Would it be too much to ask for zero accidents on our Kentucky roadways as we kick off 2012?  Unfortunately, five motorists have already died in four separate crashes on Kentucky roadways during the New Years’ holiday period, which began at 6 p.m. on December 30, 2011 and ended January 2, 2012 at 11:59 p.m.

The accidents involved motor vehicles in which two of the victims were not wearing seat belts.  Single-fatality crashes happened in Jefferson and Perry counties.  There was also a single fatality crash in Harlan which involved the suspected use of alcohol.  A double-fatality crash occurred in Owen County.

The Kentucky Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) preliminary statistics indicate that 715 people had lost their lives on Kentucky roadways through December 31, 2011.  The following shows the fatality statistics for 2011.

• · 570 motor vehicle fatalities ( 289 victims were not wearing seat belts)
• · 61 motorcycle crashes fatalities (34 victims were not wearing helmets)
• · 25 ATV crashes ( 21 victims were not wearing helmets)
• · 53 pedestrian crashes
• · 2 bicycle fatalities
• · 2 scooter crashes
• · 2 horse-drawn vehicle crashes

There have been a total of 121 fatalities in these motor vehicle accidents which involved the suspected use of alcohol.  This is 45 less fatalities than reported for the same period in 2010.  As a personal injury attorney, I am hopeful that the decline in fatalities will continue throughout the year.  Let us all do our part in keeping our Kentucky roadways safe.

The long winding roads of Kentucky demands total attention of a driver, but a simple beep of a text message notification can be distracting and potentially deadly.  It is a temptation that is hard to resist. We have to respond to a pending text message.  I am a personal injury attorney and a parent of a teenage girl. I tell my daughter not to text and drive. Does she listen to me? Parents can now to stop worrying about their teenager. 

This is because a new product has emerged that prevents teens from texting in a moving vehicle called the Text Zapper.  This was created by TMG Systems, a company based in NJ.  Text Zapper, which can be subscribed at $4.99 a month, is a phone application that disables a phone’s ability to text, e-mail and browses the web once the vehicle is moving faster than 10 miles per hour.  It won’t permit text messaging in a moving vehicle.  Plus, it’s the parents who totally have the control of the application. They can override the prohibition if requested by the child, who may be a passenger instead of a driver. 

It is a necessity to promote such application/device like this because driving distractions such as the use of hand-held cell phones is a top cause of roadway accidents which may result to serious injuries or worse fatal deaths.  Teens are 10 percent of the U.S. population but account for 14 percent of all fatal vehicle wrecks for they are four times as likely as older drivers to crash.  More than 5,000 youths nationwide, 16 to 20, die of injuries received in vehicle wrecks each year.  This is a must device. 

Wenger from TMG Systems stated its business goal which is to help reduce the risk of teen driving.  It is not intended to stalk the child but as to ultimately save lives.  Check this product out. It may prevent a fatal car accident.