Straight Talk Law Blog: Is Risking A Car Accident – And Your Life – Really A Good Time? By Seattle Personal Injury Lawyer Jason Epstein

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In my new article, “Car Stunts: When Teens Try to Defy Death,” I discuss the growing cases of personal injury and wrongful death that are cropping up from car accidents caused by dangerous teen “stunt” driving.

Such practices as car surfing (riding on top of moving cars), ghost riding (fooling around with moving cars with no one behind the wheel) and “skitching,” (getting pulled on a skateboard by a vehicle) are becoming more and more prevalent – causing more and more tragic outcomes.

Now, I realize this kind of risk-taking activity has been around since the invention of cars. You only have to watch the climax of the 1955 film classic, “Rebel Without a Cause” to know that teens always have and always will take these kinds of chances with their lives.

But I do believe that the rise of YouTube, as well as the continuing popularity of the “Jackass” films, is inspiring our youth to take more and more crazy risks. They see Johnny Knoxville and his co-stars making millions doing the same thing – and, through the internet and social media, they now have an instant way to video their stunts and get them before the eyes of the world.

As a personal injury attorney in Seattle, Washington, it’s incredibly difficult to watch the consequences of these frankly not-too-intelligent choices by our youth. I also know that it’s incredibly difficult to combat the immense power of popular culture.

Teens already are aware of the danger – that’s what’s giving them a thrill. What they really need to be educated about is the potentially very unhappy endings of that thrill-seeking. I described a few of them in my article – but I’d like to talk about just one more here in this blog.

Caleb Potter of Cape Cod, Massachusetts managed to survive his injuries from his car stunt – but the injuries he suffered were life changing. After six months in the hospital, Caleb was left blind in one eye, deaf in one ear and with a traumatic brain injury that has left him impaired.

“It was a mess, a mother’s nightmare,” said Sharyn Lindsay, Potter’s mother. ”We miss our son, the way he was before,” said Lindsay.

She now works to educate others about the dangers of reckless car stunts – and to tell the story of what happened to her son.

Please feel free to visit my website at www.straighttalklaw.com , where you can order free books on personal injury and wrongful death lawyers, Washington auto and motorcycle accidents, auto insurance, and other valuable legal information, offered as a public service by myself and my law practice in Seattle, Washington. I also invite all teens to take the pledge against texting and driving at www.teensagainstdistracteddriving.com.