philadelphia inquirer

A 51-year-old woman was struck and killed by a Delaware Department of Transportation snow plow on January 27 in Wilmington. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, the woman was walking early in the morning when she was hit by the dump truck, which was equipped with a plow. Because of their size and weight, it can be difficult for snow plows to maneuver or stop quickly, particularly when roads are slippery or sn [...]

A recent article in The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Pennsylvania received a failing grade from the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety in regards to highway safety. According to the annual report, PA has a significant lack of safety laws regarding seat belt use, cell phone use, and teen drivers. Among other recommendations, the report urged that Pennsylvania prohibit the use of cell phones and text messag [...]

The Pennsylvania State police reported that the number of driving fatalities this year during the New Year’s holiday weekend nearly doubled since last year. An article in The Philadelphia Inquirer said that eleven people were killed and 220 others were injured in the 693 car crashes during the four-day period. Seventy-six of the car accidents were alcohol-related. According to The National Highway and Traffic S [...]

The 5800 series intra-aortic balloon catheters were recalled by manufacturer Teleflex on December 22 after patients reported that it got “stuck in sheath.” If a user can’t move it forward or backward, it leads to a delay in therapy. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the U.S. FDA issued a class 1 recall because these catheters have the potential to cause serious health issues, even death. Millions of peo [...]

Police are looking for Kenney Bellegarde, a 21-year-old from Philadelphia accused of vehicular homicide for the death of Vanessa Tomlin of New Jersey in a car crash in October. Tomlin was a passenger in the vehicle Bellegarde was driving while intoxicated and was killed in the car accident. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Bellegarde was drinking at a wedding prior to the crash and had a BAC almost double the [...]

A hit-and-run accident victim who was rear-ended on December 22 was able to help police in Chester County, PA catch the hit-and-run driver who was also allegedly speeding as well as driving while intoxicated. According to an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, the victim led police to the driver who was also driving without a license. In this case, the driver broke many laws. He drove under the influence of alco [...]

On November 22, a Philadelphia judge sentenced Nicholas Hasselback of Ephrata, PA, to 3 to 6 years in prison for a hit-and-run car crash that critically injured Tony Foltz, a Temple University student. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, immediately after the Pennsylvania car accident, Hasselback swept up broken glass from his vehicle and drove away. In Pennsylvania, the law states that the driver of a vehicl [...]

Sheila McCrea was recently sentenced to 6 years in prison after she crashed her car on the Atlantic City Expressway on July 19, 2009. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, her blood-alcohol level was 0.201 % when she swerved into a guardrail, killing her daughter’s friend and injuring her daughter and two nieces. On average, every day 1.5 persons are killed and 26 people are injured in alcohol-related traffic [...]

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that an autopsy of Owen Thomas, a University of Pennsylvania football player who committed suicide in April, showed he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy. This disease could have been caused by head trauma and may have led to his suicide. His mother believes Thomas never had a concussion. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs when a sudden trauma causes damage to the brain. Accor [...]

A sixth-grader from Delaware was killed on September 15 in a tragic all-terrain vehicle accident. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that she was driving a 2003 Honda Recon ATV at her grandfather’s house. She became pinned under the ATV after it flipped backward and she hit her head on the driveway. This wrongful death accident shows that children do not have the skills to drive an all-terrain vehicle. They do n [...]