Whose Fault? Backing out of a parking space

This is too good for me to try to edit, so I am re-posting it, with permission from the author, in its' entirety:

Determining Fault When Backing out of A Parking Lot

Oct 05, 2012No Commentsby admin

Interview with Farid Yaghoubtil senior partner at Downtown L.A. Law Group

This is a common question asked by many parties. To settle the dispute we have interviewed our resident attorney Farid Yaghoubtil on the subject. Below he shares his insights on this topic.

Who is at fault when backing out of a parking lot or driveway?

Generally the person backing out is responsible to make sure it is safe. California recognizes that the driver in the “flow of traffic” has the right of way. Thus, when you are backing out of your driveway or parking lot you are considered to be coming into that flow and not given the right of way.

Does this mean you are automatically at fault?

Yes, you would be deemed the “at fault” party. But don’t give up on your case. There are times when the other driver is at fault. Examples include running a red light. There are plenty of examples where the driver ran a red light and thus would be deemed at fault for the injury.

What do you recommend if this has happened to someone?

I always recommend that you make sure a police report is filed before doing anything else. You are not allowed to make a police report after the accident. So make sure you do it immediately. If you are seriously injured, it is possible that the police will come to the hospital to take a statement. After a police report is filed, make sure you seek medical treatment of your injuries. It is never advisable to self diagnose.

Should they contact their insurance company?

NO. Absolutely not! Do not make a statement to your insurance company until you have consulted with a personal injury attorney. The reason is that you want to limit the scope of the questioning. Insurance company statements can hold you at fault when you are not responsible for the injuries. Always make sure you speak with an attorney before making a statement to your insurance company.

What happens if it’s my word against the other driver?

This happens all the time. A common example includes when a driver runs a red light and admits to doing so at the scene of the accident. However, when he makes a statement to his insurance company, the story is a bit different.

Isn’t that considered lying or illegal?

You are not under oath when making a statement to your insurance company so it is not perjury, but it unlawful to make false statements regarding an accident. Also, California Evidence Code permits admissibility of the statements made at the scene of the accident under a number of exceptions including the “excited utterance exception” to hearsay.

To Learn more about auto accident liability and personal injury claims visit Mr. Farid Yaghoubtils Google Plus Page

Is there anything else you would like to say?

Auto accidents are common. If you have been injured make sure you get treatment for your injuries. If you have been hurt, speak to an attorney. I know many people feel hesitant speaking with an attorney, but that is not the case with our law firm. There are no fees AT ALL for the consultation and we can give you the best advice.

Read more: http://downtownlalaw.com/determining-fault-when-backing-out-of-a-parking-lot/#ixzz28TA1W8rr

Are Driving Schools Worth It? Part Two

Are Driving Schools Worth It?

PART TWO

                The following table shows some of the results from around the world, of surveys and studies, on the purported value of Driver Education. As you can see, irrespective of country or type, Driver Education classes seem to be meaningless, except as a knowledge source.

SPC mentioned = Safe Performance Curriculum, a specially devised course.

Reference	Design	Results	Methodological Strengths/Limitations
Dreyer and Janke 1979 California	2,057 students randomly assigned to two training conditions	Those receiving range practice had fewer recorded crashes, but tests scores were no different	Randomized control trial                 Intermediate measures                 No follow-up survey for exposure & behavioral measures
Ray et al. 1980 Stock et al. 1983 DeKalb County, Georgia	Intensive, minimal, and no driver education groups                 About 6,000 students randomly assigned to each group	Intensive training (SPC) drivers had better skills and fewer crashes during first 6 months, but not beyond	Comprehensive randomized controlled trial                 Long follow-up – 6 years                 Formative evaluations and intermediate outcomes measures
Wynne-Jones and Hurst 1984 New Zealand	788 students, 561 received course, 227 family/friend taught                 Random assignment	No reduction in collisions for driver education group	Adequate design                 Small control group                 No formative evaluation or intermediate outcomes
Gregersen 1994 Sweden	850 students received driver education course compared to controls                 Random assignment	Driver education group significantly worse first year, significantly better second year	Longer follow-up – 2 years                 Reasonable sample size
Masten and Chapman 2003; 2004 California	1,300 students randomly assigned to one of four instructional settings	Home-based methods better for 1 knowledge and attitude test, classroom better for DMV knowledge test	Sample size adequate                 Well planned and controlled                 Psychometric measures only
Forsyth et al. 1995 United Kingdom	Survey of 15,000 new drivers	Longer time learning to drive associated with fewer crashes for males             More driving education was associated with more crashes	Several follow-ups over time                 Self-selection bias            Self-reported data only
Howarth et al. 2000 Australia	Self-report crash effects for in-car training effects	Substantial differences, but not significant	Sample size too small
McKenna et al. 2000 Pennsylvania	Survey and crash records                 Random sampling for survey	Driver education not associated with lower crashes or convictions	Multi-variate statistical analysis used to control for confounding variables                 SES missing from control variables
Lonero et al. 2005 Manitoba	Survey and crash records                 Random sampling for survey	Driver education not associated with lower crashes or convictions	Multi-variate statistical analysis used to control for confounding variables
Wiggins 2005 British Columbia	Cohort record study                 Case control study with survey and records	New graduated license holders who took driver education had 26% more crashes	Multi-variate statistical analysis used to control for confounding variables
Zhao et al. 2005 Ontario	Self-report survey of high school students	Driver education associated with fewer crashes for learner license holders	Multi-variate statistical analysis used to control for confounding variables
Pezoldt et al. (2007) Texas	Focus groups, surveys, and driver records	Parent-taught teens less safe.	Comprehensive approach with intermediate measures
Robertson and Zador 1978 27 U.S. States	Modeling study of driver education and fatal crash rates	No relation between proportion taking driver education and fatality rates	Not program specific
Robertson 1980 Connecticut	School boards with and without driver education	For school boards without driver education, total licensing and crashes of 16- and 17-year-olds decreased by 10-15%	Not enough data analysis presented
Potvin et al. 1988 Québec	Mandatory driver education introduced in Québec for all (formerly just 16-17 year olds)	Increased number of young driver crashes due to increased number of licensed females aged 16-17	Large sample size                 Different timeframes for treatment and control groups
Levy 1990 USA 47 States	Large-scale modeling study of effects of mandatory driver education	Small but significant beneficial effect on fatal crashes	Not program specific
Carstensen 2002 Denmark	Mandatory driver education, new curriculum	Reduced crashes	Large sample size                 No control of confounding variables

It is especially interesting to note the 2 yellow highlighted areas....in one, a 26% INCREASE in crashes if they took driver education classes, in another, a 10-15% REDUCTION in crashes if there was NO driver education classes.

I leave the reader to draw his or her own conclusion.

Are Driving Schools Worth It? Part One

Are Driving Schools Worth It?

PART ONE

World-wide, we have this idea, called “face validity”, that it is obvious that more education for young, novice drivers, is a good thing. The problem is…..it isn’t! Study after study after study, from Sweden and Denmark, to England, Canada and the United States, have shown otherwise.

First, let’s examine what Driver Education / Training is, in its’ general context. By design, classroom training (the Driver Education portion) should give a student a better grasp of the laws governing roadway use, signs and markings used by their respective country, and a general idea of both the vehicle and how it handles. All of this is done in roughly 30 hours or so. Then, comes the “practical” side, the in-car training.

I can only speak of this, with authority, in terms of United States training; it tends to be much longer, and more detailed in other countries. Most states still use the “30-and-6” rule, where 30 hours of classroom and 6 hours of in-car are required/recommended. To see what your state uses for Graduated Driver Licensing rules, go to http://www.iihs.org/laws/graduatedlicensestatelaws.aspx?StateAbbr=AL and select your state from the drop-down menu. Some states also require a Driver Education course, either from a public school or a commercial driving school.

The major problem in ANY driver education course, whether it is public or commercially given, is the lack of motivation and inspiration to actually teach SAFE driving. Instead, the SKILL of driving is focused on, by both the student and the teacher, because the end-result desired is to pass the road test to become licensed. A SKILLFUL driver is NOT necessarily, a SAFE driver. It has been my sad experience, in teaching in 3 states and conducting seminars in many others, that the majority of driving schools fall under this category, whether meaning to or not.

Many of the instructors I have met have been either poorly trained, or hardly trained at all, and they tend to teach “Here’s How I Drive” lessons, without giving thought to WHY a certain technique should be used, WHEN braking is more harmful than good, HOW to safely negotiate curves and tight turns, etc. They simply check off on the lesson plan that the student was satisfactory at a certain task.

Similarly, classrooms have devolved into relying on reading a handbook, viewing a few videos/DVD’s, and then testing on what was read or seen. Instructor interaction (called “participative Lecture”) is almost non-existent, except for the occasional commentary of “here’s how I handle that situation”. Classrooms that I have visited tend to have, to save costs, textbooks that are 10 or more years old, and no solid agenda for a parent to view on exactly what their teen is going to learn, how it will be determined if learning occurred, or even what the testing will entail. A parent would, rightfully, be angered if a school teacher for, say, English or Math, treated the student’s education the same way. Speaking of which, even in the public school system, many of the “Driver Education” teachers are NOT licensed to be one, as ordained by their K-12 Teaching Certificate.

So, just what is being accomplished here? Is it all bad? Of course not. The classroom AND behind the wheel training are valuable for learning WHAT the rules are. But they do little, if anything, to teach WHY the rules are there, and WHY a driver should utilize safer driving practices. To make matters worse, almost everyone seems to think that they are a better driver than others, and such training is a waste of time. And yet, close to 40,000 people, 2-4,000 of which are teens, die every year on US roads.


The next section will show results from around the globe, many of which are taken from the LSEDE (Large-Scale Evaluation of Driver Education, 2010 Update) which can be downloaded in a pdf format from: https://sites.google.com/site/parentinstructor/my-forms (scroll down to LSEDElit). This link also has many other informational documents for those interested in driver safety, especially as it relates to teens.

Distracted Driving Redux


Much has been written about distracted driving, and considering a Massachusetts case now wending its way thru the courts (http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/31/justice/massachusetts-texting-trial/index.html?hpt=hp_t3), I thought I would present a series of pix from my Distracted Driving Seminar. The original program these are taken from is an interactive media program I use, so the links you see aren't clickable.

This is one of the best videos I have seen on the subject:

For more information on this, please visit:

http://www.distraction.gov/

What's It Take to Be a Driving Instructor?

{This is an excerpt from my Training Manual for new instructors, with Parents added in}

Necessary Traits for Becoming a Driving Instructor

A Primer for Parents

What Am I Supposed To Do? I'm a Parent, Not an Instructor!


     Obviously, a driving instructor must have an in-depth knowledge of traffic laws and safe driving practices. An instructor must also possess an understanding of why these laws exist, and why certain driving practices are safer, or more dangerous, than others, so that he or she can better explain them to the student. It is not enough to simply tell a student to "aim higher" or "use caution". These are vague terms to a novice driver, and will, most likely, be misunderstood or forgotten by the student unless an explanation of "why" is given for each term used in the training.


     An instructor also needs to be able to analyze problems, such as what to do in any given traffic situation, so that both the instructor and the student can safely maneuver through or around any dangers. In addition, every individual, whether in a classroom or in one-on-one training in a vehicle, has different rates of understanding, and the instructor must be able to analyze, and then solve, any problems relating to getting the students to understand the instruction being given. Get feedback from them!


     Communications skills are a prime requisite for anyone involved in any kind of instruction. Communicating does not always equal "talking". It also involves listening, demonstrating, explaining a concept seen in a video or text, and encouragement of the student's own sense of self-confidence in his or her driving skills. When we hire a person to be an instructor, one of the first things we look at is his or her "personality" and conversation skills. Every instructor uses the same basic "text", the Vehicle Code. The difference in instructors is how they communicate that text to the student in an understandable and memorable manner.


     Going hand-in-hand with communication skills is the ability to be patient, understanding, and compassionate about the students skills, or lack of skills. Some students are truly terrified of driving, while others are boastful of their driving abilities, whether real or imagined. Any given classroom will have a varied mix of these types of individuals, and the instructor must be able to accommodate the learning curve of all of them. In addition, not all students will be willing teenagers; you may find yourself driving with a rehabilitating stroke victim who may have poor speech patterns, or with immigrants with trouble understanding you. The wise instructor also takes the time to explain and encourage parents regarding their children's lessons.


     In most cases, you will be driving in a vehicle plainly marked with your school name, address, and phone number. A professional instructor will always strive to present a professional manner while driving. If a student witnesses an instructor violating traffic laws, or "shrugging them off" while driving, the instructor's credibility is tarnished, and his or her "professionalism" is in question. The attitude of an instructor must be professional at all times, in class, in the car, and in all driving situations.


     Needless to say, if an instructor does not have a working knowledge of the vehicle, as well as other vehicles the student may meet up with while driving, it will be impossible for the instructor to impart the required knowledge of safety and defensive driving techniques. Knowing that a front-wheel drive vehicle handles differently than a rear-wheel drive car is important to students driving in tight curves or bad weather conditions. The difference between Anti-Lock brakes and regular brakes, during hard braking maneuvers, can be the critical difference between life and death, and must be explained by the instructor.


     None of the "traits" mentioned so far has any meaning if the instructor lacks a true desire to teach. If instruction becomes a "job" and the instructor has no drive to instill knowledge and safety to a novice driver, then no real instruction is being done. Driving instructors who have a desire to teach are the ones that students respect and ask for in subsequent lessons; they know that they are actually learning something! The desire to teach also makes the instructor find various ways of communicating to the students, rather than "going by the book".


     Instructors must always be looking for new and inspirational methods of communicating. Such methods include "participative lecturing", teaching-by-coaching, role-playing and problem solving games, to name a few. Mundane teaching or reading bores many students, and a bored student is a student who is not learning.


     How would you feel about a doctor, or a lawyer, who practices in cut-off shorts, scraggly beards, unkempt hair, and dirty hands? Probably not very comfortable! What makes you think that your students, and their parents, don't look at you and your vehicle the same way? When you take a teenage student for a lesson, the parents are, quite literally, putting their child's life in your hands. They want the comfort of knowing that a professional instructor is at their side, and your appearance, as well as the vehicle they will be in, is the first impression that they have of you. Remember, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.


     As mentioned earlier, listening is a vital part of communicating. A good instructor listens to not only the words a student may be using, but how they are being used, and the inflection. Quite often the student in your car has poor communication skills themselves, so it is up to you, as a professional, to listen intently and make sure that understanding, comprehension, and learning is taking place.


     The novice driver is also a nervous driver. It is the job of the professional instructor to calm the nerves, build self-confidence, and impart knowledge to the novice driver. This can only be done if the instructor maintains a pleasant and comfortable demeanor. The instructor knows that we all make mistakes now and then, and so he or she must also have the ability to laugh at himself or herself, and not take life too seriously.


     Finally, the professional instructor not only cares about his or her students, but also finds ways of showing it. A student more readily understands the inherent dangers of driving when that student feels that the instructor actually is concerned, and explains the dangers in a way that shows he or she actually cares.

Be Consistent

     One of the most difficult tasks facing you, the parent, is to QUIT being a parent! Your teen needs two things right now: someone to INSTRUCT them on safe driving habits, and an AUTHORITY figure to make the teaching credible. If you try to be a PARENT, your teen (who is, after all, in his or her "rebellious" years) will likely let many of your statements go in one ear and out the other. Remember, they SEE you drive every day, they KNOW (or at least THINK they do!) what your "parenting" skills are like, and they will, very likely, only drive "correctly" when you are around.


     The wise parent is able to set aside their "Mommy / Daddy" personality and adopt a "Teacher" one, which requires a constant conversation during the drive. This conversation will entail descriptions of WHY a certain driving action is done, WHEN it should be done, WHERE it should (or should not) be done, and HOW it should be done, both correctly AND legally.


     You must “prepare yourself “prior to taking your teen driving. Accept the fact that mistakes are going to happen, and think about how you will handle them; reaching over and calmly taking control of the steering wheel, instead of "grabbing" it, using the parking brake on the console (if your car has it there) as your own secondary brake, informing your teen at least a block ahead of a desired turn, or other maneuver, using a "baby monitor" mirror (available from most department stores for around $5.00) as a secondary mirror so that YOU can see traffic to the rear and sides.


     One of the things I look for in an instructor is the ability to remain calm during potentially dangerous situations. I take them out and become a horrible student, one that they must constantly correct and advise. If they rattle easy, I don't hire them. YOU can do the same: take another adult along with you on a drive (WITHOUT your teen!), and let them make mistakes, such as over-turning on a right turn, failure to stop for a stop sign, etc. YOU make the corrective action for them, and think about how you would advise them on a change in their driving skill during the maneuver.


Good Luck....and smile. Remember, in all my years of driver training, the only ones who truly scared me were those who ALREADY HAD a license!