Click It or Ticket Campaign --- May 23--June 5, 2011

In 2009, motor vehicle crashes resulted in approximately 23,000 deaths to passenger vehicle occupants (excluding motorcyclists), and 2.6 million occupants were treated for injuries in emergency departments in the United States. Many motor vehicle accidents occur in the course of employment and are the subject of workers' compensation claims. Although seat belt use in the United States is now estimated at 85%, millions of persons continue to travel unrestrained. Using a seat belt is one of the most effective means of preventing serious injury or death in the event of a crash. Seat belts saved an estimated 12,713 lives in 2009, but almost 4,000 additional lives could have been saved if every occupant had been buckled up.

Click It or Ticket, a national campaign coordinated annually by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to increase the proper use of seat belts, takes place May 23--June 5, 2011. Law enforcement agencies across the nation will participate by conducting intensive, high-visibility enforcement of seat belt laws. Campaign activities will focus on young adult men (aged 18--34 years) and on nighttime travel. Additional information regarding Click It or Ticket activities is available from NHTSA at http://www.nhtsa.gov. Additional information on preventing motor vehicle crash injuries is available from CDC at http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety.

References
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Traffic safety facts 2009: early edition. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation; 2010. DOT-HS-811-402. Available at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pubs/811402ee.pdf . Accessed May 12, 2011.
CDC. WISQARS (Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System). Available at http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars. Accessed May 12, 2011.
Beck LF, West BA. Nonfatal, motor vehicle--occupant injuries (2009) and seat belt use (2008) among adults---United States. MMWR 2001;59:1681--6.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Lives saved in 2009 by restraint use and minimum-drinking-age laws. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation; 2010. DOT-HS-811-383. Available at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811383.pdf . Accessed May 12, 2011.

For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

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OSHA To Fine Employers for Distracted Driving Accidents

OSHA has announced an aggressive program to combat "The Number 1 Killer of Workers," Distracted Driving. The announcement was made today by Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA).


The enforcement program was described by Michaels  at a symposium on the prevention of Occupationally-Related Distracted Driving conference hosted by Johns Hopkins University. Following the policy announced by President Obama in his Executive Order banning texting while driving, OSHA is calling upon all employers to ban texting while driving.


It is the intention of OSHA to provide education and enforcement on the issue of distracted driving. OSHA will investigate motor vehicle accidents, including cell phone records, and will issue citations and fine employers where an accident involved texting while driving. While OSHA has juridiction over employers, and not employees,  it hopes to encourage all employers to declare motor vehicles a "text free zone."

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Lloyds Report Targets Potential Cell Phone Liability

Yet another reason why employers should be concerned with the risks of distracted driving has been reported by Lloyds of London. A recent report considers the electromagnetic fields (EMF) from mobile phones a potential risk to health.

The report reviews the medical causation issues involving a myriad of conditions ranging from brain cancer (acoustic neuromas and gliomas) to central nervous system effects, as well as reproduction and biological development consequences of EMF exposure over the long term. In reviewing historical litigation trends, the Lloyds report compares the legal consequences of asbestos exposure and the development of mesothelioma and analyzes the complicity and enormous liability that resulted from corporate concealment and conspiracy.

With over 4.3 billion mobile phones in use worldwide as of June 2009, this report increases the concern of employers who are already experiencing increased liability because of the use of cell phones while driving. A major initiative is underway by US Department of Transportation to curtail the use of cell phone by employee while driving because of the increase risk of motor vehicle accidents.

As workers’ compensation insurance carriers have already been challenged by significant losses as a result of occupational exposure to asbestos, the Lloyds report may encourage employers to restrict the use of a cell phone, except when used in a safe and protected manner. 

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Cell Phone Safety and Workers Compensation

Workers' Compensation benefits may soon be denied to employees involved in motor vehicle accidents because of the unauthorized use of cell phones while driving within the course of their employment. As the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) continues to educate Americans with overwhelming statistical evidence that distracted driving is a major cause of accident, the denial of benefits to cell phone users may become a major incentive to create a safer work environment.

Meanwhile, the US Department of Transportation is leaning toward banning all use of cell phones by drivers. At the second national USDOT summit on the increased hazards of the use of cell technology  a major campaign was launched to encourage employers to outright  ban the use of cell phones by employees while working.

Employers have become increasingly concerned over employee "cognitive distraction" caused by the use of cell phones in motor vehicles as more data has become available associating driver cell phone use with accidents. Methods of enforcement will include the use of traffic cameras as the system already hss the capability of detecting drivers who are using telephones while driving. Evidentially, telephone billing records produced post accident can be used to corroborate the fact that an employee was using a telephone while working.

The precedent of using the workers compensation acts to make occupational environments safer is already established. The denial of workers' compensation benefits for unsafe actions by employees has previously been incorporated into law and has been an economic incentively for employers to reduce costs. Employees who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and those who fail to use employer provided safety devices, have already been denied benefits in some jurisdictions.

For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman 1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered work related accident and injuries.

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