Strictly Enforce DUI Laws

As an experienced Tennessee car accident lawyer I want to remind you that driving with a BAC of .08 or higher is illegal in Tennessee and every other state. If you follow my Blog, The Tennessee Auto Accident Attorney”, you will know 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. To help ensure that happens, the Tennessee Highway Patrol and local law enforcement are dedicated to arresting impaired drivers wherever and whenever they find them, no matter whom they are.

Reference a recent report in several Montgomery County media outlets about a Clarksville, Tennessee police officer who was arrested in Henry County on charges of DUI and Implied Consent. The implied consent charge stemmed from his refusal to submit a breath test. While on administrative leave, and before a court appearance and departmental hearing the officer resigned his commission.

My experienced trying Tennessee automobile accident cases tells me that in order to send the right message to the driving public the enforcement of DUI laws has to cover everyone. Lives are at stake and DUI is a dangerous crime and should be treated as such.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident involving a drunk driver you owe it to yourself 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.

Hit & Run

On December the 14^th my Tennessee auto accident attorney blog identified the chief contender for the most thoughtless Tennessee driver of 2009. She was drinking, texting and driving with her several day old baby unrestrained when she hit a sign and crashed her car injuring the baby. I thought that this late in the year I wouldn’t find a driver that even came close to this person, but then I read an article in several Nashville media outlets describing the arrest of Angela Marie Shenkle and I think I will be forced to reconsider.

It seems Ms. Shenkle has been charged following an incident in which she stuck and killed a Madison pedestrian as he walked along Gallatin Pike in Nashville. Investigators quoted in the articles believe that she was under the influence of alcohol and drugs. When they located her they found two syringes and two bottles of liquor in her vehicle. To take this tragic story to another level of madness, investigators believe she was involved in a Hit & Run on another pedestrian earlier that same evening. Ms. Shenkle was charged with unlawful use and possession of drug paraphernalia, drug possession without a prescription and DUI. I would expect that homicide charges will follow after the investigation is completed. The identity of the Madison man was not released but I have added him to my prayers along with Ms. Shenkle.

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney I’ve seen dozens of Hit & Run cases, but never have I seen one that makes me think at first glance that a driver was going around town trying to hit pedestrians. Now, don’t get me wrong, I only know about this what I read in the articles but this gal is cold-blooded. Imagine, hitting a human being with your car and leaving them to die alone in the street. After Ms. Shenkle is finished with whatever punishment she gets for this crime, she should permanently forfeit her privileges to operate a motor vehicle in Tennessee.

Hit & Run drivers are, in my consideration, the worst kind of human being. Most H&R drivers are under the influence of alcohol, others have already run afoul of the law and have lost their driving privileges, yet they continue to get behind the wheel and ignore the rules. Many H&R drivers are trying to avoid detection because they don’t have insurance and they don’t want to face the responsibility for their actions. No matter which category they fall into they are the very worst type of person, someone who will leave an injured or dying pedestrian lying in the street.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed by a drunk Hit & Run driver recovering damages for your loss can be a tricky propostition and you will need an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney to help you protect your rights. At Phillip Miller & Associates we can help you.

MADD Is On The Job

Since MADD was founded in 1980, alcohol-related traffic fatalities have dropped by 40 percent and more than 330,000 lives have been saved.  But drunk driving continues to killed and injure thousands of innocent motorists each year, and the devastation among several ethnic communities is disproportionately high.

To achieve their most fundamental goals – saving lives and supporting victims – they’ve created a series of initiatives to reach out to culturally diverse communities and individuals across the U.S.

Statistics and Implications

Race and ethnicity data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) indicate that among people killed in traffic crashes, members of diverse populations – with the exception of Asians and Pacific Islanders – were more likely than the general population to be driving while intoxicated, without a valid license and without wearing a seatbelt. Three communities within the U.S. have the highest fatality rates from alcohol-impaired driving and underage drinking: Hispanics, Native Americans and African Americans.

*  Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death for Hispanics ages 1-44 and the sixth leading cause of death for all ages.

* Hispanic students (36.1 percent) were significantly more likely than Caucasian students (28.3 percent) to have ridden with a driver who had been drinking alcohol.

* Three out of four Native American driver fatalities and eight out of 10 pedestrian fatalities occur in alcohol-related crashes.

* Among Native Americans, 18.2 percent reported driving under the influence of alcohol in the past year.

* More than 50 percent of Native American child pedestrian (6-15 years-old) fatalities are alcohol related, and half of those fatalities involve children who have been drinking.

* Motor-vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for African Americans ages 3-13. They are the second leading cause of death for African Americans ages 14-29.

* Among African American men, 16.5 percent reported driving under the influence of alcohol in the past year. Among African American women, 9.2 percent reported driving under the influence of alcohol in the past year.

Recommendations from MADD’s Diversity Forum II

In 2006, MADD invited local, state and national leaders representing dozens of diverse groups and health and safety organizations to discuss greater outreach initiatives and identify solutions for minimizing deaths and injuries. To save save lives and prevent injuries among the Hispanic, African American and Native American communities, the forum recommended new partnerships and strategies for addressing drunk driving, underage drinking and seat belt use.

MADD is to aggressively pursuing the forum’s five recommendations:

* Participate in culture-specific awareness activities in 10 communities across the nation.  We believe MADD can help elevate the priority placed by community members on preventing underage drinking and drunk driving by becoming an active participant in diverse community activities.

* Work in partnership with diverse groups in four communities to minimize or eliminate alcohol funding for cultural celebrations, specifically Cinco de Mayo and Juneteenth.  We are striving to become a partner in helping diverse communities create a safe environment key cultural celebrations by recognizing the damage caused by alcohol and minimizing the role it plays in these events, thus preventing needless deaths and injuries.

* Support and participate in positive collaboration between the law enforcement community and diverse citizen groups. MADD has long-established relationships with the law enforcement community.  As it continues its support of enforcement, the organization also aspires to strengthen its relationships with diverse communities and serve as a bridge between the two groups to help find opportunities for collaboration in the shared goals of saving lives.

* Continue to identify diverse organizations and agencies that may share common public health and social agendas and establish partnerships and outreach activities.  To achieve its life-saving goals, MADD is reaching out to groups that may share its goals and seeking opportunities for collaboration.

* Create an organizational position statement on racial profiling that promotes equitable and effective enforcement of impaired driving laws. MADD works in support of the law enforcement community to help ensure that enforcement of impaired driving laws is fair and just.

My hat is off to the tireless work achieved by MADD volunteers every year. Without their participation in this critical process of reducing drunk driving I’d hate to think what the statistics might be today. 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 to find out about your rights and remedies.

Education And Enforcement Reduce Fatalities

An article on Channel 2, WKRN Nashville caught my attention this morning and I’m happy to report the news is positive. Following an interview with a Spokesperson for the Tennessee Highway Patrol Channel 2 reports that Since 2005 Tennessee roadway fatalities have decreased on a consistent basis. According to the article by last October (2008) there had been 805 fatalities on Tennessee roads and this year (2009) there has been a reduction with only 707 fatalities. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not in any way saying that 707 fatalities is a good thing, but a decrease of this size means that someone is doing something right.

I regularly advise my readers that they can do their parts by following the Rules of The Road by not speeding, tailgating, running red lights or any other thing that puts others in jeopardy. THP officials said they attribute the decrease largely in part to people paying more attention to the law. They go on to say that education and enforcement are getting the people’s attention. Recent educational programs by the State include, DUI, aggressive driving and seatbelt enforcement.

The Staff and automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates encourage everyone who gets behind the wheel of a motor vehicle in Tennessee to focus on the fact that you are behind the wheel of a weapon that can take your life and the lives of others and you should act accordingly.

If you or a loved one is injured in a Tennessee automobile accident contact the Nashville car accident lawyers at Philip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.

http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/

Tractor trailer

Many thanks to the alert Mower County, Texas Deputy Sheriff that pulled over a drunk Canadian tractor-trailer driver put the cuffs on him. The Austin Daily Herald reported today that the Tractor-trailer driver was pulled over on Interstate 90 in downtown Austin on August 25^th for swerving over the center-line and driving along in both lanes.

According to the Deputy, the driver had watery blood-shot eyes and smelled strongly of alcohol. He initially told police he hadn’t been drinking but when that didn’t work he tried telling them that he only had a couple of beers. He stumbled and fell out of the cab and was unable to complete any of the field sobriety tests. When police searched the vehicle they uncovered two nearly empty open bottles of vodka. Authorities also found two bottles of Methadone, a prescription drug. One of the two bottles was not prescribed to the driver. The drunken tractor-trailer driver was taken to the Law Enforcement Center, where he refused to cooperate when asked to give a blood-alcohol test.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), adopted regulations requiring certain commercial motor vehicle operators to be tested for alcohol and drugs in order to reach the goal of a alcohol and drug-free transportation environment. This brochure summarizes the rule as it applies to all motor carriers. The regulations require testing for the following classes of substances:

Marijuana (grass, pot, weed, hash, joint, Acapulco gold)

Cocaine (coke, crack, snow, blow, flake, “C”, rock, base)

Opiates – opium and codeine derivatives – (heroin, horse, “H”, junk, smack, scag, Miss Emma)

Amphetamines – amphetamines and methamphetamines – (uppers, speed, bennies, black beauties, Christmas trees, crystal, mollies, crank, BAM, dexies)

Phencyclidine – PCP – (angel dust, peace pill, hog, supergrass, embalming fluid, rocket fuel, killer weed)

As an experienced Tennessee Tractor-Trailer accident attorney I don’t know where to start on this one. This jerk is pulling 80,000 lbs of freight, at speed, over a busy downtown interstate highway eating Methadone and swilling vodka. There are people alive today in Austin who wouldn’t be if that Deputy hadn’t made the stop. It also appears to me that the Canadian trucking company that this guy drove for had dropped the ball in terms of it’s responsibility to alcohol and drug test this guy.

As an experienced Tennessee tractor-trailer accident attorney I strongly urged each and every driver to immediately report errant driving by someone like this guy to your local law enforcement agency. Drop a dime and save a life. If you or a friend or loved one are injured in a tractor-trailer accident call our experienced attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and learn about your rights and the remedies.

“100 Days of Summer Heat”, a campaign by the Governors Office of Highway Safety is an annual program aimed at reducing car accidents and deaths on Tennessee highways. As part of the campaign the office released a television commercial in which a giant nail fails from the sky and slams through the hood of a speeding pick-up truck driven by a drunken driver. At selected locations around the state the same message will be sent by the use of sculpture of a sort. The Department will place five cars from impound lots at strategic locations around the state. Each one of the cars will have a ten foot galvanized steel nail driven through their hoods with signs conveying the message. Bars and restaurants around the state will display posters with images of the vehicles and the message that if you drive drunk the police are going to get you.

As Nashville automobile accident lawyers we urge you to think carefully about a night on the town. If you are going to be drinking, even if you only plan to have a couple of drinks, take a cab or make sure you have a designated driver. The downside to a DUI is grim, don’t let it happen to you.

If you are the victim of a Tennessee or Nashville automobile accident we urge you to contact our car accident lawyers today for a free consultation. When you hire a car accident lawyer from Phillip Miller & Associates you are getting a qualified and dedicated lawyer. For  information about your rights as a DUI victim, click here. Details about our lawyers and staff members can be found at our website at www.seriousinjury.com as well as detailed information about collision cases with DUI drivers.