Red Light Cameras Work

Recent studies have once again demonstrated the deterrent value of using automated enforcement cameras to reduce red light running. A new review of traffic data from the City of Philadelphia conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, has shown that the introduction of red light cameras after lengthening the yellow-light phase has virtually eliminated red light running violations at two problem intersections.

Researchers tracked signal violation rates at intersections before and after extending the yellow light sequence and again after red light camera enforcement had been in effect for about a year. The first step reduced signal violations by 36 percent. The cameras reduced the remaining violations by 96 percent . At the same time, violations were virtually unchanged at two control group intersections.

Another red light running study was conducted by researchers from Old Dominion University in Virginia. A team of researchers reviewing data collected both before, during and after the City of Virginia Beach’s six-month deployment of red light technology before Virginia’s red light camera authorizing law was allowed the sunset. The results showed that red light running violations more than tripled in just the first year after the law expired. Red light running at the several intersections that had previously been equipped with red light cameras is now worse than it was before they were installed.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile intersection accident caused by a red light runner 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. Call us at 615-356-2000.

Wrecked Tennessee State Trooper Car

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney, I can state, with some authority, that it is not smart to run a stop sign and it is downright unlucky when you do run one to slam into a Tennessee State Trooper.

This sign is the only eight-sided sign on the highway. It always means that there is danger. It will always be red with white lettering. It tells you that you are approaching an important street or highway and that you must bring your car to a complete stop, not going beyond the crosswalk. IF you cannot see, then proceed cautiously to a point where you can see, and then go only if you can do so safely.

Just what it was that distracted the 19-year-old teen driver from Coryton, Tennessee, is not yet known, but she is lucky, very lucky, that she did not pay for her failure to stop with her life. According to local media reports the young woman ran a stop sign and slammed into a Tennessee State Trooper. Luckily he was not seriously injured. She was cited for failure to yield and right of way.

Nationwide, more crashes happen at intersections than at any other place. Intersections constitute a very small part of rural and urban street/highway systems, yet they are implicated in 31.9 percent of all motor vehicle crashes and 15.5 percent of all fatal crashes

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 auto accident experience behind you.

We Need Not Be Confused About Highway Safety

Oftentimes saving a life on the road is as basic as getting people to slow down, buckle up, or don a helmet. Tried and true countermeasures like these usually don’t grab headlines, but if they were more widely propagated across the nation they would yield an immediate reduction in motor vehicle crash deaths.

The number of people who die in crashes in the United States is at a record low. Still, there were an estimated 32,788 motor vehicle crash deaths last year, according to a preliminary projection by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Vehicles are safer than ever, and emerging technologies are starting to pay dividends in terms of preventing crashes or lessening there severity. New safety features take time to work their way through the vehicle fleet, though, so benefits can be delayed for years. “While we’re looking for the next big breakthrough in vehicle safety, we should keep in mind that many existing strategies at the driver and passenger level still can yield gains,” says Adrian Lund, Institute president. “Not only can most of these countermeasures be put to work now, but the benefits also would be swift.”

State laws have helped lift use of safety belts and motorcycle helmets and lower teenage driver crash rates. DUI/DWI laws and sobriety checkpoints have reduced alcohol-impaired driving. Red light cameras and speed cameras have gotten drivers to obey traffic signals and slow down, while roundabouts have reduced intersection crashes.

Still, lots of drivers flout traffic and restraint laws, intersection crashes and speeding-related ones continue to be deadly, and some teenagers take risky chances that have tragic endings. “We already have the tools to address these problems,” Lund says, “but they need to be better utilized.”

Basic doesn’t mean easy, he adds. “Making headway in many cases would require some state lawmakers to make bold moves to enact tough, enforceable laws.” A stumbling block is getting the public and state and local politicians on board with proposed changes.

Red light cameras and speed cameras are especially divisive, even though public opinion surveys show solid support for using cameras to enforce traffic laws. Motorcycle helmet laws can be just as controversial. Anti-helmet groups pressure state legislators every year to overturn helmet laws or reject proposals for new ones. This is in spite of the fact that helmets are the No. 1 countermeasure for preventing rider deaths in crashes.

Stay up to date on Tennessee highway safety information by visiting the website of Phillip Miller & Associates, a group of experienced and dedicated Nashville personal injury lawyers. Call 615-356-2000.

Yield To Funeral Escorts

It’s a Southern tradition to stop for funeral processions. Legally, you don’t have to stop, but what should you do?

In Tennessee the law gives the procession the right-of-way if the lead vehicle has a flashing amber light or is led by a “properly identified” escort. As with the other laws, the lead vehicle must comply with traffic lights and signs, and the other vehicles may follow without stopping if their headlights are on. Also, the procession must yield to emergency vehicles or when directed by a police officer.

The procession must drive on the right side of the roadway and be as closely spaced as safely possible. It must proceed at no less than 45 miles per hour on a limited access highway and no less than five miles per hour below the posted limit on other roads.

Vehicles following the procession on a two-lane road are prohibited from attempting to pass it. Other drivers are prohibited from driving between vehicles in the procession, unless directed by a police officer (Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-8-183).

Last week, in Collierville Tennessee, a 67-year-old man escorting a funeral on a motorcycle was killed in the intersection of US 72 and Poplar Avenue. The investigation continues and no charges have been filed as of yet.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that in 2005 alone, nearly 9,200 people died and approximately one million people were injured in intersection-related crashes that account for approximately 40-45 percent of all crashes.

These are hard cases to litigate. If you or a loved one is involved in a motor vehicle accident at or around a funeral procession you owe it to your self to contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates, share the facts of your case and find out about your rights and remedies.

Red Light Camera Enforcement Works

For those of you have kept up with my Blog you know that I have closely followed the battle over the use, by municipalities, of Red Light Cameras. That battle took an interesting turn this past week when Hamilton County Chancellor Frank Brown dismissed two lawsuits challenging their use in Red Bank and Chattanooga Tennessee. The Plaintiff’s sought millions of dollars in damages.

The Plaintiff’s had argued that the cameras were installed and operating before the legislature approved their use and that those people who received tickets should be awarded damages. Not so said the Chancellor, who stated in his opinion that, “A municipality has the primary responsibility for enforcing traffic regulations within their city limits as it deems proper.”

Each year crashes involving red light running claim the lives of more than 800 people and injure another 200,000 people. More than half of the deaths in red light running crashes are other motorists and pedestrians, so there should be no debate about the fact that red light runners are dangerous drivers who put other road users at risk.

A recent Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study in Oxnard, California, showed that red light running violations dropped a total of 42 percent after well-publicized photo enforcement was introduced. Another study in Fairfax, Virginia, showed that violations declined about 40 percent after one year of photo enforcement. A key to all effective traffic law enforcement is publicity; without it there is no deterrent effect, and the purpose of red light cameras is deterrence.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in an intersection crash by a red-light runner, contact the experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.

Intersection Crashes

Knoxville TV station WBIR reports that in the first 45 days in operation the Red Light Cameras at three high accident intersections (RLCs) at recorded over 4000 violations. After review, officials rejected 400 and another 500 were dismissed because of technical reasons. This leaves 3019 red light running drivers facing $50.00 fines.

Intersection and intersection-related crashes consistently make up a high proportion of total fatal crashes, up to 23 percent. More than 50 percent of the combined fatal and injury crashes occur at intersections. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that in 2005 alone, nearly 9,200 people died and approximately one million people were injured in intersection-related crashes which account for approximately 40-45 percent of all crashes. According to 2005 data from the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System, crashes caused by red light running (RLR) resulted in an estimated 805 fatalities.

RLR is a dangerous form of aggressive driving. Based on self-reported behavioral surveys, RLR is a result of people wanting to save time. However, several factors can lead to RLR such as impatient and inattentive drivers, improperly timed traffic signals, lack of enforcement efforts and the attitude that no harm will come from running a red light.

Many citizens complain the RLCs are simply a new way of raising money for the city. The facts show that this claim is baseless and comes mostly from those who do not want to take responsibility for their dangerous actions and the politicians who pander to them. Economic analysis showed that RLCs saved society $39,000 to $50,000 annually at each intersection where they are installed. (The costs considered include: hospital bills, property damage to vehicles, insurance expenses, value of lost quality of life, and other costs.)

In a statewide study conducted in Arizona the following statistics show the benefits of RLCs to the overall community:

• 17.6% (2,940) fewer property damage collisions

• 18.5% (1,189) fewer injury collisions

• 19.2% (43) fewer fatal collisions (24 fewer lives lost)

Statewide DPS Officer Statistics

• Spent 9,224 less hours investigating 4,891 fewer collisions

• Conducted 52,791 more traffic stops

• Made 610 more total arrests

• Arrested 52 more impaired drivers

• Arrested 324 more drug offenders

If you or a loved one is junjured or killed in a Nashville intersection collision contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates. The best law firms will provide a free consultation. We provide a free, confidential consultation to not at fault persons named in this article. The free consultation offer extends to family members as well.

Fatal intersection Crash

The thoughts and prayers of the attorney’s and staff at Philip Miller & Associates go out to the family, friends and world-wide family of The University of the South, for the deaths of 19-year-old Kathryn “Katie” Christianson of Chattanooga and 18-year-old Kathleen Beech of Clarksville who were killed in the Thursday morning car/tractor-trailer crash in Franklin County. Two other students, Arden Jones, of Greenwood, VA, and Anna Summs, Cookeville, TN were injured and are in stable condition. The tractor-trailer driver was treated and released.

This fatal car/tractor-trailer wreck was immediately reported by a number of local media outlets (WHNT, WRCB TV, The Chattanoogan) and information is being updated on an hourly basis. WRCBTV in Chattanooga reported that the students were traveling to crew practice around 6 a.m. when their vehicle crossed US Highway 41A and was struck by the tractor-trailer.

According the Tennessee Highway Patrol; The preliminary investigation indicates that a 2007 Hyundai with four students from the University of the South turned into path of a northbound tractor trailer, killing two front seat occupants and injuring the rear seat passengers.

I have blogged about the dangers of intersections on a number of occasions and although intersections make-up a very small part of our highway and street network , studies show that almost half of our motor vehicle crashes occur there. Driving near and through intersections is truly one of the most complex conditions that drivers will encounter.

If you or a loved one is injured in a tractor-trailer accident contact the experienced accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.