colorado springs car crash lawyer

Running Red Lights Can Cause Serious Injuries and Deaths

By Timothy Bussey on April 2, 2013

While most Colorado drivers know that running a red light can cause serious injuries or even death, many don’t realize just how pervasive the problem is. And while many Colorado communities have begun to address the problem with red light cameras and other tools, drivers who run red lights continue to pose a risk.

According to research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), 673 people lost their lives in 2010 and about 122,000 were injured in crashes caused by a driver who ran a red light. In context, this means a driver runs a red light in the U.S. about once every twenty minutes.  About 39 percent of all red light runners cause a crash that leaves someone injured or killed.

About half of those who are injured or killed in red light running accidents are pedestrians, bicyclists, and passengers – not drivers.  Meanwhile, drivers who run red lights are more likely to be younger, to not use their seat belts regularly, and to have poorer driving records than other drivers – including multiple speeding convictions.

Does Opioid Use Increase Car Accident Risks? One Study Says Yes

By Timothy Bussey on January 29, 2013

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) indicates that the risk of a serious car accident is linked to long-term opioid use – and that the risk of a crash goes up along with the dose.

The study examined patients who were prescribed varying strengths of opioids like oxycodone, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, and fentanyl. It looked both at patients who were taking the medications for the first time, those who had recently had their doses increased, and those who had been on a stable dose for a period of time.

Study Links Video Game Play to Reckless Driving Among Teens

By Timothy Bussey on September 19, 2012

Playing certain types of video games may increase the chances that a teen driver will take careless or reckless chances on the road, according to a recent study.

The study followed 5,000 U.S. teens over four years. The teens were interviewed each year, asking questions about their video game play and their driving habits. The first interview revealed that 50 percent of the teens regularly played “mature”-rated video games. One of the most popularly-played games was Grand Theft Auto III, in which reckless driving wins points.

A year later, teens’ driving records were examined in a second interview. Researchers found that the number of teens pulled over by police for careless or reckless driving maneuvers nearly doubled, from 11 percent to 21 percent. They also found that the number of teen drivers reporting car accidents went from 8 percent to 14 percent.