Honolulu Personal Injury Lawyer

Will Hawai'i spend "Just A Few Seconds" to think about Distracted Driving?

Wayne Parsons — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 22:31:19 GMT

To build awareness, I hope everyone in Hawaii will watch this moving video below about distracted driving. It was produced by my friend and fellow trial lawyer Joel Feldman and his wife Diane in Pennsylvania. Joel and Diane lost their daughter Casey Feldman when she was killed by a distracted driver and they’ve dedicated their lives to preventing other such tragedies. In doing so they have enlisted over 800 trial lawyers across the country to go into schools, Rotary clubs and community organizations to give distracted driving presentations that hopefully will reduce the tragedies like the death of Casey. The new video shows that the people who drive while talking on their cell phones, texting, searching for music on a device in the car or programming a GPS are wrong to think that they know how to do this safely. They are just lucky. This is what you or you or your loved ones face every time you drive distracted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaOrI2lnw6w&feature=youtu.be

The release of the video by Joel Feldman was announced today in Boston:

Boston, MA (PRWEB) February 04, 2013

An award winning trial lawyer long recognized for his triumphs in the civil court system has focused his attention on a larger battle that may save millions of young lives on roadways across the nation. Today’s video premiere of "Just a Few Seconds" emphasizes the dangers of distracted driving while highlighting how the consequences of a single moment can instantly change the lives of countless others.

Attorney Joel Feldman, who suffered a personal tragedy as a result of distracted driving, will release the video today during a 10:00 a.m. press conference at the Gardner Auditorium in the Massachusetts State House as part of his End Distracted Driving campaign. The nationwide effort has recruited about 500 trial lawyers and 100 professionals as volunteers to inform teens about the sobering statistics of a driving safety crisis in America. Tragedy can’t be undone, but Feldman plans to help prevent it.

The documentary illustrates a heartbreaking story through a series of short and compelling interviews that follow two perspectives: a grieving daughter whose father was killed by a distracted driver, and the high school honors student who killed him when she looked away from the road for a moment. Both live every day with the knowledge that one thoughtless choice changed both their lives forever.

As one of the 800 trial lawyers that Joel has recruited across the country to support his organization, www.EndDD.org I have been giving presentations in high schools on Oahu to enlist teens to become spokespersons for the efforts to make Hawaii roads safer by educating drivers about the dangers of doing things like putting on makeup, programming a GPS, searching for a tune on a music device, sending or receiving a text, or talking on a cell phone even when it’s hands-free.

Don’t think distracted driving is a problem? Here are the facts:

In 2011, 3,331 people were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver, compared to 3,267 in 2010. An additional, 387,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver, compared to 416,000 injured in 2010. (DOT/NHTSA)
18% of injury crashes in 2010 were reported as distraction-affected crashes. (DOT/NHTSA)
In the month of June 2011, more than 196 billion text messages were sent or received in the US, up nearly 50% from June 2009. (CTIA)
11% of all drivers under the age of 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crash. This age group has the largest proportion of drivers who were distracted. (DOT/NHSTA)
40% of all American teens say they have been in a car when the driver used a cell phone in a way that put people in danger. (PEW)
drivers who use hand-held devices are 4 times more likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (Monash University)
Text messaging creates a crash risk 23 times worse than driving while not distracted. (VTTI)
Sending or receiving a text takes a driver’s eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent _ at 55 mph _ of driving the length of an entire football field, blind. (VTTI)
Headset cell phone use is not substantially safer than hand held use. (VTTI)
Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37%. Carnegie Mellon)

Last Saturday I gave a talk to the Driver's Ed class at Kaiser high school about distracted driving. The students are about to start driving cars on their own and they will be faced with making the decision about whether or not to drive distracted. What is distracted driving? It's not just talking on the cell phone or texting. It's anything it takes the driver's attention away _ even partially _ from the primary task which is driving. Distracted driving is texting and cell phone use but is also putting on makeup, searching for a tune on a music device, programming a GPS, looking around into the backseat, eating and anything else that takes a driver's attention off the road. I am a trial attorney who for 30 years as spoken with families who have suffered a tragic injury or death. In the vast majority of cases I look at the way the accident happened and it was completely avoidable. Distracted driving is always avoidable. None of the things I mentioned are important or necessary. People do them because they can. And only do it once and nothing bad happens they feel immune and they assume that they can do it safely. Many people who consciously drive distracted think of themselves as good drivers can handle it. As you will see from the video below they are just lucky and many of them if they keep doing it for a lifetime cause serious injury or death to themselves or someone else in another family will be sitting in a lawyer's office grieving the loss of a loved one. I hope this article wakes some people up and saves some lives. In the fall I spoke at Waialua high school to 700 students about distracted driving and I have presentations set up at Kapolei high school and hope to give the presentations to all the students in Hawaii high schools before I am done.

Passing laws is only a part of the solution. Each of us decides whether or not to drive distracted as we drive. I believe that people who watch the video above will make better choices and decisions. Nothing that puts you, your passengers and those out the vehicle at risk as indicated above is worth. Don’t do it and tell people who do to stop!

Originally posted at The Legal Examiner by Wayne Parsons

Resources for victims of child sex abuse in Honolulu

Wayne Parsons — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:42:49 GMT

The hardest part is often deciding who to talk to about child sex abuse. And an even harder task may be in picking up the telephone and making the first call. If a victim of child sex abuse, now an adult or a mature teenager, is trying to decide whether he or she should do something to hold the perpetrator accountable and wants to understand their options regarding a vil lawsuit,psychosocial support or treatment, where do they start?

This past week I was at a seminar in Honolulu as a speaker sponsored by The National Center for Victims of Crime. entitled Civil Justice or Victims of Crime in Hawaii; a Primer for Service Providers. Child sex abuse was a primary focus of the event. Along with me on the panel was Loretta Sheehan a former prosecuting attorney in Honolulu and now a top trial lawyer with Davis Levin Livingston a firm that has handled some of Hawaii's most prominent child sex abuse cases. Jeff Anderson a mainland attorney specializing in crime victim and child sex abuse cases was also on the panel.

So what do you do to explore your rights and options, get help with your life about what is going on with you or simply find someone that you can trust to talk to who will listen in confidence? A good place to start is to call (202-467-8753)or e-mail (jdion@ncvc.org) Jeff Dion at the National Center for Victims of Crime. Jeff's sister was murdered by a serial killer. He knows what crime can do at a very personal level. His organization has a wealth of resources that have been developed by working with psychological counselors, victim advocates, victims and victims families as well as trial lawyers and the courts on real cases involving real people. Jeff was recently in Hawaii where he presented full day seminars to service providers who want to understand what resources are available to the victims of crime whom they counsel.

A good starting point in Honolulu is to contact the Sex Abuse Treatment Center (SATC) at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children. They are at the forefront of dealing with these powerful issues from a medical, psychological an even a legal basis. I have recently written an article about the new Hawaii law that allows older victims of child sex abuse two years (from April 2012 to April of 2014) to file a civil lawsuit against the perpetrator: Hawai'i Law Benefits Victims of Child Sex Abuse.

The SATC website also prominently features the news of this important new law: A new law has been enacted in Hawai'i that benefits adult survivors of child sexual abuse. It extends the amount of time survivors have to file a civil lawsuit against the perpetrator.

But long before a victim can know if filing a civil lawsuit is right for them they have to start talking about their story and the SATC is a good place to start. They have a 12 minute video on their website explaining the process. .

As a lawyer handling child sex abuse cases I know that the most important thing is for the victim to have a well-trained psychological counselor with whom they can speak candidly and formulate decisions about how to proceed and whether or not filing a lawsuit is best for them. If they decide to bring a claim they will find that speaking to a personal injury lawyer is also a vastly different experience than they anticipated. At the seminar we held last week a victim of child sex abuse, a young woman who was abused by a teacher at her high school, explained that after years of having no one really listen to her story, it was the personal injury lawyer who finally understood and supported her throughout the liberating process of getting the truth out and holding the wrongdoer and those who covered up for him to be accountable for what they had done. She discovered that the civil justice system is where people go to get personal justice and their respect back from those wrongdoers with devastated their lives.

Staring with a psychological counselor trained in child sex abuse, even when the victim is now an adult is the first thing to do and the SATC is a great place to start.

Originally posted at The Legal Examiner by Wayne Parsons

Hawaii Law Benefits Victims of Child Sex Abuse

Wayne Parsons — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 19:44:35 GMT

In April a new law went into effect in Hawaii that opens a two year window for people who were sexually abused as children to bring civil lawsuits against the perpetrator no matter how long ago it happened. A good summary of how the new law works can be found at website of The Sex Abuse Treatment Center of Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children in Honolulu:

Summary of the new law:
Civil actions can be brought against alleged perpetrators in child abuse cases:

up to 8 years after the child victim or person who committed the act of sexual abuse attains the age of majority (18 years), whichever occurs later; or

up to 3 years after the date the minor discovers or reasonably should have discovered that psychological injury or illness occurring after the age of minor's eighteenth birthday was caused by the sexual abuse, whichever comes later.

for a period of two years after the effective date of this new law (April 24, 2012) for cases in which a victim of child sexual abuse had been barred from filing a civil claim against the alleged abuser due to the expiration of the applicable civil statute of limitations that was in effect prior to April 24, 2012.

A civil action may also be brought against public or private entities that employed the person accused of committing the abuse if that entity owed a duty of care to the victim.

The New York Times in "More Time for Justice" heralded the new law as removing one of the most difficult realities for children who were victims of sex abuse: the fact that often by the time the victim psychologically strong enough to pursue a civil lawsuit against the perpetrator, the statute of limitations (the time within which a civil lawsuit must be filed) has expired. The New York Times Editorial points to Governor Abercrombie's signature on the new law as a significant national event:

Hawaii significantly strengthened its protections against child sexual abuse last month when Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed a measure extending the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits filed by child victims. At least as important, it opens a one-time two-year window to allow victims to file suits against their abusers even if the time limit had expired under the old law.

Anyone who feels that they may want to file such a claim should first speak with a psychological counselor or social worker trained in field of child sex abuse. Such consultation is very important and can be done with complete confidentiality. It is important that any victim of this horrific type of assault, be supported by a group of people who understand what is involved in bringing a civil lawsuit. In addition the victim should talk to more than one attorney who handles child sex abuse cases. Speaking with more than one lawyer and evaluating what legal approach and what personality type the victim is most comfortable with in this important and emotionally difficult area. Lawyers who handle these cases will review your case - with complete confidentiality - at no cost to the victim and if you hire one of these lawyers, we all work on contingency fees where the only way the lawyer gets paid is to win the case and collect the money from the perpetrator.

The two year window to file claims began in April 2012 and so if you know someone who thinks that it is too late to file a civil lawsuit and hold the perpetrator accountable, let them know that they have a new opportunity to seek justice.

For those looking for more resources for victims of child sexual abuse, Minnestoa lawyer Mike Brynat has published some useful practical resource lists: Another Helpful Research Website for Sexual Abuse Survivors, September 15, 2012

Originally posted at The Legal Examiner by Wayne Parsons

The latest on motorcycle and moped helmet safety

Wayne Parsons — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 19:27:00 GMT

Next time you’re on the road, take a look around, and as so many bumper stickers tell us, check twice for motorcycles. There are many more people choosing two wheels to meet their transportation needs these days, some for economic reasons, and some simply because it’s fun. Whatever the reason, an important part of being a responsible and long-lived motorcycle or moped rider is the choice and use of an effective helmet.

The National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration (NHTSA) tells us that, per mile in the year 2007, motorcyclists were 37 times more likely to die in motor vehicle accidents than their car-riding counterparts, but also that in the following year, 1928 riders’ lives were saved by helmets. It seems a pretty clear cut decision for those of us who choose to ride – wear a helmet. Not so clear cut, however, is how to navigate the many available choices to find the helmet that not only suits your riding needs, but fits within your budget, and most importantly, offers you the best chance of walking away from a crash.

The two most important considerations in helmet choice are simple - safety and comfort; safety for the obvious reasons, and comfort because no helmet is advanced enough to protect the rider who neglects to put it on because it’s difficult to wear. Recent advances in helmet technology, however, offer today’s rider options, bells and whistles that go far beyond the basics.

According to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, all motorcycle helmets have four common components designed to keep your head protected in the event of a crash:

a rigid outer shell
an impact-absorbing liner
comfort padding
a retention system

The outer shell and the impact-absorbing liners are your main protection from damaging impact forces; they spread the energy through the material, dissipating it before it reaches your head. Liners today are commonly constructed of expanded polystyrene (EPS) which is the same rigid Styrofoam product that is used in children’s car seats to provide impact protection. The comfort padding makes the helmet more wearable, and also provides a snug fit, which is essential to the helmet’s efficacy. The retention system is the chin strap or webbing that insures the helmet stays on your head, even if subjected to serious impact.

Advances in the materials from which manufacturers construct these vital components have meant vast improvements in both safety and comfort for today’s motorcycle riders. While traditional, and less expensive, helmets are still largely armored with an outer shell of durable fiberglass or injection molded plastic, there are now high-end helmets available that offer shells of lightweight carbon fiber or Kevlar. These materials offer the same durability, with a significant reduction in weight, leading to greater comfort. Similarly, helmet companies today are responding to the needs of their consumers by producing products that reduce wind noise, offer a wider range of visibility, and in some cases, reduce wind drag and improve the aerodynamics of the riding experience…all while maintaining the device’s primary mission, protecting precious cargo from harm.

When choosing your helmet, one of the most important indicators you must look for is the product’s certification stickers. The United States Department of Transportation has regulated safety standards for adult-sized motorcycle helmets since 1980, and anyone who sells the helmets must insure that their products bear the certification. The DOT sticker should appear on any helmet you consider, and if it doesn’t, keep looking for one that does.

Another important certification to look for is the mark of the Snell Memorial Foundation. Snell is a not-for-profit organization that has been providing independent testing and certification of all manner of helmets since 1957. In addition to their visible stamp of approval, the Snell Foundation offers a simple helmet certification lookup feature on their website, which allows the consumer to research the approvals of specific models before they buy. A Snell sticker offers you further assurance that the helmet you choose has met the most rigorous and up to date standards in the skull safety industry.

Finally, an important question to consider if you are ever involved in a motorcycle accident is what to do with your helmet afterward. Is it safe to continue wearing a helmet that has already saved you once? The answer is no. The Snell Foundation considers helmets one-use items, if your helmet has endured impact with your head inside of it, you are in the market for a new one. Snell also recommends replacing your helmet every five years, regardless of its impact history, so that you are always protected by the most up to date and effective helmet technology.

Often it isn't the motorcycle or moped rider who causes the crash. Inattentive and distracted drivers often fail to observe mopeds and motorcycles. But the motorcycle and moped riders suffer the most serious harm and often die in a collision with a car or truck. According to The Hawaii Department of Health, Injury Prevention Advisory Committee Report "Injuries in Hawai'i 2007 - 2011" at page 67: "Deaths among moptorcysclists were the sixth leading cause of fatal unintentional injuries in the state, accounting for 146 total deaths from 2007 t0 2011. Seventy-seven of those deaths were on Oahu and 20 of those 77 were on mopeds. Three quarters of those killed were not wearing helmets. Don't get me wrong, the crash may not be the motorcycle rider's fault but knowing the drivers of cars often are oblivious to the motorcyclist doesn't mean much if you are killed by a negligent or distracted driver.

So, whether you’re racking up the mpg’s on a motor scooter, or racing the wind on the latest and sleekest sport bike, make sure that your choice of certified and approved head protection is working for you, each and every time. Motorcycle helmet technology has come a long way in the last several decades, but even the most advanced, high-tech helmet out there can only save your life if you wear it!

Originally posted at The Legal Examiner by Wayne Parsons

What happened in the motorcycle crash near Turtle Bay today?

Wayne Parsons — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 19:11:04 GMT

As I write this Kamehameha highway is shut down near Turtle Bay due to motorcycle crash and police investigation according to a report by KHON:

Honolulu police have closed all lanes on Kamehameha Highway between Crawfords and Kahuku Sugar Mill due to a motorcycle accident.

Details of the accident are limited at this time.

The investigation is ongoing.

Motorists are urged to avoid the area.

If anyone has information regarding the cause of the crash or other facts about the incident please comment below and let the police know if you have not already done so.

According to the Injury Prevention Advisory Committee report: Injuries in Hawai'i 2007 - 2012, at page 67, "deaths among motorcyclists were the 6th leading cause of fatal unintentional injuries in the state, accounting for 146 total deaths from 2007 to 2011."

Of the total of 146 deaths, 77 were killed on Oahu and 20 of those were riding mopeds. Approximately 75% of those killed were not wearing helmets according to the report.

And tragic injuries are also common when a motorcycle of moped crashes on the highway.

Should we accept this record of injury and death or work toward ways to reduce the carnage through safety and prevention measures? Often the focus seems to be on the motorcycle rider but the investigations often show that a distracted or inattentive driver failed to observe the motorcycle. Although I am an advocate for motorcycle, moped, bicycle and skateboard helmet laws, as one way to save lives, reduce tragic injuries and save tax dollars on the huge medical bills resulting from these crashes, I think we need also to address the growing number of driver distractions that are causing many of these crashes. It is not the motorcycle driver's fault in many instances.

I am a proud supporter of the movement to End Distracted Driving: www.EndDD.org and www.NODD.org as well as 60 For Safety.

Originally posted at The Legal Examiner by Wayne Parsons

Will you speak up to a distracted driver on Hawaii's roads?

Wayne Parsons — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 03:53:53 GMT

Hawaii teens face a significant risk of injury from auto collisions. The statistics are daunting:

Car crashes are the #1 killer of teens. 80% of these collisions have some form of driver inattention as a contributing factor—that is over 4,000,000 crashes per year caused by driver distraction.

How many kids watch their parents talking on the cell phone as they drive? How can those teens change their parents driving habits? How hard is to speak up? How many young girls watch their boyfriends texting as they drive? Why don't more teens speak up and tell the driver _ parent or boyfriend or girlfriend or friend _ to stop? We know that few speak up. Most of us go along with the flow and let the driver drive. Can we change that? Can we support a person who tells the driver to "stop driving distracted?"

It will take some effort. Everyone knows that it is unsafe to take your eyes off the road when you drive. In Hawaii it is illegal to text and drive or to hold a cell phone to your ear and drive. In the 3 seconds that a driver looks at the phone to dial or text the vehicle traveling at 45 mph will travel 66 yards, over half of a football field. Would anyone shut their eyes while driving a car for 3 seconds? Then why text or dial a cell phone? The answer is because the driver hasn't killed anyone yet. Our world has become one where people do it because they can do it. By focusing on the phone and the conversation and not the risk, the driver is avoiding the serious consequences.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjmlv1rbGKE

The stories put into perspective why each of us must speak up. The world we live in is full of people screaming and arguing and complaining, but when a driver is distracted no one speaks up. When the news media discusses distracted driving it often seems like the story is about how unreasonable it is to ask a driver to put the phone down and inconvenience themselves. Can you say that after watching one of these true stories of loss and death over some stupid conversation? What have we come to as a community?

Our legislature had the wisdom to pass a law to make texting while driving illegal. Good for them and it is a step in the right direction. But laws only go so far. It is education, awareness and public activism that is required to stop these practices.

How many of you will take the following steps to stop distracted driving?

1. Drive without texting.
2. Drive without making or receiving calls or texts.
3. Call/Text before I start driving to let parents or friends know when I’ll arrive.
4. When I am alone, I can turn my cell phone off/on vibrate when I start to drive.
5. Pull over to safe location before making/receiving calls/texts.
6. Deputize my passenger to make/receive calls/texts while I am driving.
7. Wait until I have finished driving to eat.
8. Wait until I am finished driving to adjust music—change CD’s, scroll through iPod
or iPhone or similar device.
9. Put makeup on before I start to drive or wait until I am finished to reach for
objects in the back seat.
10. Wait to text/call others until they have finished driving.
11. Ask my driver to drive safer if I am a passenger in their car.
12. Be a driver who cares about the safety of others and is not selfish.

I can do this to save my life, lives of my friends and family, and lives of others.

Originally posted at The Legal Examiner by Wayne Parsons

What to Consider When Purchasing a Motorcycle, Moped or Bicycle Helmet

Wayne Parsons — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 13:40:09 GMT

Next time you’re on the road, take a look around, and as so many bumper stickers tell us, check twice for motorcycles. There are many more people choosing two wheels to meet their transportation needs these days, some for economic reasons, and some simply because it’s fun. Whatever the reason, an important part of being a responsible and long-lived motorcycle or moped rider is the choice and use of an effective helmet.

The National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration (NHTSA) tells us that, per mile in the year 2007, motorcyclists were 37 times more likely to die in motor vehicle accidents than their car-riding counterparts, but also that in the following year, 1928 riders’ lives were saved by helmets. It seems a pretty clear cut decision for those of us who choose to ride – wear a helmet. Not so clear cut, however, is how to navigate the many available choices to find the helmet that not only suits your riding needs, but fits within your budget, and most importantly, offers you the best chance of walking away from a crash.

In Hawaii, Cora Speck, Coordinator of Injury Prevention & Research at The Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu can tell you that tragic injuries to people riding motorcycles, mopeds, motor scooters, bicycles and skate boards, are rampant in Hawaii. She sees the injured and helps the bereaved families. The hospital emergency rooms and particularly the Queens Trauma Center see the tragedies on a daily basis. The Queens Medical Center should be applauded for their efforts through Ms. Speck to make Hawaii residents aware of the importance of helmets in the prevention of these tragedies.

According to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, all motorcycle helmets have four common components designed to keep your head protected in the event of a crash:

a rigid outer shell
an impact-absorbing liner
comfort padding
a retention system

When choosing your helmet, one of the most important indicators you must look for is the product’s certification stickers. The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) has regulated safety standards for adult-sized motorcycle helmets since 1980, and anyone who sells the helmets must insure that their products bear the certification. The DOT sticker should appear on any helmet you consider, and if it doesn't’t, keep looking for one that does.

Another important certification to look for is the mark of the Snell Memorial Foundation. Snell is a not-for-profit organization that has been providing independent testing and certification of all manner of helmets since 1957. In addition to their visible stamp of approval, the Snell Foundation offers a simple helmet certification lookup feature on their website, which allows the consumer to research the approvals of specific models before they buy. A Snell sticker offers you further assurance that the helmet you choose has met the most rigorous and up to date standards in the skull safety industry.

Finally, an important question to consider if you are ever involved in a motorcycle accident is what to do with your helmet afterward. Is it safe to continue wearing a helmet that has already saved you once? The answer is "no". The Snell Foundation considers helmets one-use items, if your helmet has endured impact with your head inside of it, you are in the market for a new one. Snell also recommends replacing your helmet every five years, regardless of its impact history, so that you are always protected by the most up to date and effective helmet technology.

So, whether you’re racking up the mpg’s on a moped or motor scooter, or racing the wind on the latest and sleekest sport bike, make sure that your choice of certified and approved head protection is working for you, each and every time. Motorcycle helmet technology has come a long way in the last several decades, but even the most advanced, high-tech helmet out there can only save your life if you wear it!

Originally posted at The Legal Examiner by Wayne Parsons

Tips for Hawaii's new riders of mopeds or motorcycles

Wayne Parsons — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 13:16:43 GMT

The goal of this article is to warn and to educate, to save lives and prevent injuries.

Hawaii's roads are full of mopeds and motorcycles. Young people are opting to get a moped over a car since they are less expensive to buy and to operate and easier to park. And tourists also fill our highways with mopeds. The weather is good and the adventure of a vacation in Hawaii is a perfect scene for moped travel.

But if you ask those at the Queen's Medical Center Trauma Center or any other hospital emergency room in the State, they will tell you that the epidemic of injuries and deaths to motorcycle riders continues on Hawaii roads. The loss of life and the cost to the public for medical care for the injured is staggering. Consider that many motorcycle riders have no or limited medical insurance should they be injured and that the cost of medical care for fractured bones can be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many motorcycle crashes result in paralyzing injuries or traumatic brain injuries that result in lifetime medical expenses of millions of dollars. If the motorcycle rider does not have that much in medical coverage State and Federal tax dollars pay the bills and that aggravates the debt that our government faces. And those monetary expenses are small compared to the human suffering that families experience: a mother and father required to give around the clock nursing care at home _ for the rest of their lives _ to a family member paralyzed in a crash, or a child saddled for life with a traumatic brain injury. The importance of safety education has been the subject of prior articles: Motorcycle Safety Education Gets Attention After Fatal Crashes, by Wayne Parsons, January 03, 2009.

Preventing these tragedies should be a major priority for Hawaii which has a higher than normal incidence of motorcycle crashes. I am a big proponent of motorcycle helmets as my prior articles attest. Hawaii Safety First; The best graduation gift may be a motorcycle helmet, by Wayne Parsons, March 24, 2012.

But there are many additional safety measures that motorcycle riders should take. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation website is a great place to start as a resource on motorcycle safety and injury prevention.

When a family member or a child wants to get a motorcycle or moped there are often heated discussions about safety. A middle ground to not getting a moped or motorcycle is to study the MSF website and promise to follow their suggestions. The first thing to remember is that car and truck drivers often do not see mopeds or motorcycles. They are looking for big objects like cars or trucks and they also cannot judge motorcycle or moped speed. The answer is for the motorcycle or moped rider to give themselves extra room. That alone will increase the ability of the biker to avoid a collision with a careless motorist.

The MSF has created the “Search, Evaluate, Execute strategy (SEE^SM)” to increase time and space safety margins. This easy to follow program can be downloaded from the MSF website and will take a new biker through all of the steps to make them a safe operator of the bike and help them defend themselves against the negligent motorist.

Dressing for safety is also an important factor. All moped and motorcycle crashes are violent and life threatening. Even if the biker lays the bike down and slides without being run over he or she is in for a violent scraping, rolling, tumbling experience. So follow these tips to protect yourself if you are riding on a moped or motorcycle:

Where a helmet that meets the latest safety standards.
Clothing should be protective. Wear leather or tough fabric.
Wear long sleeves or a jacket, gloves and don’t wear shorts or a tank top.
Bright yellow or orange clothing is mandatory. Dark colors fade into the background at dusk. Don’t make yourself invisible.

When you ride “assume” that you are invisible and remember that one second of inattention can lead to the end of the rest of your life. We live in a free country and we are free to make these choices and decisions. The high probability of a motorcycle or moped crash is a reality that every biker faces. Experienced bikers have a relatively low chance of being injured or killed because they take precautions, understand their equipment and don’t make foolish and careless decisions.

One last rule that applies to all vehicles on Hawaii’s roads:

Don’t drink and drive!

Don’t speed!

Both are killers.

Originally posted at The Legal Examiner by Wayne Parsons

Remembering my dad on Fathers Day 2012

Wayne Parsons — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 18:07:45 GMT

My dad died 10 years ago at the age of 94. His name was Karl Alfred Parsons and he taught physics and astronomy at Eastern Michigan University most of his life. When he was a boy he wanted to be a surgeon but the Great Depression altered his course and he had to settle for a less expensive career.

Words never seem to reach the places that hold the feelings that a son and a father share. I know that I am not eloquent enough to capture the essence of the real connection that I had with my dad. There is something magical and subtle and universal about fathers and sons and I suspect that we all share some of those feelings. For this Fathers Day I'll share the words of one of my favorite writers and poets, William Stafford:

Father and Son

No sound - a spell - on, on out

where the wind went, our kite sent back

its thrill along the string that

sagged but sang and said "I'm here!

I'm here!" - till broke somewhere,

gone years ago, but sailed forever clear

of earth. I hold - whatever tugs

the other end - I hold that string.

- William Stafford - from The Way It Is

Originally posted at The Legal Examiner by Wayne Parsons

What does motorcycle or moped "death wobble" mean?

Wayne Parsons — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 17:22:43 GMT

As reported in a recent news story "Some Harley Motorcycles Plagued By 'Death Wobble'", a motorcycle enthusiast was surprised when he couldn't contro;l the steering of his motorcycle at low speeds:

The Peoria biker has been riding for 40 years.

"This is my fifth Harley," Costa said.

But no amount of road experience could have prepared Costa for what happened in October along a scenic highway just south of Prescott.

"I wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. I wasn't doing anything I hadn't done a thousand times before. I had been on that road a couple hundred times," Costa said.

Costa said his speed was about 25-30 mph when, "The whole bike started shaking. I had no idea why the bike was vibrating like that, and it wasn't a little vibrating. I never felt anything like that in my life."

"I got this thought in my head I'm going over the ravine, and I don't want to go down," Costa said.

Costa did go down and was flown to a Phoenix hospital, where he coded and then slipped into a coma. Five days later, he awoke with a quadruple compound leg fracture, eight broken ribs and a punctured lung.

His massive Harley-Davidson Road King was totaled.

Was this a case of operator error? Many times in serious motorcycle or moped crashes, the rider is dead and there are no witnesses. The police have little choice but to describe the cause of the crash as "unexplained". But is there a hidden cause of these crashes?

The mororcycle manufacturers attribute all of these crashes to operator error. As I wrote in an earlier artricle - "Have you experienced steering wobble in a motorcycle or moped?" - there are many causes of wobble. But a crash at 25 mph with an experienced rider on a smooth road is something that tends to show some problem with the bike. CBS looked into this problem and found a much deeper issue with certain Harleys:

A CBS 5 Investigation found similar incidents across the U.S. The possible equipment malfunction Costa describes has become known as the Harley-Davidson Wobble, or "Death Wobble."

A camera mounted on a Georgia state trooper's police-issued Harley shows Officer Richard Barber traveling 90 mph along an interstate. His 2007 Harley Electra Glide begins to shimmy and wobble. Eventually, Barber is able to stop the bike safely.

But a Raleigh, N.C., police officer was not so lucky. In 2002, 30-year-old Charles Paul was thrown from his Harley Electra Glide after it began to wobble. He died, and his family later settled a wrongful death suit with Harley-Davidson in 2008.

The manufacturer claims that all motorcycles and mopeds have wobble and that it does not cause crashes:

Harley-Davidson does acknowledge that its bikes are susceptible to a weave or wobble -- depending on the bike's speed. But they said that this does not cause accidents, and that weave or wobble happens to other bike manufacturers, regardless if it is a Harley or not. Harley also said the wobble problem is worsened when riders add on certain parts and suggests people follow the owner's manual.

The problem is fully analyzed by a forensic engineering consultant, Mark Ezra, PhD in his article "Forensic Engineering Investigation of Motorcycle Instability Induced Crashes". His paper is a good place to start when looking at the root cause of these problems. Poor maintenance of the front steering mechanism can lead to a severe problem.

Most motorcycle and moped crashes result in serious injury or death. All owners should have their bikes checked by a mechanic who understands these problems.

Originally posted at The Legal Examiner by Wayne Parsons