AZ Personal Injury Litigation (CKGH Law, P.C.)

Monday, August 4, 2014

DISTRACTED DRIVER INJURES CITY OF PHOENIX EMPLOYEE

DISTRACTED DRIVER INJURES CITY OF PHOENIX EMPLOYEE
By: Galen Satterlee

A City of Phoenix employee was injured at 24th Street and Pecos Rd. in Ahwatukee today. A distracted female driver was reaching for a bottle in the back seat of her SUV when she struck and seriously injured the municipal employee. It is our present understanding the at-fault driver had two children under 5 years old in the back seat at the time of the collision.

Distracted driving is a cause of thousands of accidents in Arizona annually. Distractions inside a car are the number 2 cause of distracted driving accidents (behind outside distractions - i.e. looking at another accident). Cell phone usage is the 3rd most frequent cause of distracted driving accidents in Arizona.

If you are the victim of a distracted driving accident, please call us and we will be happy to help guide you through the process of pursuing a claim and ensure you get the compensation you deserve.

About DUI Victim Lawyers - Galen Satterlee and CJ Gibbs are drunk driving accident attorneys dedicated to representing victims of drunk and distracted driving. Our practice takes us throughout Arizona (and beyond with associated counsel) and we want to earn the right to represent you or a loved one affected by a drunk or distracted driving accident. Call us at 623.512.2502.

*The information on this blog is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. Furthermore, past results are not a guarantee of future success. Every case is unique. Principal Office: CKGH Law, P.C., 16515 S. 40th St., #143, Phoenix, AZ.

DRUNK DRIVING BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN FACTOR IN SCOTTSDALE CRASH KILLING TWO MINORS AND ONE ADULT

Tragedy strikes again. And once again, alcohol may have been a factor.

Three people were killed in a single vehicle rollover accident in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Saturday August 2nd. Alcohol is believed to have been a factor. The adult driver and two minor girls were killed in the accident. One male passenger survived.

The driver of the vehicle was the brother-in-law of the surviving male passenger. The two girls that were killed in the accident were daughters of the surviving male passenger.

How many more people need to die because of drunk driving?

#StopDrunkDriving

http://ktar.com/22/1755607/Police-Man-2-girls-die-in-Scottsdale-crash#bylineInline

DISTRACTED DRIVING ACCIDENT CAUSES

DISTRACTED DRIVING ACCIDENT CAUSES
By: Galen Satterlee

Distracted driving causes nearly 11% of Arizona traffic accidents. According to a recent study by Arizona's Department of Public Safety, the most frequent cause of distracted driving accidents our "outside" influences, which account for nearly a quarter of all distracted driving accidents. Second to outside influences was reaching from something inside the vehicle. After that (and a surprise to some) was cell phone usage.

Arizona is woefully behind on passing any legislation that bans distracted driving. In fact, Arizona is one of only five states that doesn't have any such laws on the books. For more details, check out the Phoenix New Times article on the subject:

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2014/04/arizona_texting_driving_accidents_dps_highway_patrol.php

If you've been in a distracted driving accident, please give us a call. Our personal injury practice is dedicated to representing victims of drunk and distracted drivers.

DRUNK DRIVING ACCIDENT STATISTICS

DRUNK DRIVING ACCIDENT STATISTICS
By: Galen Satterlee

ADOT does an annual evaluation of drunk driving accidents and details their findings. The statistics are scary. By way of example, the number of drunk driving accidents accounts for less than 5% of all traffic accidents in Arizona. However, nearly 33% of all traffic fatalities in Arizona result from drunk driving accidents.

Thousands of innocent people are injured in drunk driving accidents. The economic toll of drunk driving accidents is equally staggering. Annually, nearly $500M in damages flow from drunk driving accidents. There is a great deal of additional detail in the report with respect to when drunk driving accidents are most likely to occur: time of day, day of week, time of year, etc.

For more detail on ADOT's review of drunk driving accidens, click on the following link (the drunk driving statistics start at page. 32 of the Report):

http://www.azdot.gov/docs/default-source/mvd-services/12crashfacts.pdf?sfvrsn=2

(NO) ACCOUNTABILITY IN DRUNK DRIVING ACCIDENTS

(NO) ACCOUNTABILITY IN DRUNK DRIVING ACCIDENTS
By: Galen Satterlee

There is a sad and disturbing story in today's Arizona Republic about a lack of accountability in a young woman's death at the hands of a drunk driver 21 years ago (http://www.azcentral.com/story/laurieroberts/2014/08/04/rose-marie-maher-angela-gloria-schulze/13491551/).

This story illustrates the struggle family's of drunk driving victims sometimes go through. While victim advocacy in the criminal courts has come a long way in the last two decades, letting a known killer escape is a wrong the must be made right. Unfortunately, the interests of the victim(s) of drunk driving accidents aren't always a top consideration in prosecuting DUI offenses. But victims deserve to be heard and offenders deserve to be punished.

We hope and pray that Rose Marie Maher gets justice!

About DUI Victim Lawyers - Galen Satterlee and CJ Gibbs are drunk driving accident attorneys dedicated to representing victims of drunk driving. Our practice takes us throughout Arizona (and beyond with associated counsel) and we want to earn the right to represent you or a loved one affected by a drunk driving accident. Call us at 623.512.2502

Friday, August 1, 2014

STOPPING WRONG-WAY DRIVERS IN ARIZONA

STOPPING WRONG-WAY DRIVERS IN ARIZONA
By: Galen H. Satterlee

Arizona officials seem to have been caught on their heels with the high number of recent and deadly wrong-way crashes on Arizona's freeways. ADOT is continuing to study sensors to detect and alert DPS to the presence of wrong-way drivers. But is this really a DPS or ADOT problem? Keeping drunk and impaired drivers off the roadways is step one to preventing drunk driving accidents. DPS is the last line of defense and they are making a valiant effort to curb the problem, but there is only so much they can do.

To stop drunk driving accidents, we all need to be more proactive on educating and reminding people about the importance of designated drivers, reminding bars about the liquor laws and tips and tools to identify patrons showing signs of intoxication. Too many innocent people are dying or being seriously injured in drunk driving accidents.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2014/08/01/officials-quick-fix-can-stop-wrong-way-drivers/13449813/

Thursday, July 31, 2014

ANOTHER WRONG-WAY COLLISION IN PHOENIX

WRONG-WAY COLLISION NEAR DOWNTOWN PHOENIX, SEVERAL INJURED
By: Galen H. Satterlee

This is beyond absurd. Yet another wrong-way collision occurred last night along the Interstate 17 near Downtown Phoenix. According to news reports, approximately 20 calls were made to 911 alerting them of the wrong-way driver, but they were unable to stop him before he caused the crash. At least two people, including the wrong-way driver, were critically injured and had to be extricated from their vehicles.

The wrong-way driver is being investigated for possibly being under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the crash. The frequency of wrong-way crashes is alarming. The Arizona Department of Transportation is scrambling to figure out solutions, but they seem pre-occupied with notification systems. As indicated by last night's wrong-way crash, notifying DPS of a wrong-way driver is NOT the problem. Impaired driving is THE problem.

The horrific wrong-way crashes that have occurred around Phoenix over the last several months generally have a common denominator - a driver that was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. AZ Central has a timeline chronicling the wrong-way driver problem and providing further perspective on the severity of these crashes and the toll they take in terms of injury and death.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2014/07/31/phoenix-wrong-way-driver-crash/13396359/

While ADOT focuses on education, enforcement, and engineering, we need the Office for Highway Safety and others to focus on reducing the number of drunk drivers on the roadways. It is a complex problem, but we need to work hard to find solutions, because doing nothing is leading to more deaths and more injuries. #stopdrunkdriving