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Arizona Drivers Must Know School Zone Laws or Face the Consequences

If you drive in Arizona, you are charged with the knowledge of all applicable traffic laws and rules in the areas in which you drive. If you are like a typical driver in Maricopa County, odds are that you drive through a school zone on a regular basis. The rules of a school zone tend to vary from the rules applicable to the surrounding areas and if you fail to heed the school zone rules, you may face a traffic ticket, criminal charge, or even be responsible for causing an accident that harms a child.

School zones in the Phoenix area tend to be marked with a 15 mile per hour speed limit during morning and afternoon school hours. Drivers are required to slow their speeds, if necessary, before entering a marked school zone and must keep their speeds at or below the posted speed limit until after they exit the school zone. School zone speed limits tend to only be active during school days and therefore do not apply during marked hours on the weekends or over school breaks.

Crosswalks in school zones should be approached with extreme caution as drivers are required to stop if any pedestrian is present in the area. This means that even if an adult is entering a crosswalk on the other side of the street, a driver must stop before entering the crosswalk and may not proceed until the crosswalk is clear.

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What to Do if Your Child is Injured in a Pedestrian Accident this Thanksgiving

With the holidays quickly approaching and more families out shopping, It also puts them at risk of being involved in a serious pedestrian accident. Fortunately, there are certain steps that you can take to make sure that your child’s legal rights are protected if he or she is hurt in a wreck, some of the most important of which are listed below.

Call 911

The first thing you should do if you child is involved in an accident is call 911 so that police and emergency medical personnel are summoned to the scene. Doing so will ensure that your child receives medical treatment and that the driver is cited if he or she has broken any safety laws. If a traffic violation caused the crash, it may automatically entitle your child to compensation.

Document Information about the Crash

If you are able to do so, you should document as much information about the crash as possible. Examples of the facts of which you should make note include the driver’s name, the license plate numbers of the vehicles involved, any commercial markings you see on the vehicle, and contact information from anyone who happened to see the crash.

Have Your Child Examined by a Physician

If you child does not need emergency medical treatment or hospitalization, you may mistakenly assume that he or she does not need to be seen by a physician. In reality, serious injuries can often go unnoticed, and waiting to have them diagnosed can affect your ability to recover compensation. For this reason, it is important that all accident victims undergo a thorough medical evaluation as soon as they can after involvement in an incident.

Contact an Attorney

Obtaining compensation after a pedestrian accident can be a complicated and different process. For this reason, it is critical for anyone who has been involved in one to speak to an attorney familiar with representing accident victims. An attorney will evaluate your case and, if you have a claim, negotiate a fair settlement on your behalf with the insurance company or file a lawsuit1 on your behalf.

Contact a Phoenix Pedestrian Accident Attorney Today to Discuss Your Options

A pedestrian accident can have a devastating impact on your or your child’s life. For this reason, it is critically important to protect yourself by retaining an experienced attorney. For a free consultation with one of our lawyers, call Abels & Annes, P.C. today at 602-819-5191 or send us an email through our online contact form.

1 https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/lawsuit

50 Children are Involved in Backover Car Accidents Every Week in the United States

Some types of car accidents garner a lot of media attention. Rollover collisions, drunk driving crashes, and wrong-way head-on accidents are all heavily covered by news outlets in the greater Phoenix area, and as a result, most drivers are aware of how dangerous these incidents can be. However, accidents that happen at slow speeds tend to get less publicity so many people think that they do not cause a lot of damage or cause injuries.

The truth is much darker. Tragically, any type of collision can cause serious harm, and among them, accidents involving children or minors are particularly devastating. Children of all ages, but especially those under five years old, are at an unusually high risk for being involved in a backover car accident while in Maricopa County.

Backovers are so prevalent that an average of 50 children are involved in these collisions each week in the United States, causing an average of 13,000 injuries annually and approximately 232 deaths.

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Why the Seat Position in a Car Matters for Your Child’s Safety

If you are the parent of a young child, you are probably familiar with infant car seats, regular car seats, convertible seats and boosters. You may have a variety of them that you have used over the years or you may just be starting your journey with infant restraints. While it can seem complicated at times, it is important to understand the importance of car seats and the role they play in your children’s safety.

If you live in Arizona or if you drive in the state, you are required to follow the laws governing children in vehicles. That means if your child is younger than eight years or or shorter than 4’9″, your child must either be in a car seat or a booster seat, depending on her actual age and size.

Beyond the legal requirements of the state or a locality, it is important to use a car seat for the safety of your child. Vehicular safety advances are designed to help protect an adult of typical height and weight. When compared, a child is too small and too light to be safely protected by things like a standard seat belt or an airbag. Rather, children are often injured severely if they encounter either instead of being properly secured in an approved child safety seat.
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Make School Travel Safe: Driving Tips for Phoenix Motorists

School has been in full swing for thousands of children in the Phoenix area for some time now. They are used to grabbing their backpacks in the morning, making sure they have their lunch, and heading out the door to hop in a car, walk down the sidewalk, ride a bicycle, or grab the bus to get to school at this point, working on routine and often running a little on the late side.

According to experts, taking a school bus continues to be the safest means of transit for young children to get to and from school every day. The buses are designed with safety in mind and that helps explain why they are large, sturdy, bright yellow, and outfitted with many lights and stop signs. Even if a school bus accident does occur, students are less likely to be injured than they would be if they were in a smaller passenger vehicle like a car due to numerous safety designs.

But school bus drivers and the students themselves can only account for so much on their own when it comes to safety. It is also important that other drivers on the roadways, near school zones, and driving near a school bus do their part to guarantee that everyone remains free from an accident and that no one is injured unnecessarily.

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Ziplines are Taking Over Arizona – But Are They Safe?

If you are looking for a new hobby in Arizona, you might want to think about one that takes place outdoors. With the vastness of the state, the variety in the landscape found here, and the outdoor opportunities already in place, enjoying nature in and around Phoenix may be just the thing for you.

Many businesses have come to this realization in recent years and have capitalized on the adventurous spirit of those who live in Arizona by crafting new and exciting ways to enjoy the scenery. Among them, the zipline industry seems to have popped up overnight with multiple locations and types of ziplining crisscrossing the state.

Perhaps you have been thinking about ziplining one of these weekends or maybe your kids are dying to go with their friends. If you have given any though to ziplining, have you considered the safety implications that go with the activity?

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Back to School Safety Tips for Kids who Walk or Ride a Bus

Many of the schools across Maricopa County, including those in the Phoenix area, are back in session today. Tens of thousands of children have packed their backpacks, grabbed their lunches, and are heading to classes at the moment, excited for a new year to begin and, likely, dreading going back to school at the same time.

If you have children in your house, they may be back in classes as well. If they have not yet started the year, they will be doing so soon and it is important for you to discuss safety with them as they head to school in the morning and leave school in the afternoon.

Older children likely will remember the safety lessons you have taught to them over the years but younger kids, especially those in elementary school, need constant reminders. They may forget that cars driving near them may have a hard time seeing the kids or that running across a roadway is not a great idea.

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Unknown Safety Risks at Phoenix Splash Pads

If you have young kids and you call the Phoenix area home, the abundance of splash pads and water parks may be one of your favorite summertime perks. When the temperatures spike to unbearable levels, cooling down at a neighborhood splash pad can seem like a great idea. Your kids can burn off energy while staying cool and being as loud as they want. On the surface, it seems like a winning situation for everyone involved.

While splash pads are a wonderful asset to many communities, they can also pose a number of very serious safety risks that far too few parents understand. Regardless of your children’s ages, if you plan to visit a splash pad or water park in Arizona this summer, keep the following issues in mind.

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Accidents Likely as the School Year Ends

Right now, many school districts across Maricopa County are winding down for the year. Some are celebrating their final day of classes today while others are wrapping up in the days and weeks to come.

For countless children around the Valley, this is one of the most exciting times of the year. They are looking forward to time off from school to go to camps, play with friends, swim all day, or run at the park. They cannot wait to be done with homework and the strict rules that often come with a full day at school and instead are anticipating a summer of fun and play.

While there are many positives about the end of a school year, unfortunately there are some risks as well, including an increased risk for a pedestrian accident taking place.

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