Distracted Driver

Whenever you see an accident, usually involving one car that leaves the road, an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney starts thinking about driver distractions or  medical emergency. When investigating a distracted driver case we try to determine just what the driver doing in the moments before the crash that caused his/her vehicle to leave it’s lane and cross over into an oncoming vehicle? What caused the driver to change focus from driving to other things?

Reference an article reporting on a collision in Blount County Tennessee in which a lone driver was traveling along a two-lane highway when for some unknown reason she crossed over the double yellow line and crashed head-on into a van carrying 5 people. She was not wearing her seatbelt and suffered serious injuries. Her condition at the present time is critical. All of the van passengers were wearing a seatbelt.

I don’t envy the investigators on this one. The first thing they are going to have to determine is whether the driver had some sort of medical emergency that rendered her unable to control here vehicle, that evidence will be determined by the treating physicians. The next thing that will need to looked at is whether she had and was using a cell phone, was smoking a cigarette or eating while she drove. All of these activities are considered major distractions that lead to thousands of automobile accidents each year.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration driver inattention by distraction 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.

It only takes a second, look away at something inside or outside the car, look back to the road in front of you and your life, and lives of other human beings can change in a way you never anticipated. If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee car accident caused by a distracted driver contact the experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies.

Tennessee Trucker Dies In Crash

According to an article in the Greeneville Sun trucker driver Carl Seaton, 76, of Greene County died from injuries received in a one vehicle tractor-trailer wreck on Tennessee Highway 81. The information in the article came from the report of the State Trooper investigating the accident and claims that 2005 Freightliner, pulling an empty trailer, veered from the highway and crashed into a ditch. The initial investigative report indicated that Mr. Seaton either fell asleep or had some sort of medical emergency. The investigation is continuing.

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney we know that these crashes are referred to as “Roadway Departure Crashes” (RDCs). The Federal Highway Administration defines a RDC as a non-intersection crash that occurs when a vehicle crosses an edge line or a centerline, or otherwise leaves the traveled way.

According to the Federal Highway Administration roadway departure crashes are frequently severe and account for the majority of highway fatalities. In 2008, there were 19,794 fatal roadway departure crashes resulting in 22,080 fatalities, which was 53 percent of the fatal crashes in the United States. FHWA uses the Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS) compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to compute statistics on roadway departure crashes.

The FHWA’s Roadway Departure Safety Program provides important information for transportation practitioners, decision makers, and others to assist them in preventing and reducing the severity of roadway departure crashes, but no matter what steps they take this problem will never be successful if drivers refuse to observe the speed limits, avoid distractions, refuse to drive when sleepy and continue to drink and drive.

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 loved one is injured in a Nashville car crash contact our experienced Nashville automobile accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies. If you are not sure you need a lawyer to handle your claim, at least check out our website for helpful information that will help you with this complex and confusing adventure.

The Automobile accident personal injury firm of Phillip Miller & Associates is not representing any of the parties mentioned in this article at the time the article was posted. Our information source is cited in the article. If you were involved in this incident or a similar incident and have questions as to your rights and options, call us or another reputable law firm. Do not act solely upon the information provided herein. Get a consultation. The best law firms will provide a free consultation. We provide a free, confidential consultation to not at fault persons named in this article. The free consultation offer extends to family members as well.

Practice Construction Zone Safety

With the federal stimulus money coming into Tennessee aimed at improving the highway infrastructure of our state, motorists are faced with many more construction zones that require particular attention to speed, distance between vehicles and avoidance of outside distractions such as cell phone, iPods and other electronic devices.

Unfortunately many Tennessee motorists still don’t get it. Witness a report from TV station WBBJ out of Jackson Tennessee about a 50-year old Memphis woman died Thursday in a fiery crash in Henderson County when she ignored a worker flagging traffic and rammed into a TDOT truck parked on the side of the road in a construction zone. Another driver suffered minor injuries.

Once again, from the point of view of an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney, you have to wonder what this unfortunate lady was doing that kept her from seeing the worker flagging traffic. Our prayers go out to her family and friends. She either acted intentionally or she was somehow distracted and since most automobile fatalities occur when a driver is distracted, I would focus my investigation on her cell phone or other electronic devices and her autopsy on her blood alcohol count.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that highway and street construction workers are at risk of fatal and serious nonfatal injury when working in the vicinity of passing motorists, construction vehicles, and equipment. Each year, more than 100 workers are killed and over 20,000 are injured in the highway and street construction industry.

Historically, efforts to reduce vehicle-related worker injuries in this industry have focused on improving traffic control devices and work zone configurations to minimize confusion of motorists passing through the work zone and to limit collisions involving motorists.

The premise has been that by minimizing traffic collisions in work zones, worker injuries are minimized. But it appears that the real problem lies in the hands of the motorists who navigate these dangerous obstructions. It’s up to us, ladies and gentleman, we have to put aside the distractions and focus all of our Attention on the task at hand, and that task is piloting a deadly weapon through the normal obstacles we face everyday on the highways of Tennessee.

If you or a loved one is injured in a Nashville automobile accident involving a distracted driver in a construction zone contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies. If you have been involved in an accident and are thinking of handling the negotiations with the other drivers insurance company on your own, you owe it to yourself to at least check out our website and educate yourself before undertaking this complicated and complex process.

Head On Fatality

Knoxville TV station WBIR reported on a two-car collision in Madisonville, Monroe County, yesterday. William C. Kile, 76 of Sweetwater was driving along on Highway 68 when he was hit head on by a vehicle driven by a Utah man. According to the article citing Tennessee Highway Patrol Troopers, the Mazda driven by the man from Utah crosses the center-line and crashed into the vehicle driven by Mr. Kile who was pronounced dead at the scene. Unfortunately, Mr. Kile was not wearing his seatbelt. The investigation is continuing and the Utah man faces charges of failure to exercise due care. Our condolences go out to the family and friends of Mr. Kile.

This collision happened in a rural area and according to the Federal Highway Administration, rural road safety is a particular concern, because the majority of highway fatalities take place on rural roads. Rural roads account for approximately 40 percent of the vehicle miles traveled in the U.S., but almost 57 percent of fatalities. According to recent data, 23,260 people were killed in rural crashes in 2007 and the fatality rate for rural crashes is more than twice the fatality rate in urban crashes.

This moral of this story has two important aspects, the first is that all drivers are required to exercise due care when driving a motor vehicle on the highways of Tennessee. Due care in this situation requires a driver to keep his eyes on the road and to avoid distractions as he drives. From the facts given in the article it’s clear that either the driver intended to crash into Mr. Kile’s car or that he failed to exercise due care and allowed himself to be distracted and drifted into the other lane.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration the primary responsibility of the driver is to operate a motor vehicle safely. The task of driving requires full attention and focus. Anything that distracts drivers from this task, risking harm to themselves and others, should be avoided. Distractions can be from cellphone, talking and not watching, trying to reach inot the rear seat, adjusting the radio or fooling with a GPS device.

The second item is that no matter where we are driving we should use our seatbelts. Seatbelts help prevent death and injury in a number of different ways. They prevent you from being thrown from the car, they shift crash forces to the strongest part of the body structure and they spread crash forces over a wide area of the body and last but not least they keep the person colliding with hostile surfaces inside the vehicle. (ie. Steering-wheel, windshield and dashboard.)

Rural drivers are less likely to wear their seatbelts. 56 percent of rural passenger vehicle occupants killed were unrestrained as compared to 51 percent of urban passenger vehicle occupants killed.  Over two-thirds of rural pickup truck occupants killed were unrestrained – the highest percentage of any passenger vehicle occupants killed among both rural and urban areas. The lesson here is that safety starts when you get into the car and ends when the car is parked and the motor is shut off.

If you or a loved one was injured in a Nashville car crash, by a distracted driver, contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights.

Dangerous Drivers

Jordon Royce Pumphrey, 22, of Rogersville, Tennessee is a good example of why I counsel my readers to be constantly vigilant for the dangers lurking on the highways of Tennessee. It seems Mr. Pumphrey makes bad decisions, decisions that can be fatal to others who happen to cross his path. According to the Kingsport Times-News Mr. Pumphrey was arrested Saturday for DUI and drug charges. He was already awaiting trial and out on bond on felony charges for aggravated burglary and theft.

According to the article, police clocked Mr. Pumphrey driving 71 mph in a 55 mph zone all the while weaving erratically. During the conversation with the driver police noted that he seemed disoriented and he admitted to taking Lortab , a narcotic, for pain. While the police were sobriety testing him they noticed that he had something in his hands. That something turned out to be pills that he immediately popped into his mouth and swallowed.

Now, I’m no psychologist, but judging by his actions this night, I’d venture to say that there is something wrong with Mr. Pumphrey. As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney I have spoken with many police officers from around the state and they tell me that there are thousands of people who fit into the same category as this man in every corner of the state.

So, how do we protect ourselves from people like this? The first thing we can do is for each of us to obey the Tennessee Rules of The Road so that the police can concentrate on these dangerous types. Obey the speed limit, stop at red lights and stop signs, yield the right of way and by all means, avoid distractions and pay attention to what you are doing when you are behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. If you see someone driving dangerously pull over and use your cell phone and call *847 and report the driver to the State Troopers. As individuals we also need to become involved in our community and, along with our friends and neighbors, make sure that our public officials know that we want them to do everything they can to keep these people off of the streets.

If you or a loved one is injured in an automobile accident contact our experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out everything you need to protect your rights and remedies.

It seems to me, that distracted drivers cause most Tennessee car accidents. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration driver inattention is the leading factor in most crashes and near-crashes. Nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds before the event. In studies by the NHTSA the most common distraction for drivers is the use of cell phones. However, the number of crashes and near-crashes attributable to dialing is nearly identical to the number associated with talking or listening. Dialing is more dangerous but occurs less often than talking or listening. Reaching for a moving object increased the risk of a crash or near-crash by 9 times; looking at an external object by 3.7 times; reading by 3 times; applying makeup by 3 times; dialing a hand-held device (typically a cell phone) by almost 3 times; and talking or listening on a hand-held device by 1.3 times. Drivers who engage frequently in distracting activities are more likely to be involved in an inattention-related crash or near crash

If you have ever driven on I-65 coming into Nashville in the morning rush hour you will witness all sorts of idiocy being played out by commuters. Some of the major offenders are aggressive drivers who act like they are driving in a NASCAR race, speeding, sudden lane changes, tailgating, you know who I’m talking about. Another offender is the woman putting on her make-up as she travels in close traffic at 65mph or faster. And then we have the cell phone users and texters whose time is so important to them that they put their lives and the lives of others at risk so that they can keep in touch.

These ideas came to mind when I read an article in the Shelbyville Times-Gazette.  It appears from the article that a Shelbyville Tennessee woman was driving along U.S. 41 when she was distracted while trying to retrieve an unidentified item from her from seat. She undid her seatbelt and reached for the item and left the road, lost control and traveled down a steep embankment coming to rest after crashing into several large trees.

I advise people that before putting the key in the ignition, stop for a moment and remind your self that you are getting behind the wheel of a potentially deadly weapon and that if you want to arrive at your destination alive or without killing others, use common sense and avoid distractions. If you or a loved one is injured in a car accident caused by a distracted driver, call one of our experienced Nashville car accident attorney’s

Don't Be Distracted

and find out about your rights and remedies.