Birmingham Injury Law Blog

Category: Vehicle Accidents

Truck and Railroad Vehicle Collide

When a road crosses  railroad tracks, motorists count on the warning lights at the crossing to signal when a train is coming, and thus prevent a collision between the motor vehicle and the train.  Unfortunately for one Alabama motorist, the warning lights were not working at a crossing and he collided with a railroad vehicle which resulted in serious injury to one driver in the incident. At a railroad crossing near Moores Mill and Jordan roads this morning, one person was injured when a pick...

Alabama Corrections Officer Killed in Motorcycle Crash

With the economic recession, more workers have  turned to motorcycles as a means of commuting to work each day, as the fuel economy of motorcycles is greater than that of most automobiles on the highways today.  A motorcycle’s economy varies, with ranges from a low of 29 mpg up to a high of 107 mpg.  In the Motorcycle Industry Council’s 2008 owner’s survey, motorcyclists cited transportation as one of the top reasons for owning a bike, which was ahead of short-distance or leisure riding, whic...

Passenger Bus Strikes Birmingham Nightclub

The Quest nightclub in Birmingham is a private club where people go to hear DJ played music, participate in karaoke, dance, and see live performances as well.  Unfortunately for club attendees, their night of fun ended early when a passenger bus crashed into the club on the evening of July 2. Birmingham police and fire responded to a call at about 8:30 p.m. on July 2 to the Quest nightclub when a passenger bus crashed into the club.  According to Birmingham Fire Battalion Chief Eddie Coar, t...

Teen Dies After Being Struck by Train

In Mobile, Alabama, two teen-aged boys were walking along the train tracks near the Dog River about 7:00 a.m. Saturday morning.  According to the police report, although both boys heard the train horn, they ignored the warning and stayed on the tracks.  This was a fatal decision on their part as the the train could not stop and struck the boys, with the collision killing 15-year-old D’Angelo Winston. When a train weighing several hundred tons collides with a car weighing one ton or...

Hoover Police Alarmed About Rising Number of Golf Carts on Public Streets

More and more people, according to Hoover police, are driving  golf carts on both public streets and sidewalks.  According to state law, unless a golf cart has a tag, headlights, brake lights, windshield with wipers and a rear-view mirror, it is not street legal, a fact which, police state, many people do not know.  Driving a golf cart on a sidewalk is prohibited by state law as carts are considered  motorized vehicles and it is unlawful to drive any motorized vehicle on a...

Children Account for a Disturbing Proportion of Four-Wheeler Accidents

All Terrain Vehicles (ATV’s) were introduced in the United States in the 1970’s and have grown in popularity and use ever since.  Just as dramatic as the growth in popularity is the increase in the number of injuries associated with ATV accidents.  The number of annual ATV-related injuries has increased from 10,000 in 1982 to more than 150,000 in 2007, with the number of fatalities also increasing from 29 in 1982 to 766 in 2007.  What is rather unsettling about these figures is...

Can Motorcycle Crash Deaths Be Reduced in Alabama?

The nation’s highway traffic deaths are on the decline, and in Alabama that decline began in 2008.  However, although traffic deaths in general in Alabama  are on the decline, motorcycle deaths are not declining, but instead are staying at a fixed level.  According to the Governor’s Highway Safety Association, no gains were made in reducing motorcycle deaths on Alabama highways in 2011. Alabama officials reported that in 2011 there were 891 traffic deaths in the state and that...

Alabama Bike Laws

Early in the  morning on June 7, a Birmingham man died after running a stop sign and crashing into an 18-wheeler near the Inglenook Community, Birmingham police stated.  The man apparently was riding down a hill when the crash occurred and was taken to UAB hospital, where he was pronounced dead. What sounds like a car/truck accident, is actually a bike/truck accident, as the man who ran the stop sign was riding a bicycle.  Who is to blame in this tragic accident? According to  Alabama Bicyc...

Children and Lawn Mower Safety

When we hear of accidental deaths of children involving a moving vehicle, we usually think an automobile was involved.  However, during the spring and summer months another moving vehicle can cause injuries and even deaths in children. Lawn mower accidents among children can be a big problem in spring and summer.  The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), estimates that around 17,000 children require care in the emergency room yearly because of lawn mower accidents. A few recent lawn mower ...

Accidents on the Water

Summer rings in the boating season and any one of Alabama’s 31 lakes offer great playtime on the water. It is important to keep in mind though that because it’s a favorite pastime, the waterways are likely to be more crowded than usual. People are in celebratory vacation moods and that can sometimes equate to a more carefree attitude toward safety. Those carefree attitudes and inattention can cause terrible tragedy when it involves the driver of a boat. Add to that an inexperienced driver, a...

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