When I started to read the article, as an experienced Nashville auto accident lawyer, I knew before it told me that 27-yerar-old James White was driving on a suspended license. What a Bozo. Ok, you’re driving on a suspended license, you’re carrying dope and syringes on your person and in the car, and you speed through Johnson City Tennessee. I mean, Duh! How stupid can you get?

When Police light him up for speeding what does this genius do? He tries to flee, but you guessed it, he was too high to avoid the police and he then leads them on a foot pursuit, until he gave up in a local motel parking lot. Nothing makes police madder then having to chase some hop-head through the neighborhoods. Now, charged with  speeding, fleeing the police, possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia and, oh yeah, driving on a suspended license, he is where he should be, housed in the County jail awaiting a preliminary hearing on a bond he can’t make.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident by a driver like this, you owe it to yourself to contact the experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out aobut your rights and remedies.

Tennessee Drunk Driving Fatality

Several East Tennessee media sources reported on a tragic Tennessee automobile pickup truck collision that took the life on a 63-year-old Sequatchie man. For some reason Ms. Ruby Payne, 57, was, according to witnesses, swerving in and out of traffic on I-24. She lost control of her vehicle, left the roadway, overcorrected and crossed back into traffic and hit a Ford Pickup truck driven by John Taylor. The collision caused Mr. Taylor to leave the roadway, hit a ditch and roll several times.

Unfortunately, Mr. Taylor didn’t have his seatbelt on and was ejected from the vehicle and was dead at the scene. My prayers go out to the family and friends of Mr. Taylor for their terrible loss. My prayers also to Ms. Payne that she find peace and redemption for the tragedy she caused. I suspect that she will have plenty of time in jail to ponder that event.

Now I may be wrong, but from the facts set out in the media, which is all I have to go by, I would make the assumption that Ms. Payne was under the influence of either alcohol or drugs or that she was suffering some sort of medical emergency.

Drunk driving is one of America’s deadliest crimes. Here 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.

On average, a human being is killed by a drunk driver every 45 minutes. In 2008, an estimated 11,773 people died in drunk driving related crashs a decline of 9.8 percent from the 13,041 drunk driving related fatalities of 2007.

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

Drunk Driving Makes You Stupid

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney I can tell you for a certainty that when it comes to drinking and driving,  that stupid is as stupid does. First of all, for people who haven’t been paying attention, it’s really stupid to get behind the wheel when you have been consuming alcohol. It’s stupid to get behind the wheel under the influence and speed. And stupider and stupider, when you get behind the wheel drunk and speed and have sex all at the same time.

Reference an article on the web page of Nashville WSMV TV. A couple had been out on the town, took drunk and came to the conclusion that it might be a good idea to engage in sex while they sped along into the night. Unfortunately the driver got somewhat distracted and left the road and rammed, at high speed, into a house.

The collision literally tore the kitchen off of the house. The homeowners and the driver lucked out. Only moments before the climax they had been sitting in the kitchen talking. Had they not moved to the living room they would have been killed and Loverboy and his princess would have been looking at some serious prison time.

The article went on to say that the driver’s blood alcohol level was double the legal limit. He told officers that he lost his concentration while having sexual relations with the woman in his truck while he was driving.

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.

Drunk Driving Can Leave One With A Serious Hangover

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney I can tell you that there are a million reasons not to drive drunk. Donnie Self, 35, of Horse Cave, Kentucky just made it a million and one reasons. If you are driving drunk at 11:30 at night you might just might ram into the rear of a marked police car.

Deputy Chief Joe Middleton was treated and released for minor injuries, his passenger was uninjured and Mr. Self is now in the Hart County Jail charged with First-Degree Wanton Endangerment, First-Degree Wanton Endangerment of a Police Officer, Second Degree Assault and DUI with aggravating circumstances under a $100,000.00 bond. This might just qualify as the world’s worst hangover.

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 to society, of alcohol-related crashes, totals more than $51 billion.  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.

In 2007, over 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics, that’s less than one percent of the 159 million self-reported episodes of alcohol-impaired driving among U.S. adults each year.

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.

Hit & Run Fatality

It was probably not the time or place to be walking along rural US Highway 84 at 3:30 AM but Ms. Damita Law, 47, of Malcolm Alabama was doing just that when she was hit and killed by a passing pick-up truck driven by 19-year-old Ezekiel Lewis. My prayers go out to Ms. Law’s family and friends. As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney, I’ve dealt with dozens of Hit & Run cases and they always leave me shaking my head in sadness.

According to the report on the website of WRBC-TV in Chattanooga, Mr. Lewis left the scene of the fatal accident. He left this poor woman to die alone in a ditch. Troopers investigating the death say that they believed that alcohol and speed played a role in this horrible situation.

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.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident by a drunk hit & run driver, recovering damages for your loss can be a tricky proposition and you will need an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney to help you protect your rights. At Phillip Miller & Associates we can help you.

Driving Under The Influence

Knox County Tennessee Assistant District Attorney Kevin Allen posted $5,000 bond and was released from the Anderson County, Tennessee jail after his arrest for Driving Under The Influence and violation of the state Implied Consent Act. As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney I can tell you that in my experience Tennessee law enforcement authorities don’t play favorites when it comes to drinking and driving.

Drunk driving is one of America’s deadliest crimes. Here 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.

On average, a human being is killed by a drunk driver every 45 minutes. In 2008, an estimated 11,773 people died in drunk driving related crashs a decline of 9.8 percent from the 13,041 drunk driving related fatalities of 2007.

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.

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident lawyer, my first thought when I read about a Tennessee automobile accident involving a driver going the wrong way on divided highway, is that the driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Now I didn’t know Michael Doe Folden of Johnson City and there is little information other than the fact that he was driving the wrong way on a divided expressway around 9:30 PM near the entrance of he Elizabethton County Club when he rammed into a car driven by Wendy Watson, her husband and her 14-year-old daughter, but I feel there’s a good chance he was DUI.

Mr. Folden died at the scene and the condition of the Watson’s is unknown at the time of this writing. As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney the main thing that I would focus on would be Mr. Folden’s activities in the hours preceding the collision. An important question is whether he was drinking and where. Was he a member or guest at the Country Club? My prayers go out to the family and friends of Mr. Folden and I pray for a complete and speedy recovery for the Watson’s.

Hopefully for the Watson’s, Mr. Folden had insurance, but I would take a good look at any establishment that had served him alcohol. Dramshop refers to a bar, tavern or the like where alcoholic beverages are sold. Traditionally, it referred to a shop where spirits were sold by the dram, a small unit of liquid. Dramshop laws establish liability arising out of the irresponsible sale of alcohol to obviously intoxicated persons or minors who subsequently cause death or injury to third-parties as a result of alcohol-related accidents.

If you or a loved one is injured in a Tennessee car crash caused by a drunk driver you owe it to yourself to contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights.

Stupid Drivers

Many of you who have followed my blog “The Tennessee Auto Accident Attorney” are familiar with my yearly award of “The Worst Tennessee Driver”. As of late I have observed a new category and today I have two candidates to tell you about for the title of  “The Stupidest Tennessee Driver”. I am not sure what the criteria will be for this award but I sort of know it when I see it.

Let’s start with Michael Warejko, 20, who was charged by Johnson City Police with possession of marijuana for resale. Not only was he carrying a felony amount of pot in his trunk, but he had a small bag on the front seat and he was smoking as he drove. Knowing that you are carrying and using, a reasonable pot head would drive carefully and certainly within the speed limit. Mr. Warejko must have been in a hurry to get to the jail, he roars into Johnson City well in excess of the speed limit. He’s stopped for speeding, the officer smells the pot smoke, sees a bag of pot between his legs, searches the car and finds a felony size bag of pot.

The second candidate is running neck and neck for this coveted award. An unnamed Knoxville woman ignores the emergency lights on a Knoxville police car and pulls directly into the officer’s path. In an effort to avoid hitting her the officer swerves and hits a fire hydrant and a tree. The unnamed driver stops her car and gets out to check on the officer, but when he tells her she has to remain at the scene while he makes a report, she tells him she can’t because she has a doctors appointment, and she gets in her car and drives off.

Candidate one is in jail awaiting arraignment and candidate two, once the officers dash-cam identifies her, will wish she had followed the officers order. I hate to restate the obvious but studies indicate that marijuana and other drugs affect judgment and motor function. That’s all I can say about our first candidate, I guess that’s why they call it Dope.

As regards our errant Knoxville driver, a crash is any vehicle collision involving another vehicle, person or object. Drivers must notify local law enforcement officials of any crash involving death, injury or property damage over fifty dollars ($50). If You Are Involved In a Tennessee car accident — STOP! The law requires drivers of vehicles involved in crashes to stop immediately at the scene, or as close to the scene as possible without obstructing traffic. Notify the police immediately and do not leave the scene until dismissed by a police officer. After stopping your vehicle, give your name, address, driver license number and vehicle registration number to the other driver. Ask the other driver for the same information

Remain calm and stay at the crash scene. Don’t blame other people or accept blame, and don’t discuss the crash. Wait for the law enforcement officer and answer the officer’s questions truthfully and calmly. And finally, when an officer tells you to do or not to do something, respond appropriately.

If you or a loved one is killed or injured in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a candidate for “The Stupidest Tennessee Driver”, contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.

Distracted Driving

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident lawyer I try to watch for dangerous trends in Tennessee automobile accidents so that I can bring them to the attention of my readers to warn them to be careful. Over the last several months and ominous trend is developing. That trend is drunk or distracted (or both) drivers crossing the centerline and hitting another vehicle head-on.

On the 17th and 22^nd of this month I wrote about a pair of fatal centerline crossing accidents. Reference an article from the web site of WATE TV in Knoxville that reports on a similar crash on Saturday night. According to the article a fellow named Frankie Langley was driving one of the vehicles at a high rate of speed when he crossed over the centerline and crashed head-on into another vehicle killing it’s two occupants.

What causes a driver to leave the highway, cross the median and slam into another vehicle? I don’t have any independent information about this accident other than what I read in the article, but as an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney I am familiar with a number of reasons that a fatal collision like this one could happen.

Distraction from the primary task of driving could present a serious and potentially deadly danger. There has been increased attention on the danger of distracted driving recently, specifically on the dangers of cell phone use and texting while driving. Other secondary task involvement includes eating, drinking, conversing with passengers, as well as interaction with in vehicle technologies and portable electronic devices.

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.

The lesson here for Nashville drivers is that you must keep all of your attention on the acting of driving and avoid distractions. You never know when another driver is going to fall asleep, have a medical emergency or get distracted and leave their lane and initiate a deadly collision. If you or a family member is injured or killed in a Nashville automobile accident caused by a distracted or drunk driver contact the experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.

Distracted or Drunk?

Police and Firefighters gathered at a Firehouse for an emergency response meeting said that a recent Tennessee head-on collision in Mount Carmel, Tennessee jarred the building and was the worst head-on collision they had ever seen. As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney I have never seen a good head-on collision but inthis one the result was fatal for Patricia Menzel age-49.

According to the accident report and a report in the Kingsport Times-News, Ms. Menzel was driving along minding her own business when a car driven by Carol-Anne Starnes, age 25, traveling in the opposite direction, crossed the centerline and smashed head-on in the Menzel vehicle. Ms. Menzel was killed and Ms. Starnes is listed in good condition. My prayers go out to the family and friends of Ms. Menzel and Ms. Starnes, who has a lot of explaining to do.

What is it that makes a driver simply veer across the centerline and directly into an oncoming vehicle? Although the article does mention that charges are pending the result of the investigation, the article doesn’t mention whether Ms. Starnes had been consuming drugs or alcohol or she was simply distracted and took her eyes off of the road.

Distraction from the primary task of driving can 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  the distraction and its role in the crash by law enforcement can be very difficult. One recent study concluded that eighty percent of all automobile accidents are caused by distracted drivers. One main distraction is a cell phone and investigators will be able to determine from phone records whether Ms. Starnes was using her cell phone or texting at or near the time of the crash.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a drunk or distracted driver you owe it to yourself to contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.