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

Child Safety Seats Save Lives

A two-year-old Pulaski, Tennessee boy is in Vanderbilt Hospital in critical condition and his mother in jail after a single car accident on Fall River Road this past Sunday night.

According to local media reports, the boy suffered head injuries when his mother lost control of her car in a curve, overturned and hit a tree.

Both mother and child were properly restrained and according to the report, investigators said that “probably saved their lives.” The mother was arrested and charged with DUI and vehicular assault. Speed and drunkenness were the probable causes of the crash.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death to children ages 2 to 14 and the leading cause of injury-related death for children under 2. When installed and used correctly, child safety seats and safety belts can prevent injuries and save lives. Young children restrained in child safety seats have an 80 percent lower risk of fatal injury than those who are unrestrained.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee highway automobile accident contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident law firm of Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to determine your rights and remedies

Another Fatherless Child

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident lawyer, it breaks my heart to see any crash in which a baby is injured because it is not properly secured in a child safety seat and the parent was driving drunk. Reference a crash late last week in which a 30-year-old father died and his two-year-old son was injured when their vehicle failed to negotiate a curve.

The crash occurred in Jefferson County, Tennessee, and from my experience, it appears that it was caused by the alcohol, speed and/or distraction. Neither the deceased driver or the passenger were wearing their seat belts and the child was in a safety seat but it was improperly secured.

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.

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.

Roadway Departure Crash

A Springfield, Tenn., man was killed Sunday in a two-vehicle collision in Logan County, Kentucky. The 58-year-old man was driving a GMC pickup truck on Main St in Adairville when for some unknown reason, lost control and crossed into the oncoming lane of traffic striking another pickup truck driven by a 53-year-old man. As a result of the collision both men were trapped in their respective vehicles and had to be extracted by emergency personnel.

Driver one was pronounced dead at a local hospital and driver two was flown to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville where he is listed in stable condition. The investigation is continuing and police will have to determine what happened that caused driver one to lose control.

Possible causes include, the driver was distracted from the task at hand, he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or he suffered a medical or medication emergency. An autopsy will assist in this determination. On the other hand, if he simply fell asleep at the wheel, that determination will rely on his history in the hours preceding the crash.

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.

Hit & Run Fatality

Hit & Run drivers are, in my consideration, the worst kind of human being, 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. Clarksville, Tennessee police say they now know who hit and killed a woman Friday.

A man turned himself into police and told investigators he thought he hit a deer and just kept going. Local media really didn’t provide much in the way of facts as to where she was when she was hit, so it’s hard to say who was at fault.

The driver’s story begins to weaken when we find out he had been drinking prior to the collision, leading reasonable people to disbelieve his story. Another mystery surrounding this event is the investigators inability to identify the victim. The woman was not carrying ID or a cell phone.

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.

Teen Drivers Are Dangerous

Over the last several Blogs at “The Tennessee Auto Accident Attorney” we have talked about younger drivers and the hazards they face as the travel the highways and byways of Tennessee. As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney, I regularly speak to parents of teen drivers, and on every occasion I remind them that simply telling their children to act in a safe manner when they are behind the wheel, it is the duty of the parents to teach them by example.

I also share some sobering statistics. Traffic crashes are the leading cause of teen fatalities, accounting for 38% of all teen deaths in the United States. In 2008, about 3,500 teens in the United States aged 15–19 were killed and  more than 350,000 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor-vehicle crashes.

Young people ages 15-24 represent only 14% of the U.S. population. However, they account for 30% ($19 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among males and 28% ($7 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among females.

Most Americans typically learn to drive during the teen years, when the brain is not fully mature yet. Recent research is beginning to give us insight why many teens have difficulty regulating risk-taking behavior:

* The area of the brain that weighs consequences, suppresses impulses and organizes thoughts does not fully mature until about age 25.

* Hormones are more active in teens, which influence the brain’s neuro-chemicals that regulate excitability and mood. The result can be thrill-seeking behavior and experiences that create intense feelings.

Chances are, your community has been struck by a tragic accident involving a teenage friend, classmate or family member. Tennessee parents have an excellent resource available at the website of the National Safety Council. Check out http://teendriver.nsc.org/ for helpful tips and suggested study materials.

My experience investigating and trying Tennessee teen driver accident cases tells me that it is never too early to start training your child for the day he or she gets behind the wheel and you watch them drive off into the real world.

If you or a loved is injured in a Nashville or Tennessee automobile accident caused by a teen driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies. Call 615-356-2000

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.

Reference a recent case of Hit & Run in Tullahoma, Tennessee. A 28-year-old woman crossing the street with her friend is run down by a pickup truck, and died later at Vanderbilt Medical Center. Somewhere out there the driver, a selfish, lowlife of a human being, is waiting, waiting for a knock on the door that is going to change his/her life, just like the driver changed the life of the young woman left dying in the street.

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 a Nashville 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.

Lowlife Driver

It’s been several months since I called out a driver for being a low life, no-good, sorry, less then human being. Today, I’m hanging that tag on a Maryville man who was arrested after the pickup truck he was driving, departed the roadway, flipped over in a ditch and fled, leaving a woman who described herself as his wife, trapped in the vehicle.

Tennessee law requires a driver involved in a personal or property injury accident to remain at the scene, to await emergency responders. Charges are pending.

Wreck & Run drivers are, in my consideration, the second worst kind of human being. Most W&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 W&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 passenger trapped in the wrecked vehicle.

If you are the victim of a Nashville or Tennessee automobile accident we urge you to contact our Nashville 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.

Teen Siblings Die Together

The Chattanooga police investigating a double fatal accident earlier this month blame the death on the teenage driver speeding and specifically deny that road design had anything to do with it. It’s an old story, inexperienced teen driver speeding and losing control.

An 18-year-old driver and his 16-year-old daughter, according to investigators were going between 57 and 61 MPH when they left the road and crashed. My prayers go out to the family and friends of these teens, the horror of losing two children in one fell swoop is more than I can comprehend.

But local residents tell local media outlets that the way the road is configured has attracted numerous teen thrill seekers and the neighbors have seen more than a dozen similar accidents. One neighbor said that the kids come flying down through the area and play a game of trying to go airborne.

Speeding may have played a role in this and the other accidents but if the road design is dangerous and the city and county have, or through the exercise of due care, should have known that a dangerous situation exists and do nothing about it, that entity may be liable for damages.

According to The Center For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 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. In 2005, twelve teens ages 16 to 19 died every day from motor vehicle injuries.

The risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among 16- to 19-year-olds than among any other age group. In fact, per mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to crash. In 2005, the motor vehicle death rate for male drivers and passengers ages 16 to 19 was more than one and a half times that of their female counterparts.

If you are the victim of a Nashville or Tennessee automobile accident we urge you to contact our Nashville 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.