Nicole Nason, National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator, considered as the country's top official with regards to highway safety issues, called the attention of prosecutors and judges concerning issue of drunk driving repeat offenders.

Los Angeles, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 09/10/2007 -- The said recommendation made by Administrator Nason happened during a meeting that took place in Washington, D.C. on Thursday. National safety advocates, court professionals, judges and manufacturers of safety equipment discussed the function of "alcohol ignition interlocks" in significantly reducing the fatalities connected with repeated violations of drunk driving policies.

According to Administrator Nason, "We need to expand the use of interlock technology in order to prohibit drunk drivers from getting behind the wheel again and again. It is vital that judges and prosecutors employ all the tools at their disposal to ensure that repeat offenders don't have the opportunity to cause harm."

Furthermore, Administrator Nason stated that prosecutors and judges have significant roles in boosting the highway traffic safety. This is by imposing increased usage of the technological advances presented by ignition interlocks as penalty for offenders of drunk driving laws.

She further noted that the current annual data on the use of interlocks is with around 100,000 driving while intoxicated or DWI cases. However, they could only be used in around 20% of this number of cases.

She also added that this kind of measures are essential seeing as fatalities involving drunk driving case have gone to a stand still. The 13,470 fatalities that happened in crashes during 2006 have involved at least on motorcycle operator or driver with a .08 or above Blood Alcohol Concentration. In comparison, this number is lower than in 2005 with 13, 582 fatalities.

Nason declared that it is objectionable for them to be allowing identified drunk drivers to hit the road without giving protection to careful and responsible drivers.

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Tow-truck driver Gregory McCullough and his passenger, Judith Bailey were burned during the catastrophic explosion of a steam-pipe that blew up a crater in a street along Manhattan district of New York City. McCullough and Bailey filed charges against New York City's utility provider with allegations of misconduct. Both are seeking for unstipulated damages from the Consolidated Edison.

Los Angeles, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 08/31/2007 -- According to the burn victims' lawsuit papers, Con Edison allegedly failed to "properly operate and maintain its steam system." Such negligence or misconduct led to creating a certain "ticking time bomb," consequently resulting to unmitigated blast when it finally exploded.

Based from the plaintiffs' claims, historically, twelve of these pipes have already exploded since the year 1987 in the said area. Among these incidents, a 1989 explosion resulted in the death of three people and released poisonous gas, particularly, asbestos amounting to 200 pounds.

The victims filed the lawsuits just when the public utility agency declared earlier that day, that the substandard repair job applied on the pipes was not the cause of its explosion.

Utility officials claimed that inspections and investigations on the cause of explosion turned out that it had been spontaneous.

Aside from McCullough and Bailey who are 21 and 30, respectively, 40 other people sustained injuries caused by the July 18 pipe blast. A woman died due to heart attack.

In the case of the two, they were inside McCullough's truck as the pipe exploded nearby Grand Central Terminal. Beneath them the ground fell away, created a sinkhole wide enough for the tow-away truck to fall into, and the truck was swallowed up by a geyser of steam reaching 200 degrees, asbestos and mud.

McCullough underwent a medically induced comatose condition for proper control of his pain. He had also undergone surgery to remove the dead skin caused by the third-degree burns on almost 80 percent of his body. On the other hand, Bailey suffered from burns on about 30 percent of her body.

Aside from the two burn victims, two other victims filed lawsuits against Con Edison after the pipe eruption.

Con Edison has already engaged an engineering firm that specializes in analyzing and assessing structure failures for a deeper investigation to the causes of explosion.

Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney Services - Our team of Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorneys have been very successful in reaching high settlements and verdicts for various personal injury cases. We are a group of aggressive and diligent attorneys who will protect your legal rights at any time, and in any jurisdiction in California. For more information please log on to our website http://www.personalinjurydefenders.com

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm