Fort Walton Beach Personal Injury Law Blog

Most people who have dogs love taking their pets with them wherever they can. Even if it is just for a short trip to run a drive-thru errand, many Florida residents will load up the dog in the car to go along for the ride. Of course, with the many outdoor activities around Fort Walton, dogs are often in vehicles for longer periods of time as drivers travel toward their destinations.

You may be someone who loves taking your pooch with you whenever you can. However, it is important to remember that dogs need proper restraints while riding in a vehicle for their own safety, your safety and the safety of those around you. You should also keep in mind that dogs in cars can add significant distractions to drivers, which could pose problems on the roadway.

Federal lawmakers recently convened a hearing to learn more about a proposed bill that would allow commercial truck drivers under the age of 21 to operate on interstate routes through Florida and elsewhere. Right now, young commercial drivers are only allowed to operate on intrastate routes in 49 states.

The bipartisan bill, which was introduced by Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., in February 2019, is called the Developing Responsible Individuals for a Vibrant Economy Act, or the DRIVE-Safe Act. If passed, it would let commercial truck drivers between the ages of 18 and 21 enter a 400-hour apprenticeship program that includes probationary periods and a minimum of 240 hours of supervised commercial motor vehicle driving time. Drivers who complete this training would then be able to travel interstate routes across the U.S.

Whether you live in the area, come for the beaches or visit for some other reason, Fort Walton Beach attracts a lot of people. Not all of them are considering your safety or even their own safety. Instead, they are driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs or both.

Since impaired drivers still present a substantial risk to everyone on the road, authorities continue to gather data on the subject in order to try to find ways to reduce or eliminate their numbers. What they have determined is that there are common substances leading to impaired driving and the accidents it causes.

Back in the 1970s, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration created a program to perform crash tests with dummies as a way to determine vehicle safety. In the 1990s, this program developed the 5-star safety rating system that many drivers in Florida are no doubt familiar with. While the rating system has certainly helped improve vehicle safety, it may be falling behind the times.

This was the contention of a report released in October 2019 by a member of the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. The author points out that the federal government has promised new test procedures for evolving vehicle technology as well as new crash dummies to better represent vehicle occupants, but these have yet to be fulfilled. The U.S. is lagging behind Europe, which conducts four times as many crash tests for rating cars.