Author: Steven H. Dorne

After a car accident, both drivers are expected to stop and exchange insurance information. Most drivers are considerate enough to provide their information, or at least leave a note, at the scene of the accident. This is not true of everyone, though. What happens if someone hits your vehicle and drives away? This is called a hit-and-run, and it is illegal. If you are the victim of a hit-and-run, you no doubt have a lot on your mind. Filing an insurance claim while dealing with the fallout of an accident

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Perhaps you have been driving on the highway, obeying the traffic laws and keeping your eyes on the road. The car behind you is getting closer and closer. Soon, its bumper is practically touching yours, and the driver doesn’t seem to care. Most of us have been tailgated when driving. Yes, it’s obnoxious—but more than that, it can also be dangerous. A recent study has shown that tailgaters are not just annoying. They can also cause traffic jams and serious accidents. The truth about traffic jams Recently, the Computer Science

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If you were to guess, which weather condition do you think is most deadly: Tornadoes, earthquakes, floods or snow? You may have guessed one of the first three, with good reason—those weather hazards are indeed dangerous. But snow is actually responsible for more deaths than all of the other conditions combined. That is because snow can lead to deadly traffic accidents—about 800 in the United States every year. There are many other facts that you should know about deadly winter accidents—so we have compiled a list of important statistics that you

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Usually when you drive somewhere, the biggest headache you have to deal with is finding somewhere to park. Let’s say that after leaving the parking lot and going to your destination, you come back to your car only to find that it has been struck by another vehicle—and the driver is nowhere in sight. That’s right: Your car has been damaged in a hit-and-run accident. A hit-and-run is when someone causes an accident and leaves the scene without fulfilling their legal obligations to the victim. In most states, a driver

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A researcher from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) wants Americans to know that traffic crashes are the single most common cause of death among teens in the United States. That’s shocking, but it’s not inevitable. There are concrete steps that we can take to reduce teen crash rates. Those steps include education, engineering and enforcement. “Teen drivers, particularly novice ones, are overrepresented in U.S. fatality and injury crash statistics. The extraordinarily high teen crash rates are unacceptable and it is our core mission to save lives,” said the expert, who

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A 17-year-old pedestrian who was recently hit by a speeding vehicle has been in the news lately. The young Severn resident was walking home from a party when a speeding silver vehicle—which may have contained attendees of the same party—hit the adolescent and promptly sped away. The victim was hospitalized with injuries that police describe as life threatening. This tragic case is a sobering reminder of a crime that happens all too frequently in our country. If you’re the victim of a hit-and-run accident, what is your recourse? Immediate action While you’re

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A recent study for AAA’s Foundation for Traffic Safety by a University of Utah professor indicates that the “infotainment” technology automakers are increasingly adding to vehicle dashboards is highly distracting. The professor notes that previous studies have noted the problem but that an “explosion of technology” usable behind the wheel is making the problem worse. The problem is not only that automakers are including a lot of this technology but also that it’s becoming more complicated. Instead of a few knobs and buttons, some vehicles now sport 50 multi-functional buttons on

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The data for 2016 is in from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the news is somewhat troubling. While fatalities from distracted drivers dipped by 2.2 percent last year, overall traffic deaths rose for the second straight year. NHTSA cites other forms of risky behavior including speeding, failure to wear seatbelts and drunk driving as responsible for the increase. The safety agency estimates that 37, 461 people were killed in motor vehicle accidents last year. That’s the highest number since 2007. Fatal crashes increased by 5.6 percent over 2015,

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It is easy to understand why many people are eager to see the arrival of driverless cars. The technology has the potential to ease congestion and reduce the number of traffic accidents, injuries and fatalities. While it is not yet clear that the promise of driverless tech will be delivered, it is increasingly clear that Rockville streets will one day soon be populated with at least some driverless vehicles. One of the looming questions is whether all of those driverless vehicles will have humans in them. Not far from us, members

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By studying sports concussions, neuroscientists and researchers have gained significant strides in understanding brain trauma. However, the majority of studies have looked at male brains. The reason being, presumably, because males typically engage in high-impact sports in greater numbers. Recent research has spotlighted the importance of studying female brain trauma. A study in the journal Glia showed that brains of male mice actually had a greater immune response after head injury than female mice, meaning male mice were more likely to recover after traumatic brain injury. And a study by the Columbia University

Continue reading Are women more likely to suffer concussions?…