The Effects Of Car Accidents On Pregnant Women

Raw fish, roller coasters, coffee, and hot tubs. What do these seemingly random things have in common?

I’ll answer that one Mr. Trebek.

What is: things pregnant women should avoid!

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!!!

Although all of the above things can be harmful to an unborn baby, another great pregnancy risk that almost all pregnant women take, without even thinking twice, is driving a car! Every year, according to SafeRide4Kids, about 300-5,000 unborn babies die in motor vehicle accidents. Also, the leading cause of miscarriages in the first trimester, is due to car accidents. However, telling a pregnant women to stay inside her house for nine months is unrealistic, because pregnant women work, shop, run errands, and travel, just like all other people.

In fact, according to Census Bureau Data, 66% of women worked while they were pregnant from 2006 to 2008, compared to the 1960s when only 44% of women worked at all during their pregnancies. Furthermore, 82% of women continued to work until less than one month before giving birth.

However, a Canadian study, from 2014, revealed that pregnant women are 42% more likely to get into a car accident than non-pregnant women. This is a serious statistic that clearly outlines that driving while pregnant may be unsafe. Why? Well, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, fatigue and drowsiness can impair a driver’s judgement, as well as slow down their reaction times. Unfortunately, drowsiness and fatigue are two very common symptoms that pregnant women experience. If a person driving a car in front of them brakes suddenly, a fatigued driver  may not react in time to slam on their own brakes, to avoid rear-ending the car in front. While all people who drive or ride in vehicles are susceptible of getting into car crashes any time they are on the road, and thereby risk car accident injuries to themselves, it’s the effects of a car crash on an unborn baby that is the cause for concern here.

So what can pregnant women do to decrease the likelihood of getting into a car crash due to fatigue and drowsiness? Well, Dr. Donald Redelmeier, who led the Canadian study said, "We aren't recommending pregnant woman delegate their driving to their husbands...Young adult men are even more dangerous behind the wheel. They have even higher crash rates [than pregnant women]... Obey stop signs. Don't speed. Minimize distractions — standard safe driving habits...That seems like such incredibly banal advice to give. I realize that, but every one of our crashes in the study could have been avoided by a small change in driver behaviors."

Redelmeier also notes that his pregnant patients often ask about the risks of flying and roller coasters, but they don’t ever discuss road safety, despite car accidents being a larger threat to their health.

Though car accidents pose dangers to pregnant women and their unborn children, driving a car isn’t the only way pregnant women can get into car accidents. Pedestrian car accidents also pose a threat to pregnant women. The Michigan Law Firm, PC blog recently covered the tragic pedestrian car crash involving Broadway actress Ruthie Ann Miles. Ms. Miles was walking across a crosswalk in Brooklyn New York after leaving a church service, accompanied by her friend and their respective children, when a driver  lost control and hit them. The accident took the lives of Miles’ four-year-old daughter, her friend’s one-year-old son and a nearby male pedestrian. Miles was pregnant at the time of the accident, but fortunately, the baby is reportedly unharmed.

Life is unpredictable and car accidents always happen. Whether they are fatal car accidents or just car crashes that cause a few cuts and bruises, any car crash is even more dangerous to a pregnant woman, and especially to a pregnant woman who may be suffering from fatigue or drowsiness. The Michigan Law Firm, PC understands how devastating car accidents can be. Our attorneys handle legal situations for car accident victims so they can focus on taking care of themselves and their families. For a free legal consultation, call 844.4MI.FIRM.

Car Accident Severely Injures Broadway Actress And Kills Two Children

When accidents happen, people often explain them away by saying that, "bad things happens to everyone." This saying is true because everyone in the world is at risk for being involved in a car accident, including celebrities. Celebrities are often forgotten about when it comes to accidents and sometimes it can come as a shock to the public when they are injured. On average, around 3,287 people are killed each day from car related accidents and celebrities have the same chance of being one of those people that everyone else does. One celebrity that was recently involved in a car crash is Ruthie Ann Miles.

Ruthie Ann Miles is a Broadway actress who made her debut in the musical, “The King and I,” which won her a Tony award in 2015. Ruthie was walking across a crosswalk in Brooklyn, New York with one of her friends, Lauren Lew, and both of their children, when a woman lost control of her car and hit them. According to the The Washington Post, Miles’ four-year-old daughter and Lews' one-year-old son were killed in the car crash instantly. Both women and a 46-year-old male pedestrian, who was also hit, were hospitalized for their injuries. Miles was pregnant at the time of the car crash, but thankfully, her unborn baby is unharmed.

The driver of the car was Dorothy Burns, a 44-year-old woman from Staten Island, New York. The Washington Post reported that the woman was sitting at an intersection in Brooklyn when her car began to move forward. According to nearby pedestrians, the car started moving slowly then sped up and struck the victims. A law enforcement official said that Burns was not drunk at the time and has not been charged. USA Today reported that Burns suffers from multiple sclerosis and had a seizure while stopped at a red light, which caused her to lose control of her car. Investigators looked at Burns’ medical records and said that if doctors have never prohibited her from driving, she may not face any charges.

After news broke that Burns suffers from seizures many people were angered that she was able to drive. Mayor Bill de Blasio said, “She should never have been allowed to have been driving a car after what we know of these other violations.” He also said that measures were going to be taken to prevent such car accidents from happening again. “People who get behind the wheel of a car need to understand that they have a weapon in their hands,” de Blasio stated. One thing that Mayor de Blasio is known for is promoting Vision Zero, a traffic safety campaign that is, “committed to helping communities reach their goal of Vision Zero - eliminating all traffic fatalities and severe injuries -while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all.”

Vision Zero focuses on reducing traffic accidents in major cities like New York. They believe that making smaller changes in not only major cities, but smaller suburban areas, can have a huge effect on saving the lives of many people in car accidents. Some strategies that they use to implement traffic accident safety are, lowering speed limits, redesigning streets, implementing meaningful behavior change campaigns, and enhancing data-driven traffic enforcement. If these car accident reducing strategies can help large cities like New York, maybe they can help reduce car accidents in Detroit too. The residents of Metro Detroit are used to the non-stop construction anyway, so why not make a few changes with the roads that possibly prevent future car accidents! 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that there are 4,092 pedestrian motor vehicle deaths and 59,000 pedestrian car crash injuries each year. Taking action and making small traffic safety changes, like those Vision Zero implements, can greatly reduce the number of people killed in car accidents each year. Another thing that people should be aware of is their personal health in relation to road safety.Conditions such as seizures, as well as simple issues like not have an up-to-date prescription for glasses, may impair driving. Drivers who are unaware of health issues that impair driving or choose to ignore them, may be putting the lives of innocent people on line, every time they drive. The way to prevent car accidents due to medical conditions is to go to regular checkup with healtcare professionals and to be 100% cleared to opearate a motor vehicle. 

Driving safety and road safety are important factors in preventing accidents, but  the person driving the car is just as important. By making sure that you are medically cleared to safely operate a motor vehicle, individuals  can prevent future car crashes from occurring and saves them from making a call to a car accident attorney. However, car crashes happen every day, for several other, non-medical reasons. If you or someone you know needs more information on how to handle a car accident, contact The Michigan Law Firm, PC by calling 844.4MI.FIRM. Our experienced accident attorneys offer free, legal consultations.

10 Year Old Takes Mom's Car for a Joyride

A kid stealing a car and speeding around town and on the highway may seem like something out of an action movie or a video game, but a very real joyride happened just south of the Michigan border last month. According to USA Today, on October 26, 2017, a 10-year old from northern Ohio lead police from multiple departments as well as state highway troopers on a high speed chase through his town and eventually onto the Ohio Turnpike in a stolen vehicle.

The boy had stolen his mom’s 2004 Toyota Avalon, and began driving it through his neighborhood in Westlake, Ohio. A police officer saw the boy go speeding by at around 9:30 AM, and was being chased by another vehicle that was driven by the boy’s mother. Police were also tipped off to the joyride by two 911 calls. One caller reported the vehicle swerving in and out of lanes and running other vehicles off the road. A second caller said the boy appeared to be traveling at speeds of 90 mph or higher.

Two other police vehicles began chasing the boy, following him for about 15 miles. They tried to stop him from entering the interstate, but failed. Once he entered the interstate, he drove through a toll both on the Ohio Turnpike, at which point 4 other police vehicles joined the chase. The police vehicles formed a moving road block, in order to the slow the boy down, who at the point was reaching speeds of 100 MPH. The chase on the interstate lasted about 20 miles, before the boy eventually pulled over into a grassy area. A police vehicle gently bumped up against the boy’s vehicle in order to prevent him from reentering the highway. Reportedly, police motioned to the boy to pull over several times, which he responded to by shaking his head no. Luckily, no was injured in the chase.

WKYC reported that once the boy finally pulled over, he was taken first to a hospital, and then placed in the custody of Erie County Children’s Services. The boy was reportedly very combative with police, kicking and spitting at officers once he had pulled over. Remarkably, this is the second time in only two weeks that he has taken one of his parent’s cars for a joyride. On October 16, 2017, he stole a Dodge Charger and lead police on a very similar chase. Currently, police are speaking with the Erie County Prosecutor’s Office about criminal charges.  

The boy is not the only one who could be facing criminal charges. While laws vary by state, the boy’s parents could be held responsible for his actions to some degree. If this situation took place in Michigan, according to Michigan law, the parent only faces criminal charges if they were involved in a child’s “bad act,” or if they had knowledge the child was planning to commit a bad act. In 2003, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled “parents may be held liable for failing to exercise the control necessary to prevent their children from intentionally harming others if they know or have reason to know of the necessity and opportunity for doing so.” More so, parents of a child who commits a crime may have to pay for any damages they caused if they child is unable to pay for them.

Joyrides such as this one may sound far fetched, but they do need to be taken seriously. While statistics on underage kids taking cars for joyrides are unavailable, it only takes a quick Google search to know that they do happen, and that they can be extremely dangerous. Parents need to ensure that their car keys are never left out in the open for children to take, as well as make sure their kids know how dangerous it is for them to operate a car. It may sound like something that could never happen to you or your child, but cars are fancy, secretive objects that can be very appealing for a child to try and get their hands on. Once behind the wheel however, a child's lack of experience in driving, a lack of education in road rules, and shorter stature may lead to the child causing a car accident. 

A child speeding down the highway is never something a driver expects to see, much less knows how to respond to. Highways are dangerous enough for the most seasoned driver, and having a child driver only increases the risk of a car crash happening. If you have been involved in an automobile accident, call The Michigan Law Firm, PLLC at 844.4MI.FIRM for a free legal consultation.