Drive Drunk Lose Your Car

We often talk about modern technology and the good and bad things that come from them. It’s well known and a constant topic of my Blogs that cell phone and texting are the leading cause of distracted driving and highway fatalities. GPS and related programs can help drivers find their way but can also cause a driver to take his eyes off the road long enough to leave the road, hit something hard and die.

A new technology that will soon be employed, a database and let county clerks check it to see if drivers meet financial responsibility requirements (insurance) before registering or renewing their vehicle registrations, will now be available to police and highway patrol officers. In Tennessee there is a serious problem with drivers on the road who ignore the requirement that they must have a statutory minimum car insurance policy.

Drivers who fail to have insurance cause the policy costs of other drivers who do to cost much more then if all drivers were covered. The cost of uninsured motorist policies has skyrocketed in recent years.

What this means is that when a driver is stopped for an infraction, the officer would have access to the clerks records to determine on the spot whether there is insurance on the car. If not, the car would be impounded and the driver ticketed and required to walk home. This technology would help police and highway safety departments get these selfish drivers off the road and save lives and lower insurance rates.

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.

Stupid is as Stupid Does

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident lawyer, I have some advice for car thieves. If you feel you have to steal a car take special care not to violate and traffic safety laws, such as speeding, red light running, seat belt violations, DUI and any other thing that will draw police attention to you and your stolen car.

I often write about fools who get behind the wheel of an automobile and go out of their way to show just how big of a fool they are, unfortunately many times other people have to suffer or die behind their actions. Today’s story has a happy ending for the innocent drivers on Knoxville roads and the brave men and women of the Knoxville PD who are tasked to get these types off the road. According to local media reports  A man was taken into police custody today after being found in South Knox County at the scene of crash involving a stolen car.

The man was found in the roadway, apparently having been ejected during a single-vehicle car crash at 12:45 p.m. on Gov. John Sevier Highway at Denwood Road. The car he was driving, a 1994 Honda was reported stolen 4 days ago. This wasn’t the man’s first brush with the law. He was previously charged with home invasion robbery, but other information was unavailable at this time.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee auto accident involving a guy like this you are really going to need an experienced Nashville auto accident attorney who knows the in’s and out’s of the law to secure a reasonable recovery on your behalf. That lawyer can be found at Phillip Miller & Associates. Check our website or call 615-356-2000.

Drunk Driving Kills

The local media report summed up a Nashville man’s death in three simple sentences, but they tell the whole story, and the lesson to be learned by other drivers.

A 25-year-old Nashville man was killed early Sunday morning in a rollover accident after drinking at a party. The man’s brother told investigating officers that he had been drinking at a party that night.

The man was driving a 1997 Ford Taurus at 2:45 a.m. on Ocala Drive in South Nashville when Metro police say he lost control of the car, it struck a tree and rolled over. There is no information as to whether the man was wearing his seatbelt.

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, a poll found.

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.

For this and other Tennessee automobile safety tips visit the web site of the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find lot’s of good information to help you remain a safe driver.

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.

Drunk Driver Runs Through Closed Garage

An intoxicated Baxter, Tennessee woman was arrested by Putnam County Sheriff’s deputies after she drove through the front garage door of a detached garage (not on her property) through the garage and out the back wall destroying the goarage and many of it’s contents.

Sheriff’s dispatchers received a 911 call at about 2 a.m. last Sunday from the homeowner and responded to find the driver dazed and confused. She told police she didn’t remember what happened. She failed a field sobriety test and was booked into the county jail pending a November court appearance.

On average, a human being is killed by 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.

In Tennessee we are serious about keeping people like this lady off of the road. The legislature has made legal consequences for multiple DUI/DWI severe and can make for a serious change in your lifestyle.

Penalties can be:

* Fines range from $600 to $10,000

* Minimum jail time ranges from 48 days to 120 days

* Maximum jail time can extend to almost one year

* License revocation ranges from two to ten years

The statute also provides for vehicle confiscation and there will be no opportunity to get a temporary drivers license for school, work, hospital, doctor’s visits or church. Drunk driving is one of America’s deadliest crimes. Here 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 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.

Drunk Teen Driver

An 18-year-old Johnson City teen driver will have to stand trial as an adult on charges that he injured two passengers in a crash while driving drunk. The teen was charged with two counts of vehicular assault, DUI, underage consumption of alcohol, and failure to show proof of insurance.

The crash, according to local media reports, occurred about 4 a.m. Sunday. The teen driver was injured in the crash and taken to Johnson City Medical Center, so police were unable to perform field sobriety tests. Police reported a strong odor of alcohol on the man at the crash scene, found a half empty bottle of Vodka in the vehicle and a nurse at the emergency room found a half empty bottle in his pants pocket.

The teen consented to a blood alcohol test and the results are pending. Impaired driving is a serious issue, and it affects many more than only those involved in drunk driving crashes. The misuse or abuse of alcohol greatly increases the chance of injuries in the workplace and beyond, and American businesses bear much of the costs in higher insurance premiums for employer-based health insurance tied to alcohol problems.

Whether it’s referred to as drunk driving, driving while intoxicated or driving under the influence, impaired driving simply means a person’s ability to safely operate a motor vehicle is compromised by alcohol and other drugs that change the function of the brain and body.

The experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates have handled hundreds of cases involving drunk drivers and can help you if you are unfortunate enough to be involved in such an accident. Contact us for the free consultation and find out about your rights. Call 615-356-2000.

Deter Repeat DUI Offenders

I’m not sure what makes them do it, I’m referring to the propensity of some folks to get drunk and then get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. At lunch the other day I posed this question to a good friend who has been sober for many years and who regularly works with alcoholics trying to call it quits.

His reply, “They don’t want to miss anything”, caught me off guard, but he went on to explain that alcoholics have a disease that is characterized by self centered fear and self will run riot. Following up on the puzzled look on my face he went on, “ they are so afraid that they are going to miss out on the fun, although for the chronic alcoholic the fun has ceased long ago.”

Reference an article in the local Johnson City, Tennessee media in which a 50-year-old woman with a previous DUI conviction, driving on a suspended license, got drunk, got into a vehicle and headed out onto the road. She lost control of her car, jumped a curb, ran through some bushes, went through a busy parking lot at a local murder mart and slammed into the building. Using her best thinking, she then attempted to flee the scene.

How can society protect itself from these repeat DUI offenders? My first thought is that the authorities ought to confiscate the vehicle and let the owner, if other then the offender, come to court and explain why they should get their car back and what they intend to do in the future to keep the offender from driving it.

Alcohol ignition interlocks are a proven tactic to reduce repeat offenses for driving while intoxicated (DWI), but given a choice most offenders don’t voluntarily put them in their vehicles. Even when installation is mandatory, some offenders may sidestep the requirement by agreeing not to drive at all or claiming not to have a vehicle.

When the alternative is house arrest, though, convicted DWI offenders pick interlocks 7 out of 10 times. This is the main finding of a Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation study of one New Mexico counties experience with interlocks. The study looks at Santa Fe, where four judges agreed to a 2-year pilot to sentence all DWI offenders, including first-timers, to home confinement via electronic monitoring as an alternative to interlocks if they claimed to have no car or no intention to drive. The aim was to boost DWI offenders’ use of interlocks.

In May 2010, Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen signed into law a tougher interlock law requiring the use of ignition interlock devices if the offender has a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.15 percent or higher; is accompanied by a person under 18 years of age; or violates the present implied consent laws. The legislation also provides that those convicted of drunk driving with a BAC under 0.15 have the option to install an ignition interlock device instead of being geographically restricted by a court.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee auto accident caused by a drunk driver contact the experienced Nashville auto accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to find out all you need to know about obtaining a full and complete financial recovery.

Impaired Driving

Toxicology tests are pending to determine whether alcohol or drugs played a role in an early morning Nashville one-car fatal crash. The victim, a 38-year-old Greeneville Tennessee woman was traveling west on Elm Hill Pike when, for reasons not determined, she traveled across the eastbound lanes and struck a concrete culvert.

The driver was not wearing a seatbelt and died on the scene. Investigators found a bottle of prescription painkillers and marijuana inside the car. Notwithstanding the drugs, had she been wearing her seatbelt she might have survived the crash, without them she didn’t have a chance.

A recent survey conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that seat belt use has increased dramatically. At 82 percent, the rates are the highest in our nation’s history. Recent the NHTSA reported that traffic fatalities had hit a record low, 1.46 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.

The report estimated that seat belts are preventing 15,700 fatalities, 350,000 serious injuries, and in excess of $67 billion in economic losses related to traffic injuries and deaths every year. I have repeatedly said, over the years, that seat belts are absolutely useless unless drivers and passengers take a few seconds to use them.

The lesson for Tennessee drivers is to stop before you turn the ignition key and make sure that you and your passengers are buckled up. The lesson for state highway safety authorities is that education and enforcement work and save lives. If each one of us would stay alert and endeavor to create a culture of safety we can reduce traffic fatalities.

For this and other highway traffic safety information, or if you are involved in a serious Nashville auto accident visit our website and then 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.

I’m sure the 21-year-old Clarksville Tennessee man who crossed the centerline, almost hit a marked police car and slammed head-on into a pickup truck following directly behind the police car, will spend time thinking about whatever he was doing besides driving for many years to come. The driver of the pickup truck who died will never have a chance to consider anything ever again. Alcohol use has not yet been ruled out but if the trend holds, this driver was distracted by someone or something, as he drove down the street.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) distraction is anything that diverts the driver’s attention from the primary tasks of navigating the vehicle and responding to critical events. To put it another way, a distraction is anything that takes your eyes off the road (visual distraction), your mind off the road (cognitive distraction), or your hands off the wheel (manual distraction). So when you think about tasks that can be a driving distraction, you can see that they often fit into more than one category: eating is visual and manual, whereas using a navigation system is all three.

There are two basic components of the distraction safety problem: The attentional demands of the distracting task and the frequency with which drivers choose to multitask.  Task demands relate to the amount of resources (visual, cognitive, manual) required to perform the task.  The other issue is exposure, which is how often drivers engage in the task.  Putting those two concepts together, even an easy task can be a bigger safety problem if the person does the task 50% of their driving time.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Nashville automobile accident by a distracted driver contact the experienced Tennessee car crash lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies. Call 615-356-2000.

Avoid Distractions

Tennessee Troopers Cracking Down On DUI Drivers

For those of you who regularly read my Blog, you know that in and around Johnson City, Tennessee is well known for automobile accidents caused by impaired drivers. It appears that the local and state authorities have finally come to realize the nature of the problem and have instituted a program to address the problem.

It appears that the Tennessee Highway Patrol is stepping up its efforts to stop those drivers. According to a press release by the Department of Safety, “Our troopers received additional training this year, not just on alcohol but drug-impaired,” said Lt. Jarrett Ramsey.

Statistics show that Troopers have arrested more than 100 people for driving under the influence from January to August in Washington County alone. Statewide that number is in the area of 95 percent, with DUI arrests up 39 percent. This is great news but only a start, the next step is keeping the drunk drivers from becoming repeat offenders. This moves the ball into the Judiciary and the prosecuting attorneys court. Tennessee’s new Ignition Interlock law is a step in the right direction.

Judges can require anyone convicted of DUI to place an ignition interlock on their cars to prevent them from driving impaired in the future. The men and women of Phillip Miller & Associates send a shout out to the law enforcement officers who are on the ground directly attacking this problem.

If you are a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee car accident caused by a drunk driver you owe it to yourself to contact an experienced Nashville auto accident lawyer like those at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to find out about your rights and remedies.