Highway fatalities associated with drunk driving have dropped significantly over the past few years.  However, law enforcement agencies in Las Vegas and around the country are grappling with a new threat - motorists driving under the influence of prescription drugs.

Unlike with alcohol, where there is general agreement regarding the maximum legal amount of alcohol that can be present in the system - there are no such criteria for the presence of prescription drugs in the system.  There are also no easy ways to prosecute or charge motorists who are driving under the influence of medications.  Sometimes the medications may remain in the person’s system for weeks after the person has taken the drug.  Other times, impaired driving is the result of a combination of drugs in the person’s system.  It's no secret that Americans are addicted to prescription drugs, and many are on more than one medication.  That has led to more and more numbers of drugged drivers on our streets, causing accidents.

Most people know that cold and cough medications can induce drowsiness, and must not be taken before driving.  There are also drowsiness and fatigue-related symptoms associated with the use of certain painkillers.  However, there are drugs that can impact your driving abilities beyond merely causing drowsiness.  For instance, anti-anxiety drugs can leave a person feeling less than alert, and can slow down his reaction times considerably.  Stimulants can make a person aggressive, lower his inhibitions and encourage risk-taking, and may also impact a person's ability to judge distances.  These can then have a potentially serious impact on a person's driving.  Besides, prescription drug abuse is far too rampant in American society.  Many people think nothing of combining these medications with alcohol, with potentially disastrous consequences if they then begin to drive.

The problem with driving under the influence of prescription drugs is so acute some law enforcement officers are referring to prescription drugs as the new cocaine.  Las Vegas DUI accident lawyers see far too many challenges in keeping such drivers off the roads.  Many people are not aware of the side effects of the drugs they're taking, or that some of the drugs they take may interact with other medications.  Our overstretched public healthcare system does not always allow doctors to info

rm patients of each and every side effect of the medications.

It takes extreme intoxication to drive your SUV with an injured bicyclist trapped underneath.  As it turned out after the accident, the SUV driver Charlie Matanza had been driving with a combination of methamphetamine, marijuana and alprazolam in his system.  Matanza has now been charged with driving under the influence of drugs, causing death and bodily harm. 

The accident occurred in 2009.  Matanza was driving with his passenger on Desert Inn Road, when he lost control of the vehicle and the SUV jumped onto the sidewalk.  The victim, Gary Lommason, was riding his bicycle on the sidewalk.  The SUV struck the bicycle, throwing Lommason to the ground.  Matanza continued driving with the bicyclist stuck under his car. Lommason died from his injuries.  Matanza was arrested after he failed a field sobriety test.  He is expected to be sentenced on September 27th.

Nevada has strict laws against drunk driving, although Las Vegas drunk driving injury attorneys believe that these could be stronger.  Every year, hundreds of families in Las Vegas and throughout Nevada are left shattered because of alcohol-related accidents.  Las Vegas is uniquely positioned to have a higher incidence of such accidents.  This is where the world comes to party.  Unfortunately for many of these partiers, the line between having fun and putting other people in danger, often gets blurred.  Intoxicated partiers staggering out of bars and clubs and getting into their car to drive to their homes or hotels, contribute to numerous drunk driving accidents in Las Vegas every year.

For victims of these accidents, it's important to understand that they have rights in a civil court of law.  While a drunk driver may be charged with several offenses after an accident, the fact is that this will not do anything to ease the suffering of the family that is left behind after a fatal accident.  Nevada law allows families of drunk driving accident victims to claim compensation for their losses, including for pain and suffering.

A new study published in the July issue of Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs confirms that parents have a major role to play in preventing drunk driving accidents involving their teenagers.  The researchers surveyed approximately 5,000 children aged between 12 and 19.  The children were asked about their drinking habits, as well as their relationship with their parents.  The questions about parental relationship focused on two aspects:

Did the children feel love and affection from their parents?

Did the children feel that their parents were keeping track of where they were, and what they were doing?

Not surprisingly to Las Vegas drunk driving accident lawyers, the teenagers who reported that they had a warm relationship with their parents, and that their parents were monitoring where they were and what they did outside the home, were more likely to have responsible drinking habits.  These teenagers were less likely to indulge in binge drinking, drunk driving and other alcohol excesses.  Binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more alcoholic drinks in a single day.  It's a serious problem among teen motorists, especially in colleges, where there may be a culture of excessive drinking.

It's not merely enough to have a warm and loving relationship with your parents. It's also important to have parents who are concerned enough about you to keep track of what you're doing.  Teenagers who reported receiving love and affection from their parents, but felt that their parents allowed them to do what they liked, were three times more likely to report binge drinking.  Teenagers who felt that their parents were strict and not affectionate, were twice as likely to indulge in binge drinking, compared to those teenagers who rated favorably on both aspects.

The conclusion from the study seemed to be that parents in Las Vegas can do much to prevent their child from drinking excessively, and possibly being involved in alcohol-related car related accidents.  They may not able to prevent their child from drinking at all, but they can do a lot to prevent more dangerous alcohol excesses, like binge drinking and drunk driving.  A combination of a supportive and affectionate family environment and keeping track of where they are and what they're doing when they're outside the home may do the trick.

Nevada’s DUI laws have been lenient towards intoxicated drivers compared to laws in the rest of the country.  Not only are our laws targeting drunk drivers behind those in some other states, but even existing laws are poorly enforced.  This has led to a culture of rampant intoxicated driving in the state, especially in the city of Las Vegas.  Our city also suffers from a “party capital tag,” which means the number of motorists who leave pubs, clubs and bars too intoxicated to drive in Las Vegas, is probably higher here than in many other US cities. 

This state of affairs has long been a concern for Las Vegas drunk driving accident lawyers.  However, the situation could soon hopefully change.  The 2011 legislative assembly will see a number of efforts by lawmakers to strengthen existing DUI laws and enforcement.  Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie Democrat-Reno, is calling for more oversight of agencies involved in handling intoxicated drivers.  The Nevada Attorney General's Advisory Coalition on Impaired Driving has also created a list of laws that need review. Assemblyman William Horne, Democrat-Clark County is also calling for a review of Nevada DUI laws.  Lobbyists like Mothers against Drunk Driving want laws in Nevada that require ignition interlock devices installed in vehicles of DUI offenders. 

A series of investigations in the Reno Gazette Journal published recently showed that many judges were ignoring the law by not requiring these devices for all offenders involved in serious or fatal drunk driving accidents.  These practices have changed since the newspaper published the exposé.  Across the country, several states had seen dramatic drops in drunk driving accident rates, merely by requiring that ignition interlock devices be placed in vehicles of all repeat DUI offenders.  For instance, New Mexico has seen a 65% drop in drunk driving accidents after a law like this was passed.   

Nevada's DUI record has long been an embarrassment to Las Vegas drunk driving accident attorneys.  Hopefully, the 2011 legislative assembly will take proactive steps to review these statutes, and protect Las Vegas motorists from drunk drivers.

The New York Times has an interesting discussion that should be of interest to Las Vegas drunk driving accident lawyers. As our city continues to reel under a rash of drunk driving accidents, it's important for Las Vegas personal injury lawyers and the larger community to look at how we could be reducing the incidence of binge drinking, underage drinking, repeat drunk driving and other dangerous alcohol-related excesses.

The New York Times has compared a number of measures aimed at reducing dangerous alcohol excesses. Whether it's a drunk driving accident that kills someone or a sexual assault under the influence of alcohol, there's no doubt that irresponsible drinking is responsible for many of society's ills. Unfortunately, the New York Times has a not-too-positive view of the impact of many popular programs aimed at prevention of alcohol-related excesses.

Las Vegas drunk driving accident lawyers who are concerned about underage drinking and teen drunk driving accidents, will be especially concerned at the finding that sobriety education in classrooms has very little impact on whether teens will then go out, drink and drive. A study found that out of every 52 high-quality sobriety education programs, only six were effective. These programs also seemed to have a limited impact over a period of years.

There is some indication that sobriety education for teenagers may be more effective when it is done at home. Parents have a much larger role to play in teaching their children about the dangers of drinking and driving, and other alcohol-related excesses. The review also has very little good news to report on the efficacy of social marketing campaigns, which use targeted messages to drive home the “responsible drinking” message home. Social marketing campaigns and PSAs seem to have a much lower impact on drunk driving than they do on smoking.

Health provider interventions have been found to be at least moderately successful in getting a person with irresponsible drinking habits, to change. However, too many binge drinkers in Las Vegas continue to remain undiagnosed and slip through the cracks. These persons continue to drive, posing a serious accident risk to other motorists.

The results of a new study will hold no surprises for Las Vegas personal injury lawyers. The study was conducted by researchers at the Harvard-affiliated Institute for Aging Research of Hebrew SeniorLife in Boston. The researchers found that 52% of elderly persons who suffered a fall accident in the home, were either wearing slippers, going barefoot, or wearing socks with no shoes.

The researchers found that 18% of the participants were barefoot when they fell, while 27% were wearing slippers, and 7% were wearing socks with no shoes at the time of the fall. These persons were also more likely to suffer from serious injuries like fractures, broken bones, and torn ligaments, tendons and muscles as a result of the fall.

The researchers are concluding that wearing proper fitting shoes reduces an elderly person's risk of suffering a slip and fall accident. You don't have to be a Las Vegas slip and fall accident attorney to know that falls can be a major health hazard in the elderly. Older persons are at a higher risk of osteoporosis, a condition in which there is decreased bone mineral density. As a result, the bones become brittle and weak. Such bones are more likely to snap and break when the person suffers a fall. Besides, elderly persons with fractured bones may find that these bones take a longer time to heal.

Serious fractures, like hip fractures in the elderly, can lead to loss of movement and other debilitating conditions that can severely impact the senior citizen’s quality of life. In fact, senior citizens have a fatality rate of between 12% and 36% after they suffer a hip fracture. Treatment for hip fractures can include surgeries, and senior citizens may have a number of health complications that make surgery a risky option.

That's why it's so important to prevent slip and fall accidents among the elderly in the first place. Nursing homes, geriatric health facilities and care facilities must consider these new studies that show that people who wear shoes are at a reduced risk of falls.

Furniture-related accidents involving children are a growing problem. Even the Consumer Product Safety Commission acknowledges this fact, but the agency has done little to set strict standards for the manufacturers of these products. As a result, every year there are far too many accidents involving nightstands, TV stands, armoires, dressers and other pieces of furniture that tip over when weight is applied to one side.

According to Consumer Reports, an average of 22 people, mostly little children, are killed every year in such furniture-related accidents. More than 3,000 people are hurt in such accidents every year. Furniture tip overs can not only cause serious injuries, they can also be fatal. Besides broken bones, fractures and bruises, a child could suffocate.

When it comes to furniture stability, manufacturers are only required to voluntarily comply with ATSM safety standards. The ATSM standards for dressers, for instance, only require that an empty unit not tip over whenever the doors are opened, or when all doors are opened up to two thirds of the way, or when one drawer is opened two thirds of the way and a 50 pound load is placed in the center of each drawer. The ATSM is presently working on revising these standards. The UL standards for audio/video equipment stands requires that the unit not tip over while holding something that weighs as much as a television set and is placed on an inclined plane that is 10° from horizontal.

Las Vegas personal injury lawyers know these standards are completely inadequate as far as the safety of children is concerned. However, even these standards are not mandatory. Many manufacturers don't even try to meet the standards.

As parents, you can minimize the chances of your children suffering serious or fatal furniture-related injuries in the home by securing or strapping furniture that could possibly tip over. Furniture straps are available at several retailers, and when properly secured and strapped, these can provide adequate protection even for a four-year-old. The Consumer Reports website recommends certain furniture straps and fastening Systems that are ideal for securing your furniture.

Alcohol-related excesses like binge drinking, underage drinking and impaired driving decrease when taxes on alcohol are increased. That is the conclusion from a review of more than 72 international studies conducted by the Task Force on Community Preventive Health.

The review found that in almost all the studies, whenever taxes on alcohol and prices increased, there was a sharp decline in the number of dangerous alcohol- related practices that people indulged in. There were sharp drops in binge drinking and intoxicated driving. Even studies that looked at teens, found a drop in underage drinking when alcohol became more expensive.

What's more, the study found that these drops in alcohol-related excesses remained consistent across all types of alcohol, from wine to hard liquor. The declines remained the same even when the reviewers looked at different countries and different time periods. The message to take home from this is that several alcohol-related problems that concern Las Vegas personal injury lawyers, including intoxicated driving, can be minimized by increasing the price of alcohol.

It seems like a simple solution to what is still a major highway safety problem in the US. But there's the fact that the alcohol beverage industry will not take kindly to any move to increase taxes on alcohol. This is the same industry that has opposed the use of ignition interlock devices as an alcohol intervention aid. The American Beverage Institute opposes the use of ignition interlock devices to keep potential drunk driving offenders off the roads. This in spite of the fact that these devices are being used as deterrents with great success in several states.

Any increase on the price of alcohol will also not go down well with the drinking public or for the many responsible consumers of alcohol out there. For the time being, it seems like other deterrents like ignition interlock devices, will have to do.

A driver who was distracted while trying to fix a problem with his doors, lack of seat belts that left passengers with no restraints, and the lack of stability control systems in the vehicle - a report by the National Transportation Safety Board blames all of these factors for the serious injuries and deaths that resulted from the Arizona bus crash last year.

On January 30, 2009, a bus carrying approximately 71 passengers, including a large group of Chinese tourists and their tour guide, flipped over on a rural Arizona highway. At least 15 of the passengers were ejected, which was not surprising considering that the bus was not equipped with seat belts. Seven passengers died, including the tour guide and six Chinese tourists. Ten other people were seriously injured.

Now, the NTSB has presented its report on the causes of the bus accident. The report blames the inattention of the driver for the crash. The driver had been engaged in fixing a problem with airflow in his door. With his attention turned away from the road, he lost control of the bus and it overturned, coming to rest on its side.

If anything, this deadly bus accident illustrates that there are distractions beyond the sort of technological distractions that Las Vegas personal injury lawyers and highway safety groups typically focus on. Any time you are engaged in any activity that takes your hands off the wheel and eyes off the road even for a few seconds, you increase the risks of an accident. This is what seems to have happened here.

The NTSB report also offered stinging criticism for the failure of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to require seat belts on all commercial buses of the same size. These recommendations were made at least 10 years ago, but the FMCSA has failed to act on these. The NTSB estimates that many of the passengers could have been saved if they had been safely restrained in their seats at the time of the crash. The agency also noted that the bus did not come with stability control systems or lane departure warning systems.

A tawdry system that has failed to ensure seat belts in commercial buses is not likely to rush to require lane departure systems and stability control systems anytime soon. The report should be a wake-up call to the FMCSA to speed up the implementation of passenger restraint systems on all commercial buses and school buses.

Every year, the National Safety Council marks the month of June as National Safety Month. The organization earmarks each week of the month for a number of safety campaigns. This year's schedule for June is as follows

• Prescription Overdose Prevention Week
• Teen Driving Safety Week
• Prevention of Overexertion at Work and at Home Week
• Dangers of Cell Phone Use While Driving week
• Summer Safety Week

It’s Week Number Four, dedicated to the prevention of cell phone use while driving that will interest Las Vegas personal injury lawyers the most. After all, it was the National Safety Council which really brought home to Americans the dangers of cell phone use while driving. Earlier this year, National Safety Council estimated that approximately 28% of all auto accidents every year are caused because of cell phone use and texting while driving. That works out to approximately 1.6 million crashes every year that can be attributed to the use of technological devices at the wheel.

This June, the National Safety Council is inviting community organizations, schools, employers and other agencies to begin efforts against cell phone use while driving. The organization has designed posters that can be used to conduct your own efforts against distracted driving.

The NSC also has tips for you to limit the number of technological distractions you face while you drive. Put your phone on silent mode before you begin driving. Set up voicemail messages that inform callers that you are busy driving, and that you will get back to them as soon as you're able to do so. Resist the urge to read or send text messages while driving. Texting while driving increases the risk of an accident by up to 23 times. That means your chances of avoiding a crash while texting at the wheel are not that great. If you must take a call, try to pull over somewhere safe. Spread the texting while driving message. Tell your friends, colleagues and family never to use a cell phone while driving.