An Ohio man has been charged with his tenth operation under the influence offense after he wrecked his car in a ditch last week. Ralph J. Gipple, 46, crashed his vehicle into a ditch on the Hicksville-Edgerton Road near Hicksville, Ohio. When the car came to rest, Gipple fled on foot. Police tracked him with… read more
A combined lawsuit against Andrew Schlichtemeier, the drunk driver who killed four Omaha-area motorcyclists in August 2010, has essentially been settled. Schlichtemeier offered the families of the motorcyclists the proceeds from the car insurance policies he carried at the time of the crash, and they accepted. On August 9, 2010, the four riders were returning… read more
A South Carolina deputy had to struggle to arrest an intoxicated man after he found him passed out in an SUV that appeared to have been in an accident. The Spartanburg County deputy said he came upon a stopped SUV on Dobson Road that looked as though it had been in a wreck. He approached… read more
A woman in Jackman, Maine hit a utility pole head-on after drifting across the road while checking her cell phone. Distracted driving has become a major issue in recent years as increasing numbers of people rely on cell phones for everything from phone calls to emails. The more communication options at our fingertips, the more… read more
Nevada’s traffic fatalities dropped last year to 243, a decrease that the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) attributes at least in part to the launch of Zero Fatalities, a statewide initiative to reduce highway deaths by employing new safety strategies. After a peak of 432 fatalities in 2006, the number of deaths decreased each year… read more
The United States is not the only country attempting to get a handle on the problem of distracted driving. Canada is also cracking down on the dangerous habits of drivers, and one province, British Columbia, is reporting that new laws are saving lives and reducing traffic fatalities. Though most provinces have laws prohibiting or at… read more
Arizona was given a failing safety grade recently by a national highway safety group, with the state adopting less than a third of the laws the group considers basic to traffic safety. The only state to rank lower than Arizona in the ninth annual report from the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety was South… read more
The rates of distracted driving are climbing, and a national debate has ensued over what to do about the problem. A Maryland doctor has conducted a study to look at another problem with distraction: distracted walking. Pedestrians walking with headphones in their ears face an increased risk of getting in an accident, according to the… read more
An off-duty Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy was convicted and sentenced last week in a drunken driving motorcycle accident that injured his wife. Richard J. Patterson, 38, of West Covina, was riding while intoxicated last year on July 5 while northbound on Interstate 405 near Brookhurst Street in Fountain Valley. He had his wife… read more
Traveling at a high rate of speed in a heavy vehicle should be enough to make anyone cautious. Auto accidents can leave you and others seriously injured or dead, so avoiding them should be a top priority. Unfortunately, drivers do not always act with their best interests in mind. Distracted driving is considered to be… read more
