Weinstein & Cohen, P.A.

In the bustling landscape of South Florida workplace injuries are an unfortunate reality. Whether you’re a construction worker, a hospitality employee, or part of any other workforce, accidents can happen. When they do, it’s crucial to understand when to seek the assistance of a skilled workers’ compensation lawyer.

Only one of the first 10 small SUVs to undergo the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's updated vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention test received a rating of "good," while four received a "poor" rating. The revised test includes trials at higher speeds as well as scenarios that assess performance as SUVs approach a motorcycle or semitrailer.

Hyundai and Kia recalled 3.4 million vehicles in September due to a risk of the vehicles catching fire, but those vehicles largely have still not undergone repairs to address the issue, and the automakers say most of the vehicles are unlikely to be repaired until June at the earliest. The recall comes with a warning that the affected vehicles should be parked outdoors and at a distance from buildings, as fires could occur even when the vehicles' engines aren't running. 

A record-high total of 1,105 cyclists died in US traffic crashes in 2022, up from 976 fatalities the prior year, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A revision to how NHTSA classifies motorized bicycles likely contributed to 2022's death toll, but Ken McLeod of the League of American Bicyclists says the upward trend of cyclist fatalities since 2010 could stem from the general increase in vehicles' size within that time frame. 

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Traffic fatalities in the US were down 3.6% in 2023, totaling nearly 41,000 deaths and marking a second consecutive yearly decline, while miles driven rose by 2.1%, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates show. Crashes involving distracted drivers resulted in the deaths of an estimated 3,308 people last year, about 20% of whom were pedestrians, bicyclists and others who were outside of vehicles, NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman said. 

A Florida law set to take effect in July is intended to curtail predatory towing practices and ensure that towing fees do not exceed maximum amounts set at the state or local level, among other provisions. Meanwhile, legislative crackdowns on towing practices have reached the governors' desks in Virginia and Kentucky, and Utah has enacted such a measure. 

None of the 14 partly automated driving systems tested by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have received a top rating of "good," and only one has been rated "acceptable," the IIHS says in a report. "Most of them don't include adequate measures to prevent misuse and keep drivers from losing focus on what's happening on the road," IIHS President David Harkey says. 

During the pandemic, distracted driving increased, and it hasn’t gone down since. Data analyzed by Cambridge Mobile Telematics showed US drivers interacting with their phones increased about 20% from 2020 to 2022. "Drivers interacted with their phones on nearly 58% of trips in 2022," said the report, which studied screen interaction and phone motion.

The far greater weight of electric vehicles poses a challenge for the nation's roadway guardrails, with tests by the University of Nebraska and the US Army Corps of Engineers demonstrating they can easily be breached in EV collisions. More tests and simulations are planned to guide engineering solutions.