Thursday, October 28, 2010

Teenagers in Pickup Trucks More Likely to Be Involved in Accidents

For decades now, the conventional wisdom has been that teenagers are safer when they're driving larger vehicles, like sports utility vehicles and pickup trucks, than smaller passenger vehicles. A new study out of the University of Texas turns that theory on its head.

The results of the study were published in the Accident Analysis and Prevention journal.

The study, conducted by a professor of transportation engineering at the University of Texas, indicates among other things, that a teenage motorist between age of 16 and 17 driving a pickup truck, is at a much higher risk of injury than someone driving a car. The reasons for this don't seem to be so hard to understand. A pickup truck has a powerful engine, and being at the helm of a vehicle with a powerful engine may increase aggressive driving behaviors among teenage motorists. Besides, pickup trucks may not come with the same kind of advanced safety features that passenger vehicles do.

The researchers also came upon several other facts of interest to Los Angeles pickup truck accident lawyers. For instance, they found that driving with one passenger placed a teen driver at a higher risk of accidents than driving with two or more passengers. That also flies in the face of other theories that have long held that a teen driver’s risk of an accident increases with the number of passengers in his car.

The study also found that teen drivers seem to be the most aggressive during the morning rush hour. Further, even a difference of one year seems to make a huge difference to the driving abilities of teen motorists. 16 and 17-year-olds are more likely to be involved in accidents than 18-year-olds.

More than half of all teen-accident related injuries occurred while the motorists were traveling to school. That is consistent with existing research indicating that teenagers’ natural body rhythms leave them sleepy in the early hours after dawn.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Lawsuit Accuses Citigroup of Purging Female Employees to Retain Less Qualified Males

An employment discrimination lawsuit filed against Citigroup alleges that the company, even as it received bailout money from the federal government, continued to engage in pervasive discrimination against female employees by engaging in mass layoffs of female workers.

In November 2008, large numbers of employees were laid off by the company, and the lawsuit alleges that women bore the brunt of the layoffs, while less qualified men were spared. The lawsuit also claims that women at Citigroup are paid less than the men and are often ignored when it comes to promotions, bonuses, and good assignments.

The lawsuit alleges that the company promotes a male-dominated culture where most of the top and middle management positions are occupied by men, with little opportunities for women. The Senior Leadership Committee at Citigroup consists of one woman and 39 men, while the Executive Committee has no women at all, and a total of 19 men.

California employment lawyers will find it interesting that the lawsuit specifically mentions what it calls “recessionary discrimination,” alleging that the company failed shareholders by terminating the jobs of thousands of female employees, while continuing to retain the jobs of less qualified male employees. The lawsuit doesn't provide any numbers related to the overall layoffs at the company in 2008, but claims that it wasn't purely by chance that a large number of female employees were fired compared to males. Further, the lawsuit alleges that Citigroup allowed supervisors and managers to select the employees who would have to be terminated during the layoffs, allowing them to exercise their biases and personal preferences while doing so. Even the women who were not fired during those layoffs of 2008, still allegedly face discrimination in employment in Citigroup, including offensive comments, comparatively lower pay scale and poor assignments.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Air Safety Organizations Agree to Share Plane Crash and Safety Data

Four leading international air safety organizations this week agreed to launch a global information exchange that will include sharing of safety and accident data. California plane crash lawyers believe this will help reduce the incidence of international plane crashes.

The agreement was signed in MontrĂ©al, and included the International Air Transport Association, which represents about 250 international airlines, American and European aviation safety regulators, and the International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nation’s aviation safety wing. The agreement establishes procedures to help identify aviation safety threats. United States Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood also participated in the signing of the agreement.

The information exchange will work by requiring that these safety organizations choose some of the safety data that they collect, and share these as part of the exchange. The main aim is to learn from each other's data, identify potential aviation safety problems, and devise strategies to prevent them. The International Civil Aviation Organization will act as the coordinator for the exchange.

Much of the important data that could really impact aviation safety globally is expected to come from airlines in emerging markets and developing countries, where there has been a steady increase in the number of passengers flying. The exchange also expects expert information and valuable data to come from the major American and European airlines, as well as those countries where the aviation industry is just beginning to take off.

Sharing of airline safety data can increase safety for American passengers, because American regulators can benefit from the application of aviation safety solutions in other countries with a similar aviation environment. An exchange like this will also help international passengers, particularly those in Latin America and Asia where plane crashes have traditionally been higher than in the Western countries.
 
Add to Technorati Favorites