Each year, around 25,000 children are injured when they are involved in accidents commuting to or from school. Unfortunately, things may be getting worse. A recent study has revealed that there are many motorists who drive distracted in school zone areas. A personal injury lawyer knows that distracted driving can significantly increase the risk of a collision, with texting alone making a motorist 23 times as likely to become involved in an accident.

San Antonio drivers need to be aware that schools are back in session and that laws related to school zone and school bus safety are in effect. Young lives could be saved if drivers paid attention around school buses and areas where children walk to school.

Distracted Driving Dangers in School Zones

An NBC News video dramatized the risk that distracted drivers present to school children by showing a semi-truck blowing past a stopped school bus. The truck drove on the side of the road and narrowly missed hitting a young girl who was waiting for the bus. The driver subsequently tuned himself into authorities and admitted he had been distracted at the time when the incident occurred.

Unfortunately, distracted driving has become much more common in school zones in recent years. Experts estimate that as many as two million more people illegally passed school buses with their stop arm extended as compared with in 2011. American Traffic Solutions largely attributes this problem to the fact that there are more drivers who are distracted on the roads.

Drivers are not only putting kids at risk when it comes to not stopping for buses, but are also very distracted as they drive through designated school zones as well. Safe Kids USA published a national report that looked at the number of motorists who were doing things other than driving at the time when they were in a school zone. The report reveals that:

• One driver out of every six who passes through a school zone is distracted at the time.
• Men and women are distracted in close to equal numbers. There were 154 distracted men for every 1,000 male drivers and 187 distracted women for every 1,000 female drivers.
• Out of every 1,000 drivers passing through school zones, 98 were distracted because they were on their cell phones or using other electronic devices.
• A total of 44 out of 1,000 drivers who were distracted in school zones were eating, drinking or smoking as they drove.
• There were 19 drivers out of every 1,000 driving through school zones who were distracted because they were reaching behind them or looking behind them.
• Nine out of every 1,000 distracted drivers passing through a school zone was engaged in personal grooming.
• Three out of 1,000 drivers who went through a school zone were reading at the time.

Drivers were more likely to be distracted during the afternoon school zone hours as compared with the morning hours. Zones that did not have flashing lights were also more likely to have distracted drivers, as were areas where 10,000 or more cars passed through daily. These are the areas where children are most at risk.

Contact a San Antonio, TX accident lawyer at the Herrera Law Firm. Call 800-455-1054 or visit http://www.herreralaw.com for a free case consultation.

In Texas, there are no definitive plans to legalize medical marijuana although there is much speculation about when legalization will come to the Lone Star state.

When marijuana is legalized for either recreational or medicinal use, rules have to be established to determine if a motorist is too impaired by THC to drive safely. The question of whether a driver is impaired can be left to the discretion of a law enforcement officer. A state can also set a limit on the amount of THC someone can have in their blood, just as the .08 blood-alcohol concentration exists for impaired driving. States that have already legalized marijuana are grappling with how to best protect driver safety and Texans may want to watch to see how their decisions impact road safety.

But as personal injury lawyers know, the regulation of stoned driving can be an inexact science. The levels of THC in someone’s blood do not necessarily correlate with the level of impairment. The ABA Journal indicates that both Colorado and Washington have set a maximum THC limit of 5 nanograms before someone is considered impaired, but that this may not be the best or most precise way to judge whether a motorist is able to drive safely or not.

Regulating Stoned Driving

Oregon is considering legalizing marijuana but has not followed the lead of Colorado or Washington regarding setting a maximum THC limit. The ballot measure addressing legalization sets no limit and it would be up to law enforcement officers to use their discretion to decide if someone is stoned and shouldn’t b operating his vehicle.

There are good arguments to make for why a THC level may not be the best way to judge if someone is a safe driver. A British study showed that a person who uses marijuana is most euphoric 30 minutes after taking the drug, but his or her THC levels would peak 10 minutes after smoking cannabis and would actually fall by the time he is most impaired. Scientists have been unable to establish a direct link between the amount of active THC in a person’s body and a driver’s impairment level, and one forensics lab supervisor expressed concern that the THC concentration in the blood was not correlated to impairment.

Of course, leaving the issue of judging impairment to the officer’s discretion is also problematic as mistakes can be made and securing a conviction for stoned driving could be more difficult without objective evidence. This is a problem because stoned driving is a major danger to other motorists.

As the FDL Reporter indicates, brain imaging tests have found that people who are stoned must use more of their brain to correctly perform simple tasks. Stoned motorists also have delayed reaction times, poorer peripheral vision and a reduced ability to multitask. This makes an accident far more likely to occur.

Between 1994 and 2011, the number of drivers involved in fatal collisions in Colorado testing positive for marijuana has more than doubled, and things are likely to get much worse as marijuana use becomes more widely accepted. Something needs to be done to effectively deterred motorists from driving stoned.

Contact a San Antonio accident lawyer at the Herrera Law Firm. Call 800-455-1054 or visit http://www.herreralaw.com for a free case consultation.