Drinking and Driving In Nashville Will Cost You

The attorney’s and staff at Phillip Miller & Associates are happy to report great news this week in Nashville’s effort to reduce drunk driving injuries and fatalities. Officers paid through a Governor’s Highway Safety Office grant charged 18 persons with DUI last weekend in the police department’s continuing DUI initiative using extra duty officers.

These officers target impaired drivers Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. in areas with a propensity for fatal crashes, crime and DUI arrests. Additionally, the DUI Unit, the front line in this righteous crusade, charged 49 persons last week with driving under the influence.

Public education, enhanced visibility on Nashville’s roadways and zero tolerance for impaired drivers are the cornerstones of the police department’s DUI initiative. So far this year, extra duty officers working under the grant have arrested 32 suspected drunk drivers, a 45% increase over this time last year. The DUI Unit has arrested 98 suspected drunk drivers, an 88% increase over this time last year.

We here at Phillip Miller & Associates send out a big “Thank You” shout-out to the brave members of the Metro Police. Thank You.

Stupid is as Stupid Does

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident lawyer, I have some advice for car thieves. If you feel you have to steal a car take special care not to violate and traffic safety laws, such as speeding, red light running, seat belt violations, DUI and any other thing that will draw police attention to you and your stolen car.

I often write about fools who get behind the wheel of an automobile and go out of their way to show just how big of a fool they are, unfortunately many times other people have to suffer or die behind their actions. Today’s story has a happy ending for the innocent drivers on Knoxville roads and the brave men and women of the Knoxville PD who are tasked to get these types off the road. According to local media reports  A man was taken into police custody today after being found in South Knox County at the scene of crash involving a stolen car.

The man was found in the roadway, apparently having been ejected during a single-vehicle car crash at 12:45 p.m. on Gov. John Sevier Highway at Denwood Road. The car he was driving, a 1994 Honda was reported stolen 4 days ago. This wasn’t the man’s first brush with the law. He was previously charged with home invasion robbery, but other information was unavailable at this time.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee auto accident involving a guy like this you are really going to need an experienced Nashville auto accident attorney who knows the in’s and out’s of the law to secure a reasonable recovery on your behalf. That lawyer can be found at Phillip Miller & Associates. Check our website or 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

Would Seat Belts Have Made A Difference?

A roadway departure crash is East Tennessee left one woman dead, and three other injured. According to local media reports, a 2010 Murano driven by a 27-year-old man rounded a curve on Boyd’s Creek Road, lost control and crossed the yellow center line and slammed into the 1999 pickup truck driving by the deceased, a 51-year-old woman. None of the people involved were wearing their seat belts.

Was it speeding or distraction or both that caused the driver to lose control? Distraction from the primary task of driving could present a serious and potentially deadly danger. In 2008, 5,870 people lost their lives and an estimated 515,000 people were injured in police-reported crashes in which at least one form of driver distraction was reported on the crash report.

While these numbers are significant, they may not state the true size of the problem, since the identification of distraction and its role in the crash by law enforcement can be very difficult.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Nashville automobile accident caused by a distracted driver you owe it to yourself to contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to find out about your rights and remedies.

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

Drinking + No Seat Belts = Death

According to local media reports the TSP determined that the two Greenbriar, Tennessee men involved in a one-car roadway departure collision had been drinking and were not wearing their seatbelts.

The reports went on to say that the men were driving in a a Jeep Wrangler were heading southbound on Highway 49 when the driver lost control of the vehicle near the Owens Chapel Road intersection. The Jeep veered off the left side of the road and rolled over, ejecting the two men inside.

The 22-year-old passenger was killed and the other man was treated and released. Since the vehicle was registered to the injured man, criminal charges will probably be brought. The sad part of this whole incident is that TSP Investigators believe that both men would have survived had they been wearing their seat belts.

On average a human being loses their life at the hands of a drunk driver every 45 minutes. In 2008, an estimated 11,773 people died in drunk driving related crashes, a decline of 9.8 percent from the 13,041 drunk driving related fatalities of 2007. Tennessee law requires the use of seat belts. An overwhelming number of studies show that seat belts, when used correctly, save lives.

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. Call 615-356-2000.

Car/House Crashes-Are We In An Epidemic?

It’s Deja Vous all over again. This morning I blogged about the recent spate of automobile/house collisions we here in Tennessee are experiencing. What to my surprise when I pick up one of Nashville media reports and see that another collision was avoided only because the car hit a tree that a saved the house.

In addition to the house/car collisions we have seen a number of Hit & Run accident in the last several weeks and this article made clear that we have both in one incident. The driver of the vehicle in question was most probably drunk and speeding in a residential neighborhood when he lost control of his car, left the roadway, and flipped over several times before slamming into the tree. The driver then fled the scene.

Drunk drivers are a trip, their thinking patterns are all screwed up. This guy leaves the ultimate in evidence at the scene, a car registered in his name, and presumes he’s going to get away with it. Drunk drivers put everyone on the road in danger, especially during holiday season, which often combines travel with multiple opportunities to consume alcohol. Driving is both a privilege and a responsibility. Every alcohol-related fatality is preventable, and it is everyone’s responsibility to make the right decision before getting behind the wheel.

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.

Photo: Cleveland.com

Friends Don't Let Friends Drink And Drive

Making an effort to stop a drunk from getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle is a good thing and we all ought to do what we can to avert a highway tragedy.   Sometimes the effort to prevent the driver can turn deadly as shown in a recent incident in Knoxville.

According to local media reports, A couple of local men had been drinking at a private residence, when one guy decides to leave at around 3 A.M. the other fellow argues with the man and warns him that he is drunk and doesn’t need to get a DUI. The argument escalated and the homeowner ended up being stabbed.

As police arrived they observed a car fleeing from the home and a short pursuit lead to the arrest of the suspect. Instead of sleeping it off at his friends house, he is now in jail facing charges of aggravated assault, DUI, driving on a suspended license and felony fleeing.

Whether it’s referred to as drunk driving, driving while intoxicated or driving under the influence, impaired driving simply means a person’s ability to safely operate a motor vehicle is compromised by alcohol and other drugs that change the function of the brain and body.

The experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates have handled hundreds of cases involving drunk drivers and can help you if you are unfortunate enough to be involved in such an accident. Contact us for the free consultation and find out about your rights by calling 615-356-2000.

Rear-End Collision

A Memphis man now faces identity theft charges for giving authorities a false name, in addition to four counts of vehicular homicide, DUI, reckless driving, speeding, resisting official detention, and two counts of reckless endangerment. Upon further investigation police learned that he is wanted in Tipton, Madison and Dickson counties on a variety of charges including driving offenses, forgery, theft and violation of probation.

This cascade of charges followed a Christmas Eve rear-end wreck he caused that ended in the deaths of four women. According to local media reports, at about 6:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve on Raleigh-Millington Road at the Loosahatchie River bridge, he was driving a Chevy Silverado pickup that struck the rear of a 2002 Chevy Impala in which the four women were riding, authorities.

The impact caused the Impala to swerve into oncoming traffic where it was struck by a second pickup truck whose two male occupants were injured and hospitalized. Our prayers go out to the family and friends of these young women.

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. That is down from 377 people killed in 2007 with a BAC of .08 or higher. Over the 2008 Labor Day holiday, 12 people were killed in 10 fatal crashes on Tennessee roadways, down from 17 people killed on Tennessee roadways in 2007.

For this and other Tennessee automobile safety tips visit the web site of the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find lot’s of good information to help you remain a safe driver.

Habitual Traffic Offenders In Handcuffs

One really has to be a complete fool to achieve the dubious distinction of being an Habitual Traffic Offender. Add to that a person with this designation who continues to drive and continues to drive badly and you have a guy who ought to pull some serious time in the penitentiary.

Section 55-10-600 of Tennessee’s law is known as the “Motor Vehicles Habitual Offenders Act” and, as its name suggest, is in place to “deny the privilege of operating motor vehicles on public highways to persons who by their conduct and record have demonstrated their indifference to the safety and welfare of others and their disrespect for the laws of the state.”

The act sets forth a process said offenders must follow, which includes a uniform “computation of convictions,” assembly of and serving with a court order and a jury trial to determine appropriate punishment.

A Johnson City, Tennessee man who carries the banner as an Habitual Traffic Offender was out driving when he showed his true colors and failed to stop at a stop sign. I mean, how hard is it, knowing you don’t have a driver’s license and could go to jail, to do something as simple as comply with a stop sign?

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a traffic accident with one of these people, recovering damages may prove to be difficult, but there are ways to succeed. Contact the experienced Tennessee automobile personal injury lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation. Call 615-356-2000.