Take the Pledge and get your teens to do so too!

Take the Pledge and get your teens to do so too! Distracted driving kills and injures thousands of people each year.

I pledge to:

• Protect lives by never texting or talking on the phone while driving.

• Be a good passenger and speak out if the driver in my car is distracted.

• Encourage my friends and family to drive phone-free.

The facts are startling... Car crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens
(more than 1 in 3 deaths in this age group).

Nearly 50% of teen driving accidents happen in their first month on the road. Teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to crash.

We are acutely aware of the tremendous emotional and financial burden these accidents place on the entire family. So please... have your teen download the JClay  Accident Safety app at jclayapp.com so they will be prepared and know what to do in an unfortunate situation!

You just got into a car wreck? There's an app for that!

You just got into a car wreck?  There's an app for that!

You're breathing fast... Your heart is beating hard...
-- and you're still in disbelief that you've just got into a car wreck.  So what do you do?                       

Hello, I am attorney J.Clay Benson,

Over the past 15 years people come to my office and they were confused at the time of the accident. They were in shock; they didn't know what to do. That’s why we created this app. It is to help people.

CHECK LISTS:  There is a step-by-step guide with checklists of what to do, and what not to do to help you preserve evidence so that when it's time for you to be justly compensated, the insurance companies don't have the ability to start throwing up defenses and saying you can't prove this and you can't prove that.

YOUR MEDICAL INFORMATION AND EMERGENCY CONTACTS:  The first thing I want you to do with this app is go to the medical information tab and put in any allergies, if you're allergic to penicillin or if you've got a pacemaker, or if you've got steel rods in your back, anything that can help them so that they don't do anything to hurt you worse. You want to put in your contact information in case you're incapacitated you can give this to the medical people at the scene because you know when you get in an accident you want somebody to contact your loved ones and let them know where you're at. That should be one of the most important things you do with this app that can save a lot of headaches and heartache down the road.

AUTOMATICALLY NOTIFIES YOUR FAMILY OF YOUR LOCATION:
The app will also find your location on Google maps and email your spouse, parents or loved ones.

GATHER EVIDENCE BEFORE IT DISAPPEARS:  Two big things on this app are the Law Cam and the voice recorder for Witness Statements.I can't tell you how important it is for you to gather evidence at the scene. I've tried cases where police didn't take pictures of the accident scene and there were skid marks and somebody was saying they weren't going over the speed limit. But of course if we had pictures of the skid marks we could have shown that he definitely was speeding.And then what happens is by the time the client hires our office it has rained and you go out there and the skid marks have been washed away.

WITNESS STATEMENTS:  It is also very important to obtain eye witness statements at the accident scene, because once you get it recorded it will be harder for people to go back on what they've said. You're going to get the honest truth about what happened which is very, very important. Because memories fade... and I can't stress that enough because I've seen cases where people that were entitled to serious money for serious injuries were not compensated because witnesses disappeared, the evidence had been tampered with or evaporated, and this app can help you avoid many of those same issues that have had a negative impact on my clients over the past 15 years.

PROVES YOU ARE NOT AT FAULT:  What this app does, in a nutshell, is prove you were not at fault and give us critical evidence that is necessary to help us prosecute your case!

FOR ANY AND ALL INJURIES:  The Accident Safety app is not just for auto wrecks. It's also for work injuries, slip and falls, dog bites, defective products -- and any type of injury you might get.

PROTECT YOUR TEENS:  We want to make sure your teens have this app on their phones because what we've seen over the past is that young drivers can sometimes be intimidated by adults who are aggressive. There are people who will try to take advantage of the situation... and by having this app, it can prove that your son or daughter was in the right and it's the other party's fault. This is a great thing for your teens to have ...not only for them, but also for their parents in the long run when it comes to insurance rates.

SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS:  If you like our app, I want to encourage you to share this with all your family members, friends, and people at work, put it on your Face book page, text it to your friends, email it, Tweet it, share it with everybody you know.

HELP US IMPROVE:  If you think we can make this app better I want you to let us know that because our commitment is to make this the best app in Alabama for injured victims. But if there's anything you can think of to make this better, please get in contact with us and we'll get right on it.

 
I appreciate you taking time to read this blog and I want you to know that if there is anything we can ever do to help you, whether you hire us or not, we'll always be here for you.

THANK YOU!
J.Clay Benson, Attorney at Law

Are Smart phones really smart? Dangerous Distracted Driving

           A driver distraction is anything that diverts a driver's full attention and focus from driving safely.

     The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says 6,000 people died in crashes in just 2008 involving reports of distracted driving. NHTSA also estimates up to 30 percent of crashes nationally are at least partly linked to distracted motorists. That number grows larger every year.


       It doesn’t take a highway safety scientist to predict that cell phone use is the most common driving distraction of emerging 21st century technology. But many responsible drivers are surprised to learn that cell phone dialing, talking and listening all cause nearly equal numbers of crashes. Why? Because even though dialing is definitely more dangerous when removing a driver’s eyes from the road, it occurs less often than talking or listening.

    In Georgia in 2010, the legislators approved a ban on sending text messages while driving for all drivers. Senate Bill 360, now a state law, states in part “no person who is 18 years of age or older or who has a Class C license shall operate a motor vehicle on any public road or highway of this state while using a wireless telecommunications device to write, send, or read any text based communication, including but not limited to a text message, instant message, e-mail, or internet data.”

   Those in violation of the law are subject to fine of up to $150 and one point on their license.
Minors (those under 18), are prohibited from using any cell phone or computers while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle, regardless of whether or not the cell phone is a hands-free device. Violators are also subject to be fined up to $150, as approved in 2010 as House Bill 23.

   HB 23 also included a possible license suspension for teen drivers who violate the law. If the under 18 driver was in a wreck and cell phone use was found to be a contributing factor, the law allowed the fine to be doubled and guaranteed a license suspension. HB 23 passed on a unanimous vote as the legislature wound down in the spring.


Distracted driving of talking on a cell phone or texting is dangerous,illegal and can carry a fine.

Preventable injuries are the leading causes of death for children under 14

  Preventable injuries are the leading causes of death for children under the age of 14.
Many people are unaware that 80 percent of car seats are not properly installed, nor do they realize that fastening a seatbelt or wearing a bike helmet can mean the difference between life and death for a child.
This is the reason JUSTICE FOR CHILDREN FOUNDATION was created in the 1990s. To prevent brain injuries to children.


    We sponsor the "Heads in Helmets" where we give away FREE helmets.
Since the 1990s we have put helmets on kids at NO COSTS to the family = Free.

    We do this to promote safety and to save lives.
It is a great cause, and lots of fun!
HELMETS ARE COOL!

     Our main goal is to get children wearing helmets. To do that we have to show them that helmets are cool!
As the parent places the child in a car safety seat or even a booster seat…they only need to ask simple questions to make it fun:

 Who do you want to be today?
 A race car driver?
 A Karate girl in the Olympics?

    Kids love to imagine that they are a sports figure or athlete or other person who they admire. We just need to encourage that natural tendency to use their imagination.

Making the helmet MORE attractive to them can be as simple as adding stickers or painting on the helmet.

Financially The Justice For Children Foundation is simple; dollars in, helmets out. No overhead, no rent.

A car just slammed into your car

A car just slammed into your car.

You're breathing fast.

Your heart is beating hard, and you're still in disbelief that you've just got into a car accident.

So what do you do?

    You know accidents happen real fast.

Over the past 15 years people get in my office and they were confused at the time of the accident. They were in shock; they didn't know what to do.

That’s why have developed an Emergency App. This app is FREE.

    This is your injury kit right in the palm of your hand. It's a step-by-step guide with checklist of what to do, what not to do to help you preserve the evidence so that when it's time for you to be justly compensated, the insurance companies don't have the ability to start throwing up red herring and saying well you can't prove this and you can't prove that.

   The first thing I want you to do with this app is go to the medical information tab and put in any allergies, if you're allergic to penicillin or if you've got a pacemaker, or if you've got steel rods in your back, anything like that that can help them so that they don't do anything to hurt you worse.

 You want to put in your contact information in case you're incapacitated you can give this to the medical people at the scene because you know when you get in an accident you want somebody to contact your loved ones and let them know where you're at. That should be one of the most important things you do with this app that can save a lot of headaches and heartache down the road.

   Two big things on this app is the LawCam and also witness statements.

I can't tell you how important it is for you to preserve evidence at the scene. I've handled cases and tried suits where police didn't take pictures of the accident scene and there were skid marks and somebody was saying they weren't going over the speed limit.

   But of course if we had had pictures of the skid marks we could have shown that he definitely was speeding. And then what happens is by the time they get to our office it has rained and you go out there and the skid marks have been washed away.

   Also important with statements because once you get it recorded, they pretty much cannot go back on what they've said. You're going to get the honest truth about what happened which is very, very important. The memory stayed, and I can't stress that enough because I've seen where people that were entitled to serious money for serious injuries were not compensated because witnesses disappeared, the evidence has been tampered with or evaporated, and this app can help you prevent many of those same mistakes that I've seen many of my clients make over the past 15 years.

   What this app does in a nutshell is it helps us really prosecute your case.

This personal injury kit is not just for auto wrecks. It's for work injuries, slip and falls, dog bites, defective products, any type of injury you might get.

    We also want to make sure that your teens have it on their phones because what we've seen over the past is that young drivers tend to get intimidated by adults who are aggressive and they try to take advantage of them and by having this app, it can prove that they are in the right and it's the other party's fault. So it's a great thing for your teens to have not only for them, but also for you in the long run when it comes to your insurance rates.

    Our FREE App will be out in July.

If you like our app, I want to encourage you to share this with all your family members, friends, people at work, put it on your Facebook page, text it to your friends, email it, Tweet it, share it with everybody you know.

   And if you think we can make it better I want you to let us know  because our commitment is to make this the best app for injured victims. So if there's anything you can think of to make this better, please get in contact with us. You can email me clay@jclaybenson.com and we'll get right on it.

I appreciate you taking time to read this blog and I want you to know that if there's anything we can ever do to help you, whether you hire us or not, we'll always be here for you.

J. Clay