All one has to do these days is pick up a newspaper, go online or catch the evening news on TV, and see a report on another in what has become an epidemic of roadway departure crashes. If these deaths were caused by a virus or bacteria or active prion disease the public health departments and the political leaders of our state would be scrambling for a solution. But it seems that fatal roadway departure crashes don’t get the attention.

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.

The latest, but not the only RDC happened when a 61-year-old Kingsport man was killed when his Cadillac crossed the centerline and hit a tractor-trailer head-on. The man was killed at the scene and unlike many of these crashes both men were wearing their seat belts.

The main culprit here was probably some distraction that caused the man to take his eyes off of the road. It only takes a second and you are out of your lane. The lesson here is that our political leadership needs to step up to the plate and engage in an intense public education program to remind an increasingly disengaged public to pay attention and arrive alive.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee auto accident caused by a distracted driver, you owe it to your self to 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.

Emotional Scars Follow Negligence

As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney, I learned early on that the people who are seriously physically injured in a car crash caused by a negligent decision or action are not the only ones who suffer. The person who drove in a negligent manner many times suffers emotional scaring for the rest of their days. Negligent acts that cause the death of another human being are irrevocable.

Take for example a fatal accident in East Tennessee yesterday. A 51 year-old woman, a survivor of cancer was riding passenger with her 18-year-old son driving. They were on their way to pick up a niece who was ending a shift at work. As they approached the place of work the son turned to enter the parking lot and directly into the path of an oncoming vehicle. The car t-boned the turning vehicle killing the woman. Neither of the other two parties were injured. What was the driver doing or thinking that so distracted him that he failed to yield the right of way? I’m sure he will be asking himself that question for a long time, I do hope he finds some peace. My prayers go out to the family and friends of this victim and especially to the son who was driving the vehicle.

If you or someone you love has been hurt in a serious Tennessee car accident due to somebody else’s negligence, then you may be feeling angry, frightened, or even alone in your suffering.

There is no reason for you to bear your burden alone.  The experience of a Tennessee auto accident is traumatic enough and your recovery will bring its own challenges.  You don’t need the added stress of worrying about who will pay for the medical care you need, how your car will be repaired, and if the individuals responsible for your suffering will be brought to justice.  This is the time to call Phillip Miller & Associates, the law firm of local Tennessee attorneys and staff who for the past 25 years have dedicated their lives to protecting the rights of injured men, women, and children in Tennessee.

Tennessee Roadway Departure Crash

A Memphis family and their friends buried a young woman yesterday, she was only 20-years-old and had her whole life in front of her. Media reports say she was driving west on I-40 when she left the roadway, crossed the median and hit an oncoming tractor-trailer. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The truck driver was uninjured.

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident lawyer I’m regularly investigating the causes of accidents and I always start with the question how. How does a young woman in the prime of her life, presumably with five years of driving experience simply drive off of the roadway? The usual answer to this question is that she was somehow distracted and took her eyes off of the road. Once you are off of the road at interstate speeds it’s virtually impossible to regain control of your vehicle.

In my experience as a Nashville auto accident lawyer, the answer to this question is that the driver became distracted by someone or some thing. 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.

As part of the accident investigation officers will review this young woman’s cell phone records to determine whether she was using her cell phone or was texting. No matter what the answer, the parents of this young woman won’t take any comfort, they have lost their child, but for those of us who take to the road everyday her death is a wake-up call to remind us to avoid distractions and put down the cell phones while behind the wheel.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Nashville auto accident caused by the negligence of another you owe it to yourself to contact the experienced Tennessee personal injury lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.

As an experienced Tennessee  accident attorney I can tell you that it takes less than 2 seconds of taking your eyes and mind off of your driving before you can lose control of whatever vehicle you are driving and crash.

Reference a recent Kingsport Tennessee crash the cause of which was the driver reaching for her cell phone. It only took a second of distraction and she hit an embankment, a sign post, ran through two fences and hit a tree. Fortunately, she wasn’t injured. She was driving on a license suspended because of a DUI.

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.

If you or someone you love has been hurt in a serious Tennessee car accident due to somebody else’s negligence, then you may be feeling angry, frightened, or even alone in your suffering.

There is no reason for you to bear your burden alone.  The experience of a Tennessee auto accident is traumatic enough and your recovery will bring its own challenges.  You don’t need the added stress of worrying about who will pay for the medical care you need, how your car will be repaired, and if the individuals responsible for your suffering will be brought to justice.  This is the time to call Phillip Miller & Associates, the law firm of local

Distractions Can Kill

and staff who for the past 25 years have dedicated their lives to protecting the rights of injured men, women, and children in Tennessee.

Roadway Departure Crash

The news articles about fatal Tennessee roadway departure accidents always end with the line saying that the cause of the accident is under investigation. As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney I can tell you that these kinds of accidents can be caused by only a couple of things.

Reference an article on the website of WVLT TV a Knoxville Station. One driver is dead and the other injured when the deceased driver crossed the centerline into oncoming traffic. Was the driver attempting to commit suicide? Was the driver drunk or under the influence of drugs? Was the driver drowsy and fell asleep or was the driver distracted by something or someone and took his attention from the task at hand?

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.

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.

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 an experienced Tennessee automobile accident lawyer contact the lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies.

Double Tennessee Motorcyle Fatality

If alcohol wasn’t a factor in a fatal Tennessee roadway departure crash that took the lives of two motorcyclists just what was it that caused a driver to take his eyes and his attention away from the task at hind, cross over the centerline of the highway and crash head-on into two motorcyclists? That’s exactly what happened in Cass County on Thursday.

Whenever you see an accident, usually involving one car that leaves the road, an experienced Tennessee motorcycle accident lawyer starts thinking about driver distractions. Just what was the driver doing moments before the crash that caused his/her vehicle to go off the highway? What caused the driver to change focus from driving to other things?

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.

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.

The lesson here for Nashville drivers is that you must keep all of your attention on the acting of driving and avoid distractions.

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 motorcycle accident lawyer contact the lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies.

What causes a driver to be so distracted that he crosses the center line of a busy highway and smacks another vehicle head-on? This question is becoming the norm in Tennessee automobile accidents these days. Reference a collision reported on the website of WBIR TV in Chattanooga in which this exact same thing happened. There’s not much else to say other than the distracted driver was pronounced dead at the scene.

Whenever you see an accident, usually involving one car that leaves the road, an experienced Tennessee automobile accident lawyer starts thinking about driver distractions. Just what was the driver doing moments before the crash that caused his/her vehicle to go off the highway? What caused the driver to change focus from driving to other things?

As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney the main question is what were each of these drivers doing in the two seconds before their vehicle left the road? 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.

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney I 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.

I f you or a loved one is killed or seriously injured in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a distracted driver contact the experienced Nashville auto accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation.

Distracted Driver

As an experienced Tennessee auto accident lawyer I know for certain that the law enforcement officers who take to the highways and byways of Tennessee do so at great danger to themselves, and for that I applaud them. Reference an article in the Memphis media regarding the death of a Marshall County Mississippi deputy sheriff whose car left the road and rolled several times and ended upside down in a ditch. My prayers go out to the family and friends of the deceased and to all of the people in Marshall county for their loss.

We may never know what caused this accident. There is a good chance that the deputy became distracted by something in the vehicle and turned her attention away form the task at hand.

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 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 or killed in a Tennessee auto accident involving a distracted driver contact the experienced Nashville auto accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.

Distracted By A Bee

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.

Some distractions can be unavoidable, such as that with a recent tractor-trailer accident in Johnson City Tennessee. The driver was heading east on US Highway 11A when he was distracted by a bee in the cab of his truck. He attempted to swat the bee, lost control, left the road and rolled over in a ditch.

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.

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 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.

Tennessee Head-On Collision

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney I can only guess what could have occurred in the last few seconds before a Greene County man, with his 3-year-old daughter as a passenger, crossed the centerline and slammed head-on into an oncoming car? The other car, driven by a 16-year-old with his 19-year-old friend as a passenger, was seriously damaged.

The 3-year-old was treated and released and her father is in critical condition. The 19-year-old received minor injuries and the condition of the 16-year-old driver’s condition is unknown.

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.

The lesson here for Tennessee drivers is that, no matter what is going on inside your vehicle, you must do everything to can to avoid being distracted and keep your mind and your eyes on the road

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 an experienced Tennessee automobile accident lawyer contact the lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies.