When Self Driving Cars Make Mistakes, Who Takes Over?

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UTAH. Driverless cars have already taken to the road in Las Vegas. These research vehicles are serving as taxis. And, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, Utah may become the first state to make autonomous vehicles legal. The new law would include special insurance requirements for autonomous vehicles. Yet, autonomous vehicles are still being tested for safety and there are situations where the vehicles continue to have difficulties. Who steps in when these vehicles encounter problems? Recent events in Arizona in which a driverless vehicle hit a pedestrian have also raised important questions about autonomous vehicle safety. Testing has currently been suspended until more information is discovered. It isn’t clear how this accident will impact Utah’s proposed legislative changes.

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Could the City Be Held Liable for Your Bike Accident?

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LAS VEGAS, Nevada. Biking on public roads can be incredibly dangerous. Drivers may not always be aware of bicyclists. Bike lanes may not always be divided from the roadway. And, all it takes is one mistake, one missed turn, one swerve, to result in a biker being seriously injured. Anyone who has biked on city roads has had one or more close calls. In fact, one study found that when bike lanes aren’t protected, bicyclists might experience as much as one close call each week. These close calls usually happen because there are no bike lanes, there is no separation between bike lanes and the road, or because drivers are not punished when they hit bikers.

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Bad Roads, Bad Train Tracks, More Car Accidents

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LAS VEGAS, Nevada. In the last two months, we’ve seen a recent increase in train accidents in the U.S. Most recently, an Amtrak train collided with a passenger train in South Carolina. Why have we been seeing more accidents like this? The Atlantic claims that these accidents are the result of America’s decaying infrastructure. Amtrak reportedly owns many of the rails on which its trains run. However, due to the company’s limited budget, it can’t always repair the rails. This can lead to problems with the track. In South Carolina, signals weren’t working on the stretch of track where the accident occurred. Manual operators were signaling. This leaves quite a bit of room open for human error. It is believed that a switch wasn’t properly turned, which may have put the train on the wrong track. In South Carolina, this resulted in at least two deaths. Were a similar mistake like this to happen in a major metropolitan city like New York, Boston, or Philadelphia, the death toll could be much higher.

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Can Backing Into a Parking Space Prevent Accidents?

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UTAH. In very few places are there explicit laws on how individuals should park their car. New York City, for example has some parking areas where drivers are explicitly required to back into a parking space. Where city parking can be busy and where streets can be crowded, backing into a space has clear benefits. However, in most parking lots in America, drivers can choose whether to park head on or to back up. But, which is safer?

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Hurt Your Back in a Car Accident?

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LAS VEGAS, Nevada. If you’ve been in a car accident, your doctor may initially prescribe pain medications to treat your pain. However, with reports about many people becoming addicted to opioid painkillers, more patients are seeking alternative treatments for their pain. While insurance companies may be ready to prescribe pain killers because they are low cost, individuals sometimes find themselves struggling to wean themselves off these drugs when the time comes. If you’ve been in a car accident, is an alternative treatment an option for you?

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Are Livestream Videos Leading to More Car Crashes?

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LAS VEGAS, Nevada. Just this week, an 18-year-old-woman was arrested after allegedly live streamed her car accident and sisters death. According to ABC News, the California teen faces charges for driving while under the influence and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Cosmopolitan reports that another teen’s friends watched while the driver livestreamed a 100-mile-per-hour crash. The suspect in this video hit a truck, drove across three lanes, and hit the highway barrier. Police have asked Facebook for a copy of the video to use it as evidence in trial.

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5 Ways to Help Your Teen Avoid Car Accidents

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No parent should have to endure the loss of a child, but that is the tragic reality faced by thousands of parents who lose children in car accidents every year. According to Teen Driver Source, about 11,000 teens lose their lives in traffic accidents annually, and 326,000 are seriously injured.

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11 Injured in School Bus Crash Involving SUV—Las Vegas Accident Attorney Insights

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The Las Vegas Sun reports on a school bus crash that injured 11 people including eight middle school students and the bus driver, as well as a woman and an infant who were in the SUV that hit the bus. The accident occurred just before 9 a.m. when the bus was en route to Faiss Middle School. Thirty-seven students were onboard at the time of the collision.

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Do I Have Grounds for a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

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The loss of a family member is always a grievous tragedy, but the experience can be particularly devastating if your loved one died due to the negligent or malicious actions of another person. Pursuant to Utah Code section 78B-3-106, if your family member died due to the wrongful act or negligence of another person, you can pursue damages by filing a wrongful death lawsuit.

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Want to Avoid Drunk Driving Accidents over Memorial Day Weekend?

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Drunk driving is a primary cause of serious accidents throughout the year, but alcohol-related crashes are particularly common over holiday breaks such as Memorial Day weekend. In 2010, more than 390 people lost their lives in traffic accidents over the Memorial Day holiday period—and drunk driving contributed to nearly 40 percent of those deaths.

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