Drunk, Drugged or Both?

It was 2 AM this past Saturday and a 38-year-old Lebanon, Tennessee man was driving the wrong way on State Route 840, an interstate like highway. Those facts alone tell this experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney that something was wrong with this driver and my first thought is that he was under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.

Unfortunately for two innocent human beings, a 39-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man, this jerk slammed head-on into their vehicle and killed them both. Authorities will autopsy the man to determine if drugs or alcohol were present. I suspect that the tests will run to the positive side.

The principal concern regarding drugged driving is that driving under the influence of any drug that acts on the brain will impair one’s motor skills, reaction time, and judgment. Drugged driving is a public health concern because it puts not only the driver at risk, but also passengers and others who share the road.

Drunk driving is one of America’s deadliest crimes. 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.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a drunk driver, contact the experienced Nashville personal injury lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation.

New Tools In The Battle Against DUI

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. This careless disregard for human life must stop.

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. In 2009 that number was down to 303 but we can’t rest on our laurels. In an attempt to continue the fight against drunk driving fatalities the legislature has enacted new laws that will take effect in January of 2010.

For the past several years if a driver is involved in a personal injury accident, no consent is needed to draw blood for a Blood Alcohol Test. Starting in January, there will be two other circumstances added to this. The first one is if a person is stopped for DUI and has had a prior DUI conviction and the second is, if the driver suspected of DUI has a passenger under the age of 16-years.

As an experienced Nashville personal injury lawyer I applaud this effort to deal with drunk driving fatalities. If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a drunk driver, contact the experienced Nashville personal injury lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation.

Blood Alcohol Tests

As an experienced 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. This careless disregard for human life must stop.

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. In 2009 that number was down to 303 but we can’t rest on our laurels. In an attempt to continue the fight against drunk driving fatalities the legislature has enacted new laws that will take effect in January of 2010.

For the past several years if a driver is involved in a Tennessee personal injury accident no consent is needed to draw blood for a Blood Alcohol Test. Starting in January, there will be two other circumstances added to this. The first one is if a person is stopped for DUI and has had a prior DUI conviction and the second is, if the driver suspected of DUI has a passenger under the age of 16-years.

As an experienced Nashville personal injury lawyer, I applaud this effort to deal with drunk driving fatalities. If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a drunk driver, contact the experienced Nashville personal injury lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation.

Zero Tolerance For Drunk Driving

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney I support all efforts by the State to get drunk drivers off the street. This past week, Metro Nashville officers, supported by funds from the Governor’s Highway Safety Office, hit the streets for a continuation of the DUI initiative and took 43 drunk drivers off the streets.

The program to enhance visibility on Nashville’s roadways and zero tolerance for impaired drivers are the cornerstones of the police department’s DUI initiative and have resulted in the arrest of 599 suspected drunk drivers.

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.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident casued by a drunk driver you owe it to yourself to contact the experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation to determine your rights and remedies.

Walk Like MADD

Mothers Against Drunk Driving® (MADD) of Tennessee will host its signature Walk Like MADD® non-competitive 5K fundraising walk in Nashville on June 4th, 2011. The walk begins at 9:15am at Bicentennial Mall State Park and will raise funds and rally support for MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving®.

This year MADD Tennessee is thrilled to welcome Direct Auto Insurance as our Nashville Presenting Sponsor. One of the many exciting features that this partnership brings to Walk Like MADD is an exclusive guitar that is being given away. Direct Auto Insurance is donating a guitar to MADD Tennessee. But this is no ordinary guitar. This guitar has been autographed by over 30 contemporary recording artists that have performed live at the Direct Auto Garage at Clearchannel Studios over the past year, including  Ke$ha, Paramore and Adam Lambert. The guitar is being given away at Walk Like MADD on Saturday, June 4th. MADD supporters can enter to win the guitar by visiting www.maddtn.org.

“Direct Auto is thrilled to be part of the Walk Like MADD event and hopes this one-of-a-kind guitar giveaway helps to further raise awareness for MADD’s mission to end drunk driving,” says Paul DiFrancesco, Direct’s Executive Vice President of Sales & Operations.

“We thank Direct Auto Insurance for their support and this wonderful guitar give-away which will help us reach more people with our life-saving mission.  Additionally, we encourage families, and groups of friends and co-workers, to lace up their sneakers and join us for this year’s walk,” said Laura Dial, State Executive Director. “With everyone’s help, we can and will eliminate drunk driving — a 100 percent preventable crime.”

In 2009, 303 people in Tennessee were killed in drunk driving crashes. Nationwide, nearly 11,000 lives were lost due to drunk driving and another 400,000 people were injured in alcohol-related crashes.  Funds raised through Walk Like MADD help further MADD’s life-saving mission and the Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving, which calls for high-visibility law enforcement, ignition interlocks or “in-car breathalyzers” for all convicted drunk drivers and support for the development of advanced technology to turn cars into the cure for drunk driving.

Sponsored nationally by State Farm Insurance, Walk Like MADD events are taking place in 36 cities across the country this year. Registration is $15 for those ages 5-21, and $20 for those who are 21 and over. Corporations and other groups are encouraged to form teams of 10 or more and are asked to raise $100 each through donations.

There are three ways to participate in Walk Like MADD:

1. If you live in the Nashville area, you can register to walk as an individual or form a team.

2. If you are unable to attend the Nashville walk, you can sign up online as a virtual walker.

3. Or, you can give a one-time donation to Walk Like MADD.

Please visit www.walklikemadd.org to register, donate or get more information.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee motor vehicle accident caused by a negligent driver, contact the experienced Nashville auto accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates, and take advantage of a free consultation to determine your rights and remedies. Call 615-356-2000

Help Get Drunk Drivers Off The Road

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. Police efforts to put a halt to drunk driving have included education and enforcement and over the past ten years those efforts have paid off in the form of a reduction in traffic deaths resulting from drunk driving.

Ask any law enforcement officer how average drivers can help in this effort and they will tell you that they rely on your eyes on the road. If you witness a driver who appears drunk, one that is speeding up and slowing down, weaving in and out of their traffic lane, driving recklessly, you know who they are, get to a safe place and call in a warning to police.

A recent report in local news media in Johnson City Tennessee reveals exactly how you can take a dangerous drunk driver off of the road. Numerous citizens called about an obviously drunk driver and local police went to action to track him down. Several callers stayed on the line with dispatchers and lead the officers directly to the driver. He was a chronic traffic offender and was charged with DUI, driving on a revoked license, evading arrest, resisting arrest, open container violation and violation of the implied consent law.

To do this remember these numbers, in cities call 911 and in rural areas and interstates dial *847. Take a minute and call it in and save a life, maybe more. Help police put a stop to drunk driving fatalities.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a drunk driver you owe it to yourself to contact the experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation to determine your rights and remedies.

The Wages of Drunk Driving

In my last blog I wrote about a 20-year-old Tennessee woman who fell asleep at the wheel, left the road and slammed into a tree, and who was charged with a misdemeanor for causing the deaths of two of her sorority sister passengers.

In Louisville, Kentucky, on the same day, a young man who was speeding and driving drunk, real drunk, was charged with murder when his 18-year-old passenger died as the result of a car wreck.

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. Only 17 percent of impaired drivers who are injured in crashes are charged and convicted. Eleven percent are charged and not convicted and 72 percent are never charged.

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.

Add speeding to the mix and the outcome is usually not a pretty sight. Speeding is one of the most prevalent factors contributing to traffic crashes. Speeding was a contributing factor in 31 percent of all fatal crashes, and 13,040 lives were lost in speeding-related crashes

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Nashville automobile accident by a drunk driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation so that you can get a complete picture of your rights and remedies.

New Tennessee Sanctions For DUI

As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney who has for years lobbied for stricter sanctions for drunk drivers, I’m happy to announce that as of the new year some serious sanctions now apply in Tennessee to those with multiple DUIs and blood alcohol levels higher than 1.5 will now be required to pay for and use and ignition interlock device.

An ignition interlock device requires a driver to blow into it and have his/her breath alcohol tested before the car will start. This also applies to drivers convicted of DUI who had a minor in the car, or refuse to take a breath or blood test.

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.

Over 1.46 million drivers were arrested in 2006 for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. This is an arrest rate of 1 for every 139 licensed drivers in the United States. In 2001, more than half a million people were injured in crashes where police reported that alcohol was present an average of one person injured almost every minute.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Nashville automobile accident caused by a drunk driver, contact the experienced Tennessee auto accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free and confidential consultation.

Great news just in from the website of NewsChannel5 and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Fatality rates from drunk driving accidents have fallen in 40 states, which is a sign that educational and enforcement actions are having the desired result. Several states saw declines of over 20%. The good news for us is that the efforts of the Bredesen Administration, under stewardship of Transportation Commissioner Gerald Nicely have paid of. In Tennessee the fatality rates from drunk driving accidents are down 11.3% over last year.

“Drinking and driving do not ever mix. The message bears repeating especially this time of year,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who announced plans for a $7 million holiday advertising campaign to combat drunken driving. LaHood said states that made the most progress on impaired driving fatalities had been the most aggressive in arresting and prosecuting offenders and using patrols and checkpoints to keep their roads safe.

I say hat’s off to the leadership in Tennessee who made this happen. I encourage each of you to take a minute and give a shout out of thank you to the Governor at 615-741-2001, the Commissioner of Transportation at 615-741-2848 and the Tennessee Highway Patrol at 615-741 5175.

It’s up to you and I to keep this deadly statistic on the decline. This holiday season and for all of 2010 I challenge you to practice safe driving basics by:

1. Planning ahead – Whenever you plan on consuming alcohol, designate your sober driver before going out and give that person your keys;

2. If you are impaired, call a taxi, use mass transit or call a sober friend or family member to get you home safely;

3. Promptly report drunk drivers you see on the roadways to law enforcement by calling 911 or *847;

4. Wearing your seat belt or using protective gear on your motorcycle is the best defense against an impaired driver;

And remember, Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk . If you know someone who is about to drive while impaired, take that person’s keys and make other arrangements to get him/her home safely.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Nashville automobile accident by a drinking driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.

Some Facts About Drunk Driving

As my goal with this blog is to educate my readers in the hope that you all will practice safe driving and instill in your family and friends the need to do the same. Today I thought I would share some specific information about drunk driving compiled by Mother’s Against Drunk Driving (MADD) using statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

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.

About three in every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives.

Over 1.46 million drivers were arrested in 2006 for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. This is an arrest rate of 1 for every 139 licensed drivers in the United States.

In 2001, more than half a million people were injured in crashes where police reported that alcohol was present an average of one person injured almost every minute.

Since 1980 (the year Mothers Against Drunk Driving was founded), alcohol-related traffic fatalities have decreased nearly 50 percent, from over 30,000 to under 15,500 and MADD has helped save over 383,000 lives.

Alcohol-related crashes in the United States cost the public an estimated $114.3 billion in 2000, including $51.1 billion in monetary costs and an estimated $63.2 billion in quality of life losses. People other than the drinking driver paid $71.6 billion of the alcohol-related crash bill, which is 63 percent of the total cost of these crashes.

In 2007, 84 percent (12,068) of the 14,447 drivers with a BAC of .01 or higher who were involved in fatal crashes had BAC levels at or above .08, and 55 percent (7,974) had BAC levels at or above .15. The most frequently recorded BAC level among drinking drivers in fatal crashes was .16.

Only 17 percent of impaired drivers who are injured in crashes are charged and convicted. Eleven percent are charged and not convicted and 72 percent are never charged. The last statistic is interesting and seems to be a statistic that should be directed at our local and state prosecutors for an answer.

If you or a loved one is injured in a Nashville automobile accident involving a drunk driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies. If you are considering handling the followup to an accident on your own you owe it to yourself to at least check out our website and familiarize yourself with the process you face. The best law firms provide free consultations. At Phillip Miller & Associates we provide free consultations for the victims and their families.