Garden City Personal Injury Blog

According to data gathered by the Governors Highway Safety Association, there were an estimated 6,227 pedestrian deaths in 2018. That was the highest number since 1990, and it represents a 35 percent increase from 2008. There were a number of reasons why New York pedestrians were being killed at higher rates, and they include distracted driving and walking as well as drug and alcohol use.

Individuals were distracted in part by using smartphones while walking to work. SUVs were more likely to kill or injure pedestrians because they hit victims in the torso and head. This type of vehicle was deemed more likely to injure or kill even when a collision took place at relatively low speeds. From 2013 to 2017, the number of deaths caused by an SUV rose 50 percent.

From 2015 to 2017, more and more of the fatal crashes that occur involve large trucks. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has noted that the number of large truck occupant fatalities went up each year during that period as well. In particular, fatal work zone crashes involving one or more large trucks saw an increase in percentage for each of the three years. This trend affects New York and the rest of the nation.

The FMCSA presented this and other data at the 2019 Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. However, it did not put the blame for the upward trend on truckers themselves. Most accidents, after all, have multiple factors. However, the data makes it clear that truckers can do a lot to improve road safety for everyone.

The Governors Highway Safety Association has released a report that looks afresh at the role of speeding in many automobile-related fatalities in New York and across the U.S. It is estimated that excessive speed is behind one-third of all such fatalities. Despite the existence of state and federal policies and programs meant to reduce speeding, it continues to be thought of as culturally acceptable among many drivers.

The GHSA report is titled "Speeding Away from Zero: Rethinking a Forgotten Traffic Safety Challenge." The hopes of the organization echo those of Vision Zero, the nationwide road project that aims to completely eliminate motor vehicle fatalities. The report mentions how even a small decrease in travel speed can reduce the severity of crashes and injuries. Increase that speed, though, and lives are threatened, especially those of bicyclists and pedestrians.

New York residents who have been correctly diagnosed with migraines are, in a way, fortunate. One study shows that only one in 20 patients get an accurate headache or migraine diagnosis. The following are seven conditions that migraines are frequently confused with. The opposite, where patients with one of the seven conditions are diagnosed with a migraine, can occur as well.

Like many invisible chronic illnesses, migraines can be mistaken for anxiety and panic attacks. Patients may indeed develop anxiety, but this only results from the stress of living with migraines. A second mistake condition is Meniere's disease. The symptoms of this disorder of the inner ear include vertigo, hearing problems and a ringing in the ears, which can be mimicked by migraines.