Phoenix Motor Vehicle Accident Law Blog

The loss of a loved one in a car accident is usually a sudden, unexpected event. For one Phoenix family, a routine weekday morning ended in the loss of a child and injuries to two others in a severe car accident. The uncle to the children said he had been playing with them before their mother took them to daycare. Fifteen minutes after he shut the door, he got a call from his mother, saying his sister and her children had been in a fatal car accident.

The mother of the children was driving the children to daycare when another driver struck her car. The mother, a one-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl were injured. A three-year-old boy was killed. The driver, an 18-year-old man, was facing criminal charges of two counts of endangerment and one count of manslaughter and aggravated assault.

A recent fatal bus accident has raised troubling questions about the driver.

The bus was taking a group of senior citizens to a casino when it careened off the roadway and struck a concrete barrier last month. Two people were killed and 40 people were injured immediately after the accident. A third person died days later.

A preliminary accident report shows that the driver said he may have blacked out in the moments before the crash. An attorney for one of the passengers who died in the crash says the fact that the man may have lost consciousness is concerning both for the driver and the company. He questions whether the company knew enough about the man's condition and whether indications had shown up in physicals.

The results of a new study of sleep apnea patients may be particularly important for truck drivers. The study measured the rates at which people with sleep apnea failed a simulated driving test. Sleep apnea is a condition in which a person has disrupted sleep because he or she stops breathing for periods of time throughout the night. People with the disorder were more likely to fail those driving simulator tests, the study found.

The study may be noteworthy for truck drivers because at least one study has shown that truck drivers have a higher rate of sleep apnea. In addition, a federal agency estimates that up to 28 percent of truck drivers have sleep apnea, and the government has recently recommended that obese truck drivers be screened for the condition. The worry is that truck drivers with the condition may be more likely to be fatigued, causing a truck accident.

Could your vehicle's airbag car be dangerous rather than life-saving in a car accident? More than 3 million cars are being recalled worldwide after a problem was discovered with a faulty airbag part. The defective auto part can explode and send shrapnel into the vehicle, potentially harming the occupants inside.

So far, the recall affects cars manufactured by Honda, Toyota, Nissan and General Motors. The recalled cars were manufactured from 2000 to 2004. The problem may affect more automakers and could lead to more recalls.