Alcohol and Speed

As an experienced Nashville Tennessee automobile accident lawyer there are two words I hate to hear related to a Nashville  automobile accident, speed and alcohol. So you can imagine how I felt when I read that speed and alcohol are thought to be contributing factors in a three-car crash that left an 80-year-old woman with serious injuries to her lower extremities. First reported on the website Chattanoogan.com, investigators with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department said that Kevin Rose, 23, was driving in the north bound lane on Hixson Pike when he crossed the center line and struck a 2007 Saturn driven 80-year-old driver Shirley Hairston who then lost control of her vehicle and slammed into a vehicle driven by James Headrick. Ms. Hairston was trapped in the vehicle for some extended period of time before being traansported to a local hospital.

As an experienced Nashville car accident lawyer I want to remind you that driving with a BAC of .08 or higher is illegal in every state. If you follow my blog you will see that in Tennessee we continue to see a tragic number of people with debilitating injuries and deaths as a result of impaired driving. 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. Over the 2008 Labor Day holiday, 12 people were killed in 10 fatal crashes on Tennessee roadways, down from 17 people killed on Tennessee roadways in 2007. Although I’m sure she is a greet deal of pain, Ms. Hairston is one of the lucky drivers who walks away from an alcohol related automobile collision.

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.

The Center For Disease Control and Prevention has recently released an updated fact sheet regarding Child Passenger Safety. As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney I think that it is important to make this information known to my clients and blog readers. This is a lengthy report so I will cover it in two separate blogs. Today’s blog will address children ages 1 to 4 years of age.

Child Car Accident Are Preventable

Motor vehicle injuries are the leading cause of death among children in the United States. But many of these deaths can be prevented. Placing children in age- and size-appropriate car seats and booster seats reduces serious and fatal injuries by more than half.

*In the United States during 2008, 968 children ages 14 years and younger died as occupants in motor vehicle crashes, and approximately 168,000 were injured.

*Fifteen percent of occupant deaths among children ages 0 to 14 years involved a drinking driver.

*More than two-thirds of fatally injured children were killed while riding with a drinking driver.

*Restraint use among young children often depends upon the driver’s seat belt use.

*Almost 40% of children riding with unbelted drivers were themselves unrestrained.

*Child restraint systems are often used incorrectly. One study found that 72% of nearly 3,500 observed car and booster seats were misused in a way that could be expected to increase a child’s risk of injury during a crash.

How can injuries to children in motor vehicles be prevented? According to the CDC, child safety seats reduce the risk of death in passenger cars by 71% for infants, and by 54% for toddlers ages 1 to 4 years. There is strong evidence that child safety seat laws, safety seat distribution and education programs, community-wide education and enforcement campaigns, and incentive-plus-education programs are effective in increasing child safety seat use.

It’s dangerous enough out there on the highways and byways of Tennessee, as a Nashville automobile accident lawyer I see every day, the results of drivers who don’t take a minute and think about safety.