Alleged Drunk Driver Kills 5 in NY Crash
An alleged drunk driver killed five Amish farmers and injured 10 other people in a three-vehicle crash near New York’s Finger Lakes region. According to sheriffs’ deputies, 42-year-old Steven Eldridge tried to pass a tractor near Benton, N.Y., when his car collided head-on with a van containing 13 Amish farmers on an excursion to learn […]
LaHood: Cellphone Laws Reduce Distracted Driving Dangers
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Monday that strict laws governing cellphone use while driving combined with highly visible police enforcement tactics have proven effective in reducing distracted driving dangers. The Transportation Department funded two programs in Hartford, Connecticut, and Syracuse, New York, to investigate whether the combination of a strong public relations campaign and […]
Study: Mobile Devices Create Biggest Driver Distractions
A recently released study by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) revealed that cell phones and other mobile devices cause nearly 25 percent of U.S. car crashes each year. The GHSA, a nonprofit group that focuses on improved traffic safety, evaluated more than 350 scientific papers on distracted driving that have been published since 2000. […]
Tanker Explosion Prompts Evacuation of Iowa Town
A petroleum tanker truck explosion prompted the evacuation of a small town in Iowa Friday morning, officials said. The explosion caused a large plume of smoke, which prevented fire crews from immediately arriving at the scene of the of the accident. The blast was followed by three smaller explosions two hours later. Most of Blakesburg, […]
Nine Life Insurance Companies Issued Subpoenas by NY AG
The Attorney General of New York has issued subpoenas to nine life insurance companies to investigate whether the firms have sufficiently ensured payouts on the policies of deceased customers. This is the latest of a wave of recent regulatory scrutiny measures aimed at ensuring that insurers have made adequate attempts to identify the beneficiaries of […]
Helmet Law Protester Killed in Motorcycle Crash
A New York man riding his motorcycle in protest of the state’s helmet law was killed after he flew over his motorcycle’s handlebars and hit his head on the asphalt, police officials said. Philip Contos, 55, was participating in the 11th annual Helmet Protest Run when he crashed at about 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Onandaga. […]
Accident Victim Lands in Drunk Driver’s Passenger Seat
A Houston man was arrested after hitting a pedestrian and driving nearly 3 miles early Tuesday morning while the man died in his passenger seat, according to police reports. Police arrested 45-year-old James John Onak for failing to stop at a crash involving a death and driving while intoxicated after striking a 32-year-old man who […]
Tort Reform Laws Passed in 18 States
Tort reform laws have been enacted in 18 states this year, most of which favor big business, a representative for the American Tort Reform Association said. The new laws implement changes such as a limit on how class-action suits may be filed, a ban on liability for property owners when trespassers suffer injuries on their […]
VA Man Killed by Pit Bull
A man found dead in his Spotsylvania, Virginia, home on Saturday was mauled to death by his pet pit bull, medical examiners say. The son of David Quyon Haigler, 38, called police at 6 p.m. after discovering his fathers body. Police found Haigler’s 6-year-old pit bull running loose in the home, which initially prevented officers […]
Michigan Pit Bull Ban Stalled
A statewide ban on the breeding and sale of pit bulls has stalled in the Michigan legislature, a committee chairman says. Rep. Hugh Crawford, chairman of the Regulatory Reform Committee, said the committee has stalled the measure to ban the breed, which was introduced by Rep. Tim Bledsoe after a constituent’s niece was attacked by […]