40% of Fatal Car Crashes Between Christmas and New Years are Caused by Drunk Drivers

As the song goes, there’s no place like home for the holidays. But when everyone is traveling and celebrating with friends and family they may have not seen for a long time, there are more cars on the road, and everyone is drinking more than they usually do. This translates to a dramatic increase in the number of drunk driving accidents during the winter holidays.

No one should have their holiday ruined and their life destroyed over someone else’s reckless decision to drink and drive. That’s why we urge everyone to make smart choices this year by never driving after drinking alcohol and always having an alternate option for getting to and from home when attending holiday parties.

New Year’s Eve is the Deadliest Day of the Year for Alcohol-Related Crashes

According to data collected by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), an average of 70 people are killed on New Year’s Day alone every year in crashes where at least one person involved was over the legal limit (BAC of 0.08% or higher). When comparing alcohol-related crashes to non-alcohol-related crashes, January 1 has nearly twice as many drunk driving deaths than any other day of the year.

When you stretch that out to the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, there’s an average of 300 drunk driving deaths, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. That’s 300 deaths in just one week, every year, due to drunk drivers.

Don’t Drink and Drive—It’s Not Worth the Risk

When you drink and drive, you aren’t putting only your life at risk, you are also putting the lives of everyone who shares the road with you at risk: other drivers, their passengers, and pedestrians alike.

What many drivers don’t know, however, is that even one drink, even if it doesn’t put you over the legal limit, can impair you enough to increase your risk of an accident.

While you’re not legally intoxicated until you have a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08%, at just 0.02%, which you can reach after only one drink, you will have a harder time multitasking, tracking moving objects, and have impaired judgement.

If you’re caught drinking and driving, you’re not just risking a DUI citation. If you injure someone, you could face criminal charges AND civil charges filed by the injured victim or their family for the cost of their medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

How to Celebrate the New Year Safely if You are Drinking

• Always have an alternate method home. Even if you drive yourself to the festivities, don’t hesitate to stay the night or find another method home if you decide to drink. Your car can always be picked up the following morning, but injuries or deaths can’t be undone.
• If you plan to drink alcohol, pace yourself. Your level of intoxication is based not only on how much you have to drink, but also how fast you drink. If you have several drinks at the start of the night and then stop, you may still be impaired at the end of the night. Instead, have a drink of water in-between every drink of alcohol, and make sure to eat food as well, as drinking on an empty stomach can make you intoxicated faster.
• If you are enjoying mixed drinks, use juice instead of soda. Carbonation helps alcohol get absorbed into the blood faster, which means you may get drunk faster.
• Use the buddy system. You and a friend or family member can help hold each other accountable for how much and how fast you are drinking, and make the recommendation to switch to water or another non-alcoholic drink when necessary.
• Enjoy something that only looks One major factor that often leads to binge drinking over the holidays and at social events is peer pressure. Even as adults, it can feel awkward to be the only one not drinking at a party. Thankfully, there are many mocktails and mixers such as juice or club soda that you can drink or simply hold without inviting awkward questions or unwelcome but well-intentioned offers to grab you something to drink.
• Remember that there is no difference between “drunk” and “too drunk to drive.” Once you begin to feel buzzed, you are already too impaired to safely drive.

Injured by a Drunk Driver? Call Joye Law Firm.

The dangers of drunk driving are well known, which is why there is no excuse to ever drink and drive. So, when you or someone you love are hurt by a drunk driver, you should not hesitate to hold them accountable for that harm and demand compensation for your medical bills and pain and suffering.

At Joye Law firm, we’ve helped many families across South Carolina get the help they need after drunk driving crashes that weren’t their fault. We want to help you, too. Call our firm today for a free consultation to learn more and speak with a lawyer.

The post 40% of Fatal Car Crashes Between Christmas and New Years are Caused by Drunk Drivers appeared first on Joye Law Firm.

from Joye Law Firm https://www.joyelawfirm.com/2021/12/fatal-drunk-car-crashes-christmas-new-years/
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Major Red Flags to Look Out for When Visiting Your Loved One in a Nursing Home

Many families move their elderly or disabled loved ones into nursing homes or other assisted living facilities when they can no longer live independently. Nursing homes are supposed to provide better-quality care than residents can get at home from family, but unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes residents are neglected or abused by staff, or other residents.

This is both morally wrong and illegal. Nursing home residents have the legal right to be free from abuse, and when they are harmed because of neglect or abuse, they and their families also have the right to get compensation for their neglect/abuse-related medical expenses, their pain and suffering, the cost to move them to a new facility, and more.

Nursing Home Abuse is More Common Than You Know

One study found that nearly 1 in 4 nursing home residents surveyed had experienced at least one instance of physical abuse by nursing home staff. It’s important to always be on the lookout for warning signs that your loved one may be experiencing neglect or abuse whenever you visit or speak with them.

Unscheduled visits are an important way to do so because they give you the chance to see how the facility operates when they aren’t expecting to be watched.

How Do the Staff Seem?

One of the most common reasons that nursing home residents experience abuse and neglect is because nursing homes hire inexperienced staff and/or not enough staff to adequately care for all residents.

Do the staff members you see around the facility seem tired, stressed, or frustrated? This could be a sign that the staff are undertrained and/or overworked.

Do you recognize any faces from the last time you visited, or do most of the workers seem to be new? A high turnover rate could be another sign that the facility has poor working conditions for staff, which almost always causes poor living conditions for residents.

How Do the Residents Seem?

If residents seem malnourished or have poor hygiene, this is a glaring red flag that they are likely being neglected.

Noticeable injuries on residents, such as cuts, bruises, or casts on broken bones, could indicate physical abuse is happening, but they could also be a sign of neglect. Many nursing home residents have mobility problems and need assistance walking or getting out of beds or chairs. When they don’t receive this assistance, they can easily fall and become injured.

It’s also important to watch for sudden changes in personality in your loved one. If they seem depressed or scared, it may be a sign that abuse is happening when you’re not around. You should also carefully note if your loved one often seems confused or “foggy.” While this could be a symptom of dementia, it could also be a sign that your loved one is being overmedicated.

What Are the Interactions Like Between Staff and Residents?

When you are observing staff on visits to the facility, make note of their interactions with residents. Are they friendly and patient with residents, or are they rude? Are they too physically aggressive when touching or moving residents? Do they ignore residents who clearly need help?

Make sure to ask your loved one their opinion on the staff. Even a comment as innocuous as “I don’t like so-and-so,” could be a sign pointing to abuse. Some nursing home residents are too afraid of retaliation to come out and say it when they are being abused, while others may be suffering from dementia or other conditions that make it so they can’t remember exactly what type of abuse they’ve suffered.

What is Your Impression of the Facilities?

Is the nursing home clean? Has it been updated recently, or are the furnishings old and worn? Does it seem to be up to code regarding fire safety? Is the nursing home accommodating to people with mobility issues or other disabilities, and feature ramps and handrails?

What about the dining hall—are the food options healthy and good tasting? Are residents supervised in public areas, and do they receive help from staff when they need it?

Many nursing home owners and management companies don’t maintain their facilities the way they are supposed to, and when they don’t, they may be guilty of neglect or negligence.

Nursing Home Residents Have Rights—We Uphold Them

Nursing home abuse is an epidemic, but we won’t stand for people and corporations abusing the residents in their care or the trust of families who depend on them. If you’ve seen warning signs at your loved one’s nursing home and suspect they may be being abused or neglected, contact our firm right away.

We can help prove when abuse or neglect is occurring, get your loved one to a safer facility, and get your family compensation for the trauma you’ve been through. Reach out to our South Carolina nursing home abuse attorneys today for a free consultation.

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from Joye Law Firm https://www.joyelawfirm.com/2021/12/nursing-home-red-flags/
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Safety Tips for Beginners at the Ice Rink to Avoid Injury

While Decembers in South Carolina may not get cold enough to go ice skating on the rivers and lakes, many people love to celebrate the winter holidays by visiting indoor ice-skating rinks.

But slipping and sliding on the ice isn’t just a silly gag in tv shows and movies. When you’ve never been on ice skates before, or even if you haven’t been in a while, it can be difficult to keep your feet under you, and easy to bump or crash into other skaters. And while the blades on your skates may not be as sharp as the ones in your kitchen, they are sharp enough to cause injury.

Some of the most common injuries from ice skating at indoor rinks come from falling and collisions with other skaters, and often include bruises, sprains, fractures, and head injuries.

In other words, ice skating can be dangerous! But it is also a fun activity, whether solo, with a date, or with your family, and is safe when you take the appropriate precautions.

Follow these tips for a safe and fun time at the rink this winter.

7 Tips to Avoid Injury

1. Make sure your skates fit and the blades are sharp enough. Skates that are too big won’t give you enough ankle support, making it easier for you to lose your balance and fall, and can even put stress on your muscles and bones, making serious injury more likely. Skates that are too small can cause painful blisters, and prevent proper circulation in the feet. And while you may think dull blades are less dangerous, they actually make it harder to skate, and thus easier to fall.
2. Wear safety gear! Many people don’t wear safety gear—such as helmets, knee pads, wrist pads, or elbow pads—like they should when ice skating. But if you’d wear them when roller blading or skateboarding, why wouldn’t you wear them when ice skating? Safety gear can make a huge difference in preventing injuries, especially concussions, after falls when ice skating.
3. Practice falling. It will be easier to control your fall on solid ground than ice, so practice how to fall while protecting your head and keeping your limbs away your skates’ blades before getting on the ice. If possible, tuck your chin into your chest, and try to land on your butt rather than on your outstretched arms. But if you are falling forward and need to put your arms out to protect your face and head, keep your elbows slightly bent to reduce the risk of wrist injury.
4. Stick to the basics. As impressive as it may be to see people performing tricks such as skating backward, spins, or jumps (even small bunny hops), don’t attempt these until you’ve mastered skating comfortably, which will usually take multiple visits to the rink. This also goes for games such as tag or other games likely to cause injury.
5. Keep space between you and other skaters. Novice skaters will often instinctively grab the closet person to them to prevent a fall, but this often results in both skaters crashing to the ice. To avoid injuring others, and to avoid becoming victim to someone else’s fall, keep a safe distance between yourself and other skaters on the rink.
6. If you fall, try to get up or out of the way as quickly as you can. Other skaters will have a harder time seeing you when you’re on the ground, and inexperienced skaters will likely have a difficult time stopping or moving out of the way before colliding with you. The easiest way to get up from a fall is from a kneeling position.
7. Never let children skate unsupervised. Small children are at greater risk at ice rinks because they can be more easily knocked over and may not have as great a sense of balance as adults and teens. Make sure a capable adult who already knows how to skate is always nearby. Children should also skate to the outside of the rink where they can grab onto the handrail if necessary.

Was Your or Your Child’s Injury Due to Someone Else’s Negligence? Call Joye Law Firm Today.

While not all falls and injuries at an ice-skating rink are the fault of negligence, some are. And when you or someone you love is injured because of someone else, we want to help you hold the appropriate parties accountable for the harm they caused so you can get the money you need for your medical expenses and lost wages.

South Carolina law grants ice rink operators some immunity against personal injury lawsuits when injuries result from “the inherent risk of skating,” which often includes falls and collisions with other skaters. But when facilities break safety provisions such as exceeding occupant capacities, not removing hazards from the ice, or not posting enough supervisors for the number of skaters, rinks may be liable.

Our law firm provides free consultations to injured South Carolinians, so don’t hesitate to contact us today to learn if you have a claim after an ice rink injury or other accident.

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from Joye Law Firm https://www.joyelawfirm.com/2021/12/beginners-ice-rink-safety-tips/
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How to Safely Transport a Christmas Tree

According to a AAA survey, 44% of Americans who plan to purchase a live Christmas tree will not secure it safely when transporting it home. This is despite 16% of respondents saying they’ve previously had their tree fall off their car in transit!

Road debris caused 200,000 crashes, 39,000 injuries, and 500 deaths in a four-year period, according to AAA. And roughly two-thirds of those crashes were caused by objects, like Christmas trees, falling off vehicles.

And when a Christmas tree causes a crash—either directly, by falling onto another vehicle or into the path of another vehicle; or indirectly, when a collision or crash occurs because a vehicle is braking or swerving to avoid a fallen Christmas tree—the driver of the vehicle the tree was improperly secured to can be held liable for any injuries and vehicle damage.

This is true for any cargo, not just Christmas trees. All U.S. states, including South Carolina, have laws penalizing drivers who don’t secure cargo to prevent it from shifting, falling, or leaking.

How to Load Your Tree

Only transport a tree on the roof if the vehicle is equipped with a roof rack.

If it does not have a roof rack, place it in the bed of a pickup truck, or inside an SUV or minivan in which the entire tree can fit with all doors closed—If the liftgate needs to be open, the tree is too large to transport safely inside the vehicle.

To avoid winding up with a tree that doesn’t fit, make sure to measure the interior of your vehicle before heading to the tree lot. When picking a tree, also consider how you will be getting the tree up onto the roof, and then back down again. Selecting a too large tree increases your risk of injuring yourself when lifting it.

If you don’t have access to a vehicle with a roof rack or cargo bed, or one which is large enough to carry the tree in the interior, you don’t have to give up on having a live tree, but you should have it delivered rather than attempt to transport it yourself. Tying a tree to the roof of your car when you don’t have a roof rack means it won’t be as secure, and it has a much higher chance of damaging your vehicle’s roof as well as damaging the seal of your vehicle’s windows and doors.

Wrap the tree in a blanket or tarp.

Most tree farms will offer to wrap your tree in netting to keep the branches tightly bundled, but wrapping it in an additional tarp will help protect the interior or paint of your vehicle from fallen needles, scratches, and sap.

If the tree is not bundled in netting, the tarp will be the only thing keeping the branches bound. The tarp makes the tree easier to handle, helps it to present less wind resistance when transported on the roof rack, and makes the tree less likely to injure passengers when transported in the interior.

Secure the tree.

This is important whether you are transporting it on the roof rack, in the bed of a pickup, or in the interior of a SUV or minivan.

When using the roof racks, point the tree so that the trunk of the tree faces the front of your vehicle. If the top of the tree is facing into the wind, it could lift the smaller and lighter top of the tree, shifting it or even blow it off the vehicle entirely. It can even damage the branches, so you end up with an unsightly tree by the time you make it home. The heavier trunk also makes a better anchor point.

Bring your own twine or rope. The lightweight twine offered by many tree lots may be insufficient. We recommend a strong nylon rope.

Using the fixed vehicle tie-down points, secure the tree at the bottom, just above the lowest branches, at the center, and at the top by looping your rope around the trunk.

When you have it secure, give it the “tug test.” Make sure the tree doesn’t shift from side to side, OR from front to back, or you’re risking it sliding down the front of your hood if you need to make a hard stop.

If the end of the tree extends past your bumper, you should tie a reflective flag to the end of the tree to alert other drivers.

If you are transporting your tree in the bed of a pickup, make sure that you know what parts of the bed may get hotter than others, such as near the exhaust pipe. This could damage the tree or pose a fire hazard.

If you are transporting the tree inside your vehicle, make sure you still have a clear view outside the rear window.

Drive cautiously.

Avoid highways and any streets with heavy traffic when possible. You will need to drive at a slower speed than usual, because high speeds can increase the airflow around the tree, potentially damaging it, or worse, tugging it loose.

Additionally, if you are not used to driving with cargo on the roof rack, you will need to be extra careful, because roof cargo often changes the handling of the vehicle. This increases your risk of losing control of the vehicle and crashing if you need to make a sharp turn or brake suddenly.

Make pitstops to check on the tree.

It may be a good idea, especially if you are making a long trip, to pull over at least once  to check on the tree. You’ll want to make sure it hasn’t shifted in transit and that the ropes haven’t loosened.

If You’ve Been Injured in a Crash Caused by Road Debris, We’re Here for You

At Joye Law Firm, we know how nerve-racking it can be to drive behind a vehicle with cargo hanging out of an open trunk or extending far past the edges of the roof, knowing that if the driver didn’t secure it properly, it could fly off and hit your vehicle. Unfortunately, this isn’t an unfounded fear! It can and does happen every day.

When you’ve been injured because of someone else’s negligence, we can step in and make sure you get the full compensation you’re owed. After an injuring-causing crash, contact our firm today for a free case evaluation.

The post How to Safely Transport a Christmas Tree appeared first on Joye Law Firm.

from Joye Law Firm https://www.joyelawfirm.com/2021/12/how-to-safely-transport-a-christmas-tree/
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