Teen Girl Killed

A teenage girl was killed and two other people were injured Saturday night in a two-vehicle wreck on U.S. Highway 231 South just outside Murfreesboro. The 17-year-old suffered fatal injuries when the car she was riding in crashed into a tractor-trailer. The compact car in which she was a passenger made a left hand turn into the path of an oncoming tractor-trailer

She was wearing her seatbelt but the driver wasn’t and he was transported to Vanderbilt Hospital, his condition is unknown at this time. Police have ruled out drinking and drugs as a contributing factor. It appears that the driver was distracted and not paying attention to the road ahead. My prayers go out to the family and friends of both of these two young people.

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.

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.

Distracted Driving Fatality

The highways of Greene County Tennessee turned bloody last weekend with two wrecks leaving four people dead. The first wreck was, you guessed it, a roadway departure crash. A 32-year-old woman was driving southbound on 11E at 7PM on Friday night when she lost control of her vehicle, crossed the median and continued North bound colliding head on with another driver killing the 31-year-old driver and his passenger.

On Sunday a Greenville man was killed and three others were hospitalized when a distracted driver failed to notice a large van that had stopped in front of him as it attempted turn left onto another road. The distracted driver swerved, clipped the van, and went into the other lane and crashed head-on into another pickup truck coming the other way, killing the driver.

As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney the first thing I asked myself when I read the reports of these accidents was what were the two instigators of these fatal accidents doing in the moments before they crashed. In the first case we have a woman driving along a four lane divided highway when she simply left the road, went into the median and then the other lane. The second we have a driver who was obviously not looking out ahead and failed to see a van stopped to turn.

Distraction from the primary task of driving could 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 signi!cant, they may not state the true size of the problem, since the identification of distraction and its role in the crash by law enforcement can be very difficult.

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 or two of distraction and the results can change the lives of so many people. When you are behind the wheel of a three thousand pound deadly weapon you must keep your eyes and your mind on the task at hand.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a distracted driver, make it a point to contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to find out about your rights and remedies.

Roadway Departure Crash

Experienced Tennessee automobile accident lawyers agree that distraction from the primary task of driving could 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 signi!cant, they may not state the true size of the problem, since the identification of distraction and its role in the crash by law enforcement can be very difficult.

We may never learn the reason Jeffrey Knight, age, 40, became distracted and left the road, crossed the median and crashed head-on with another vehicle causing the death of 21-year-old Brittany Thomas and her 10-month-old son. Whatever the distraction, finding out will be little consolation to the family and friends of this young mother and her child. My prayers go out to the loved ones who have sustained such and indescribable loss.

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. Each of these accidents had the potential to have taken numerous other lives but somehow that didn’t happen

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.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee car crash by a distracted driver or a case like the present one that will require and experienced Tennessee automobile accident lawyer contact the lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies.