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.

Springtime Is Here And So Is Allergy Season

Springtime has been long awaited, but after it's arrival last Tuesday, many people have mixed feelings. On one hand, the sun stays out later and it gets warmer, much to our pleasure. But on the other hand, allergy season descends upon us. Runny noses and frequent coughing become the norm for the season, and tissue sales increase like Michigan gas prices. These reactions to allergies are quite annoying - but they may also be dangerous.

According to Canadian Pharmacy Meds, allergies, also known as Allergic rhinitis (AR), affect up to 30% of the adult population. However, many people don’t realize the possible dangers that may result from allergies. AR can decrease cognitive functions and can make even daily activities a difficult task. Untreated AR can even reduce driving ability and put the driver and others on the road at risk. Many people don’t usually consider something as commonplace as allergies to be the cause of a car crash, but a study reported in the July blog issue of United Allergy Services stated that many common seasonal allergy symptoms, such as watery eyes, sneezing and fatigue, can significantly impair one's driving ability. A coughing fit or watery eyes while driving could cause the driver’s attention to wander causing a distracted driving car accident. 

In the Allergy study, 19 people in the Netherlands were given a nasal spray or a placebo, and then exposed to grass/tree allergens or a placebo. Then they went on a 60-minute driving test with a camera attached to see how often the car veered towards the center lane. In the last 15 minutes of the drive, they were also given a verbal test while driving. As a result, those who weren’t treated for allergies and then exposed to them performed the worst at both the driving test and the verbal test. The participants’ driving was so impaired by allergies that they drove similarly to how someone with a blood alcohol level of 0.03% would drive! To help prevent allergy impaired driving, Canadian Pharmacy Meds recommends obtaining prescribed allergy medication for allergy season, and to start taking the medication before allergy season begins, to avoid suffering from allergy symptoms and potentially causing a car crash. Other ways to avoid the worst of allergy season are as listed:

Tips For Surviving Seasonal Allergies

  • Keep all windows closed in your home and car to avoid letting in pollen.
  • Set your air conditioners to re-circulate in your home and vehicle to avoid drawing in outside pollen-rich air.
  • Limit your outside exposure when pollen counts are the highest. Stay inside between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m. on warm and dry mornings, and throughout dry and windy days. The safest time for outdoor activities is immediately after a heavy rainfall.
  • Minimize contact with people, pets, and things that may bring pollen inside after spending excess time outdoors. Wipe down pets when they enter your home after being outside if you can’t avoid them.
  • Wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from pollen. In severe allergy cases, wear a facemask when daily pollen counts are extremely high.
  • Wash your face and hands after you’ve been outside to remove pollen.
  • Remove your work clothes and shoes as soon as you get home. Don’t drag allergens throughout your home, where they’ll continue to trigger your symptoms. Take off your shoes outside the door before entering. Throw your clothes in the hamper and change into something else.
  • Wash bed linens in hot, soapy water once a week.
  • Avoid line drying your clothes and bedding outdoors when your local pollen count is high.
  • Shower and shampoo your hair before going to bed to remove pollen and keep it off your bedding.
  • Gargling with salt water once or twice a day throughout allergy season can ease congestion and soothe a sore or scratchy throat.
  • Take symptoms seriously. If you feel lousy, rest, go to bed early, or take a sick day. Overexertion will only make you feel worse.

These tips may help those with severe allergies avoid the worst of the symptoms. Many people don’t see how common allergies could be dangerous rather than merely an annoyance. Being cautious and prepared for the upcoming allergy season may aid in avoiding allergy impaired driving and help people avoid an auto accident.

Spring is a time of happiness to many. The sun stays out later, flowers bloom, and warmth returns. Also returning, unfortunately, is allergy season. While suffering from allergies can be irritating, they may also be dangerous in the event that allergies impair driving abilities. If you or someone you know has been injured in an auto accident, call The Michigan Law Firm, PC at 844.4MI.FIRM for a free consultation.

Dangerous April Fools Day Car Pranks!

Today is April Fools’ Day, a day for pranksters to up their game and go wild! Planning pranks can take time and energy, but it is worth the effort when the victim springs the trap and is caught up in the prank. There are many harmless pranks people can pull for April Fools' Day, like scattering toy spiders throughout the house and waiting for an arachnophobia to stumble across them. Or perhaps switching the salt and sugar labels for some extra salty cookies. However, there are some pranks that may go too far and are no longer funny. In fact, they could be dangerous. According to Statistic Brain, about 175 people are injured by an April Fools’ prank each year. That may not seem like a large number, but considering pranks are supposed to be fun, it is far too high.

A viral video from July showed a motorcyclist picking up a mug from the back of a car and returning it to the owner by driving up to her window! While this was done as an act of kindness, the opposite could be done as a prank. An online forum lists several car pranks that could easily go wrong. One trick is to leave a cup with coffee, or other drink, on a person’s car and hope they won’t notice. When they start driving, the cup goes flying and spills all over the car! This doesn’t seem like a big deal, other than possibly making a mess on the car, but the cup could also fall and hit the windshield of the car, or even another car, causing confusion, panic, and possibly a car crash if the surprised driver swerves. 

Another prank that most people have heard of, is covering someone’s car in Post-it notes or wrapping it up in saran wrap. These may seem funny at first glance, but another look can reveal car accident dangers. The Post-it prank is more of a painstaking, time-consuming art project, so the “victim” may want to only clear the windshield and drive with the rest of the car still covered. Not only does a colorful Post-it car cause other drivers on the road to be distracted but the Post-its could go flying from the vehicle and hit the other cars, once again causing confusion, panic, and swerving cars to get into a car crash.  Wrapping a car in saran wrap on the other hand,  makes it difficult for someone to get into their car in case of an emergency. Also, once again, a saran wrapped car may encourage distracted driving behavior from other drivers who see the car and are puzzled or humored by it. It just seems like any pranks concerning a car, though they seem funny, may also be dangerous, because at the very least, they cause distracted driving on the road.

The cinder block prank is another popular car prank posted online, that seems more dangerous than funny. This prank involves someone removing the tires of a car and leaving the car boosted on cinder blocks. Unless the prankster is a professional mechanic, removing tires could possibly damage the car and make it unusable for the foreseeable future. If not done properly, taking parts off of a car may damage the car in a way that makes it unsafe to operate and may even lead to car accidents. Car damage and the associated risk of car accidents, are also a possibility in pranks that involve filling the car up with water by tossing a hose through a partially open car window. If not water, even filling a car up with something like golf balls could cause car accidents, if the balls rush out of the car and into the road or into traffic, when a door is opened.

April Fools' pranks are meant to be funny, enjoyable, and perhaps also embarrassing to those exposed to the prank. They should not make people concerned for their safety, for the safety of their possessions, like their car, or the safety of others not even involved in the joke. Pulling a prank in, on, or around a car should be thoroughly thought out before being put into action, so that it doesn’t lead to permanent car damage or cause car accidents. If you have to cover a car in Post-its, even if it takes a whole day to do so, it’s best to film the victim’s reaction and then help them remove all of the paper before the car is driven. You’ll still get Instagram likes for the victim’s priceless reaction video and you’ll likely avoid any legal trouble you may have risked if you had caused a car accident. 

April Fools’ Day can be a very enjoyable holiday. Who doesn’t love the trick gum that snaps at a person’s fingers or squirting water at someone through a flower pin on your lapel? These pranks are small and harmless, however, not all pranks are. Don’t be the person who wraps your best friends car in saran wrap. Setting up a prank in or on someone’s car could cause a car crash, whether it be from distraction or even causing damage to the car. If you or someone you know is injured in a car accident, call The Michigan Law Firm, PC at 844.4MI.FIRM for a free consultation.