How do autonomous (driverless) vehicles perform when operating amid tough wintry weather conditions? At the VTT Technical Research Centre located in Finland, they have developed Martti, a driverless vehicle that is capable of handling the challenges of snow and ice-filled roads. The vehicle is based on Volkswagen’s Touareg and it has had some success operating in the snow in the Lapland area of Finland traveling at a rate of 25 miles per hour. Carl Wellington, an engineer with Uber’s autonomous vehicle development
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Fatal crashes continue to increase all across Colorado, where there has been a 30% rise in fatalities since 2014. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) reported 635 traffic fatalities in 2017; a figure that they suggest is not simply the result of increases in the population. Colorado’s State Highway 13, just north of Rifle, has been a continuous trouble spot for accidents. Garfield County and State Patrol data indicates that 92 crashes have occurred in the area between 2013 and 2017. Recently,
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Courts across the U.S. are reporting increases from 2015 to 2016 in civil suits, with a 5% rise nationwide and 6.8% rise in Colorado. Many filers are pursuing financial compensation after incurring injuries from vehicle accidents, defective products, and more. As with any important decision, it is best to carefully consider whether to pursue a personal injury lawsuit. In injury cases, the first course of action is not typically a lawsuit. In vehicle accident cases the party that would pay a settlement
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As you travel through other states for a vacation or business, you may be involved in an out-of-state traffic accident. Here, we will look at how the processes may differ because you are located in a different state. Remember regardless where a crash occurs, you should immediately contact emergency responders if anyone is injured. The procedural and financial implications are secondary to the health and well-being of everyone. As long as you maintain auto insurance, you should be covered anywhere in the
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Colorado continues to experience a rising volume of vehicle accidents, many of which are quite severe. From 2014 to 2016, the Department of Transportation reported that there was a 24 percent increase in crash fatalities. When a crash is based on a party’s negligence and there are injuries and/or significant property damage, grounds may exist for a claim of personal injury. In a personal injury action the plaintiff seeks to recover financial compensation to be “made whole” through a settlement
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Drivers in fatal crashes are increasingly testing positive for marijuana in Colorado, with a rise from 627 to 880 fatal accidents between 2013 and 2016. In 2013, roughly 10% of drivers in fatal crashes tested positive, but in 2016 this number doubled to approximately 20%. One important thing to remember is that with the recent changes to marijuana laws, the frequency of testing for marijuana is higher now than in years past. Business Risk & Liability Marijuana usage can have ramifications
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This blog is the first of two parts, which will discuss marijuana usage’s influence on car accidents and personal injury claims. A recent online Harris Poll surveyed over 2,000 individuals in the U.S. and revealed that over 98% of Americans felt that using social media and sending or receiving text messages while driving was dangerous, yet only 91% felt driving under the influence of marijuana was. Only 40% of respondents believed that marijuana usage was actually causing vehicle accidents. Several studies were
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A claim of wrongful death has been filed against the former leader of the El Paso County Republican Party regarding a 2017 vehicle accident that resulted in the death of a pedestrian and spurred some local controversy. The claim was filed in the Fourth Judicial District Court alleging that Trevor Dierdorff demonstrated negligence when he struck Mel Tolbert, the long-time owner of Platte Floral, while he was crossing a street in downtown Colorado Springs. The police had originally issued a traffic citation
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In Airth v. Zurich American Insurance Company, the Colorado Court of Appeals, Division II, was tasked with determining if the summary judgment ruling in the defendant’s favor was appropriate. Rickey Airth, the Plaintiff-Appellant, was injured in a vehicle accident when operating a tractor-trailer owned by the company he worked for—Solar Transport. The accident was the fault of an uninsured motorist. Solar Transport had an uninsured motorist policy in place at the time for $50,000 through Zurich American Insurance Company (“Zurich”), the
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