Napa Valley is number 10 out of 106 cities in California of similar size to rank for a high number of alcohol related car accidents, according to Napa County DUI task force.  While it is the wine capital of the country, stronger laws are being pushed for by the task force to require that all bartenders be trained before serving alcohol.

Not surprisingly, about 35% of motorists arrested for driving under the influence consumed the alcohol at a restaurant, bar or winery.  This information is taken from a survey conducted last year by the Napa County DUI task force.  The task force wants to reduce these accident numbers by combining the efforts of the Napa community, along with law enforcement and government.  Bartenders and other employees who serve alcohol in restaurants and other establishments should learn how to serve beverages responsibly.  Employees should discourage patrons from ordering another drink when they feel that they have consumed enough, and establishments should be discouraged from offering “happy hour” or reduced price drinks, which only encourages over consumption.

The truth is, the majority of bartenders are unaware that it is against the law for them to serve alcohol to people who are already intoxicated.  A bartender could actually be held liable in a civil action suit if a patron leaves the bar after having too much to drink, gets into an accident and kills someone.  Family members of victims killed in drunk driving accidents can actually name the establishment responsible for serving the drinks to the person who caused the accident in personal injury and wrongful death claims, according to California’s dram shop liability laws.  The DUI task force hopes that training employees who serve alcohol to refrain from serving drinks to patrons who are already inebriated will reduce the problem.  They also want to stress the importance of employees calling a taxi for drunk motorists.

In the beverage industry, huge profits are important.  California drunk driving accident lawyers know this is why they are notoriously stubborn to change, fearing that eliminating happy hours and cheap drinks will run away their business during times that business otherwise would be slow.  Educating the owners of taverns, restaurants and bars about training employees and bartenders is an effort that the Napa County DUI force hopes will make an impact.  Besides, training the employees will help these establishments avoid liability if a patron leaves intoxicated, then gets in to an accident that seriously injures or kills someone.  By educating employees and increasing awareness, these establishments can likely avoid stiff penalties, fines and civil action suits.

The Reeves Law Group has offices across California and is dedicated to representing personal injury victims, including victims of drunk driving accidents.  Please contact us for a free consultation at (800) 644-8000.

Recently, a list of the top 10 professionals that appear to be more accident-prone than others was released by Quality Planning Corp and Insure.com.  This puts an interesting spin on the subject of a person’s job and it’s impact on the risk of becoming involved in an accident.

According to the list, the stress and various other factors that are job related come into play when it comes to a persons risk of crashing.  The highest ranked on the list, not surprisingly, are occupations that often contribute to high stress.  This list could offer clues to auto safety experts as well as California personal injury lawyers about factors that may contribute to an auto accident.

Some information from the list:

Doctors

For every 1000 doctors, there are 109 accidents annually that occur according to Insure.com.  It comes as no surprise that doctors take the number one spot on this list, due to the high levels of stress and lack of sleep they often suffer.  Medical residents work long hours and get very little sleep.  Drowsy driving accounts for a large number of accidents and fatalities each year, and are usually the result of fatigue.

Lawyers

For every 1000 lawyers, about 106 car crashes occur each year.  Lawyers seem to be prone to speeding tickets as well, because there are 37 tickets issued each year for every 1000 lawyers.  The law profession is high stress, which accounts for it’s place on the list.

Architects

Architects seem to get an unusually high amount of speeding tickets each year, about 72 out of every 1000 architects.  Additionally, they average 105 accidents annually for every 1000 architects.

Real Estate Brokers

It seems that real estate brokers may be distracted due to the fact that their mind may be on the next big deal while they drive, according to insurer.com.  Brokers average 39 speeding tickets for every 1000 real estate brokers each year, with 102 accidents out of 1000.  They also use cell phones more frequently than other professions, which accounts for why they may be even more distracted when behind the wheel.

Enlisted Military Personnel

While you might expect that persons in the military would be the most disciplined and attentive of all, this seems not to be the case.  Out of 1000 military personnel, 99 have accidents and 78 are issued speeding tickets.  Those who have recently served in war torn areas may be distressed and even suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, a condition that causes depression, fatigue, flashbacks and nightmares.

Social workers, manual laborers, analysts and engineers and consultants round out the remainder of the list, with 98 accidents per 1000 workers, 96, 95 and 94 per 1000 respectively.

The Reeves Law Group has offices across California and is dedicated to representing personal injury victims, including victims of motor vehicle accidents.  Please contact us for a free consultation at (800) 644-8000.

In the United States each year, the costs of injuries to the elderly caused by slip and fall accidents reach nearly $75 billion.  This cost includes extensive medical costs for the treatment of the fracture, assisted living care, and in home care that is necessary after a fall.  California personal injury attorneys are amazed that even with the high cost of expenses related to these accidents, very little research has been conducted to learn how to prevent these falls from happening, especially in those over the age of 65.

Statistics show that every year, about 1/3 of the people over age 65 experience a fall.  Many times this results in a fractured hip, with 20% of these people dying within one year.  Many falls in the elderly can be attributed to medicine changes and other health conditions such as cardiovascular illness.  Dementia and deteriorating muscles also cause this age group to be more likely to slip and fall.

A handful of geriatric health experts have focused on studying fall prevention, but their studies tend to be built on reports from volunteers and doctor visits, which means that the results are not real reliable.  These studies are not very thorough, and don’t usually result in any revealing new information about why the elderly slip and fall so frequently.  These studies don’t offer up much in the way of answering questions as to how slip and fall accidents can be reduced.

Research on slip and fall prevention is starting to get very innovative according to the New York Times, who states that researchers are beginning to use low cost wireless sensors in the homes of older people that provide information by monitoring their walking patterns.  These steps are being taken in an effort to learn what activities they do that put them at an increased risk of falling.  Researchers say that tracking activity patterns and the fine tuning that are possible by using these sensors help uncover new insight into what causes the elderly to fall, so that new prevention programs can be developed.

These sensors can be placed in the person’s clothing and in the carpet, so that the person’s speed of walking can be monitored, as well as step width and length of stride.  This also takes into account the sway of the body while they are walking.  The measurements taken by the sensors are very exact, and help in determining the fall risk for that person.  Geriatric health experts have conducted a few of the studies using sensors.  The studies that have been conducted may now help us to understand why the elderly fall so often, and how to decrease the incidence of falls in older individuals.

The Reeves Law Group has offices across California and is dedicated to representing Los Angeles personal injury victims, including victims of slip and fall.  Please contact us for a free consultation at (800) 644-8000.