Defective Products Kill

A tragic accident took the life of a Jamestown woman this past Sunday.  According to local media reports the 48-year-old woman driving up a hill on Round Mountain Road. As she reached the top of the hill her car stalled and a neighbor stopped to render aide. When the neighbor reached his house to call someone to help the woman, he looked back to see the car going down the hill, in reverse, at a high rate of speed.

The car left the road, rolled into a ditch, and ejecting the woman. She was not wearing her safety belt and the car rolled on top of her. Our prayers go out to the family and friends of this unfortunate woman.

This case calls for an experienced products liability lawyer like those you will find at Phillip Miller & Associates. What could have caused the car to roll backwards? Was there a design defect? Had other makes and models of this same vehicle had similar problems?

A significant number of products which are improperly designed, constructed or which fail to warn about hidden dangers cause severe injuries or death. Persons who are injured by improperly designed or manufactured products have a cause of action against the manufacturer and/or retailer responsible for placing the product in the marketplace.

If you or a loved one is seriously injured or killed in an accident caused by a design flaw in a product, you owe it to your family to contact the experienced Board Certified Trial Lawyers at the Nashville law firm of Phillip Miller & Associates and find out whether you have a cause of action. Call 615-356-2000.

A 25-year-old Johnson City, Tennessee woman is free on bond while waiting to face charges for her role in a 2009 fatal accident. According to local media reports the woman was charged with vehicular homicide by reckless operation of a motor vehicle. According to police reports the woman fell asleep at the wheel and crossed the centerline and slammed, head-on, into a vehicle coming the other way and killing the female passenger and injuring the driver and a child onboard.

It appears that denial had taken over as the operating thought pattern for the Johnson City woman. At her first court date she had not hired an attorney and the case was reset for this past Monday when she was to show up for trial, with an attorney. She didn’t. According to local media reports she failed to appear, her bond was revoked and the court issued a capias (warrant) for her arrest.

Sleepiness and driving is a dangerous combination. Most people are aware of the dangers of drinking and driving but don’t realize that drowsy driving can be just as fatal. Like alcohol, sleepiness slows reaction time, decreases awareness, impairs judgment and increases your risk of crashing.

It’s nearly impossible to determine with certainty the cause of a fatal crash where drowsy driving is suspected. However, there are a number of clues at a crash scene that tell investigators that the person fell asleep at the wheel.

Unlike alcohol-related crashes, no blood, breath, or other objective test for sleepiness behind the wheel currently exists that investigators could give to a driver at the scene of a crash. This makes police training in identifying drowsiness as a crash factor very difficult.

If you or a loved one are injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a drowsy or sleeping driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates

Drowsy Driving Kills

and find out about your rights and remedies.

Two DUIs In One Night

As an experienced Nashville personal injury lawyer I have seen all sorts of highway mayhem caused by drunk drivers. What always amazes me is the repeat DUI offender. They have gone to jail, served time under house arrest, lost their drivers licenses, their insurance and their right to drive, yet they still drink and drive.

By repeat offenders, I mean someone who on several occasions have driven drunk and been caught doing it. I thought I had seen just about everything but I was wrong. Police have charged a man in western Pennsylvania with driving drunk twice in the same night — the second time about 15 minutes after they released him into the custody of a friend.

Police charge that when the man was arrested his blood-alcohol limit was at least double what the law allows. Troopers released the man to the custody of a “responsible party” but say that person must have dropped the guy off at his vehicle because the same trooper who arrested him earlier that night saw him driving again.

Drunk driving is one of America’s deadliest crimes. In Tennessee in 2008, 327 people were killed in crashes where the driver or motorcyclist had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher. That is down from 377 people killed in 2007 with a BAC of .08 or higher.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Nashville automobile accident by a drunk driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation so that you can get a complete picture of your rights and remedies

Drive To Roadway Conditions

A 28-year-old Crossville, Tennessee man was killed and his 22-year-old passenger was seriously injured in a Putnam County car crash on Quinland Lake Road yesterday morning.  The report indicated that the highway was rain slick and for some reason the vehicle in which they were driving crossed the center line and hit a pickup truck head-on. My prayers go out to the friends and family of the deceased and my prayers for a speedy and complete recovery go out to the others injured in the crash.

Under normal circumstances, if a driver is obeying the speed limit and taking into consideration the rainy conditions, an accident like this one does not happen. Investigators will look at several factors such as speed, tire and brake condition and distractions that might have been present at the time the deceased lost control of his vehicle.

Taking care to assure that your vehicle is in good operating condition and that you drive to the speed limit and road conditions is the lesson to be learned from this tragedy.

When you hire an attorney from Phillip Miller & Associates, you’re getting the whole package.  You don’t just get an extremely qualified and dedicated lawyer, you also get a loyal Tennessee resident who cares about the quality of life in their community and who puts their time and money into standing up for causes and charities they believe in.

You can read about some of the causes we support on our home page, along with a summary of our professional qualifications.  Additional details about our attorneys and staff can be found by viewing our personal profiles, where you can get to know the men and women who will be looking out for your best interest.

Please contact Phillip Miller & Associates today and take your first step forward towards putting the frustration and horror of your auto accident experience behind you.

Drunk Driving Kills

The Tennessee roadway departure fatalities just keep on coming. A Nashville woman was killed after the car she was riding in went into the ditch, flipped, smashed into a wall and flipped again.

The woman was killed in the Roane County, Tennessee crash, while the driver, her husband, was seriously injured. Neither one was wearing a seat belt. Drug and alcohol tests have been requested. Investigating officers must have had a suspicion that alcohol was involved to ask for blood alcohol (BACs) level tests.

Alcohol was a factor in 10,839 highway deaths in 2009. In the past two decades, it accounted for 268,442 deaths. And 10 percent of people in the United States recently admitted to being drunk behind the wheel in the past year, a poll found.

Drunk driving is one of America’s deadliest crimes. In Tennessee in 2008, 327 people were killed in crashes where the driver or motorcyclist had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Nashville automobile accident by a drunk driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation so that you can get a complete picture of your rights and remedies.

Seat Belts Save Lives

A 49-year-old Sweetwater woman died early today when the car she was riding in left the roadway, flipped several times in a ditch. Neither the deceased nor the backseat passenger was wearing their seat belts and police investigators say that had the woman been wearing hers she might have survived the crash.

Investigators will also be looking to see what caused the driver to run off of the road. Since the accident happened at 12:30 AM, as an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney, I would look to see if alcohol was involved. Investigators will question the driver as to whether he might have fallen asleep or was somehow distracted by an electronic device or his passengers.

Seat belts save lives and it only takes a few seconds to secure your self in the vehicle. Restraint use is clearly designed to reduce injury severity and prevent occupants from being ejected from their vehicles. Tennessee law requires the use of seat belts. An overwhelming number of studies show that seat belts, when used correctly, save lives.

We need, all of us, to take a second or two and buckle our seat belts and stay alive. If you wish to learn about this or other highway safety tips and suggestions visit the web site of the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates.

Red Light Means Stop

Stupid is as stupid does. My life experience tells me that there are some people, far too many, who are simply unable to see their own roll in their problems. These people blame everything on others and refuse to take responsibility for their own stupid actions.

Take, for instance, a recent intersection crash in Knoxville, Tennessee, in which a 23-year-old man who ran a stop sign and slammed into another vehicle, gets out of his wrecked car and tries to start a fight with the innocent victim.

To compound his stupidity, the guy then tries to fight with police officers responding to the crash. Instead of a ticket for running a red light this bozo ends up being charged with reckless driving, resisting arrest, aggravated assault, and disorderly conduct.

Aggressive driving is a major concern of the American public, ranking at or near the top of traffic safety issues in national surveys of motorists. In Tennessee and throughout the country, the public’s concern over aggressive driving continues to grow. Some studies indicate the public is actually more fearful of aggressive drivers than it is of impaired drivers. Aggressive driving is truly dangerous and cannot be tolerated.

Many people misunderstand the difference between aggressive driving and what has become known as “Road Rage”. Most experienced Tennessee Car accident lawyers think of  aggressive driving as certain driving behaviors, such as speeding, tailgating, or violating traffic control devices,

Road rage, like we have here, is a criminal offense. This occurs when a traffic incident escalates into a far more serious situation. For example, a person may become so angry over an aggressive driving incident that he or she overreacts and retaliates with some type of violence. These violent acts may range from a physical confrontation to an assault with a motor vehicle or possibly a weapon. Often, the roadway incident that caused the person to become enraged may have been something quite simple and even trivial.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by an aggressive driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out all about your rights and remedies.

Over the years I have blogged about Tennessee highway traffic safety issues I have often written about teaching children how to be safe around motor vehicles. Recently I read a press release from the National Highway Traffic Administration and I thought I would share it with you.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and popular animated series Chuggington today announced a new partnership to teach children how to be safe in and around cars. The nationwide traffic safety campaign is geared specifically towards children from the ages of 2 to 7 and includes a public service announcement featuring characters from the show, a kid-focused safety pledge and downloadable tips and activities for parents and caregivers to use with children.

“This exciting partnership with Chuggington will help us bring our traffic safety message to young children and parents alike,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Educating children at an early age about the importance of wearing bicycle helmets, looking both ways when crossing the street and buckling up leads to a lifetime of good traffic safety habits.”

Motor vehicle crashes continue to be the leading cause of death for children, with 1,314 fatalities and 179,000 injuries to those 14 and younger in 2009. In 2007, an estimated 262 fatalities and 115,000 injuries to children 14 and younger occurred from pedestrian incidents involving children playing in or around motor vehicles. The new partnership unveiled today combines NHTSA’s safety guidelines for pedestrians, school buses, bikes and car seat use with Chuggington’s characters to reach parents and children.

“Chuggington’s characters learn important life lessons in every episode of the show and often earn badges as rewards for appropriate behavior,” said Dick Rothkopf, chairman of Ludorum, the creators of the show. “The ‘Think Safe, Ride Safe, Be Safe!’ traffic safety pledge and badge is based on this concept. We hope that children will be excited to learn the rules of the road while they interact with Chuggington’s characters and earn their ‘official’ Chuggington Traffic Safety badges.”

Today’s announcement at Harriet Tubman Elementary School coincides with National Child Passenger Safety Week and comes on the heels of a recent survey by Safe Kids USA showing there’s still room for improvement for parents installing child safety seats. Earlier this year, NHTSA released revised guidelines encouraging parents to keep their children in rear-facing child seats as long as possible up to the height and weight specifications of the seat.

“We already know that child seats save lives and help keep our kids safe, but parents and caregivers need to know how to properly install and use them,” said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland. “That’s why, together with our safety partners, we encourage parents to choose the right seat for their child’s size and weight and to have it checked at one of the thousands of free safety seat inspection stations set up across the country for National Seat Check Saturday.”

It is the responsibility of parents to teach there children how to live a safe and happy life and that instruction cover of whole lot of ground. When dealing with children and cars, the children never come out on top. Use every opportunity to teach your children all sort of traffic safety rules, and the best way to do that is to practice safe driving techniques at all times.

If you need further information on this or any other highway safety issues visit my website at Phillip Miller & Associates

Teach Your Children Well

, or call 615-356-2000.

Distracted Drivers Die

A 24-year-old Adamsville, Tennessee woman was killed in a roadway departure crash the other day, another in a growing epidemic. Her car went off of Michie Pebble Hill Road in Michie and collided with a tree, according to a report from the Tennessee Highway Patrol. My prayers go out to the family and friends of this young woman.

A local media report said the woman was headed south on Michie Pebble Hill Road when her car slid off the roadway while attempting to negotiate a curve. No one else was injured in the one-vehicle crash.

Traffic investigators will have a hard time trying to determine what caused the woman to lose control. Speed may be the culprit or it might have been that she was somehow distracted from the task at hand.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration driver inattention is the leading factor in most crashes. 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.

If you are involved in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a distracted driver you are going to need an experienced and sophisticated Nashville auto accident attorney like those you will find at Phillip Miller & Associates

Roundabouts Prevent Intersection Collisions

Having spent a good deal of time traveling in Europe, I have seen firsthand the value of roundabouts in taming heavy urban traffic. The key to the roundabout is that it keeps traffic moving and helps avoid lines of traffic sitting dead still waiting for traffic lights.

In Tennessee as we begin to develop more and more roundabouts we experience confusion and complaining from drivers but as they are educated about how to navigate these intersections the fewer driver problems we have.

Middle Tennessee State University is leading the way, working on the second of three roundabouts on campus. Belmont University is planning one. Another will route traffic near the future Music City Center in Nashville. Two more are planned in Franklin. And many more are cropping up in subdivisions.

To my knowledge, the first Tennessee roundabout was located in Nashville at Music Row, in the following four years since it opened, the Music Row roundabout cut crashes by almost half and injuries and delay times by more.

Roundabouts, by their very nature, require a driver to focus on the task at hand., this is the intentional part of the design. Unsure drivers slow down, reducing collisions and injuries.

Roundabouts reduce the number of places where cars can collide, and the shape eliminates dangerous head-on and T-bone collisions. The circles also allow drivers to look primarily to the left, instead of both ways.

For these and other Nashville highway traffic tips visit our web site at Phillip Miller & Associates or call 615-356-2000.

Photo courtesy of the AAA Foundation For Traffic Safety