Distractions Kill

As Nashville personal injury lawyers we have become so aware of the dangers of distracted driving. The major focus of the anti-distraction movement is aimed at cell phone use while driving. Another important area that is often overlooked is using electronic devices for listening to music with iPods and ear buds.

The other day, I read an article discussing this very issue. Later in the day I was driving out to the scene of an accident to meet my investigator in Dickson County Tennessee and I started noticing the number of people who were driving with iPods using ear buds. I was amazed at how many drivers were cruising the highways totally disconnected from the world around them.

Together we are driving, in traffic, at a speed of 75 MPH, and these people are not even present. It kind of creeped me out and I slowed down and moved to the right lane. The National Safety Council recently announced that it estimates at least 28% of all traffic accidents, at least 1.6 million crashes per year are caused by drivers using cell phones. NSC estimates that 1.4 million crashes each year are caused by drivers using cell phones and a minimum of 200,000 additional crashes each year are caused by drivers who are texting.

What is the difference in using a device like an MP3 that blocks out your ability to hear things going on a round you? The answer is “none”. When you buckle yourself into the cockpit of your vehicle the next time you head out on the highways and byways of Tennessee, stop, look and listen before you plug in those ear buds.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Nashville automobile accident caused by a distracted driver, contact the experienced Nashville personal injury lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates. Call 615-356-2000.

National Safety Council Launches Video Series to Educate Public
About Dangers of Cell Phone Use While Driving

Itasca, IL – The National Safety Council today released a series of short videos, “Understanding Distracted Driving,” to address the most frequently asked questions about cell phone use while driving. The videos, featuring NSC Senior Director of Transportation Initiatives David Teater, are free to download or are available to businesses and the public via YouTube.

Cell Phone Use And Driving Don't Mix

In short, two- to three-minute clips, Teater answers 12 questions, including why cell phones are a particularly dangerous distraction, and explains the science behind cognitive distraction. The videos also address how employers can protect their employees with workplace policies.

Teater’s 12-year-old son Joe was killed in a motor vehicle collision in 2004. The driver who caused the crash was distracted by a cell phone. Prior to joining NSC, Teater’s 30-year business career included serving as CEO of a research and strategy firm that provided consulting services to most auto manufacturers. He is a frequent speaker on the topic of distracted driving, has testified before the U.S. Congress and has appeared before several state legislatures to advocate for restrictions on cell phone use while driving.

“Cell phone use and driving are a dangerous, and oftentimes deadly, combination,” Teater said. “The resources NSC has developed explain why this behavior is so dangerous and provide solutions on how to go about changing behaviors to make our roadways safer.”

The videos are part of a larger strategy developed by NSC to end cell phone distracted driving. NSC is helping U.S. organizations of all sizes implement and strengthen corporate cell phone policies, and has made available a cell phone policy kit, which is free on the NSC website. Additionally, “Understanding the Distracted Brain,” an NSC white paper, shares research about why a cell phone conversation causes such an intense mental distraction to drivers.

In 2009, NSC was the first national organization to call for a total ban on cell phone use while driving. Since then, NSC has worked with the public, business leaders and elected officials to stop cell phone use behind the wheel, a dangerous behavior that contributes to thousands of deaths each year.

For this and other important Tennessee Highway Safety information visit the website of Phillip Miller & Associates or call 615-356-2000.

Distractions Can Kill

I thought I’d share these tips from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

1. PLAN AHEAD.  Read maps and check traffic conditions before you get on the road.

2. STOW ELECTRONIC DEVICES.  Turn off your phone before you drive so you won’t be tempted to use it while on the road. Pull over to a safe place to talk on the phone or to send and receive text messages or emails.

3. PREPARE KIDS AND PETS FOR THE TRIP.  Get the kids safely buckled in and situated with snacks and entertainment before you start driving. If they need additional attention during the trip, pull off the road safely to care for them.  Similarly, prepare and secure pets appropriately in your vehicle before getting underway.

4. SATISFY THAT CRAVING OFF THE ROAD.  Eat meals and snacks before getting behind the wheel, or stop to eat and take a break if driving long-distance.

5. STORE LOOSE GEAR AND POSSESSIONS.  Stash away loose objects that could roll around and take your attention away from driving.

6. GET YOUR VEHICLE ROAD-READY.  Adjust seat positions, climate controls, sound systems and other devices before you leave or while your vehicle is stopped.  Make sure your headlights are spotless so you can see everything on the road and every other driver can see you better. Keep your windshield clean and remove dangling objects that could block your view.

7. DRESS FOR SUCCESS – BEFORE YOU GET IN THE CAR.  Your car isn’t a dressing room.  Brush your hair, shave, put on make-up, and tie your necktie before you leave or once you reach your destination.

8. GET YOUR BRAIN IN THE GAME.  Focus on the task at hand – driving safely. Scan the road, use mirrors and practice identifying orally what you just saw to enhance your engagement as a driver. Keeping your head ‘in the game’ behind the wheel will help you improve your overall awareness and behavior as a driver. AAA offers classroom and online defensive driving courses that directly address distracted driving and offer tips for for avoiding these behaviors.

9. EVALUATE YOUR OWN BEHAVIOR FROM THE ‘OTHER’ SIDE OF THE ROAD.  When you’re on the road as a passenger or a pedestrian, take a look around and honestly evaluate whether you engage in poor driving behaviors that worry you when observed in other passengers or pedestrians.

10. USE NEW TECHNOLOGY TO MAKE YOU A BETTER DRIVER.  Sharpen your ability to respond quickly to risks on the road. The AAA Foundation recommends all drivers improve their reaction times and managing attention on the road by using DriveSharp, a computer program proven to improve reaction time and stopping distances. With quicker responses, you can avoid the distracted driver who might end up in your lane.

If you are a loved one is injured or killed by a careless driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates.

Heads-Up Driving Week: October 2 – 8, 2011

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and AAA are concerned about your safety on our nation’s roads. That’s why for the third straight year we are calling on drivers to eliminate distractions in the car during Heads Up Driving Week. From October 2nd – 8th, we want drivers to put away distractions and focus only on the road. Multi-tasking is undoubtedly a regular activity for most people but it is critical that we remind ourselves of the most important task behind the wheel – driving safely. Please – try it for a week – do it for life. Share the message, spread the word, and help us create safer roads for everyone.

Distracted driving contributes to up to 8,000 crashes every single day – the facts speak for themselves:

• More than one million people have died in car crashes over the past 25 years in the U.S., with 33,788 lives lost in 2010 alone.
• Drivers spend more than half their time behind the wheel engaged in distracted behavior.
• Using a cell phone while driving quadruples your risk of crashing.
• Eating, smoking, adjusting music or rubbernecking while driving can be just as dangerous as texting, emailing or talking on a cell phone.
• Passengers are one of the most frequently reported causes of distraction, with young children being four times more distracting than adults and infants being eight times more distracting.

A majority of drivers – 94% – agree that texting or emailing while driving is unacceptable and 87% support laws against reading, typing or sending text messages or emails while driving, according to the AAA Foundation’s 2011 Traffic Safety Culture Index, yet more than one-third of drivers reported texting or emailing while driving in the previous month. This “do as I say, not as I do” attitude is one of the greatest obstacles preventing us from improving safety on our roads.

Multi-tasking is a fact of life – we all face constant demands for our time, and we all have to juggle more now than ever before. Unfortunately, many people try to multi-task while driving, which is NEVER a good idea. In fact, a recent study by the University of Utah has reconfirmed that our brains are simply not wired to multi-task.  Being distracted behind the wheel for even just a few seconds greatly increases your chance of a crash. Take a look at our 10 quick and easy ways to minimize distractions to keep yourself and all of us safer on the roads.

It’s time that we all stop ignoring the facts and take action to change our roads. The first step is changing our own attitudes, and more importantly driving our own behaviors.  Distracted driving is the cause of thousands of preventable injuries each year and has cost many families the life of a loved one. You can start solving the problem by pledging to change your own behavior and drive distraction-free from now on and then sharing this pledge with friends and family.

For more information on distracted driving visit the website of the experienced Nashville automobile accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates, or call 615-356-2000.

As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney I am seeing an epidemic of roadway departure crashes across Tennessee. The main question in each of these crashes is what were each of these drivers doing in the two seconds before their vehicle left the road?

Distracted Drivers Kill And Die

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.

The National Safety Council has compiled a series of excellent videos that explain distracted driving. Go to this link to view these videos. If you or a loved one is injured or killed by a distracted Tennessee driver, visit the website of the experienced Nashville personal injury lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation. Call 615-356-2000.

We Need Not Be Confused About Highway Safety

Oftentimes saving a life on the road is as basic as getting people to slow down, buckle up, or don a helmet. Tried and true countermeasures like these usually don’t grab headlines, but if they were more widely propagated across the nation they would yield an immediate reduction in motor vehicle crash deaths.

The number of people who die in crashes in the United States is at a record low. Still, there were an estimated 32,788 motor vehicle crash deaths last year, according to a preliminary projection by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Vehicles are safer than ever, and emerging technologies are starting to pay dividends in terms of preventing crashes or lessening there severity. New safety features take time to work their way through the vehicle fleet, though, so benefits can be delayed for years. “While we’re looking for the next big breakthrough in vehicle safety, we should keep in mind that many existing strategies at the driver and passenger level still can yield gains,” says Adrian Lund, Institute president. “Not only can most of these countermeasures be put to work now, but the benefits also would be swift.”

State laws have helped lift use of safety belts and motorcycle helmets and lower teenage driver crash rates. DUI/DWI laws and sobriety checkpoints have reduced alcohol-impaired driving. Red light cameras and speed cameras have gotten drivers to obey traffic signals and slow down, while roundabouts have reduced intersection crashes.

Still, lots of drivers flout traffic and restraint laws, intersection crashes and speeding-related ones continue to be deadly, and some teenagers take risky chances that have tragic endings. “We already have the tools to address these problems,” Lund says, “but they need to be better utilized.”

Basic doesn’t mean easy, he adds. “Making headway in many cases would require some state lawmakers to make bold moves to enact tough, enforceable laws.” A stumbling block is getting the public and state and local politicians on board with proposed changes.

Red light cameras and speed cameras are especially divisive, even though public opinion surveys show solid support for using cameras to enforce traffic laws. Motorcycle helmet laws can be just as controversial. Anti-helmet groups pressure state legislators every year to overturn helmet laws or reject proposals for new ones. This is in spite of the fact that helmets are the No. 1 countermeasure for preventing rider deaths in crashes.

Stay up to date on Tennessee highway safety information by visiting the website of Phillip Miller & Associates, a group of experienced and dedicated Nashville personal injury lawyers. Call 615-356-2000.

Distracted Drivers Kill

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced dramatic reductions in distracted driving in Syracuse, New York, and Hartford, Connecticut, after two pilot projects measured the effect of increased law enforcement coupled with high-profile public education campaigns.

“These findings show that strong laws, combined with highly-visible police enforcement, can significantly reduce dangerous texting and cell phone use behind the wheel,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Based on these results, it is crystal clear that those who try to minimize this dangerous behavior are making a serious error in judgment, especially when half a million people are injured and thousands more are killed in distracted driving accidents.”

Each program, which was supported by $200,000 in federal funds and $100,000 from the state, examined whether increased police enforcement along with paid advertising and news media coverage could reduce distracted driving. The pilot efforts used “Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other” as the media campaign theme and were structured similarly to the highly-successful national seat belt campaign, “Click It or Ticket.”

During four periods of stepped up enforcement over the past year, Syracuse police issued 9,587 citations for driver violations involving talking or texting on cell phones while operating a vehicle. During the same period, police in Hartford, Connecticut, issued 9,658 tickets for illegal phone use.

Before and after each enforcement wave, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) actively observed cell phone use and conducted public awareness surveys at driver licensing offices in the two cities, which found:

* In Syracuse, New York, because of high-visibility enforcement -– both handheld cell phone use and texting behind the wheel have declined by one-third.

* In Hartford, Connecticut, where researchers initially identified drivers talking on their cell phones at twice the frequency (which left more room for improvement), there was a 57 percent drop in handheld use and texting behind the wheel dropped by nearly three-quarters.

“The success of these pilot programs clearly show that combining strong laws with strong enforcement can bring about a sea change in public attitudes and behavior,” said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland. “We applaud the work of the men and women of the Syracuse and Hartford police forces, and call on state legislatures, law enforcement and safety advocates across the nation to follow their lead.”

NHTSA plans to test this same three-part formula — tough laws, strong enforcement, and ongoing public awareness – at the state-wide level next.

In 2009, nearly 5,500 fatalities and another half million injuries resulted from crashes involving a distracted driver. Overall, distraction-related fatalities represented 16 percent of total traffic fatalities in 2009.

Nationwide, 34 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam have enacted texting bans. Nine states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands have prohibited all hand-held cell phone use while driving.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Nashville auto accident caused by a distracted driver contact the Nashville personal injury lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation. Call 615-356-2000.

Nashville is centrally located in the United States, in fact 66% of the population of the country is located within 500 miles of Nashville. That fact is good for business but it creates problems on the interstate highways that dissect our fair city.

I was on my way to a seminar this Saturday morning, heading south on I-65 toward Brentwood, Tennessee, and I was stunned by the unregulated speeding, aggressive driving, texting, as well as other sorts of highway mayhem that I experienced. When I say unregulated I mean that during the whole adventure I did not see one Nashville police car.

I got to thinking about different types of drivers, those drivers you love to hate. The first on my list is the driver with a rocket in their pocket. You know the ones I’m talking about, they come roaring up behind you, changing lanes, cutting people off to get twenty feet further along. They get right on your bumper until you change lanes and get out of their way. Many times they are talking on their cell phone or prognosticating to a passenger, totally oblivious to the others around them.

Number two on the list, the driver who speeds up, slows down and veers back and forth in, and out, of their lane. When you overtake them they are deep into a text message conversation with another bozo. Once they end the conversation they turn into the last driver I wrote about.

I could go on and on, The more often you drive, the more differing personalities you encounter, and the bottom line is that speeders and distracted drivers are the number one offenders. Speed and distraction is a deadly mix and the lesson for each and every Nashville driver is that we have to always be on the lookout for the other drivers. Never retaliate, never react and challenge the other driver. If they are way over the top, pull over, call 911 in town’s and *847 in rural areas. Drop a dime and save a life.

Have you or a loved one been injured in a Nashville motorcycle accident or auto accident as a result of distracted driving or other negligent driving?  If so, you should call the experienced Nashville personal injury lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates, a

Interstate Drivers

from our law firm will fight to help you win. We will treat you with the utmost compassion and respect. Call us today and speak with an experienced Nashville personal injury lawyer to discuss the details of your case. Call (615) 356-2000.

Hang Up And Arrive Alive

An interesting study regarding long commute drivers conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind and cosponsored by the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, that New Jersey drivers who have a long commute are more likely to speed and drive distracted by talking on a cell phone or texting.

The study showed that although 25 percent of New Jersey drivers say they regularly travel more than 70 mph on state highways, drivers with long commutes (39 percent) were more likely to speed than those with shorter commutes (22 percent).

More than 60 percent who drive 20 or more miles to work will speed “most of the time” or “often,” compared with 53 percent who have shorter commutes and 42 percent who have no commute, according to the study.

Additionally, nearly 20 percent of long commuters talk on a handheld cell phone “very often” or “sometimes” while driving, but less than 10 percent of those who do not drive to work do the same. Commuters of both short (32 percent) and long (31 percent) distances were more likely to text and drive than those who do not commute to work (16 percent), the report found.

For this and other Tennessee highway traffic safety tips and information, visit the website of Phillip Miller & Associates or call 615-356-2000.

Cell Phone Distraction

Not long ago the National Safety Council released a white paper describing the risks of using a cell phone while driving. The white paper, “Understanding the distracted brain: Why driving while using hands-free cell phones is risky behavior,” addresses the lack of understanding about the dangers of cell phones and hands-free devices.

The white paper includes references to more than 30 scientific studies and reports, describing how using a cell phone, hands-free or handheld, requires the brain to multitask – a process it cannot do safely while driving. Cell phone use while driving not only impairs driving performance, but it also weakens the brain’s ability to capture driving cues. The white paper is available for free download on the NSC Website.

The paper describes how drivers who use cell phones have a tendency to “look at” but not “see” up to 50 percent of the information in their driving environment. A form of inattention blindness occurs, which results in drivers having difficulty monitoring their surroundings, seeking and identifying potential hazards, and responding to unexpected situations.

Numerous public opinion surveys show most drivers believe using a cell phone while driving is dangerous. However, many admit they regularly talk or text while driving. At any time, 11 percent of all drivers are using cell phones, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. NSC estimates more than 1 out of every 4 motor vehicle crashes involves cell phone use at the time of the crash.

“Cell phone use while driving has become a serious public health threat,” said Janet Froetscher, NSC president and CEO. “This white paper provides the necessary background and context for lawmakers and employers considering distracted driving legislation and policies. Several states and municipalities have passed legislation allowing hands-free devices while driving. These laws give the false impression that hands-free phones are a safe alternative, when the evidence is clear they are not. Understanding the distraction of the brain will help people make the right decision and put down their cell phones while driving.”

To learn more about cell phone use while driving, visit distracteddriving.nsc.org, or visit the web site of Phillip Miller & Associates for more information on Tennessee highway safety. Call 615-356-2000.

Photo courtesy of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety