Category: Car Accidents

It is no secret that the streets of Philadelphia can be dangerous. The city’s infrastructure needs some major improvements in an effort to keep motor vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians safe. Too many people are being injured out there because the roads do not foster a safe environment for those traveling by various means. Fortunately, it looks like 2020 will kick off some major traffic improvements for Philadelphia.

Traffic Improvement Funding in Philadelphia

Governor Tom Wolf recently announced that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is set to distribute $13.1 million in Automated Red-Light Enforcement (ARLE) revenue to fund 41 improvement projects across 34 municipalities, Philadelphia included. The $13.1 million in funding comes from fines paid from red-light violations at 31 intersections in Philadelphia. Pursuant to state law, these fines must go towards funding projects that are focused on improving safety, enhancing mobility and reducing congestion in traffic areas.

To receive grant money from the ARLE fund, municipalities across the state submitted a total of 116 applications. The applications totaled close to $33.6 million in requests for traffic improvement funding. Applications were reviewed and selected by a committee with eight members. The committee reviewed project applications for potential benefits and effectiveness as well as cost and cost-sharing. The potential regional and local impact of the project was also considered in the application review project. With the distribution of the $13.1 million in ARLE funds, the ARLE funding program will have awarded a total of $91.59 million since its inception in 2012. This money went to fund 457 safety projects.

Philadelphia is set to have several key safety projects funded with the $6.6 million in ARLE funds it is set to receive. Much of the money will go towards several improvement projects for Old City Market Street, from 6th to 2nd Street. These improvements will include things like rightsizing and protecting bike lanes as well as signal improvements. Bus boarding and pedestrian islands will also be added. Additionally, there will also be several other lower-cost safety improvements made to the city streets and sidewalks. Pavement marking will be improved, rumble strips will be added and so will curb extensions. There will also be green bicycle conflict zones.

On top of all of this, there are big plans to expand the ease and safety of bicycle access in the city. A redesign of high-quality bicycle network streets is in the works that will include both protected bike lanes as well as neighborhood bikeway corridors. Philadelphia’s Modern Roundabout Program will also continue. Intersection modifications will take place to slow traffic in these areas. To do this, the sight distance between drivers and pedestrians will be improved and pedestrian vulnerability will be reduced by reducing pedestrian crossing time. Lastly, there will be city-wide fiber optic signal integration and LED street lighting to promote walkability in commercial and residential areas.

Pennsylvania Personal Injury Attorneys

Let’s hope that all of the traffic safety projects that received funding help make Philadelphia a safer place for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Even the safest of roads, however, can still prove to be dangerous. If you are hurt in Philadelphia, talk to one of the skilled personal injury attorneys at Cooper Schall & Levy. We will consult with you regarding the potential you may have to bring a personal injury claim seeking compensation for your damages. Contact us today.

The vast majority of states have some kind of dram shop law in place. Pennsylvania is included in this majority. If an intoxicated individual has caused you harm, whether it be in a drunk driving accident or some other way, you may be able to seek compensation for damages. The term “dram shop” comes from England where gin used to be sold by the “dram.” Pennsylvania’s dram shop law applies to businesses that serve alcohol, such as bars and restaurants. It also can apply to private events where alcohol is being served. 

Governed by the Pennsylvania Liquor Code, the state’s dram shop law allows a person who has suffered harm caused by an intoxicated person to, under certain circumstances, file a civil claim seeking money damages from the business or person who provided the intoxicated individual with alcohol. These damages can cover losses incurred by the injured party, such as medical bills and lost wages. It can also help cover the value of lost future wages, property damages, and pain and suffering.

An Overview of Pennsylvania’s Dram Shop Law

Pennsylvania’s dram shop law holds a business or individual that provides alcohol to a person who is visibly intoxicated accountable for any damage that the intoxicated individual may cause. The dram shop law is often applied in cases where a drunk driver has injured someone in an auto accident. A lawsuit is usually filed against both the drunk driver and the business that provided alcohol to the drunk driver. This law can also be used in cases where a visibly intoxicated individual starts a bar fight and causes injury to another patron. The injured patron could file a claim for damages pursuant to Pennsylvania’s dram shop law. 

Additionally, the state dram shop law includes civil liability against social hosts who provide alcohol to minors. If the minor causes harm to someone else after the host has provided them with alcohol, then the social host may be on the hook to pay damages. It is important to note, however, while social host liability is applicable in cases where the alcohol was provided to a minor, it is not applicable in claims involving intoxicated adults, even if the adult was visibly intoxicated.

In order to hold a bar or other business liable pursuant to Pennsylvania’s dram shop law, you must be able to show that an employee or agent of the business served alcohol to someone who was visibly intoxicated. Visible intoxication does not depend on a person’s actual blood alcohol content (BAC). Rather it depends on outward signs of intoxication being displayed by the person. Signs supporting “visible intoxication” include things like bloodshot eyes and slurred speech. You must also be able to prove that the business serving the alcohol to the visibly intoxicated person directly led to your injuries.

Pennsylvania Drunk Driving Accident Attorneys

Intoxicated individuals can cause serious damages, especially on the road. If you have been injured by a drunk driver, you may have a chance to recover compensation not only from the drunk driver but from the establishment who provided that driver with alcohol. The dedicated personal injury attorneys at Cooper Schall & Levy are here to pursue every avenue of recovery for you. Contact us today.

Cooper Schall & Levy’s lawyers serve victims of bicycle accidents throughout Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as well as neighboring counties such as Montgomery County and Delaware County and cover neighborhoods such as Norristown and Drexel Hill.

Philadelphia has a big problem: distracted driving. In fact, 75% of people on Philadelphia-area roads are using their mobile devices while driving, according to a 2018 report issued by the Traveler’s Institute. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) states that sending or reading a text leads a person to take their eyes off the road for 5 seconds and that, at 55 mph, this means you are essentially driving the full length of a football field with your eyes closed. If three-quarters of drivers in Philadelphia are using their mobile devices while driving, this means that there are far too many drivers operating their vehicles as if their eyes were closed.

Distracted driving is dangerous driving. The NHTSA reports that, in 2017, distracted driving claimed 3,166 lives. Although mobile device-use such as talking, texting, and e-mailing, has become the biggest source of distracted driving, it is not the only one. Anything that takes your full attention away from the road is a distraction. This includes drinking, eating, and interacting with other passengers. Though using a mobile device while driving seems to be the biggest problem for people between the ages of 20 to 37, novice or teenage drivers are found to be distracted by other passengers in the car more often. NHTSA statistics show that a teen driver that has other teen passengers are more likely to crash than if they were driving alone or with an adult passenger.

How Philadelphia Is Fighting the Distracted Driving Problem

Unfortunately, Philadelphia, as well as the entire state of Pennsylvania, has a great deal of room for improvement in its efforts to curb the prominent problem of distracted driving. Like other states, Pennsylvania has enacted a distracted driving law, but many critics say the law does not go nearly as far as it should. 

Pennsylvania’s distracted driving law only bans texting while driving. More specifically, the law prohibits a driver from using an Interactive Wireless Communication Device (IWCD) in order to send, read, or write a text while his or her vehicle is in motion. An IWCD could be anything from a smartphone to a personal digital assistant or any similar type of device that can be used for things such as texting, emailing or internet browsing.

The law prohibits texting while driving as a primary offense. This means that law enforcement officers are empowered to pull someone over specifically for this offense. They do not need the driver to be in violation of another law first. Unfortunately, texting while driving bans are notoriously difficult to enforce and drivers are not often ticketed for this offense. Even if a driver is ticketed for the offense, the violation carries no points as part of the penalty, and it is not recorded on the driver record for non-commercial drivers. 

Contact Our Car Accident Attorney

Distracted driving leads to devastation on the roads. Those who have been the victims of distracted driving often sustain devastating injuries that will impact the rest of their lives. If you have been hurt by a distracted driver, the dedicated personal injury attorneys at Cooper Schall & Levy will fight for you. We will fight for your legal right to be compensated for the harm you have suffered at the hands of a negligent driver. Contact us today.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation reports that there were 1,137 traffic fatalities in 2017 alone. That same year, there were 351 reportable traffic crashes every day. This means that about 15 crashes occurred every hour. Additionally, 221 people per day were injured in crashes. This means that someone was injured in a reported traffic crash about every hour. These numbers are scary. Traffic crash injuries are even more common than one might think. In 2017, 1 of every 44 Pennsylvania residents was involved in a traffic crash. This is a stark reminder to do everything you can to stay safe out there on the roads.

A Deadly SUV Crash

On August 19th at about 6:35 pm, Cervantes Santos died after crashing his motorcycle into an SUV in Philadelphia. Surveillance video shows Cervantes’s Agusta Rivale motorcycle heading north on Aramingo before crashing into a Honda SUV as it was turning left from southbound Aramingo onto Venango. Witness Brenda Vazquez, an employee at a store near the crash site, reported that the biker was traveling at a high speed, despite the fact that the area is normally very busy as it is home to many stores and businesses.

Vazquez said that one of her coworkers called 911. Vazquez reported that she saw Santos hit the rear passenger side door of the Honda SUV. The impact sent Vazquez flying. Santos, 32 years of age, was taken to Temple University Hospital, and doctors pronounced him dead at 8:20 pm.

In the Honda SUV that Santos hit, there was a woman and four girls. Vazquez and some of her co-workers went to help the woman and her girls, ages 1-month-old, 5, 9, and 11 years old. She reported the heartbreaking scene when the woman, the mother of the girls, came over to give Vazquez the car seat that had her one-month-old little girl in it. The baby was covered in glass and sustained many little cuts all over. The 34-year-old mom and her girls were taken to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. Doctors listed all of them as being in stable condition.

A tragic and fatal crash that will be a scene not soon forgotten by all involved and those who witnessed the accident and its aftermath. Motorcyclists, remember that you are responsible for following the same rules of the road as cars. This means complying with speed limits and respecting the space of other vehicles. 

Cars, you can never be too careful out there on the roads. Take every possible safety measure. Drive defensively. Make sure that all children who require a car seat or booster seat have one and that they are properly buckled in. Also, make sure to check that all car seats are properly installed in the vehicle. Places like fire stations often have someone on hand who is certified to inspect the safety of car seat installation.

Personal Injury Attorneys

Tragedy on the roads is far too common. Negligent driving practices lead to devastating injuries. If you have been injured due to the negligence of someone else out there on the road, the experienced personal injury attorneys at Cooper Schall & Levy are here for you. Contact us today.