crash causes one or more fatalities or serious injuries. DUI accidents resulting in death, serious injury, or disfigurement may result in felony aggravated DUI charges against the driver. A separate aggravated DUI charge may be brought for each person who was killed, injured, or disfigured in the wreck. Drivers who get charged with aggravated DUI face five to twenty-five years in prison for each charge that they get convicted of. Many drunk drivers receive close to the maximum sentence in Mississippi aggravated DUI cases.

DUI crashes often cause serious injuries and fatalities. When a person chooses to drink and drive, they put their life and the lives of others at risk. Sometimes, drunk drivers are involved in single-vehicle crashes. At other times, drivers and passengers in other vehicles and sometimes even pedestrians get hurt or killed in the wreck.  In addition to the aforementioned criminal penalties, drunk drivers can also be held accountable civilly.

A criminal conviction against a drunk driver may bring some sense of justice to the families of the people who got hurt or killed in the wreck. However they do not help those victims and families recover financially. Personal injury attorneys can pursue claims for damages on behalf of victims of drunk driving accidents and their families. After a DWI wreck, the victims and their families, who are already experiencing intense damage and loss in connection with the injury or loss of their loved ones, may face expensive medical bills for treatment and rehabilitation, lost wages, and the cost of repairing or replacing their damaged or destroyed vehicle.

Barrett Law PLLC:  Help for Accident Victims Throughout Mississippi

A personal injury attorney can help accident victims, and their families pursue claims for damages based upon property damage, medical bills and lost wages, pain, and suffering, and more. The Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC have represented many Mississippi DUI accident victims and their families. They have helped accident victims focus on their physical and emotional recovery by taking care of the matter of helping them recover financially, and they may be able to help you do the same. Please call our office today, at 1 (800) 707-9577 to schedule a free, initial consultation.

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Mississippi Motorcycle Accident Attorney Shares Suggestions for Safer Night Time Riding

A man recently died in a motorcycle accident on Highway 98. The accident occurred at night, like sixty percent of all motorcycle accidents do. This tragic accident is a sobering reminder that riding a motorcycle is more difficult at night than it is during the day, and extra caution is required to keep motorcycle riders safe after dark.

If you ride a motorcycle, you can reduce the risk that you will get into an accident while riding at night by using extra caution and by making yourself visible to other drivers. It is essential that riders use extra care when riding after dark because roads are not always well lit, which can make signs and pavement markings harder to see. Unfortunately, pedestrians and wildlife are also harder to see at night, and you may have less time to avoid them than you would if you were able to see them at more of a distance as you can during the day. You can ride more safely at night by reducing your speed to give yourself more time to react to the things that you see when you can see them.

Fog and rain can pose problems for motorcycle riders at any time of day, and especially at night because they not only reduce your ability to see, they make it harder for other drivers to see you. Fortunately, there are ways that you can increase the chance that other drivers will see you. Other drivers should always be paying attention and looking out for motorcycles, especially at night. When motorcycle riders take steps to increase the chance that drivers will see them, they reduce accident risk.

You can increase your visibility by putting fluorescent or reflective accents on your clothing and your helmet. You can even customize your bike with extra reflectors and other reflective materials. Good lighting can make it easier for you to see at night, and it also makes it easier for drivers to see you. When you are thinking about the lights on your bike, don’t forget your rear view – you can replace a small or dim brake light bigger and brighter. You can also add running lights to the front of your bike so that there are three lights instead of just one. For your headlight, choose a DOT-approved super bright bulb and raise your headlight to the maximum angle that state law allows.

Barrett Law PLLC:   Helping Mississippi Motorcycle Accident Victims and Their Families

Motorcycle accidents are more common at night than they are during the day. Riding at night can be fun if you remember to implement safe driving tips and make your motorcycle as visible as possible. If you got hurt in a motorcycle accident, it is essential that you contact an attorney right away. To learn about pursuing a claim for damages after a motorcycle accident or any other type of motor vehicle wreck, please call the knowledgeable Mississippi Motorcycle Accident Attorney at Barrett Law PLLC, at 1 (800) 707-9577 to set up an initial consultation.

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Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys Discuss Accidents Involving Diabetic Emergencies

A Florida man blacked out while he was driving and he crashed his car into the side of a weigh station near the Mississippi-Louisiana state line. The man has diabetes, and, at the time of the accident, he had not eaten anything yet that day. When a person has diabetes, there’s a risk that they could lose consciousness if their blood sugar drops too low. When an individual who has diabetes blacks out because their blood sugar has gotten too low, it is called a diabetic emergency. When a diabetic emergency happens to someone who is driving a car, the resulting accident can cause serious injuries or death. Fortunately, the man who was involved in the aforementioned accident survived the crash.

Diabetes is a serious medical condition that affects nearly thirty million Americans. People who have diabetes are susceptible to hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, which can cause them to sweat excessively, tremble, or experience impaired vision, confusion, seizures, unconsciousness, coma, and even death. When a person has diabetes, their health care providers teach them how to manage their blood sugar through a combination of methods that may include blood testing, medication, insulin injection, diet, and exercise. Health care providers also teach people with diabetes how to recognize the signs of hypoglycemia and how to treat it with a fast-acting source of glucose. Each diabetic’s body responds to treatments differently, so the ways in which doctors help people to manage their diabetes vary.

Many people with diabetes can drive safely, with the support and advice of their health care providers. Some states require drivers who have diabetes to report their condition to the DMV, and some states even require health care providers to provide an honest assessment of whether a diabetic patient is capable of driving safely. These assessments are to be made on an individual basis, from information that the health care provider has obtained during the history of their treatment of the patient that they are evaluating. For example, hypoglycemia presents clear signs in some people and provides them with opportunities to address it before they experience impairment or loss of consciousness, but in other individuals, no clear signs appear before hypoglycemia renders them impaired. There are also very strict requirements for people with diabetes who wish to obtain commercial (CDL) drivers’ licenses.

Barrett Law PLLC:  Help for Mississippi Automobile Accident Victims and Their Families

Diabetes can increase your accident risk, but it does not always prevent you from being able to drive safely. If you have diabetes, ask your doctor about how to reduce the risk that you will be involved in a diabetic emergency crash. If you do get into an accident, contact a Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorney immediately. The Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC have helped many Mississippi accident victims and their families recover physically and financially after a car crash, and they may be able to help you, too. Please call our office today, at 1 (800) 707-9577 to schedule a free, initial consultation.

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Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys Talk about Seat Belt Use

A recent fatal car crash serves as a somber reminder of how important it is that people wear their seat belts. A young woman got killed when she lost control of her vehicle and went off of the road. She was not wearing her seatbelt, and she got ejected from the vehicle during the wreck. Ejection from a vehicle often results in death. In the rare situation that a person survives after being ejected from a vehicle during an accident, they are often left with severe injuries that could affect their lives permanently.

Ejection is a leading cause of death in car accidents. In any given automobile accident, any person who gets ejected from a vehicle has a twenty-five percent chance of survival. Seat belt use is highly effective in preventing ejection – people who do not wear seatbelts are thirty times more likely to be ejected from a vehicle during an accident than people who are wearing seatbelts. What’s more, seatbelt use has been shown to reduce the severity of injuries to vehicle occupants during a crash – the medical bills of accident victims who were not wearing seat belts are, on average, fifty percent more costly than the medical bills of car accident victims who were wearing their seat belts.

Seat belt use is an important safety issue, and it is essential that anyone who drives a car understand that while seat belts are the safest restraint for adult passengers, infant and child passengers require additional protection in the form of child safety seats. Many people do not realize that using the improper child safety restraint or installing the restraint in the vehicle incorrectly can be very dangerous. It is estimated that eighty percent fewer child and infant injuries and deaths would occur if child safety restraints were selected and installed correctly. Fortunately, parents, grandparents, and others who transport children can check in with one of the many local fire stations and police departments that offer free car seat safety checks.

Seat belt laws vary from state to state. Mississippi’s primary seat belt law applies to drivers and passengers who sit in the front seat. This law has helped to reduce the amount car crash fatalities that occur in the state, but adult seat belt use in Mississippi is consistently below the national average, so there is room for improvement. Also, in Mississippi, children under four must ride in a car seat that is appropriate for their age and weight. Children between the ages of four and seven years old must ride in a belt-positioning booster seat unless they weigh more than sixty-five pounds or are over four feet, nine inches tall.

Barrett Law PLLC:  Serving the Needs of Mississippi Automobile Accident Victims

Accidents where one or more vehicle occupants are ejected often result in fatalities. In cases where a person who gets ejected survives, they are likely to face a lengthy recovery and may even suffer from permanent and debilitating injuries. Whether you were injured in a crash or you lost a loved one, you and your family need time to heal. Pursuing a claim for damages in connection with a motor vehicle accident takes time and energy, but you do not have to do it on your own. The Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC have helped Mississippi accident victims and their families to recover physically and financially after car accidents. Please call us today, at 1 (800) 707-9577 to schedule a free, initial consultation.

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Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys Discuss Distracted Driving

Criminal charges are now pending after an accident that killed two women was determined to have been caused by distracted driving. A third woman, who was a passenger in the car with the two women who died, was critically injured. A truck driven by a young man who was distracted by a conversation with his passenger drifted into oncoming traffic and struck the car. The truck flipped over, injuring the driver and his passenger.

Distracted driving is a frequent cause of motor vehicle wrecks. Approximately eighty percent of accidents and sixty-five percent near-miss situations involved some distraction. The most talked about distractions are cell phone use and texting, which are illegal in many places, but the aforementioned accident involved something that many of us engage in every day – person to person conversation within the vehicle. Other common distractions are drowsiness, eating and drinking, applying makeup, and using a radio or other entertainment. The most unfortunate part of distracted driving accidents is that they take so little time to occur – there is an average of three seconds between the distraction and the accident.

Knowing the risk posed by various activities can help drivers make better choices regarding distractions and driving. Driver behavior is by far the biggest influence that can be used to reduce distracted driving accidents, but there is also some technological help that has been developed in the hope of further reducing the incidence of distracted driving accidents. An aftermarket product was developed which can prevent distracted driving accidents. Interestingly enough, this “new” technology uses radar, which is a technology that has been around for quite some time, to alert drivers when they are in danger of a collision. The radar envelops the vehicle with a sort of “shield” and makes a sound to notify the driver that they are getting too close to another vehicle or an object, or if they are drifting out of their lane.

The “radar shield” isn’t the only technology that has been developed to address the problem of distracted driving. There are a few different types of phone suppression devices on the market. These devices help drivers to keep their eyes off of their phones and on the road. They do this by blocking incoming text messages and sending out automated replies that you are driving. The phone suppression devices can also be set to direct all incoming calls to your voicemail.

Barrett Law PLLC:  Support for Mississippi Automobile Accident Victims and Their Families

Accidents involving distracted driving are tragic because many distractions are preventable. When a person gets in a car accident, they may face a lengthy recovery and have to miss work as medical bills and household bills pile up. If you have lost a loved one, the grief can be hard to bear, and your family needs time to heal. Pursuing a claim for damages under either of those circumstances can seem like a daunting prospect. The Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC help accident victims and their families recover physically and financially after automobile wrecks. Please call our office at 1 (800) 707-9577 to schedule your free, initial consultation.

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Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys Discuss Accidents Involving Wild Animals

A woman recently died in a car accident involving a deer. The force of the collision made her vehicle flip over and catch fire. This tragic accident is illustrative of just how serious collisions between motor vehicles and wildlife can be.

Drivers and passengers in vehicles that collide with wildlife are often severely injured or killed in the crash. Medium and large wildlife like deer, bear, moose, and elk cause forceful impacts when they are struck by a moving vehicle, whether the vehicle collides with the side of the animal or the animal is tossed into the air and lands on top of the car. If the animal becomes airborne, vehicle occupants could be crushed if the animal lands on the roof of the car. If the animal lands on the front or the rear of the vehicle, it can shatter the land hurt or kill the people inside the car. Sometimes, such as in the situation that is described above, collisions involving animals can even cause vehicles to overturn, leave the roadway, or both, which further increases the risk of serious injury or death.

Many wildlife-related wrecks happen at night, or at dusk or dawn. These are the times of day when many animals are on the move, and they are also times when it’s hard for drivers to see animals that may be present in or near the road. The frequency of animal-related crashes often corresponds to the changing of the seasons because migration, hunting seasons, mating, and other factors which affect the movements of animals follow seasonal patterns.

Wildlife can be present anywhere along the roadway, but certain types of landscapes make it more likely that you will encounter animals there. For example, deer are often found near open fields and moose frequent swampy areas. In places where there are trees or other plants close to the road, wildlife can be hard to see until they are actually on the road. As if avoiding animals in the road was not difficult enough already, some animals, like deer, are often found in groups, which can contribute to an increased accident risk. If you are driving and you see one deer, carefully scan the area for others that may be nearby before continuing along the road.

If you are driving and you cannot safely avoid hitting an animal that is on the road, try to hit it from an angle. Colliding with an animal from an angle increases the chance that the animal will be deflected away from your car instead of throwing it into the air. If you do hit an animal with your vehicle, be sure to call the police, so that the animal can safely be removed from the roadway and the accident can be properly documented. It is important that the crash is documented properly because insurance companies occasionally try to avoid paying on claims for damages in accidents involving wildlife when a police report has not been filed.

Barrett Law PLLC:  Helping Automobile Accident Victims Across Mississippi  

Sometimes, a driver cannot avoid a collision with a wild animal. If you got hurt in a wildlife-related car crash, contact a Mississippi Automobile Accident attorney right away. Your attorney might be able to help you to pursue a claim for damages while you focus on healing your injuries and repairing or replacing your vehicle. The Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC are here to help you, so please call us today, at 1 (800) 707-9577 to schedule a consultation.

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Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys Urge People to Wear Seat Belts

Three teenagers sustained serious injuries in a recent two-car accident. The accident occurred when a car ran into a flatbed trailer that was being pulled by a pickup truck. The three girls, who were not wearing their seatbelts, were ejected from the car. They are now recovering from their injuries after spending time in the hospital.

Accidents involving ejection are scary, and they often involve serious injury or death. The best way for drivers and passengers to reduce the risk that they will be ejected from a vehicle in the event of a wreck is to wear a seat belt. For some people, wearing a seatbelt is a choice that they make. For others, especially children, it is mandated by law. In Mississippi, Section 63-2 of the Mississippi Code requires drivers and front seat passengers to wear seat belts. Children who are younger than seven must be buckled into a child safety seat that is appropriate for their age, size, and weight. Adult passengers who ride in rear seats are free to choose whether or not they wear seatbelts, as are children between the ages of seven and eighteen who sit in the back seat.

Statistics have shown that people who choose not to wear their seatbelts have a risk of being ejected that is thirty times higher than the ejection risk for people who wear seatbelts. The statistics on ejection and fatalities are even more concerning. In automobile wrecks where one or more people are ejected from a vehicle, there is a seventy-five percent chance that each person who was ejected from the vehicle will die either instantly, or at some time after the crash as the result of their injuries.

In addition to preventing ejection, seatbelt use also reduces the risk of injuries to people who remain inside of vehicles during crashes. It is estimated that the medical bills of automobile accident victims who were wearing seat belts during their accidents are fifty percent lower than the medical bills of those accident victims who were not wearing their seat belts. Children experience an even greater risk of being severely injured or killed in a car accident if they are not using the right car seat or seatbelt. This is why there are specific seat belt and child safety seat rules that apply to child passengers. Parents must also be aware that choosing the correct child safety seat or belt for your child’s age, height, and weight is just the first step towards keeping your kids safe in the car. A child’s car seat or booster seat must also be installed in your vehicle correctly for it to prevent injuries or death during a car accident.

Barrett Law PLLC:  Support for Mississippi Car Accident Victims and Their Families

Accidents involving ejection are often tragic. If a person gets ejected from a vehicle and they survive the crash, they are often severely injured, and they may face a long period of healing and recovery. If you were hurt or someone that you love died after being ejected from a motor vehicle during an accident, you may be able to recover for your injuries or your loss. The Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC help accident victims and their families recover physically and financially after automobile accidents. Please call our office today, at 1 (800) 707-9577 to schedule your free, initial consultation.

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Mississippi Personal Injury Attorneys Talk about Teen Driver Safety

Parents and teens in Mississippi may not be aware that the state’s laws for young drivers are among the weakest teen driver laws in the nation. According to statistics that have been collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drivers between fifteen and twenty years of age were involved in seventy-six fatal crashes in 2014 and one hundred and three fatal crashes in 2015. These statistics indicate that the number of fatal accidents involving young drivers is rising, which is concerning both for young drivers and their parents.

In the past, all drivers used to receive the same driving privileges when they earned their drivers’ license. In more recent years, states have adopted graduated driver licensing laws, or GDLs, that have helped keep young drivers safe by giving them limited driving privileges at first and then adding privileges as they gain experience, skill, and maturity. Different states have different GDL programs, and there are seven types of rules that have been shown to help young drivers stay safe. The GDL program in Mississippi has one of those seven types of rules, which is a holding period of six months or more before a driver can receive an unrestricted license. Mississippi requires a holding period of twelve months, but there is an exemption for applicants who are seventeen or older when they apply for their driver’s license. Drivers who are seventeen or older when they first apply for a driver’s license can get an unrestricted license right away.

Mississippi allows teens to get learner’s permits at age fifteen, which is earlier than many states. Nighttime driving is also less restricted on weekends than it is in other places, with Mississippi teens being allowed to drive until 11:30 on Friday and Saturday nights when teens in many other states must be off of the road by ten at night every night of the week. Most states restrict the number and type of passengers that can ride with young drivers, but Mississippi does not.

Having laws to protect young drivers is only part of the battle for keeping young drivers and their passengers safe. The level of respect that many young people have for driving laws is low, as evidenced by the number of violations of those laws that have been observed by law enforcement officers. For example, texting and driving is against the law in Mississippi, but officers still see many teens texting and using cell phones while they are driving. While the laws for young drivers in Mississippi could be stronger, it is up to the young drivers and their parents to make sure that safe driving laws and practices are learned and followed so that accident rates for young drivers can decrease.

Barrett Law PLLC:  Comprehensive Support for Mississippi Automobile Accident Victims

Automobile accidents can cause severe injuries or death. If you got hurt in a crash or someone that you love died in a car accident, you might be able to recover financially for the damages that are associated with your injury or loss. To learn more about how to pursue a claim for damages, please call the knowledgeable Mississippi Personal Injury Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC today, at 1 (800) 707-9577 to arrange your free, initial consultation.

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Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys Talk about Kids and Seat Belts

A six-year-old girl is recovering from several surgeries following a horrific accident that nearly claimed her life. The girl was riding in a vehicle driven by her father when the vehicle struck a tree. The girl underwent hours of surgery to repair her abdomen, which had been sliced open by the seat belt that she had been wearing at the time of the crash.

The girl’s mother would like other parents to be aware of what happened to her daughter because she does not want anyone to make the same mistake that they did. They thought that the girl had outgrown her booster seat, so she was wearing a seat belt. Not only that, but the girl put the shoulder portion of the lap and shoulder belt behind her. The position of the shoulder strap increased the force of the lap belt against the girl’s body during the accident, and she was nearly cut in two.

Unfortunately, many parents do make the same mistake and move their child out of a booster seat before their body is truly large enough to be safely restrained by a properly used adult seat belt. Mississippi law requires that all children under age seven be restrained in a properly fitting child safety seat. Child safety seats come with instruction manuals to help parents use them correctly. Infant car seats should be kept facing the rear of the vehicle for as long as possible, in fact, many pediatricians recommend keeping kids rear-facing until they are two years old. After that, it is best to keep a child in a forward-facing seat with a five-point harness until they reach the upper limit for safe use of the seat. One important thing to do at this stage is to make sure that the center clip of the harness remains at armpit height because otherwise, the child could slip out the top in the event of a crash. When your child outgrows their harness car seat, they can use a booster seat while following the instructions for belt position based on the child’s weight, height, and age. The booster seat positions the seat belt in a way that restrains the child safely and transfers tension from the belt to the seat, not the child’s body when there is an accident.

Barrett Law PLLC:  Serving Mississippi Motor Vehicle Accident Victims  

Accidents involving seat belt injuries to children are often tragic. Children who are injured by a seat belt during a motor vehicle wreck often sustain life-threatening injuries and face a long recovery time if they do survive. If you or your child were hurt or someone that you love was killed in a motor vehicle or accident, you might be able to recover for your injuries or your loss. The experienced Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC help accident victims and their families recover physically and financially after automobile accidents. Please call our office today, at 1 (800) 707-9577 to schedule your free, initial consultation.

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