Distracted Driving Kills

The source of the distraction that caused a Giles County, Tennessee man to take his eyes off the road long enough for his vehicle to veer across the center line into oncoming traffic and then leave the road and end up in a creek, will be the focus of the police investigation into the death of the man’s wife and injury to an infant in the car.

Whenever you see an accident, usually involving one car that leaves the road, an experienced automobile accident starts thinking about driver distractions. Just what was the driver doing moments before the crash that caused his/her vehicle to go off the highway? What caused the driver to change focus from driving to other things?

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. Each of these accidents had the potential to have taken numerous other lives but somehow that didn’t happen.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have to avoid distractions while we are behind the wheel or we are going to die or kill someone else. If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee auto accident caused by a distracted driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation. Call 615-356-2000.

A Clarksville man finally finds out that he has to pay for his irresponsibility. The lesson not to drink and drive didn’t stick when he was first convicted of DUI. As the result of his failure to learn he left a 5-year-old girl with a torn trachea, torn colon and permanent damage to her spinal cord that has left her paralyzed from the chest down. I mean, 5-years-old and her life is irreparably changed.

The 25-year-old man was out with friends took drunk and ignored the pleading of friends for him not to drive. He convinced them that he could drive and took them up on the offer to follow him home. To the horror of his friends, he began to speed up and they dropped off when he reached speeds over 100-miles-per-hour. Moments later they were stunned as he crossed the centerline and slammed head-on into the vehicle carrying the child and her 20-year-old aunt. Our prayers go out to these two young women and their family and friends.

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. At a sentencing hearing this past week the man pleaded guilty to numerous charges and was sentenced to serve eight years in the Tennessee Department of Corrections.

If you or a loved one is involved in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a drunk driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies. Call 615-356-2000.

Prison For Drunk Driver

It's Big and Yellow and has Blinking Lights

A Memphis man, the driver of a Jeep Cherokee, told police he was distracted and didn’t see the emergency lights, or the stop sign on a huge yellow school bus, nor the hearing impaired child prior to striking the child. According to local media reports the driver of the school bus activated the red lights and stop sign at which time the 13-year-old left his driveway and proceeded to board the bus.

The young man suffered injuries to his head and was transported by ambulance to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital. He is in critical but stable condition. Our prayers go out to him for a speedy and complete recovery.

He did not tell the police what had distracted him, but I’d bet a dollar to a donut he was using his cell phone. 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. Investigators will most probably review her cell phone records and find that she was engaged in a conversation with someone.

Come on people, it’s up to us to change the culture of distracted driving. Education is the first step and enforcement is the next. The distracted driver was charged with Failure to Maintain Control and Safe Lookout along with Overtaking and passing a school bus. Alcohol and speed were not factors in the accident.

If you or a loved one are involved in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a distracted driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies. Call 615-356-2000

Drunk Driving Can Be Costly And Time Consuming

When you read about an accident that involves several totally stupid actions on the part of a driver, you can usually bet the guy is drunk or on drugs, and in many cases both. So it was with a Coffee County man who has already been convicted of DUI. This guy gets drunk and gets into his vehicle and heads out onto the interstate highway.

The guy is so drunk that he can’t keep the vehicle he is driving from running off I-24 around 3PM this past Monday afternoon. Somehow he got the car in a position to re-enter the interstate highway and without looking for oncoming traffic he pulls back onto the interstate and collides with an SUV carrying four children. The adult driver and a 9-month-old were not injured but three children, ages 12, 14, 17, had to be taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

So let’s count the stupid actions of this driver: 1. Got drunk, 2. Got behind the wheel of a motor vehicle, 3. Drove off the interstate highway, and 4. Pulled back on to the highway without making sure he was clear to do so. My, my, this guy might well be in line for the dumbest driver in 2012.

If you or a family member or friend, is injured in a Tennessee vehicular accident, take a minute and check out the experienced Nashville personal injury lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and learn about your rights and remedies. Call 615-356-2000

Keep A Watch Out For The Other Guy

So often we learn that no matter how careful you drive, even if you follow all of the rules of the road, some other guy might not and that you are always in jeopardy when you are on the road. In order to avoid collisions we have to follow the rules and drive defensively (watch out for the other guy), and avoid any and all distractions.

A three-year-old boy is hospitalized at LeBonheur’s Childrens Hospital in Memphis with traumatic head injuries following an accident in which the SUV in which the child was riding, being driven by his mother, including his 16-month-old sister was rear-ended by a man driving a crew cab pickup truck. According to local media reports the man said he didn’t see the turn signal on the SUV.

Investigators will have to determine just what the pickup driver was doing that caused him to be distracted and take his eyes of the vehicle in front of him. As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney the main question is what was the driver doing in the two seconds before his vehicle slammed into the SUV? Statistics show that nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involve 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 a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee car crash by a distracted driver or a case like the present one that will require and experienced Tennessee automobile accident lawyer contact the lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies.

Tennessee Car House Collision

Maybe it’s just me but, in my several decades as a Nashville personal injury lawyer, I don’t think I’ve seen as many automobile accidents where a driver crashes into a house as I have in the last few months. To my surprise, I see a report on a local TV news outlet reporting on a fatal one-car accident in Chattanooga in which a woman driving an SUV died after her vehicle crashed into a house.

Fortunately, the house was abandoned and the passengers, the deceased’s daughter and friend, were not seriously injured. According to the report the 31-year-old driver was speeding and not wearing her seatbelt. On impact, most drivers not wearing seat belts, as with this woman, are ejected from the vehicle and die.

Speeding is one of the most prevalent factors contributing to traffic crashes. Speeding reduces a driver’s ability to steer safely around curves or objects in the roadway, extends the distance necessary to stop a vehicle, and increases the distance a vehicle travels while the driver reacts to a dangerous situation.

It’s really a simple concept that takes only a second or two to complete, but failure to exercise it can lead to catastrophic results, as we see here. The use of seatbelts are required by Tennessee law.  Seat belts can, and often do, help save you and your passengers’ lives in the event of a traffic crash.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee motor vehicle accident contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and learn about your rights and remedies.

Ten Year Old Killed

According to local media reports a medical emergency was the cause of a crash that claimed the life of two people, one of them a 10-year-old girl.

The reports said that a man and two children were driving in a Ford Expedition when they were struck by on the passenger side by a Honda Accord. Apparently, the Honda driver didn’t have a history of medical problems but something caused him to lose consciousness. The report went on to say that the man had just spoken to his wife by cell phone and told her he wasn’t feeling well.

After passing out, his car accelerated through the parking lot of a market, and according to several witnesses went airborne before slamming into the SUV. My prayers go out to the family and friends of the deceased and the two other passenger who were injured.

Incidences of drivers who had crashes precipitated by medical emergencies while driving are relatively rare and account for only 1.3 percent of all road fatalities. Older 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.

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.

Teach Teens The Dangers of Texting

In a mock scenario,  one person died and two were seriously injured in a staged two-car crash at Station Camp High School Tuesday morning that involved Vanderbilt LifeFlight, Gallatin police and fire departments, and Sumner County Emergency Management Services.

The mock accident was caused by an activity popular among high school age students who text while driving. Here’s the scenario; A car full of teens whose driver had been texting collided with a car driven by a pregnant woman. The wreck was followed by a dramatic 911 call, followed by sirens and a dramatic rescue by emergency personnel and a LifeFlight air lift to Vanderbilt University Medical Center to save a dying woman and her unborn child.

Of the thousands of deaths caused by texting drivers who became distracted, I would bet that not one of them thought when they set out driving that day that they were going to kill themselves or another, but taking your eyes and your attention off the road for even a second can change your life, or end another’s.

The experienced auto accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates applaud the effort made by the school and emergency responder community of Sumner County for taking the time to being this important issue the attention it deserves.

As an experienced Nashville auto accident lawyer I try to use my Blog to educate and keep people informed of Tennessee highway traffic safety issues. I usually describe an accident and share a lesson for other Tennessee drivers but sometimes I find traffic events that are just so interesting and about which the local media and police reports don’t tell the whole story.

Today I’d like to share one with you that leaves so many unanswered questions. According to local media reports a Marshall County Jail corrections officer was treated and released at a Nashville hospital Sunday as a result of a two-car collision between his patrol car and a sedan driven by his ex-wife.

According to the report of the State Trooper investigating the crash both vehicles were going north, she was in the center lane and he was in the right lane when for some unknown reason he entered her lane. The ex-wife’ car collided with the patrol car on the drivers side door. The Deputy was injured and a man and a boy in the ex-wife’s car were injured but refused treatment. In an interesting and seldom used tactic, the Trooper checked with the local District Attorney General before issuing a citation to the deputy.

The Lawyers and staff here at Phillip Miller & Associates find this event very interesting and will seek to find out the facts behind the crash. Something smells fishy here and we promise to get to the bottom of it. If you are injured in a Tennessee motor vehicle accident calls us and take advantage of a free consultation. Call 615-356-2000.

Hit & Run Drivers Are The Worst Kind Of People

White House, Tennessee police are looking for the driver of a red Chevy Silverado pickup truck, in relation to a Hit & Run of a 12-year-old boy. From the limited facts in the local media report this is a driver that needs to get got. The driver, either intentionally or because he was impaired, drove off the road and struck the young man.

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident lawyer, Hit & Run drivers are, in my consideration, the worst kind of human being. Most H&R drivers are under the influence of alcohol, others have already run afoul of the law and have lost their driving privileges, yet they continue to get behind the wheel and ignore the rules.

Many H&R drivers are trying to avoid detection because they don’t have insurance and they don’t want to face the responsibility for their actions. No matter which category they fall into they are the very worst type of person, someone who will leave an injured or dying pedestrian lying in the street. Every time I read about a Hit & Run fatality my blood boils thinking about what kind of persons leaves another human being lying in the street to die alone.

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.