On Friday December 17, 2011, Ottawa Fire Fighters extricated a 22 year old man from a BMW after a  two-vehicle collision on Baseline Road at Rockway Crescent.  The man is described as having suffered a fractrued pelvis, chest injuries and multiple lacerations. He was taken to the hospital in serous condition. The driver is reportedly not seriously injured.

This is not the first serious accident our Ottawa personal injury lawyers are aware of at this intersection.  For a small intersection, it poses numerous visibility issues.  If you are driving at Baseline and Rockway, please use extra caution.

If you have suffered  a serious injury and wish to have a free consultation, please contact our firm at 613 233-4529.

Ottawa Lawyer: More Info on Distracted Driving

OTTAWA ACCIDENT LAWYER -As an Ottawa personal injury lawyer, I know first hand the trouble distracted driving causes accident victims.  According to the CBC, dozens of studies have shown there is a statistical association between cell phone use while driving and motor vehicle accidents.

Here is a sampling of the research the CBC cites:

In 1997, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that the risk of getting into an accident while talking on a cellphone was four times higher than when the phone was not being used. At that time, about 15 per cent of the population owned cell phones.

A study out of the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1998 indicated a 9 times increase in the risk of fatality when a cellphone is present in a motor vehicle involved in an accident. Two years earlier, the same researcher found the risk of being involved in an accident increased by more than 5.5 times when the driver talked on the cell phone in the vehicle for fifty minutes or more per month.

In the May 29, 2001 edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the authors of the 1997 study clarified that “making calls on a cellular telephone is distinctly more risky than listening to the radio, talking to passengers and other activities commonly occurring in vehicles.”

Drivers are more distracted by cellphone conversations than by conversations with passengers. A study published in the December 15th, 2008 issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, found that under simulated driving conditions, drivers talking on cellphones missed exits and drifted out of their lanes more often than drivers talking to passengers.

A 2009 study found that cellphone conversations impair decision making for drivers, while listening to someone talking to you (not on a cellphone) did not.

In January 2005, a study suggested that hands-free devices may not make cellphone use any safer.  If a hands-free device is not easy to use, it could be more distracting than a regular cellphone.

If this is not enough to convince you to drive safely without your cell phone, the injury lawyers at Ottawa law firm Auger Hollingsworth cannot imagine what is.

If you’ve been involved in an Ontario car accident, whether or not a cell phone was involved, don’t proceed with your claim until you’ve spoken with an Ottawa personal injury lawyer. For more information, contact the Ottawa lawyers at Auger Hollingsworth by email info@ottawalawfirm.ca or by phone at (613) 233-4529.

Ottawa Lawyer- Aggressive Drivers Cause Accidents

Ottawa Personal Injury Lawyer– Even if you are the safest driver on the road, there is always the chance that you will encounter other drivers who are aggressive and who can pose a potential threat to your well-being. Because of this reality, it is necessary to keep yourself informed about what to do should you ever end up in an accident. The Ottawa accident lawyers at Auger Hollingsworth are available to help you in the event of an accident.  But sometimes people want information before meeting with a lawyer.  Consider ordering our two books – Crash Course: A Savvy Women’s Guide to Ontario Car Accident Claims and Injured Victim’s Guide to Fair Compensation – written by lawyers at Auger Hollingsworth as a starting point for anyone who has the misfortune of being involved in a car accident.

According to Ottawa Police, aggressive driving practices are one of the biggest causes of automobile collisions.

Ottawa Police are planning to keep a closer watch on speeders and stop sign runners as part a Selective Traffic Enforcement Program. This past March, police issued 32-hundred speeding tickets on Ottawa roads.

To stay safe, keep your eyes open for aggressive drivers. And if you ever need an Ottawa personal injury lawyer as a result of an accident, lawyers at Auger Hollingsworth are available for a free, no obligation consultation. If you prefer, we can come to you at home or in the hospital.  To speak with a lawyer, call 613 233-4529 or email us at info@ottawalawfirm.ca

Injury Lawyer: Avoiding Ottawa Drunk Driving Accidents

As an Ottawa personal injury lawyer, I know that alcohol-related car accidents in Ottawa over the winter holidays are serious. The Ontario government has agreed to provide $50,081.34 to fund this year’s RIDE program.  The RIDE program provides impaired driving spot checks on Ontario roads, including in Ottawa.  This is the second year across Ontario that 8,000 officers will be funded to conduct the spot checks.  This is more than double the number of officers who were on the road two years ago.

In 2008-9, Ontario police conducted 784,000 spot checks, resulting in 970 impaired driving charges and 1,900 12-hour license suspensions.

As you begin to plan your winter holiday outings, please take care to plan your trip home!!  A little planning can help you avoid serious criminal charges, or something much worse.

If you have suffered an injury as a result of an impaired driver, contact a personal injury lawyer at Auger Hollingsworth for a free consultation.  Call 613 233-4529 or email info@ottawalawfirm.ca.

Driving While Sending Text Messages Causes Ontario Accidents

Statistics of accidents resulting from text messaging and driving at the same time show that text messaging while driving is one of the leading causes of fatal accidents in recent times. In a recent research study  conducted, it was found that text messaging while driving is deadlier than drunk driving and can increase the chances of having a fatal crash by more than 23 times. Drivers are six times more likely to be distracted and cause an accident while text messaging and driving at the same time.

Combination of Driving and Text Messaging

Distracted drivers account for more than 80% of car accident and 60% of near car crashes in the United States and Canada alone on yearly basis. Out of these figures, more than 65% of such distractions occur from use of mobile cell phones while driving. According to the Canadian National Highway Safety Administration, the top distraction among drivers including text messaging, receiving and making phone calls, searching for a lost object inside the vehicle, talking with other passengers, applying make-up, driving while angry, and fidgeting with controls. Text messaging while driving still remains the deadliest and perhaps the most uncontrollable form of distraction while driving.

Compared to impaired driving, it has been revealed that those who drive under moderate alcohol consumption can still control their driving speeds to an extent. However, those who send text messages have no chances of controlling a car when an accident is about to occur. This shows that text messaging will make the driver unable to control himself or herself while operating on the device and sending a text message.

Text messaging while driving has been found to be the second leading causes of automobile accident deaths in 16-45 year olds in Canada. Students and teenagers have always been the age group that suffers the most casualties among all age groups.

Though some provinces in Canada, including Ontario, have rightly banned the use of cell phones while driving, the pressures of work, the anxiety to remain  in touch, emergencies may inhibit  people from adhering to this restriction.  

Let’s hope that’s not the case.  If you have been in a serious car accident due to the fault of another driver, including a driver who was violating Ontario’s law against using hand-held devices while driving, contact an Ottawa accident lawyer at Auger Hollingsworth.