Washington Personal Injury Law Blog

Anyone can develop a sore neck from time to time. Washington residents may find that if they sleep a certain way, or spend too much time in front of their computers that they start to have pain and tenderness in the muscles of their neck and upper back. These injuries can be painful but often resolve themselves over time. Victims of vehicle accidents, however, can suffer serious and debilitating neck injuries when their cars are hit by negligent drivers.

One of the most common upper body injuries that car accident victims suffer is whiplash. Whiplash happens when a victim's neck is snapped in one direction and then another. For example, if a victim's vehicle is rear-ended and their head is first thrown forward because of the impact, it may then be forced back when their vehicle stops, putting intense pressure and force on their neck due to the movement of their head.

Drunk and drugged driving are dangerous practices because alcohol and certain pharmaceutical and illegal substances can cause drivers to experience changes in the ways they react and perceive their surroundings. When a motorist causes an accident and exhibits signs of intoxication or drug use, Washington law enforcement officials may have them tested to see if they were impaired at the time they caused their crash. Drug or alcohol use while driving can support legal claims based on recklessness and negligence for the recovery of victims' accident-related losses.

Private drivers are not the only ones who may make poor choices regarding alcohol and drug use, however. Commercial drivers have also been found to have driven while intoxicated and impaired and in some cases have caused serious and fatal accidents. Commercial drivers should be screened for drug use before they are hired to drive for their employers but also may be assessed if they cause motor vehicle collisions.

It is the time of year when families all across Washington begin to pack their suitcases to visit their distant relatives and friends. While some may travel to local airports to fly to their final destinations, others will load up their vehicles and take on holiday traffic on the roads. For those traveling by car, awareness and safety should be important considerations to avoid deadly collisions.

Last year, Thanksgiving was the second most deadly holiday on American roads, with the Fourth of July beating it out with more fatal accidents. In order to prevent tragedies this year there are some important steps that drivers and their passengers can take to stay safe.

Bellevue residents may have noticed that nighttime has been coming earlier and earlier each day over the last few weeks. As autumn has fully made its presence known in the Pacific Northwest drivers may be finding that they need to turn on their headlights in order to safely drive their evening commutes. Early darkness can make it particularly hard to see obstacles that may be in the paths of moving vehicles.

This can include the failure of drivers to see pedestrians who may be crossing their cars' paths. Children heading home from school, adults leaving their places of work and people exercising on foot may all be lost in the dim light that is common to the afternoons and evenings of October and November. When pedestrian accidents happen, it is not uncommon for victims to suffer serious and even fatal harm and to leave their loved ones struggling to support them.