Red Light Cameras Save Lives

Traffic crashes are the single most significant cause of preventable death and injury in North America. In 2007 in the U.S., almost 900 people were killed and an estimated 153,000 were injured in crashes that involved red light running. Public costs exceed $14 billion per year, and more than half of the deaths in red light running crashes are other motorists and pedestrians. There is no doubt that red light runners are dangerous drivers who irresponsibly put others at risk. In America’s cities ― where too often the yellow light has come to symbolize “hurry up” instead of “slow down” ― red light running is the leading cause of all urban automobile crashes.

The American public recognizes the problem, is deeply concerned about red light running and supports the use of red light cameras. A nationwide survey sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and conducted by the Gallup Organization found that 75 percent of drivers favored the use of red light cameras. Most Americans (96 percent) are afraid of being hit by a red light runner, but nearly one in five admit to running a red light in the last ten intersections. The leading excuse given for red light running was neither frustration nor road rage; it was “being in a hurry.”

Yet, here in Tennessee it appears that a number of citizens see red light cameras as a “Big Brother ” ploy to take away their rights and a vocal minority of ignorant people are lobbying for laws that prohibit them. How stupid is that? This is a proven technology that saves lives and millions of dollars in insurance claims and some paranoid fools who have nothing better to do, usually citizens who have received tickets for running red lights,  are pressuring spineless self-centered politicians to enact laws that prohibit them. Shame on us.

Check out my web site at www.seriousinjury.com for more information about this subject.

Following Too Close

As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident lawyer I can tell you one thing for certain, and that is that Interstate driving is different than you will experience on any other type of highway. Traffic on interstates usually moves more safely and efficiently because access is controlled. There are no stop signs, no railroad crossings and no traffic lights. Interstates usually have few steep hills or sharp curves to limit the view of the road ahead.

Limited access or controlled access means that drivers enter or leave the roadway only at entrances and exits, called interchanges, without ever crossing the path of other traffic. Interstates and divided highways have largely removed the chance of head-on collisions. Interstate driving requires good skills and habits so you can safely get where you are going. Safe use of the interstates demands a complete awareness of a higher speed type of driving and constant alertness by the driver.

A recent fatal accident on I-40 just East of Cookeville Tennessee makes my point that you have to be alert and must stay far enough behind the vehicle in front of you that you can stop in an emergency. The facts are simple, a man is driving his Harley-Davidson along the interstate and the car in front of him slowed quickly to avoid hitting a deer. The Harley was unable to respond appropriately and rammed into the rear of the car, killing the Harley rider.

Motorcycles made up nearly 3 percent of all registered vehicles in the United States in 2006 and accounted for only 0.4 percent of all vehicle miles traveled. Per vehicle mile traveled in 2006, motorcyclists were about 35 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die in a motor vehicle traffic crash and 8 times more likely to be injured.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a careless motorcycle rider, contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies.

I-75

As an experienced Nashville tractor-trailer accident attorney I regularly keep up with Tennessee media reports about trucking accidents on Tennessee highways. My reading leads me to one conclusion and that is that Interstate 75 is one of the most dangerous roadways in the United States of America.

Where is I-75 and why is it so dangerous? I-75 is the major north-south artery of the Eastern U.S. running from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to Miami, Florida, covering 1,785 miles of roadway which makes it the longest interstate highway in the U.S.  Traffic accidents on I-75 are common in busy urban areas like Tampa, Lexington, Knoxville, Detroit, Toledo and the Lima-Findlay area of Ohio. At any giving time there are over a million vehicles on I-75.

I have some advice that I would like to share with the families of those who are injured or killed in Tennessee by a negligent tractor-trailer driver. For a trucking company whose vehicles travel millions of miles per year, accidents are an everyday occurrence. Trucking companies have gotten this process down to a science and in many cases have specialized accident investigators at the scene of an accident interviewing the truck driver even before he/she talks to the police investigation.

What does this mean to you if you or a family member are the victim of a Tennessee tractor-trailer accident and suffer a serious or life threatening injury?  It means that the trucking company has a huge advantage in investigating the cause of the accident and developing a strategy for its defense to any claim that arises. During one of these situations evidence can disappear and negligent drivers can be coached on what to say to police investigators. The trucking company has the benefit of an expert that was actually at the accident scene. This may not be possible for the victim since injuries are usually severe in nature. Needless to say it is important to act quickly so that an expert can examine the evidence on your behalf.

Time is of the essence in these type of cases. Although most cases can be reconstructed at a later time it is important to have someone looking out for your best interests as soon as possible. That’s why it’s important to contact an experienced Tennessee tractor-trailer accident lawyer like those you will find at Phillip Miller & Associates. If you or a loved one is injured in a car tractor-trailer accident act quickly and take advantage of a no-cost no-obligation consultation and learn about your rights and put our crack team of lawyers and investigators on the case.

As our population ages we might expect to see more Tennessee automobile accidents caused by drivers who suffer medical emergencies while they are driving. Incidences of drivers who had crashes precipitated by their medical emergencies while driving are relatively rare and account for only 1.3 percent of all road fatalities.

Older Tennessee drivers have relatively higher incidences of crashes precipitated by drivers’ medical emergencies when compared to young and middle-age drivers. Drivers in crashes precipitated by medical emergencies were more likely than other drivers to be severely injured or to die as a result of the crash.

Reference a recent accident in Kingston Tennessee that occurred when a driver, who was having a seizure, plowed his van into a busy beauty salon seriously injuring at least 10 people.

As with most driving problems, education is the key to preventing fatal crashes. Patient education by health care providers on early warning signs of a health crisis, such as warning signs before seizure attacks diabetic or hypoglycemic comas and potential side effects of medications are recommended as the most effective countermeasure.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile traffic accident contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to determine your rights and remedies.

Sometimes media reports provide so little information you wonder why they even bother to mention an incident. This happened in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal yesterday when it reported on a pedestrian car accident involving a 2-year-old. All we know is that a 71-year-old woman was leaving an apartment complex when she ran over a 2-year-old boy. The article did mention that the boy had minor injuries and is in stable condition. My prayers go out to the lady and the boy.

The main question I had when I read this article is what is a 2-year-old baby doing outside in an apartment complex without supervision. It is the parents responsibility to protect their children and that failure to supervise when the child is in a dangerous place is negligence on the part of the parent.

When this parent shows up at a personal injury lawyer’s office and wants to sue the driver, the lawyer is in a difficult position. Liability against the driver is contingent on whether she was negligent, but the parent has to understand that any jury is going to decide whether the drivers negligence is responsible for the injuries or the parents failure to supervise the child in a dangerous place like an apartment complex.

If you or someone you love has been hurt in a serious Tennessee car accident due to somebody else’s negligence, then you may be feeling angry, frightened, or even alone in your suffering.

There is no reason for you to bear your burden alone.  The experience of a Tennessee auto accident is traumatic enough and your recovery will bring its own challenges.  You don’t need the added stress of worrying about who will pay for the medical care you need, how your car will be repaired, and if the individuals responsible for your suffering will be brought to justice.  This is the time to call Phillip Miller & Associates, the law firm of local Tennessee attorneys and staff who for the past 25 years have dedicated their lives to protecting the rights of injured men, women, and children in Tennessee.

Fatal Hit & Run

As an experienced Nashville auto accident lawyer I can tell you that a pedestrian is defined as any person not in or upon a motor vehicle or other vehicle. In 2007, 4,654 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes in the United States — a decrease of 13 percent from the 5,321 pedestrians killed in 1997. On average, a pedestrian is killed in a traffic crash every 113 minutes and injured in a traf!c crash every 8 minutes.

There were 70,000 pedestrians injured in traf!c crashes in 2007. Most pedestrian fatalities in 2007 occurred in urban areas (73%), at non-intersection locations (77%), in normal weather conditions (90%), and at night (67%). More than two-thirds (70%) of the pedestrians killed in 2007 were males. In 2007, the male pedestrian fatality rate per 100,000 population was 2.19 — more than double the rate for females (0.91 per 100,000 population). In 2007, the male pedestrian injury rate per 100,000 population was 26, compared with 20 for females.

In a local media article this week we find that Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers and Mt. Juliet Police believe that a hit-and-run on Interstate 40 eastbound killed a pedestrian early Wednesday and caused two other accidents. The initial vehicle left the scene of the accident and is being sought by police. Some time during the period 3:30 AM to 5:15 AM a man was hit by a car on I-40 in the East bound lane. Some time later drivers trying to avoid the man’s body in the interstate swerved and ran off of the road.

If have any information about the driver who left the scene or the victim of this collision contact the Tennessee Highway Patrol or the Lebanon PD. For more information about Tennessee highway traffic safety or what to do if you are the victim of a Tennessee automobile accident check out the experienced personal injury lawyers at Philip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation with a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer.

Protect Your Children

Child safety seats reduce fatal injury by 71 percent for infants (less than 1 year old) and by 54 percent for toddlers (1 to 4 years old) in passenger cars. Young children restrained in child safety seats have an 80 percent lower risk of fatal injury than those who are unrestrained.

Tennessee was the first state in the country to pass a Child Passenger Protection Law requiring children to be restrained in child safety seats (car seats and booster seats).

A.  A child under one year old, or any child weighing less than 20 pounds, must be in a child passenger restraint system (car seat) that is facing the rear of the car.

B. Children who are one through three years old, and who weigh more than 20 pounds, must be in a child passenger restraint system that is facing forward.

C. Children who are four through eight years old and whose height is under four feet, nine inches, must be in a belt positioning booster seat system (child booster car seat) and wearing a seatbelt.

I have good news for citizens of Hamilton County Tennessee. The Hamilton County Sheriff Department has announced the first ever child safety seat check. Operation “Safe Journey” will take place on September 7, 2010 and will address the proper use of child safety seats. Following the initial event the safety team will be available for parents at the Sheriff’s West Annex on the first Tuesday of each month during the hours of 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM, and on the second Tuesday of the month at the same time at the Highway 58 K-Mart. My hat is off to the Sheriff for this program.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee highway automobile accident contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident law firm of Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation with a Board Certified Civil Trial lawyer to determine your rights and remedies.

Never Fight With Police

Certain highway safety media reports lead me to name the driver as someone who should never be able to drive again. I usually find one or two of these drivers per year and 2010 has been one of those years that lead me to think that I might not find one. Well, it ain’t going to happen.

In an article on the web site of WRCB TV in Chattanooga I found my man, a 70-year-old doper who decided that it was a good idea to fight with police who had pulled him over for not wearing his seat belt. Not wearing his seat belt while driving along a public street was his first mistake, his second was having a bog of pot and seven rocks of crack in his shirt pocket and his third mistake was trying to fight with the officer.

The man is now recovering in a local hospital as the result of injuries he received when police officers subdued him. I mean, hide the dope you dope, don’t keep it in your shirt pocket. I doubt whether the police would have conducted a full car search on a 70-year-old man on seat belt beef, but then, as Forrest Gump said, “…stupid is as stupid does.”

The lesson for the rest of us is don’t use dope and drive, better yet don’t use dope at all. If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a driver under the influence of drugs contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation with a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer to find out about your rights and remedies.

In Medical Emergency Try To Pull Over

As an experienced Nashville auto accident attorney I have written about all sorts of driver distractions that have caused fatal and non-fatal car crashes. Cell phones and texting lead the list, followed by talking to passengers, alcohol and drug use and sleepy drivers. I read about a case the other day in which the driver went into a sneezing fit that caused her to be so distracted that she drove off of the road, ripped through several trees before plowing up a fence before coming to a stop.

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 or someone you love has been hurt in a serious Tennessee car accident due to somebody else’s negligence, then you may be feeling angry, frightened, or even alone in your suffering.

There is no reason for you to bear your burden alone.  The experience of a Tennessee auto accident is traumatic enough and your recovery will bring its own challenges.  You don’t need the added stress of worrying about who will pay for the medical care you need, how your car will be repaired, and if the individuals responsible for your suffering will be brought to justice.  This is the time to call Phillip Miller & Associates, the law firm of local Tennessee attorneys and staff who for the past 25 years have dedicated their lives to protecting the rights of injured men, women, and children in Tennessee.

Restricted Licenses Save Teen Lives

As an experienced Tennessee auto accident lawyer I have read research reports that say that with teen drivers the risk of a fatal crash goes up in direct relation to the number of teenagers in the car. In Tennessee the Graduated Drivers License law restricts the number of passengers for a driver on an intermediate license to one.

UNLESS:

• One or more of the passengers is age 21 or older and has a valid, unrestricted license;
• The passengers are brothers and sisters, step-brothers or step-sisters, adopted or fostered children residing in the same house as the driver and going to and from school AND the intermediate license holder has in their possession written permission from their parent or guardian to transport their siblings. Those with an intermediate license are prohibited from driving between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

UNLESS:

• They are accompanied by a parent or guardian;
• They are accompanied by a licensed driver 21 or older who has been designated by the parent or guardian. This designation must be in writing and be in the possession of the teen driver;
• They are driving to or from a specifically identified school sponsored activity or event and have in their possession written permission from a parent or guardian to do this;
• They are driving to or from work and have in their possession written permission from a parent or guardian identifying the place of employment and authorizing the driver to go to and from work;
• They are driving to or from hunting or fishing between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. and have in their possession a valid hunting or fishing license.

According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, over the 10 years from 1998 through 2007, there were 24,655 drivers ages 15 through 17 involved in fatal crashes. These crashes killed 28,138 people, of whom 10,388 (36.9%) were the 15-, 16-, and 17-year-old drivers themselves. However, the majority of fatalities in those crashes (63.1%) were people other than those drivers, and included 8,829 of their passengers, 6,858 occupants of vehicles operated by drivers age 18 or older, and 2,063 non-motorists and others.

On a positive note, the number of young drivers involved in fatal crashes each year decreased substantially over the years analyzed, with 776 fewer drivers age 15 to 17 involved in fatal crashes in 2007 than in 1998, resulting in the deaths of 311 fewer young drivers and 540 fewer deaths of other people in 2007 than in 1998. There was also a substantial decrease in the fatal crash involvement of adult drivers over the same period; however, the decrease in the fatal crash involvement of young drivers and people killed in those crashes was significantly larger than what would have been predicted from the decrease in the fatal crash involvement of adults.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a teen driver, contact the experienced Nashville car crash lawyer at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.