A preliminary report from The National Highway Safety Administration indicates that the number of U.S. road deaths declined by 1.7 percent in 2011. Last year approximately 32,310 Americans died in car crashes, the lowest number of fatalities on record since 1949 with 1.09 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.

There were, however, significant differences in the number of crashes from region to region. New England states enjoyed the sharpest drop in the number of wrecks while Louisiana’s rate remained unchanged, as did rates in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Mississippi. Fatalities saw an increase in California, Arizona and Hawaii.

Experts told the Associated Press that the overall decline can be attributed to less driving due to a weak economy, more people wearing safety belts, improved safety equipment and fewer drunk drivers. It’s also important to note that vehicle travel fell 1.2 percent last year.

Since hitting nearly 43,000 in 2005, traffic fatalities have continually declined in the past five years.

The NHSA is expected to issue a full and more detailed report later this year.

The New Orleans Car Accident Lawyers with Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers would like to see the Louisiana car accident rate decreased substantially in the coming years and want to remind drivers that speeding is a contributing factor in nearly 1 in 3 deadly crashes. Slow down and be a safe and conscientious driver.

Families of victims of the Transocean Oil Spill that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico two years ago may be one step closer to being compensated. Bloomberg News reports that a U.S. District Court judge recently approved a tentative settlement of $7.8 billion between the company responsible for the spill, British Petroleum (BP), and lawyers for the victims.

The agreement will break the settlement into two separate entities for economic losses and physical injuries; however, the agreement is not set in stone. It must first go through two separate trials, one on fairness that’s scheduled to occur in early November and another that will cover liability, which was recently added to the court docket for mid-January of next year.

The agreement will only cover the private lawsuits and claims that have been made against the company and will not cover the federal and state claims that have been made by Louisiana and Alabama. It also won’t allow those who aren’t content with the settlement to pursue lawsuits against BP. The funds for the settlement will come from a $20 billion trust fund set aside by the oil company to compensate those who were affected by the spill.

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill devastated thousands of lives across the gulf region. That’s why the New Orleans Personal Injury Lawyers with Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers would advise anyone who suffered because of the spill to speak with an experienced attorney.

Police in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, say that speed may have been a contributing factor in a fatal motorcycle crash Wednesday. According to WWLTV News, the accident happened at the corner of Easter Lane and General Meyer Avenue around 8:20 a.m.

Reports from officers with the New Orleans Police Department who responded to the scene indicate that the 82-year-old driver of a Ford Ranger pickup truck was waiting in the westbound lane of General Meyer Avenue to make a left turn. When the driver attempted to make the turn, the 28-year-old motorcyclist, who was traveling at a high rate of speed, collided with the pickup truck.

The biker was ejected from the machine and was declared dead at the scene of the crash. The elderly man who was driving the pickup was not injured in the incident.

Police say that the crash remains under investigation.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that thousands of motorcycle accidents are caused each year by riders who are driving too fast, resulting in numerous cases of serious and sometimes permanent injuries.

That’s why the New Orleans Personal Injury Lawyer with Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers would suggest always wearing a helmet and obeying the posted speed limit of the road you’re on every time you ride a motorcycle as the best way to avoid being involved in a Baton Rouge Motorcycle Accident.

As part of “Work Zone Awareness Week,” the Louisiana Department of Transportation recently hosted a ceremony to remember the highway workers who have been killed by occupational injuries. According to WWLTV News, the vigil and press conference were held Tuesday morning in front of the New Orleans Regional Transportation Management Center.

It was there that 576 orange road cones were placed, representing each individual who has been killed across the country while working in a highway construction zone. Of those deaths, 15 occurred in Louisiana.

During the event, officials announced that their goal is to slash the number of injury and fatality accidents within work zones in half before the year 2030. It was also announced that a cable barrier project spanning along I-10 from Kenner to Baton Rouge would also be completed within several months.

In the meantime, a spokesman for the National Safety Council, Claude Maher, claimed that the public could do its part to reduce the number of these senseless accidents by placing more of their attention on the task of driving. “Put down the phone. Don’t drive distracted, don’t drive impaired, but when you approach a work zone then slow down and pay attention to what’s going on,” he said.

The New Orleans Car Accident Lawyers with Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers would also encourage motorists to slow down and become more aware of your surroundings when entering a highway work zone.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, speed and alcohol are two of the most common contributing factors in fatal motor-vehicle accidents in our country today. The two may have been a factor in a recent accident in Harvey, Louisiana, that claimed the lives of two men, according to WWLTV News.

A spokeswoman for the Louisiana State Police, trooper Melissa Matey, stated that a 54-year-old driver from Franklin, Louisiana, was driving east on LA 541 just before 4:00 a.m. with a 55-year-old local man as a passenger. Police say the driver drifted across the center median and collided with an SUV that was parked on the side of the road.

The SUV was unoccupied, but the two men in the vehicle responsible for the collision suffered massive trauma and died at the scene.

Preliminary investigations have led troopers to believe that the driver’s high rate of speed may have been a contributing cause to the accident. They added that they are awaiting the results of toxicology tests to determine if alcohol or drugs played a part in the crash as well.

The Louisiana Drunk Driving Injury Lawyers with Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers ask that all motorists work to keep our state’s highways safe by always buckling up, obeying the posted speed limits of the road you’re on, and most importantly, never getting behind the wheel of a automobile after consuming alcohol.

Riding motorcycles is a hobby enjoyed by millions of people around the world. However, motorcycle riders can easily become victims of terrible accidents caused by negligent drivers.

For instance, a 57-year-old Westlake, Louisiana, man was killed in a two-vehicle crash just over two weeks ago. According to KPLCTV 7 News, the crash happened at 7:24 a.m. on Louisiana Highway 379.

Reports from state troopers with the Louisiana State Police indicate that a tractor-trailer had stopped at a railroad crossing as it headed east on the highway. As the truck began to slowly pull through the crossing, two vehicles sped up from behind the truck and illegally attempted to pass it. The first vehicle was able to maneuver around the large truck, but the second vehicle could not.

The second vehicle, a 2007 Chrysler 300, struck a 2009 Harley-Davidson motorcycle head-on as it attempted to pass the ruck. The driver of the motorcycle died at the scene despite wearing a DOT approved helmet.

The driver of the Chrysler was ticketed only for passing illegally, but may face additional charges pending the outcome of a full investigation.

The Louisiana Motorcycle Accident Lawyers with Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers ask that motorists be aware that as weather warms, motorcycles will be back out on the roads. That’s why they say that it’s so important to be extra vigilant while driving and to always look twice before turning into traffic.

Doctors and researchers at the Mayo Clinic recently announced that the rate at which skin cancer cases are being reported has seen a dramatic rise, especially amongst young people. According to WAFB 9 News, rates of melanoma among women in their 20s and 30s were up to eight times higher than found in previous studies.

The study examined cases from the Rochester Epidemiology Project that looked at cases of first time diagnosis of melanoma in patients between the ages of 18 and 39 from 1970 to 2009. Researchers found that a high number of tanning bed users were developing skin cancer at an alarming rate. Approximately 74 percent of those who used tanning beds on a regular basis developed melanoma.

In response, the World Health Organization has taken the stance that no person under the age of 18-years-old should be allowed to use a tanning bed.

While mortality rates for the disease have improved in recent years thanks to new methods of early detection, experts still are hoping to make young people aware of how damaging UV rays can be from tanning beds or from not using sunscreen to guard themselves from sunlight.

The New Orleans Personal Injury Lawyers with Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers would like to remind the public of the dangers that tanning beds can pose and suggest using sunscreen if you’re going to be outdoors for an extended period of time.

In an effort to shock teens into learning the dangers of drunk driving, Choudrant High School administrators set up a mock crash scene for their students to witness. According to The News Star, the Lincoln Parish branch of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission’s Safe Communities program sponsored the scenario.

Members of the student council acted in the scenario, which opens with a head-on collision of a Ford Mustang and a pickup truck. Next to the wreckage lies a student who is “dead,” while an “injured” student lies across the hood of the Mustang. In the dramatization, two students on their way to prom find the wreckage and call 911. Rescue crews and deputies from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s and Fire Departments respond to the scene. They airlift the injured student away and cover the dead body, and the driver is arrested for DUI.

Officers and rescue crews answered all student questions after the activity. Safe Communities coordinator Jenny Crume stated, “The number one thing we wanted to get across was not to drink underage. The second thing is you wouldn’t let someone you care about get into a car with someone who is drunk behind the wheel.”

The Louisiana Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers with Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers know that teens may be pressured to drink and drive before prom. The firm hopes that teens can rise above the peer pressure and refrain from drinking.

When a fatal car accident occurs, the family of a victim can file a personal injury lawsuit against the driver whose actions caused the crash. But who is held responsible if improper road construction is to blame for the crash?

According to The Advocate, the families of five victims of a fatal accident that occurred almost a year ago are suing the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development for the loss of their loved ones. They claim that if the state had installed guardrails or a cable barrier system along the highway where their loved ones died, they may still be alive today.

It all began on March 13 of last year along I-10 in East Baton Rouge Parish. Two vehicles were racing when the driver of the rear vehicle lost control. He overcorrected, causing him to skid into oncoming lanes of traffic and then collide with another vehicle head-on. The car that was hit burst into flames, killing all five people inside.

The two racing drivers were charged with five counts of negligent homicide and have pled innocent to the charges. The male driver also faces DUI charges.

Last month, the families of the victims filed the lawsuits naming the DOT and the two drivers as responsible for the crash.

The Louisiana Auto Accident Lawyers with Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers express their condolences to the families of those who died in this tragic accident.

A survivor of the Transocean oil rig explosion formally asked a U.S. District Court judge to free his case from tied up litigation by allowing him a separate trial in a Texas courtroom. Reports from the Bloomberg News say that the man is one of about a dozen cases that have not been settled in connection to the explosion.

The man’s case has been delayed by ongoing litigation aiming to establish fault on the companies that invested in the Deepwater Horizon rig, a case that the judge says takes precedence over injury claims. The judge stated he would examine those claims at some point after fault has been established.

The man, a rig supervisor and one of the last to settle in the case, was infuriated by this decision. The oil rig explosion blew him through a wall and burned the clothes off his body. He broke both his legs, shattered a knee, and his neck was lacerated by flying metal shrapnel.

He has since undergone nine operations, has had to relearn how to walk multiple times, and suffered permanent hearing loss as a result of the explosion.

The Louisiana Maritime Injury Lawyers with Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers would like to wish the injured worker the best of luck in his recovery from the injuries he sustained in the explosion. His dedication to holding those whose negligence caused the accident responsible for their actions is an inspiration to us all.