Anchorage Alaska Personal Injury Law Blog

For many families, going to the mall the day after Thanksgiving to snag steeply discounted merchandise is becoming as much of a holiday tradition as Thanksgiving itself. Every year, swarms of shoppers line up outside department stores—sometimes camping out the night before the doors open—to secure the best deals possible.

But the biggest shopping day of the year also carries with it real safety risks. Black Friday is a day on which seemingly every modicum of common courtesy is tossed aside in favor of frantic, cut-throat shopping. This day sees a surge in serious shopper injuries, ranging from broken bones to death.

A nationwide surge in pedestrian deaths has safety officials concerned. From 2009 to 2016, the number of pedestrians killed in auto accidents jumped 46 percent. Now the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is calling for increased safety measures.

Will higher safety standards lower pedestrian deaths?

The NTSB is asking for national and federal safety administrations such as the Federal Highway Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to establish new rules. The board is recommending the following increased safety measures in vehicles to reduce pedestrian fatalities:

Sometimes, the negligence of individuals in Alaska can cause catastrophic injuries to others. A spinal cord injury is one such injury that could be traumatic and life-changing. A sports injury, fall, automobile accident, assault or workplace accident can damage the spinal cord.

The spinal cord consists of the primary nerve bundle that carries messages or pulses from the nerve ends throughout the body to the brain and back. This cord is encased and protected by the spinal column, which consists of vertebrae. When a back injury causes harm to the spinal cord, loss of function can result. This means that the victim might lose mobility and feeling to some degree.

The Alaska State Troopers are investigating a crash that involved eight people. An AST spokesperson says three people lost their lives, which is not unusual for auto accidents that involve motorcycles. Traffic on Parks Highway was disrupted for almost 12 hours.

A preliminary crash report indicates that it occurred at approximately 4:30 p.m. on a recent Monday near Fairbanks. A Palmer woman, whose daughter, age 5, was in the station wagon with her was southbound on the highway when she veered across the center line. Two northbound motorcycles could not avoid colliding with the vehicle. One biker's wife who rode as a passenger died at the crash scene, while the other biker was airlifted with critical injuries to his lower body.