November 2010

Road design is a big factor in preventing auto and truck accidents, personal injury and wrongful deaths in Georgia and around the world. In my practice as a personal injury trial attorney in Atlanta, it is clear to me that prevention is the best approach.

According to an article by Ariel Hart in today’s Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Georgia Department of Transportation is considering three new intersection designs to relieve traffic congestion for minimal cost. The ideas are intriguing but I wonder how Georgia drivers will adjust to these unfamiliar designs.

With good lights and signage adequate to overcome the problems of unfamiliar and counter-intuitive design, perhaps these innovations can help reduce accidents and congestion. I just hope GDOT doesn’t skimp on signage!

 As personal injury and wrongful death trial attorney in Georgia, I have always assumed that highway carnage – auto and truck accidents, injuries and fatalities – were as inevitable as death and taxes. As long as humans are capable of fatal errors, these tragedies would be with us.

But Sweden, where one of my cousins now lives and my Volvo was manufactured, is taking a less fatalistic approach akin to the approach of epidemiologist who seek to root out the causes of illness and injury. Their “Vision Zero” program aims to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2020.

“Vision Zero” relies heavily on adopting a systems-wide approach to road safety, making the entire road system more forgiving to the likely mistakes of drivers. It rejects cost-benefit analysis to set road safety policies and trading human lives for other objectives.

Swedish legislation passed in 1997 adopts these four core principles:

1. human life and health are paramount and take priority over mobility and other objectives of the road traffic system;

2. providers and regulators of the road traffic system share responsibility with drivers and other users;

3. road traffic systems should take account of human fallibility and minimize both the opportunities for errors and the harm done when they occur; and

4. providers and regulators must do their utmost to guarantee the safety of all citizens and cooperate with road users, and all three must be ready to change to achieve safety.

In 1999, the Swedish government established an 11-point program to increase traffic safety, including:

1. special safety measures for the most dangerous roads,

2. better road safety in urban areas through changes in road design and other measures,

3. emphasis on road-user responsibility through such measures as seat belt campaigns,

4. safer conditions for cyclists,

5. improving safety in public transportation services,

6. compulsory use of studded tires in the winter,

7. better utilization of Swedish technology, including automatic in-vehicle speed adjustment systems,

8. greater responsibility placed on traffic systems designers,

9. changes in handling of traffic offenses,

10. expanding the role of voluntary organizations, and

11. studying alternative forms of financing new roads.

Among the specific measures that have been implemented in the program have been:

1. using wire rope barriers to divide undivided main roads to reduce head-on collisions;

2. using barriers on the side of the road to minimize rollovers and off-road crashes with trees;

3. reducing speed limits to reduce impact energy of collisions, setting the limits at 54 mph on major highways, 42 mph on major collectors, 30 mph on other main streets, and 18 mph on local streets;

4. enforcing the limits by cameras and other technologies;

5. installing roundabouts (rotaries) on all types of roads to minimize the number of crashes and the damages caused by side impact collisions at intersections;

6. changing local street design to restrict vehicle movements and give pedestrians and cyclists priority over vehicle traffic through such measures as pedestrian-only precincts, bike paths, and center road refuges; and

7. giving priority to public transportation vehicles and pedestrians on roads.

Another aspect of the program is data analysis. The Swedish equivalent of our US DOT conducts annual evaluations of road user behavior, including drunk driving, speeding, use of seatbelts and other safety equipment in cars, and the use of helmets by cyclists. They also monitor vehicle crashworthiness, emergency services rescue times, and safety opinions of the public, among other things.

Some would say that we American cowboys would never adopt such an approach.  Perhaps as a trial lawyer I shouldn’t hope for that, as it would cut into my caseload. However, as a citizen and parent, I hope we draw some lessons that might prevent tragedies affecting people I love.

The current issue of Safety Report magazine carries an article by Charlie Morecraft, "A Burn Survivor’s True Story."   It shows more insight about the experience of burn injuries more than anything I have read.  Some excerpts:

  • "Burn victims will tell you that it doesn’t matter how much morphine is injected. They say the pain is so excruciating, that they have difficulty even finding the words to describe it. Burn pain can be one of the most intense and prolonged types of pain and is difficult to control because of its unique characteristic and changing patterns."
  • Regarding hydrotherapy, "one patient describes it as ‘surreal amounts of pain, almost awe, as if they were taking ladies’ stockings off my arms and legs, only, it was my own skin.’ After awhile, everyone lying in the hospital rooms comes to fear this room. morphine is kept in a locked chest nearby, in dozens of cold vials, and medical staff refill the chest every week."

I’ve been there, can vouch for the accuracy of those descriptions, but by the grace of God am fine now.  That experience informs my advocacy for burn survivors at a depth beyond mere words.

If you ever have a serious burn injury in northern Georgia, tell the ambulance driver, "take me to Grady, " as the Grady Memorial Hospital Burn Center is the only appropriate place to go for burn treatment in a large area of Georgia.

Jim Langevin was paralyzed from the chest down in a gunfire accident as a teenager 30 years ago while working as a police volunteer. For 10 years he has been the only quadriplegic in the U.S. Congress. Before being elected to Congress, he was Rhode Island’s secretary of state and also served in the General Assembly. Last week, Langevin was re-elected to another term in the House of Representatives.

Whatever your political leanings, you have to admire the indomitable spirit of a person who despite the horrible disability of quadriplegia rises to serve in Congress.

A quadriplegic since 1995, Paul Boyd has sued the Alabama Medicaid agency in an effort to get home-based care that would enable him to move out of a nursing home where he now lives.

Boyd argues that the agency would save money by letting him live in a house, with some assistance. He wants to live closer to the University of Montevallo campus, where despite his quadriplegia he is a graduate student in community counseling.

For the first 11 years after his paralyzing accident, Boyd living with relatives. Four years ago, when they were no longer able to serve as caregivers, he moved to a nursing home. However, the nursing  home is 13 miles from the university campus.There is no public transportation to get to his evening classes. He uses his scholarship money to pay a maintenance worker from the nursing home to drive his wheelchair-equipped van back and forth to campus.

You have to admire the indomitable spirit of folks like Mr. Boyd who are determined to live productive lives after a devastating injury. I find it extremely fulfilling to help such folks recover the resources necessary to restore as much of a productive life as possible.