Bicyclist Killed

Tony Barnes, 38, of Memphis should not even have been driving his 1997 Chevy Tahoe Monday. Mr. Barnes, you see, had had his driver’s license taken away because he couldn’t seem to follow the rules. This wasn’t the first time the state of Tennessee revoked his license. According to The Commercial-Appeal his arrest history includes several convictions for driving with a revoked license, most recently in July 2008.  Mr. Barnes took a chance and another man lost his life because of it. Mr. Barnes now faces a charge of leaving the scene of an accident, driving on a suspended license and after the District Attorney General goes to the Grand Jury he will face some sort of homicide charge.

Shortly after mid-night Mr. Barnes hit and killed an as of yet unidentified bicyclist and left him in the street to die. Barnes was booked into the Shelby County Jail on Monday evening. Maybe this arrest will help this man get the idea, that when the state revokes your license for drinking and driving and other vehicle violations that they mean it. He just wasn’t going to do what he was told and now someone has lost a father, a son, a husband and a loved one. This is the kind of driver that needs to be kept off the streets forever.

If you or a loved one is injured in a Nashville automobile accident by an unlicensed driver contact one of our experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates

and learn about your rights and remedies.

Michael James Price 37-years of age of Clarksville, Tennessee was no stranger to trouble with the police, but his run of trouble took a fatal turn yesterday morning. According to the Nashville Tennessean at about 12:10 a.m. Price left the scene of a single-vehicle wreck where the vehicle he was driving had run into a ditch on Park Lane.

It appears that Price walked to Fort Campbell Boulevard and at 12:20 a.m. as he crossed the street he stepped into the path of a southbound 1989 Honda Civic, was struck and went into the windshield and died at the scene. The driver of the Honda, 72-year-old Geraldine Benne was unhurt but according to Clarksville Police, was badly shaken-up. Our sympathies go out to the family of this troubled man and also to the innocent driver who collided with him

At the time of his death Price was on bond on charges related to a recent arrest during which he was charged with evading police, driving under the influence of alcohol, assault on a police officer and various other charges following his arrest. While he was being field tested for DUI he spit on a police officer, not always a good idea, and when in the police cruiser he had to be Tazered and hobbled when he tried to kick out the window of the patrol car.

According to the Center For Disease Control and Prevention, every day, 36 people in the United States die, and approximately 700 more are injured, in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. The annual cost of alcohol-related crashes totals more than $51 billion dollars. In 2006, 13,470 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (32%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States.

If you or a family member is injured in an alcohol related automobile accident in Tennessee contact our experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.

No One Is Safe From Drunk Drivers

Madison County Deputy Sheriff Kenneth Blado was quoted as saying, “I never saw him coming up behind me. I remember the actual hit, and then I blacked out. When I gained consciousness, I was dizzy and it took me a minute to gain my composure”. An article in the Jackson-Sun goes on to quote the Deputy as saying, “I didn’t know where I was hit. It was definitely scary,” Blado added. “I’ve been in other wrecks, which weren’t my fault, and was able to brace for them because I saw them coming. But, not this time.”

From the article it appears that Deputy Blado, 36, was patrolling with his partner, Deputy Kizzie Greer, 28, around 1 a.m. when their patrol car was hit hard from behind by a silver 2008 Chevy Cobalt driven by Joshua Brock, 21, of Milan. Deputy Blado was released from the hospital about 5:30 a.m. Friday. The release said Greer and Brock were both admitted into the hospital. Brock underwent surgery and was in intensive care as of Friday night.

In a press release the Sheriff’s office said charges against Brock of two counts of aggravated assault, second-offense DUI and driving on a revoked license will be presented to the grand jury. The police report said he also is facing a charge of no proof of insurance.

We here at Phillip Miller & Associates wish the officers all the best, doing what they do puts them in harms way every minute they are on duty and we all owe them so much. We also wish a speedy recovery to Mr. Brock and further hope that when he takes care of all of the criminal charges that he accepts some help with his drinking problem.

If you or a loved one is injured by a drunk driver contact our experienced Nashville  automobile accident attorneys and find out about your rights and remedies.

Child Safety Seats Work

The Kingsport Times-News reported that a fast moving sedan slammed into the rear end of a parked van containing five small children and three adults. Miraculously none of the children were hurt, but the van’s driver and two other passengers were transported to the hospital. The sedan driver was uninjured but was cited failure to yield and failure to have automobile insurance.

The report went on to say that, “Rescue workers severed the middle post connected to the passenger door panel while getting one hurt passenger out of the van. The authorities did not release the names of any of the victims. According to the reporter, the children were crying and as they were being ushered to the side of the road, one little girl yelled, “I love you, Daddy” while one passenger was placed on a stretcher.

The staff here at Phillip Miller & Associates sends our deepest condolences to the family along with our great relief that none of the children were injured. It appears that the thoughtful parents had these kids safely secured in their car seats.

Driver inattention is the leading factor in most crashes and near-crashes, according to a landmark research report released today by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). Nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds before the event. Primary causes of driver inattention are distracting activities, such as cell phone use, and drowsiness.

As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney I look at this situation and ask myself why it is that a fast moving car rams into the rear-end of a van parked along a city street at 9:30 in the morning. It’s improbable that the car driver intended to ram the van so there must have been either a medical emergency or another type of distraction that caused the driver to take his eyes off the road. In that the driver was ticketed at the scene and not taken for medical treatment, nor was he arrested for driving under the influence it appears that the investigating authorities will focus on what distracted the driver. A good starting point is to examine the driver’s cell phone and determine whether he was making or taking a call. I will follow this accident and let you know what the investigators find out.

If you or a loved one is injured by a distracted motorist contact the experienced Tennessee automobile accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates immediately to find out about your rights and remedies.

For those of you follow my blog you know that we have been monitoring the proliferation of digital camera enforcement technology for red light runners (RLRs) and intersection speeders. For our purposes we have been following events at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Beginning in June of this year the City began installing the cameras at strategically located intersection in an effort to reduce traffic deaths and injures from speeders and those who ignore the red light signals. In my last blog I gave the up-to-date numbers of citations issued and the majority of them were for speeding as opposed to red light running.

Speeding Cops Pay The Fine

Last Friday was an important point in the ongoing saga of Oak Ridge’s effort. Friday was the first day during which an aggrieved citation receiver could appeal to the General Sessions Court to have their tickets overturned. The final toll has not be tallied but it appears that most of the speeders and red light runners who have given notice that they intend to appeal have gone ahead and paid the fine. In an interesting aside, it appears that the cameras have put the long arm of the law on, guess who? If you guessed police officers you win a cigar, yes sir, the cameras cited four Oak Ridge police officers, including one officer who was nabbed twice for speeding through the intersection. Each of the officers paid the $50.00 fine out of their own pockets.

If you are the victim of a Nashville or Tennessee intersection accident we urge you to contact our Nashville car accident attorneys today for a free consultation. When you hire an auto accident attorney from Phillip Miller & Associates, you’re getting a qualified and dedicated lawyer.

Driver Distractions Kill

Another mysterious Tennessee one-vehicle wreck takes the life of a 48 year-old woman. The Knoxville News-Sentinel reported that the victim lost control of the car, ran off the road and struck a tree. The media regularly report these types of accidents and people read them and, unless they know the victim, forget about them right away.

In cases like this the police investigating the case report that they don’t know what caused the accident and witnesses, if there are any, simply say that the car just veered from the highway into a ditch or a tree.

To an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney like myself, these are the stories that I think contain the greatest lessons for other drivers. I mean, think of the questions left unanswered; did she suffer a medical emergency, did alcohol play a roll, was she distracted by something such as a cell phone call, a text message, tuning the radio, CD, was she overtired from working or did some other activity cause her to take her eyes off of the road for even just a minute?

Driver inattention is the leading factor in most crashes and near-crashes, according to a landmark research report released today by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI).
Nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds before the event.  Primary causes of driver inattention are distracting activities, such as cell phone use, and drowsiness.

I regularly suggest to people I meet with that when they get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle to ask themselves these questions before they start the car. Have I had too much to drink, am I overtired, do I need to use my cell-phone on the way home? If we ask ourselves these questions before we take to the road we might not find ourselves in the newspaper as just another mysterious one-vehicle wreck.

If you are the victim of a Nashville or Tennessee automobile accident we urge you to contact our car accident attorneys today for a free consultation

Intersections Are Dangerous

As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney I have learned that although intersections constitute a very small part of the highway and street network, still nearly half of the motor vehicle crashes occur there. Driving near and through intersections is one of the most complex conditions that drivers will encounter. Previous studies have indicated that a significant percentage of crashes involving elderly drivers seem to occur at intersections.

A recent article in the Daily Post-Athenian reported a two-vehicle accident that sent three people to the hospital. The collision occurred at an intersection just outside the Athens, Tennessee city limits. According to police a car with two occupants was struck by a tractor-trailer in the signaled intersection. My first thought is that one of the drivers had run a red light leading to the collision.

One of the primary causes of crashes at signalized intersections involves a vehicle entering an intersection when the red light signal is displayed. This type of collision occurs frequently. Clearly, red-light running, which is reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to be on the rise as with other aggressive driving behaviors such as speeding, tailgating and not stopping or even slowing at stop-controlled intersections, has become a national safety problem.

Red-light running is also a complex problem. There is no simple or single reason to explain why drivers run red lights. My experience here in Nashville is that red light runners are more likely to be younger than 30-years old, have a record of moving violations, are driving without a valid license and/or have consumed alcohol.

If you are the victim of a Nashville or Tennessee automobile accident we urge you to contact our Tennessee car accident attorneys today for a free consultation. When you hire an auto accident attorney from Phillip Miller & Associates, you’re getting a qualified and dedicated lawyer.

We have positive news this week from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney I can tell you that lap/shoulder seat belts, when used, reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45 percent and the risk of moderate to-critical injury by 50 percent. In 2008 alone, seat belts saved an estimated 13,250 lives.

I am encouraged by the new report from NHTSA which shows that seat belt use in 2009 stood at 84 percent, a gain from 83 per- cent use in 2008. This result is from the National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS) which is the only survey that provides nationwide probability-based observed data on seat belt use in the United States. The NOPUS is conducted annually by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Seat belt use has been increasing steadily since 1994, accompanied by a steady decline in the percentage of unrestrained passenger vehicle occupant fatalities during daytime hours.

The 2009 survey also found that seat belt use for occupants traveling during weekends increased to 86 percent in 2009 (83% in 2008), which shows a significant annual increase. Seat belt use continues to be higher in the States, such as Tennessee, in which vehicle occupants can be pulled over solely for not using seat belts (“primary law” States) as compared with the States with a weaker enforcement law (“secondary law” States).

I urge you to teach your children well, teach them by good example to buckle up and join in a nationwide effort to reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries. If you are the victim of a Nashville or Tennessee automobile accident we urge you to contact our Nashville car accident attorneys today for a free consultation. When you hire an auto accident attorney from Phillip Miller & Associates,

Seat Belt Use Save Lives

you’re getting a qualified and dedicated lawyer.

One Truck Driver Dies

Tennessee media sources reported two Tractor-trailer crashes on I-40 yesterday leaving one trucker dead and several others seriously injured. WKRN Channel 2 in Nashville reported that in a Nashville tractor-trailer accident a rig hauling steel veered off of East bound Interstate 40 just before white Bridge Rd. Police believe that the 42 year-old driver suffered some type of medical emergency which caused the accident. He was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. The driver was not wearing his seatbelt. Had he veered seconds later and not hit the barrier he would have driven headlong into an active construction zone.

Two hundred miles to the West, just outside of Memphis Tennessee, the Commercial Appeal reports on another Tennessee tractor-trailer accident. From the report it appears that a North Carolina driver pulled his three-trailer rig onto the shoulder and went off into the grass causing his tractor-trailer to veer back into traffic where he clipped a Saturn and ended up on his side blocking the East bound lane for several hours. The tractor-trailer driver was taken to the Regional Medical Center at Memphis in non-critical condition while the condition of the car driver and passengers is unknown at the present time.

If you are the victim of a Nashville or Tennessee automobile accident we urge you to contact our car accident attorneys today for a free consultation. When you hire an auto accident attorney from Phillip Miller & Associates, you’re getting a qualified and dedicated lawyer. Details about our attorneys and staff can be found by viewing our website at www.seriousinjury.com where you can get to know the men and women who will be looking out for your best interest.

Booster Safety Seats Save children's Lives

Yesterday I blogged about child safety statistics for children aged one to four. Today I’d like to share some information about kids aged four to eight. The Center For Disease Control and Prevention gathers statistics on all manner of injuries and gives particular attention to children. The following information comes from a recently released factsheet.

Booster Safety Seats

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends booster safety seats for children until they are at least 8 years of age or 4′9″ tall. According to researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia,  for children 4 to 7 years, booster safety seats reduce injury risk by 59% compared to seat belts alone.

Seating Location

All children ages 12 years and younger should ride in the back seat. Riding in the back seat is associated with a 40% reduction in the risk of serious injury for children ages 16 and younger. Putting children in the back seat eliminates the injury risk of deployed front passenger-side airbags and places children in the safest part of the vehicle in the event of a crash. Adults should avoid placing children in front of airbags.

Overall, for children less than 16 years, riding in the back seat is associated with a 40% reduction in the risk of serious injury. To learn more about effective interventions to increase child safety seat use, visit CDC’s Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety page. As an experienced Tennessee Auto accident attorney I implore you to take a minute and check out these sites and learn how to protect your children from death or serious injury. If you or a loved one is injured in a car accident in Tennessee contact our experienced Nashville car crash lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.