The other day I wrote on these pages about a 28-year-old Tullahoma woman who was hit by a pickup truck that subsequently left the scene of the accident. In that Blog I suggested that the driver was probably drunk, had lost his/her license for drunk driving related charges in the past, or had no insurance.

Local news media reported today that police arrested the driver and charged him with leaving the scene of an accident and driving on a revoked license. Other charges are pending.

This is a problem that is becoming increasingly acute, drivers who violate the law, lose their licenses and then take to the roads again, ignoring, or thumbing their nose at the law and the safety of others.

Despite improvements in US laws, it still is difficult to detect and arrest alcohol-impaired drivers once they are driving. The estimated chance of arrest when driving with an illegal BAC is less than 1 in 50. A preferable strategy would be to identify impaired drivers before they start the vehicle and prevent them from driving.

There is technology available to accomplish this, and today almost all states have laws that restrict some people convicted of DWI from driving unless their vehicles have been equipped with alcohol ignition interlocks.

These devices have a breath-testing unit that is connected to the vehicle ignition. To start the vehicle, the offender must blow into the device and register a blood alcohol reading below a predetermined level, typically set well below a BAC of 0.08%, the per se threshold for DWI in all states. Ignition interlock restrictions have been shown to be effective at reducing recidivism among repeat offenders, at least while the restriction is in place.

Until recently, laws requiring convicted DWI offenders to install interlocks pertained to repeat offenders or to first offenders with very high BACs (typically 0.15% or higher). However, as of September 2009, 12 states have expanded the interlock requirement to apply to all offenders, including first-time offenders. These states are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.

In Tennessee the legislature, passed a law requiring all those convicted of DUI to  use the interlock device on their vehicle. The act also prohibits them from driving vehicle without the devices.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a drunk driver and you hope to recover all of the damages the law allows you need to consult with an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney like those at Phillip Miller & Associates. We offer a free consultation so that you can gain the information you will need to face this odyssey through the legal system.

Motorcycle Fatality

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney, I can tell you for certain that when you mix an inexperienced motorcycle rider, excessive speed and alcohol, that you have a dangerous cocktail. Reference a recent case in Madison County, Tennessee in which a 52-year-old man died after he consumed alcohol, got on a motorcycle, drove at excessive speed, lost control, left the road and slammed into a culvert.

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 good news is that the number of fatalities in drunk-driving crashes has declined 49 percent since 1982, going from 21,113 in 1982 to 10,839 in 2009, a record-low level. There were 10,000 fewer drunk-driving fatalities in 2009 than in 1982.

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.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident casued by a drunk driver you owe it to yourself to contact the experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation to determine your rights and remedies.

Stupid is as Stupid Does

Last November a Blountville man was ruled by the court to be an Habitual Traffic Offender for having 5 DUI convictions. He didn’t get the picture and was arrested in April for driving drunk on the wrong side of the road on a riding lawnmower for his 6^th DUI.

Last week the 36-year-old man was sentenced to six years in the penitentiary and ordered to serve at least 35% before he is eligible for parole.

Drinking and driving do not ever mix. 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 of alcohol-related crashes totals more than 51 billion dollars.

There are effective measures that can help prevent injuries and deaths from alcohol-impaired driving, education is an important tool and enforcement with stiff penalties is critical to changing the drinking driving culture that has developed in our country. In cases like this it appears the only way to keep people like this off of the road is to take them off of the street.

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.

According to the two other people in a motor vehicle an 18-year-old teen died after he jumped from a moving vehicle. The results of the toxicology report are not available at this time, but investigators believe that alcohol was a factor in the young man’s decision to bail out of the moving vehicle.

As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney, I am acutely aware that one can never judge the effects of alcohol on teenagers and that is why every state in the Union has raised it’s drinking age to 21 years old.

Children who begin drinking before age 15 are seven times more likely to abuse alcohol or to have alcohol problems as adults. By starting a conversation about alcohol early, you can stop them from making a decision that could potentially harm their health and future. The chance that children will use alcohol increases as they get older.

The lesson in this case is that teens need parental guidance and constant reminders that alcohol and driving or riding in cars is a dangerous game.

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

Teen Driver

In November I wrote in this Blog about an accident in Memphis which resulted in the death of a 14-year-old girl and injured two other passengers. This past week the results of the investigation were released and they were as we assumed at the time of the crash.

It appeared that the 18-year-old teen driver was going 35-miles-per-hour over the speed limit when he lost control of the vehicle and slammed into a tree. His blood alcohol was .07. Alcohol and speed made up a deadly cocktail. The two other passengers were treated and released from the hospital.

The teen driver suffered severe head trauma and is still in extremely critical condition. There is a possibility of criminal charges but under the circumstances and the injuries to the driver they are unlikely at this time.

I have been thinking a lot lately about teens drinking and then driving. I’ve discussed here many times the sad fact that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, accounting for more than one in three deaths in this age group.

The basic reasons behind this statistic are obvious, teen drivers have no experience with the myriad issues faced by drivers with experience, furthermore, they are immature and often takes risks, most often speeding, and are easily distracted which contribute to the increased death rate. Couple these factors with alcohol use and the picture is way more uncomfortable.

If you or one you love is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a teenage drunken driver you owe it to your self to contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out how to protect your interests.

Restaurant Car Collision

A popular Hendersonville Tennessee restaurant suffered some serious damage when a local man driving a truck fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into the front of the building.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates conservatively that each year drowsy driving “is responsible for at least 100,000 automobile crashes, 71,000 injuries, and 1,550 fatalities.” But among all the major factors that cause or contribute to crashes, like speeding, alcohol use, and weather situations, drowsiness is the most difficult for police and other crash investigators to detect and quantify.

Sleepiness and driving is a dangerous combination. Most people are aware of the dangers of drinking and driving but don’t realize that drowsy driving can be just as fatal. Like alcohol, sleepiness slows reaction time, decreases awareness, impairs judgment and increases your risk of crashing.

Unlike alcohol-related crashes, no blood, breath, or other objective test for sleepiness behind the wheel currently exists that investigators could give to a driver at the scene of a crash. This makes police training in identifying drowsiness as a crash factor very difficult.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee motor vehicle collision caused by a sleeping driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.

Bad Luck For DUI Driver Good Luck For The Rest Of Us

When you get behind the wheel of a Tennessee motor vehicle and you are drunk there is no such thing as bad luck, you are making your own luck. Reference a recent DUI arrest in Kingsport Tennessee last week.

A Kingsport police officer was on his way to work. He was driving his patrol car and was attempting to merge with other traffic onto Highway 11-W when a car driven by a 45-year-old Kingsport man nearly sideswiped the cruiser and continued on along the highway weaving to the right and then the left of the lane.

The officer lit up his emergency lights and the driver continued along, stopping only after the officer activated his siren. When the officer approached the car the driver had a half empty pint of whiskey in full view between the seats, he spoke with a slur, failed the field sobriety test and when the officer did a record check he found that the driver had previous problems with driving and alcohol and had a suspended license.

He was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and driving on a revoked license, then transported to the Kingsport city jail. 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.

Last year, 13,470 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (32%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States. During that same period over 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.

Drunk driving is a serious problem in Tennessee. Continued driving by previously convicted DUI offenders continues to be a plague on the roadways of Tennessee. In an effort attack this problem Tennessee now mandates interlock devices be placed on the vehicles of all second offenders and those with blood alcohol levels above.

If you or a loved one are injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a drunk driver contact the experienced Nashville auto accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.

Rainy Highway

A 22-year-old Union City man, and student from the University of Tennessee at Martin died in a single car accident just a few hours after the New Year on a rain slick Weakley County road. Police investigators told local news media that they didn’t think that alcohol was a factor. The young man was driving his Ford pickup truck when he went off the right side of the road, overcorrected and left the roadway and slammed into a tree.

In a case like this, as an experienced Tennessee auto accident attorney, one of three conditions are present that cause a rainy roadway departure crash. Either the driver was traveling too fast for the conditions, became distracted for a moment or the tires or other equipment on the vehicle were not up to best standards.

Wet pavement can be as treacherous as snow and ice. To drive under these conditions:

• Slow down. The pavement is particularly treacherous when it first begins to rain. Dirt and oil accumulations make a greasy film on the roadway, and it takes several minutes for it to wash away.

• Avoid hydroplaning. A lot of water standing on the road during a heavy rain causes tires to lose all contact with the road, even if driving under 50 m.p.h. If the vehicle starts to hydroplane, slow down by letting up on the gas. Never suddenly apply the brakes.

• Improve your vision: (a) keep windshield wipers in good condition, (b) wait a few minutes after the rain starts so the rain/wipers can remove dust and grime.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a negligent driver contact the experienced Nashville auto accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates.

He Thought He Could Fly

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney when I hear that a vehicle left the road and went airborne I would bet the ranch that the main cause of the event was excessive speed. When a police and local media reports say that alcohol may be involved, I’d double my bet.

The night before last a Nashville man “somehow” lost control of his car, went airborne and landed in a residential yard. Fortunately for the driver he was uninjured but his female passenger had to be transported to a local hospital.

Speeding is one of the most prevalent factors contributing to traffic crashes. The economic cost of speeding-related crashes is estimated to be in excess of 40.4 billion dollars per year. In 2007, speeding was a contributing factor in 31 percent of all fatal crashes, and 13,040 lives were lost in speeding-related crashes. The total economic cost of crashes was estimated at $230.6 billion in 2000.

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 crashes 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.

Was it speed?

Was it speed, distraction, drowsiness, alcohol or all four that caused the death of an unknown driver in Murfreesboro, Tennessee the other night? It was 1:30am and the driver was unable to negotiate a turn on Middle Tennessee Blvd., a city street with a 40 mph speed limit, when he lost control and crossed into oncoming traffic and struck another vehicle.

An autopsy will answer the question about alcohol and tire marks ought to shed light on the speed, but the net result is a dead driver. The other driver was transported to Middle Tennessee Medical Center by RCEMS and was treated for minor injuries and released. My prayers go out to the family and friends of this young man.

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.

If you or a loved is seriously injured or killed in a Tennessee motor vehicle accident by a speeding driver you ought to contact the experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to find out about your rights and remedies.