Alcohol Knows No Favorites

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.

With all of this information becoming general knowledge to the population one would think that people would start getting it. To show how insidious, cunning, befalling and powerful alcohol is when consumed, I reference a DUI arrest this week in Crossville Tennessee. The suspected drunk driver is a Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper, a man who is charged with enforcing the traffic laws of this state. To top it off he had an open cup of beer in the console of his truck and refused to take a breath test to determine blood alcohol content.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee highway traffic accident, contact the experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies.

Who Bears Responsiblity?

An interesting, but frightening story that ended in the death of a young mother caught my attention the other day. The victim and her 6-year-old daughter set out on a road trip as a passenger in the vehicle driven by her stepmother. Shortly before the trip began the victim sent a text message to her sister in which she stated that she really didn’t want to go because her stepmother had taken too many pills and she was frightened. The message ended with the request to pray that they arrived alive.

Unfortunately the woman decided to go despite having knowledge of the pills. Two hours later, as they drove along I-75 the stepmother suddenly swerved, left the road and crashed. The stepmother claim that a white car had driven in her lane and caused the accident but witnesses claim they saw no white car and that the vehicle simply veered from the roadway. The woman died at the scene and the child was air lifted to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga.

Police at the scene found the stepmother to be coherent and didn’t take a blood sample but since they received the contents of the text they have re-opened the investigation.

Whenever an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney looks at a case one of the first things that we do is try to determine who or what casued the accident. In this case it seems clear that the driver was under the influence of drugs and that the white car excuse was either a hallucination or a fictional excuse to avoid liability.

But, what about the responsibility of the victim? She knew that the driver had taken pills and was obviously aware that they would alter her reality and put her an her daughter in jeopardy. She had a clear chance to stay home but chose to get into the vehicle anyway having clear knowledge of the danger. In Tennessee a jury would be asked to consider the comparative negligence of the actors, who was more responsible for her death, the driver who took the pills or the woman who knowingly got into the vehicle with a driver under the influence?

It’s cases like this one that make it clear why you need to consult with an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney like those you will find at Phillip Miller & Associates.

Drunk, Speeding, Raging

The article in the local paper was short and did not name the deceased man. The facts are simple but confusing. A man under the influence of alcohol, following shortly on the heels of a heated domestic dispute with his soon to be ex-wife, is speeding along a 2-lane country road, not wearing his seatbelt and when he reaches an intersection of the country road and a US Highway, he runs the stop sign and is hit by a tractor-trailer.

His vehicle ends of badly damaged in the ditch and the drunk, presumably angry driver is ejected from the pickup and killed. In the words of Mark Twain, “Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn’t.” The truth is that if you drive when you are in a drunken rage you are most likely going to be in no condition to be behind the wheel.

What is there to say? Is there a lesson to be learned from this story? What do you think?

When you hire an attorney from Phillip Miller & Associates, you’re getting the whole package.  You don’t just get an extremely qualified and dedicated lawyer, you also get a loyal Tennessee resident who cares about the quality of life in their community and who puts their time and money into standing up for causes and charities they believe in.  You can read about some of the causes we support on our home page, along with a summary of our professional qualifications.  Additional details about our attorneys and staff can be found by viewing our personal profiles, where you can get to know the men and women who will be looking out for your best interest.

Please contact Phillip Miller & Associates today and take your first step forward towards putting the frustration and horror of your Tennessee auto accident experience behind you.

Drunk Driving

Although it may not seem like it today, a Nashville woman who crashed into the rear-end of a parked police car with it’s lights flashing might look back on this early morning event as a turning point in her life. Metro Police Captain Terrance Graves was sitting in his patrol vehicle with the blue lights flashing as he provided security at a construction zone on I-24.  The woman simply smashed into the patrol car injuring herself and Captain Graves.

At the scene police investigators charged the lady with reckless driving and said they suspected she was driving under the influence of alcohol. The police have requested blood-alcohol tests be conducted while she is hospitalized. As I said earlier It is my hope that this lady will use this incident to admit and address her drinking problem and seek a solution.

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.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Nashville auto accident caused by a drunk driver you owe it to your family 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.

Drunken Driving Fatality

A Nashville man decided to drive drunk.  Little did he know that that decision would forever alter his life and end the life of another man. An article on the website of WSMV TV reports that Timothy Rush, 34, has been charged with vehicular homicide, reckless endangerment and DUI following a fatal crash. According to the article Rush ran a stop sign and T-boned a car driven by Calvin Miller, Jr., 29, who was rushed to Vanderbilt Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. My prayers go out to the family and friends of Mr. Miller. A witness said that after the collision Rush tried to drive away but he hit a power pole. A third vehicle was involved but neither the driver nor the passenger were injured.

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.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a drunk driver and you hope to recover all of the damages the law allows you need to consult with an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney like those at Phillip Miller & Associates. We offer a free consultation so that you can gain the information you will need to face this odyssey through the legal system.

www.wsmv.com/news/24109729/detail.html

Drink Drive Jail

Why do you suppose alcoholics get drunk and then get into their cars and take to the roads? I posited this question to a friend who has used the program of AA to stay sober for a dozen or more years. His answer was simple, if not somewhat shocking, “ We don’t want to miss anything. We think there’s something going on out there and we don’t want to miss out.”

I told him about a recent case out of Memphis reported on the website of the Commercial Appeal in which a woman was arrested while passed out in the front seat of her car which was parked in front of a middle school. Police found that the woman was drunk on vanilla extract that contains an alcohol level of 35% by volume. To my surprise he told me that in his years in the program he’s met dozens of people whose drink of choice was vanilla extract.

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.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee auto accident by a drunk driver don’t hesitate, contact the experienced Tennessee auto accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates.

Roadway Departure Crash

Without knowing more about the facts, but as an experienced Nashville auto accident attorney, I can tell you that when a roadway departure crash occurs at 3AM one of two things is going on. Either the driver was sleeping at the wheel or she was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Reference an accident last night in which a 29-year-old woman was driving along on Murfreesboro Road in South Nashville near the airport when, for no apparent reason, her car left the road and hit a telephone poll and split her car in half. The driver was wearing her seat belt but for some reason she was ejected from the vehicle and was dead at the scene.

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 are involved in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a distracted driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associatesw and find out about your rights and remedies.

Drunk and Speeding

As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident lawyer I tell you for certain that speeding is one of the most prevalent factors contributing to traffic crashes. The economic costs of speed-related crashes is estimated to be in excess of 40.4 billion dollars per year. In 2007, speeding was a contributing factor in 31 percent of all fatal crashes, and 13,040 lives were lost in speeding-related crashes.

Adding alcohol to a speeding driver and the death and destruction levels rise exponentially. A Nashville woman was lucky that she avoided being one of these fatality statistics. The facts are simple and all too often repeated, she was speeding on a two-lane highway, lost control, left the road and hit a power pole. The pole caught afire as did her car, yet she escaped unharmed.

Drinking and driving do not ever mix. Every day, 36 people in the United States die, and approximately 700 more are injured, in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. The annual cost of alcohol-related crashes totals more than 51 billion dollars. But there are effective measures that can help prevent injuries and deaths from alcohol-impaired driving, education is an important tool and enforcement with stiff penalties is critical to changing the drinking driving culture that has developed in our country.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a drunk, or otherwise impaired driver, contact the experienced Nashville automobile attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates.

Keep Stupid Drivers Off The Raod

This morning in this blog I nominated the first candidate for the award for “The Dumbest Tennessee Driver of 2010”, a Johnson City man who attempted to deliver drugs in a vehicle with expired tags.  The second nominee is from neighboring Kinsgsport  Tennessee. There must have been a full moon that brought out the single helix mutoids in Washington and Sullivan Counties this past weekend.

Reference several local media reports of a man found passed out in the parking lot of a fast food taco joint. Restaurant management alerted police and when officer arrived they found the guy behind the wheel in an unconscious state with Mexican food in his lap and a taco and sour cream all over his face. The man was unresponsive and when searched produced a bag of pot. While he was being questioned he was continuously grabbing his crouch and genitals and when authorities conducted a body search they found a roll of money where the sun doesn’t shine.

This is the third time that the man was arrested and charge with drug related offenses in the parking lot of fast food restaurants. It makes me wonder whether the fast food caused this guys stupid or he brought it to the table with him.

If you or a loved one are injured or killed by a guy like this one you owe it to yourself to contact the experienced Tennessee automobile accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about how to proceed.

Drive Drunk Pay The Price

What appeared to be a medical emergency turned into a righteous DUI arrest for an alert Kingsport Tennessee police officer. The officer was cruising on I-26 when he came upon a pickup truck stopped in the right lane, not the shoulder. As he approached the vehicle he observed a 47-year-old woman vomiting from the passenger door. When he engaged her it became obvious that she was “highly intoxicated”.

Every day, 36 people in the United States die, and approximately 700 more are injured, in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. The annual cost of alcohol-related crashes totals more than $51 billion. But there are effective measures that can help prevent injuries and deaths from alcohol-impaired driving.

How big is the problem

In 2006, 13,470 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (32%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States.  In 2007, over 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. That’s less than one percent of the 159 million self-reported episodes of alcohol-impaired driving among U.S. adults each year. Drugs other than alcohol (e.g., marijuana and cocaine) are involved in about 18% of motor vehicle driver deaths. These other drugs are generally used in combination with alcohol.

Half of the 306 child passengers ages 14 and younger who died in alcohol-related crashes in 2006 were riding with drivers who had a BAC level of .08 or higher. In 2006, 45 children age 14 years and younger who were killed as pedestrians or bicyclists were hit by alcohol-impaired drivers.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident you owe it to yourself to retain an experienced Tennessee auto accident lawyer. When you hire an attorney from Phillip Miller & Associates, you’re getting the whole package.  You don’t just get an extremely qualified and dedicated lawyer, you also get a loyal Tennessee resident who cares about the quality of life in their community and who puts their time and money into standing up for causes and charities they believe in.  You can read about some of the causes we support on our home page, along with a summary of our professional qualifications.  Additional details about our attorneys and staff can be found by viewing our personal profiles, where you can get to know the men and women who will be looking out for your best interest.