Springfield Virginia Motor Vehicle Accidents Blog

Since its inception, automatic emergency braking was believed to be a major breakthrough in vehicle safety. Now, a study of certain vehicles and their use of emergency braking has shown that automatic brakes may be even more helpful in avoiding accidents than experts first imagined. If true, this could be great news for all Virginia drivers.

The study, conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, reviewed data collected from 2013-2015 model vehicles. All of the vehicles were built by General Motors, including Buick, Cadillac and Chevrolet offerings. The study took data provided by GM identifying what vehicles had emergency breaking and then compared that to police accident reports to determine how often vehicles with automatic emergency braking failed to prevent motor vehicle accidents.

Virginia motorists may be concerned to learn that a significant percentage of commercial trucks operating in the state could have serious brake issues. As a result, they could present a danger to others on the road.

In September, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance conducted its Brake Safety Week at various locations throughout the U.S. and Canada. During the event, vehicle inspectors examined the brake systems of 35,080 commercial trucks and pulled 4,955 of them from service due to brake violations. That number represents 14.1 percent of all inspected vehicles.

In Virginia and other states throughout the country, the number of traffic fatalities has gone up in recent years. However, legislation passed in Georgia and other states shows that governments are taking the problem seriously. Laws passed in Georgia and Rhode Island prohibit drivers from using their phones while a car is in motion. According to TrueMotion, distracted driving was down in both of those states after hands-free laws were passed.

In Georgia, there was a 22 percent reduction in the amount of texting and app use among drivers in the first month after that state's law passed. According to the governor of Georgia, reducing traffic fatalities by 20 percent could save 260 people each year. As of September 2018, there was a 14 percent drop in traffic fatalities in Georgia. The results from Georgia's efforts have increased the amount of interest in other states for similar laws.

As people in Virginia and across the country debate the legalization of recreational marijuana, some have wondered if motor vehicle laws are keeping up with the times. Cannabis legalization has led to more people driving under the influence. This issue is especially complicated since there is little clear guidance about how much cannabis is too much to allow a person to drive safely. One study indicates that there's good reason for concern about how roadway safety could be affected by marijuana legalization.

The National Transportation Safety Authority released a report saying that more drivers across the country are impaired by drugs. It cited a Texas motor vehicle crash in 2017 that killed 12 people, saying that a man who hit the bus was under the influence of sedatives and marijuana. Given the opiate crisis and the rise in prescription drug abuse, many drug-related crashes aren't caused by cannabis. Still, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety noted that states with legalized marijuana have more car crashes overall.