Distracted driving can mean any kind of multitasking that impairs our ability to drive safely, but it usually refers to technological distractions like cell phones. Webster’s Dictionary explained why they made distracted driving their word of the year for 2009.

A sign of the times surely, distracted driving is another reflection – and consequence – of our ongoing romance with all things digital and mobile and the enhanced capabilities they provide. While it now may be easier and quicker to feed our multitasking habits, it is not always safe, and many jurisdictions are formalizing that position by making it a crime to text or otherwise use a cell phone while driving.

Texting linked to Tragedy

On August 5, 2010, a distracted driver killed two and injured thirty-eight people in Missouri. Cell phone records indicate that the driver had received 11 texts in the 11 minutes, immediately before the crash.

NTSB chairwoman Deborah Hersman called it a “big red flag for all drivers.”

A Disturbing Trend

In recent years more and more of these technology-related accidents have been investigated by the board. A texting train engineer caused 25 deaths in California. A tugboat pilot killed two tourists while using a cell phone and laptop. A Northwest Airlines flight missed its destination by more than 100 miles because both pilots were on their laptops.

How Common is Distracted Driving?

The negligence of these drivers seems staggering, but distracted driving is incredibly common. In a recent poll by State Farm Insurance, 19% of drivers admitted to actually surfing the internet while driving. And half of all drivers between 21 and 24 admit to thumbing through messages or emailing from the driver’s seat. The survey found that drivers think it’s dangerous when others do it, but not when we do it ourselves.

Preventing Distracted Driving

On June 12, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation to upgrade enforcement of distracted driving laws and to add a point against the licenses of offenders. This type of legislation has gained momentum since an Upstate crash that killed 5 teens was linked to texting and driving. But are we doing enough?

Car Accident Toolkit App

Be sure to download the free Finkelstein & Partners Car Accident Toolkit App for your Android® or iPhone®/iPad®/iPod Touch® that will help to capture necessary information at the scene if you are involved in an auto accident.

Visit these additional sites for more information about the dangers of distracted driving:

http://www.distraction.gov/

If you or your family has been injured by a distracted driver, contact us for a free appraisal.

The New York Times (10/7, B17, Zinser, Subscription Publication) reported that emergency department “visits by children and adolescents for brain injuries jumped more than 60 percent over an eight-year period, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention” in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. “The report said emergency rooms recorded an increase of visits from 153,375 in 2001 to 248,418 in 2009 among those 19 years old and younger because of traumatic brain injuries sustained in recreational activities.” The study found that “the sports most likely to lead to the injuries are bicycling, football, playground activities, basketball and soccer.” The CDC’s Linda C. Degutis, DrPH, attributed the increased visits to “growing awareness among parents and coaches, and the public as a whole, about the need for individuals with a suspected [traumatic brain injury] to be seen by a health care professional.”

Bloomberg News (10/7, Lopatto) reported, “Head injuries contributed to football accounting for 57 percent of trauma-related sports deaths among youths from 1980 to 2009, according to an analysis published in the journal Pediatrics in June.”

The AP (10/7) noted, “In 2003, the CDC started a “Heads Up” youth concussion awareness campaign targeting doctors,” which was also “bolstered by a series of studies that began to appear around 2005 that showed damage in the brains of former National Football League players.”

The Washington Post (10/7, Stein) “The Checkup” blog reported, “Brain injuries among children have gotten more attention in recent years as research has indicated that young athletes with a brain injury take longer to recover and are at greater risk of serious complications than adults, the CDC said. While brain injuries may appear mild at first, they can lead to ‘significant life-long impairment affecting an individual’s memory, behavior, learning, and/or emotions,’ the CDC said. ‘While some research shows a child’s developing brain can be resilient, it is also known to be more vulnerable to the chemical changes that occur following a TBI,’ Richard C. Hunt, director of CDC’s Division for Injury Response, said in a statement.”

In “Today’s Health,” MSNBC (10/7, Carroll) reported, “There’s a national movement to protect young athletes from concussion injuries. At least 30 states have laws requiring coaches to pull injured kids from games and another 15 have legislation pending. ‘The laws have three components: education; stipulation that an athlete cannot return to play on the same day as a concussion; and a requirement that the concussed athlete must be released back to participation by a health-care provider.’”

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/a-drug-to-help-brain-heal-itself-20110314-1bu0j.html?utm_source=RSS+Feeds%3A+Aggregate+News+%26+Info&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TBI_News_Information+%28TBI+News+and+Info+-+BrainLine.org%29&utm_content=Yahoo%21+Mail

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=gabrielle-giffords-gunshot-survival

When you try your best but you don’t succeed (The frustration of tbi)

When you get what you want but not what you need (This always reminds me of the search many tbi patients make  for new things like different religions; almost like they’re trying to escape themselves; no matter what they achieve, they’re still stuck).

When you feel so tired but you can’t sleep (the exhaustion

and loss of sleep in tbi)

Stuck in reverse (no matter how hard you work you feel like you keep going backwards)

And the tears come streaming down your face (frustration)

When you lose something you can’t replace (you can’t replace your life, who you are)

When you love someone but it goes to waste (you may still love your spouse/loved ones, but you’re a different person so this love is wasted)

Could it be worse? (Could it?)

Lights will guide you home

And ignite your bones

And I will try to fix you

And high up above or down below (like the up/down metaphor, no matter if things are good (up) or bad (down), there’s no way out)

When you’re too in love to let it go (the only way out is death and you love your life)

But if you never try you’ll never know (will you settle the case and be safe, or risk it and try it)

Just what you’re worth (what will the jury say your life is worth?)

Lights will guide you home

And ignite your bones

And I will try to fix you

The Neuro Law Trial Group

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This is an unfortunate step back for the US Armed Forces, who have been a leader in brain injury study for sometime.  There are many lessons to be learned from this article, which I will discuss in upcoming posts.

The Neuro Law Trial Group

http://www.npr.org/2010/12/20/132145959/pentagon-health-plan-wont-cover-brain-damage-therapy-for-troops

> Read the AP Story on NPR

The study discusses what impact, if any, labeling a mild traumatic brain injury as a “concussion” has to do with the treatment after the injury.  Enjoy!

> Read the Article at PubMed

By ALAN SCHWARZ

Published: July 26, 2010

This article was copied from the 7/26/10 edition of the New York Times

The National Football League is producing a poster that bluntly alerts its players to the long-term effects of concussions, using words like “depression” and “early onset of dementia” that those close to the issue described as both staggering and overdue.

The poster, soon to be hung in locker rooms leaguewide, becomes by far the N.F.L.’s most definitive statement on the cognitive risks of football, which it had discredited for most of the past several years as academic studies and reports of deceased players’ brain damage mounted.

The new document also warns players that repeated concussions “can change your life and your family’s life forever,” a clear nod to retired players’ wives who have spoken out on the issue, occasionally before Congress. A draft of the poster also features photographs of unnamed youngsters in various sports with the reminder, “Other athletes are watching.”

The new poster, which will also become a brochure given to all players, presents a stark change in league approach. It replaces a pamphlet given since 2007 that said, “Current research with professional athletes has not shown that having more than one or two concussions leads to permanent problems if each injury is treated properly,” and also left open the question of “if there are any long-term effects of concussion in N.F.L. athletes.”

The sobering new warning could affect not just the behavior of current N.F.L. players and youth athletes, but also how retired players’ claims of cognitive decline are handled under the disability plan operated jointly by the league and the players union.

“That poster is shocking,” said Domonique Foxworth, a cornerback for the Baltimore Ravens. “It gives people facts before they take risks. But it’s not exactly a new revelation.”

Matt Birk, the Ravens’ center, said: “To put it out there in writing in locker rooms, at least it’s publicly acknowledging that, ‘Hey, this is real.’ There’s risks in everything you do, and this one is real. You can’t sweep it under the rug anymore.”

Greg Aiello, a league spokesman, said in an e-mail message that the poster, spearheaded by the league’s new head, neck and spine medical committee and written in collaboration with the players union and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “is intended to present the most current and objective medical information on concussions and will be distributed to the players and clubs in the near future.” He said Commissioner Roger Goodell provided his full support.

“We took a very firm stance,” said Dr. Thom Mayer, the union’s medical director and a member of the committee who worked on the text. “This is a clear step forward in educating players.”

The poster lists symptoms that players should look out for, including headaches, confusion, memory problems and feeling more emotional, and warns them not to ignore symptoms.

Beyond detailing the symptoms and severity of head injuries, the poster extends the league’s broad redirection in concussion policy since last fall. Then, the league adopted stricter rules regarding when players can return from head injuries, and then only with an independent neurologist’s permission.

Other changes to playing rules, practice procedures and equipment are being considered, with history suggesting that alterations could be adopted at the college and youth levels.

The new language is a glaring departure from words used by the league’s old concussion committee, whose comments and research that played down the evidence of concussion risks eventually led to its chairmen’s resignations. Their successors, who directed the poster project, Dr. H. Hunt Batjer and Dr. Richard Ellenbogen, did not return phone messages Monday.

The league’s reversal is not necessarily complete. On April 30, an outside lawyer for the league, Lawrence L. Lamade, wrote a memo to the lead lawyer for the league’s and union’s joint disability plan, Douglas Ell, discrediting connections between football head traumaand cognitive decline. The letter, obtained by The New York Times, explained, “We can point to the current state of uncertainty in scientific and medical understanding” on the subject to deny players’ claims that their neurological impairments are related to football.

Mr. Lamade did not return a message left Monday at his law firm, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in Washington. Mr. Aeillo said the league would comment on the letter at a later time.

Brent Boyd, 53, a Minnesota Vikings lineman in the 1980s, is among scores of players whose symptoms of early-onset dementia have been ruled ineligible for the considerably higher disability payments given to players with on-field injuries. That denial took place soon after the last of three plan-chosen doctors ruled in 2001 that a particular concussion Boyd sustained “could not organically be responsible for all or even a major portion” of his condition.

Denied the higher benefits by the disability board, Mr. Boyd has been fighting to reverse the decision ever since. Two months ago, another of his appeals was denied because, the reply noted, “There are no changed circumstances,” and Mr. Boyd refused to see a fourth doctor.

Mr. Aiello and a union spokesman, George Atallah, declined to discuss any possible effect the new poster might have on disability claims. Most likely, the onus will remain on players to assert that their individual conditions did derive from professional football — similar to how players must handle worker’s compensation claims — although that assertion could gain credence with the league’s imprimatur.

Meanwhile, the most immediate effects of the new poster could be on the mind-set of current and future players. Mr. Birk said that some players would still try to play through head injuries “because the culture is so strong, but it’s a good start.”

Mr. Foxworth said: “Ninety-nine percent of the people who put helmets on don’t get the payback we do, but they’re taking the same risks. It’s probably more valuable to them than it is to a lot of us.”

Chris Nowinski, a co-director of the Sports Legacy Institute and an advocate for youth concussion awareness, said he was relieved to learn about the new language. “The old pamphlet that said ‘no evidence of any long-term effects,’ it slowed down progress — it helped create a latency environment when the evidence showed great urgency for change,” he said. “There’s a greater need for culture change on the lower levels. When coaches and people around the games don’t have all the information, simple documents and simple messages are the most important.”

See the original article at:  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/sports/football/27concussion.html?emc=eta1

By the time I got to Court this morning, I was less than excited about facing six or more NYC attorneys for the next 4-6 hours.  I went to meet with my first client, a woman and her child.  They were sitting on a bench outside the courtroom.  The child was so small, maybe three years old, with a pink jumpsuit on.  She had a small braid in her hair, and her lips were pursed together as she thought out the answer to her mother’s question, “How do you spell the word, cat?”  The mother sat in patience, a quiet strength about her.  She looked at me with a feigned smile, attempting to hold back the pain she has had to go through with her child being injured by someone else’s negligence.  Taking her child to cold and dark courtrooms, when she should be out dancing in the sunshine.

And then it happened.  After I shook the mother’s hand, her child slowly slid off the bench, and hugged me.  Her little arms wrapped as far around my knees as they could, and I was in the arms of an angel.  Her mother smiled.  ”She likes to hug.”  I gave them both a look and said, “So do I.”  I got on one knee and asked for another hug, and the child obliged.   Pure bliss.

I walked away from that encounter, as I do with so many other encounters with victims I represent, and that is with renewed respect, love, and pride for them.  I am a lucky man to be able to do what I do…

The NeuroLaw Trial Group