Elderly Driver Fatality

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney my experience tells me that when elderly person is involved in a roadway departure crash there is a high probability that the accident was caused by a medical emergency. Reference a crash this week in Knoxville in which an 83-year-old lost control of her car in the parking lot of a grocery store. He car raced out of the lot, across a street into a residential backyard and down into a six-foot embankment. Investigators haven’t released the final report but did say that they didn’t believe that drugs or alcohol were contributing factors.

According to a recent study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, older drivers face substantially elevated risk of being involved in and responsible for crashes in which they themselves die, and they pose more risk to other road users than the lowest-risk drivers do; however, the degree to which older drivers’ risk to other road users is elevated depends strongly upon whether risk is being measured on a per-driver, per-trip, or per-mile basis.

For example, the results of this study suggest that if a randomly-selected driver in his or thirties and a randomly-selected driver aged 85 or older were to drive equal numbers of miles, the older driver would be over 1500% more likely than the younger driver to be responsible for and die as a result of a crash, and about 220% more likely than the younger driver to kill an occupant of another vehicle or a non-motorist.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident involving an elderly driver you owe it to yourself to contact the experienced Tennessee car accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies.

Elderly Driver Hazards

Accident investigators in Dickson County Tennessee will have to unravel a mystery when they seek to determine why an elderly woman simply failed to stop when she approached four cars stopped at a stop sign. When faced with a case like this police and experienced Tennessee automobile accident lawyers look to several different things that might explain such an accident. Those two main things are medical emergency and distractions.

As our population ages we might expect to see more Tennessee automobile accidents caused by drivers who suffer medical emergencies while they are driving. Incidences of drivers who had crashes precipitated by their medical emergencies while driving are relatively rare and account for only 1.3 percent of all road fatalities.

Older Tennessee drivers have relatively higher incidences of crashes precipitated by drivers’ medical emergencies when compared to young and middle-age drivers. Drivers in crashes precipitated by medical emergencies were more likely than other drivers to be severely injured or to die as a result of the crash.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration driver inattention is the leading factor in most crashes. Nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds before the event.  Primary causes of driver inattention are distracting activities, such as cell phone use, talking with passengers and drowsiness.

My prayers go out to the driver and all of the people injury in this serious accident with my hopes for a quick recovery. If you or a loved one is injured and killed in a Tennessee auto accident you owe it to yourself to contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.

As an experienced Tennessee auto accident attorney my experience with medical emergency collisions usually relates to a middle age or old driver suffering some sort of a stroke or heart attack that precipitates the accident.  Incidences of drivers who had crashes precipitated by medical emergencies while driving are relatively rare and account for only 1.3 percent of all road fatalities. Older drivers have relatively higher incidences of crashes precipitated by drivers’ medical emergencies when compared to young and middle-age drivers. Drivers in crashes precipitated by medical emergencies were more likely than other drivers to be severely injured or to die as a result of the crash.

Reference a recent accident, luckily non-fatal, in Oak Ridge Tennessee in which a teen driver drove off of the road and hit several trees before rolling over in a ditch. She was seat belted in her car and was only slightly injured. The caused of the accident, according to the teen, was an interaction of prescribed medication.

Another type of emergency is a drug interaction for prescription drugs. It is critical, not only when you are behind the wheel, but anytime you are prescribed drugs for treatment of a medical condition, that you make sure that your doctor is aware of any and all other drugs you might be taking. When taking prescription drugs while driving you should pay particular attention to any strange feelings and if you are troubled you should pull over to the side of the road and contact a friend or family member to assist you.

Patient education by health care providers on early warning signs of a health or prescription crisis, such as warning signs before seizure attacks, diabetic or hypoglycemic comas and potential side effects of medications are recommended as the most effective countermeasure.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile traffic accident contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to determine your rights and remedies.

Medical Emergency Accident

It appeared that a Covington Tennessee attorney suffered from a medical emergency moments before his car went through a t-bone intersection and crashed head-on into an embankment, killing him instantly.

Incidences of drivers who had crashes precipitated by medical emergencies while driving are relatively rare and account for only 1.3 percent of all road fatalities. Older drivers have relatively higher incidences of crashes precipitated by drivers’ medical emergencies when compared to young and middle-age drivers. Drivers in crashes precipitated by medical emergencies were more likely than other drivers to be severely injured or to die as a result of the crash.

Patient education by health care providers on early warning signs of a health crisis, such as warning signs before seizure attacks, diabetic or hypoglycemic comas and potential side effects of medications are recommended as the most effective countermeasure.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile traffic accident contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to determine your rights and remedies

Tractor-Trailer Bus Collision

As an experienced Tennessee tractor-trailer accident attorney when I read a news article reporting that a Greyhund bus is driving along an interstate highway just north of Nashville at 2 AM and is rammed from the rear by a tractor-trailer truck, I have to ask myself what in the world was going on with the driver of the tractor-trailer.

The investigation is ongoing, but from my experience, one of several things was happening here. The tractor-trailer driver was somehow distracted, maybe by one or more of the electronic devices that are all to common in motor vehicles these days. These devices include cell phone, CB radios, GPS devices and even satellite television systems.

Another possibility here is that the driver suffered a medical emergency which made it impossible for him to maintain control of the vehicle and last, but surely not least, the tractor-trailer driver fell asleep and was piloting the big rig down the highway in sudden death mode.

Investigators will look into the electronic device issue to determine if he was talking or texting on his cell phone or fooling with one or more of the other devices and a medical exam will rule in or out a medical emergency. The hard one will be the drowsiness issue. His driver’s log may show that he had over-extended his drive time.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee tractor-trailer accident you might want to take advantage of a free consultation with the experienced Nashville tractor-trailer accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.

It appears that a Tennessee tractor-trailer accident that took the life of a 55-year-old Chattanooga man was caused by a medical emergency that incapacitated him and caused him to lose control of his truck

Incidences of drivers who had crashes precipitated by their medical emergencies while driving are relatively rare and account for only 1.3 percent of all road fatalities. Older drivers have relatively higher incidences of crashes precipitated by drivers’ medical emergencies when compared to young and middle-age drivers. Drivers in crashes precipitated by medical emergencies were more likely than other drivers to be severely injured or to die as a result of the crash.

Patient education by health care providers on early warning signs of a health crisis, such as warning signs before seizure attacks, diabetic or hypoglycemic comas and potential side effects of medications are recommended as the most effective countermeasure.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile traffic accident contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to determine your rights and remedies.

Medical Emergencies

It appears that a Tennessee automobile accident near Russellville, TN that took the lives of two Tennesseans, was caused by a medical emergency that incapacitated an 84 year-old woman driver. According to an article at the website of the Knoxville News, whatever the medical episode, it prevented the driver from stopping at a stop-sign. As she ran through the stop-sign she hit a tractor-trailer going the opposite direction and then she hit head-on with another automobile. The driver of the second vehicle a 50-year-old woman also died at the scene. The driver of the commercial truck was injured and transported to an area hospital.

Incidences of drivers who had crashes precipitated by their medical emergencies while driving are relatively rare and account for only 1.3 percent of all road fatalities. Older drivers have relatively higher incidences of crashes precipitated by drivers’ medical emergencies when compared to young and middle-age drivers. Drivers in crashes precipitated by medical emergencies were more likely than other drivers to be severely injured or to die as a result of the crash.

Patient education by health care providers on early warning signs of a health crisis, such as warning signs before seizure attacks, diabetic or hypoglycemic comas and potential side effects of medications are recommended as the most effective countermeasure.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile traffic accident contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to determine your rights and remedies.

Medical Emergency or Texing?

Back on October 12, 2009, in my blog The Tennessee Auto Accident Attorney I wrote about a fatal Nashville interstate accident involving an ambulance and a TDOT road safety truck. For some unknown reason the ambulance rammed into the rear-end of the TDOT truck. In my blog I asked the question, “How does an accident like this happen?” In an accident report released yesterday we still aren’t sure, but investigators have boiled it down to one of two reasons, texting or a medical emergency.

An article on the website of WKRN TV in Nashville reports that a medical emergency may have been the cause. It appears that the deceased ambulance driver suffered from narcolepsy and epilepsy and had a history of seizures. In fact, the report says that he had a similar accident ten years ago when he suffered a seizure and swerved off the road and struck a utility pole. At the time his license to drive was suspended but it was later reinstated.

Toxicology reports showed an increased level of amphetamines in his system from his anti-narcolepsy medication but showed none of the traces of his epilepsy medication.

Telephone records also show that the driver was sending and receiving text messages at the time of the accident. As an experienced Nashville automobile accident/personal injury attorney I’m somewhat astounded by the medical findings. How in the world could a man suffering from these conditions be considered for employment as an ambulance driver in the first place? I don’t represent the victims, Ms. Sue Bly, or TDOT worker Mr. Robert Green, who recently underwent brain surgery as the result of this accident, but if I did, I would certainly be asking the employer to answer that question.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Nashville, Tennessee automobile accident caused by a driver with a serious medical condition or one who was texting while driving you owe it to yourself to contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies.

Roadway Departure Crash

Fifty miles north of Nashville, a 62-year-old man lost his life when the vehicle he was driving south on I-24 in Kentucky just above of the Tennessee state line left the road, crossed the median and slammed head-on into a north-bound tractor-trailer truck. An article in the Leaf-Chronicle, quoted the investigator, a Kentucky State Trooper as saying that the deceased driver suffered from some sort of medical emergency that caused him to lose control of his vehicle.

Recently I read an interesting article outlining the finding of a study conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. According to the survey, 95 percent of respondents 55 and older have one or more medical conditions and 78 percent use one or more medication, yet only 28 percent  indicated some awareness of the potential impact on driving performance associated with  those medications. Previous research indicates that use of a single potentially driver impairing medication as well as use  of multiple medications increases the risk of being in a crash.

As we reach a certain point in the aging process we begin notice that many of the things we rely on to be safe drivers, eye sight, hearing, response time, are not as sharp as they once were. Another factor is that we suffer medical conditions and take medication for them that further limit our ability to be the drivers we once were.

No matter what your age, if you take one or more medications check with your physician about the possible effects that the meds might have on your driving. Many medications react in a totally different manner when used with alcohol or with other medications. Some medications have a tendency to make a driver drowsy and create the risk of falling asleep while driving.

If you are the victim of a Nashville or Tennessee automobile accident caused by a driver who was taking medication or who had a serious medical condition that impaired their driving, we urge you to contact our Nashville car accident attorneys today for a free consultation. When you hire an auto accident attorney from Phillip Miller & Associates, you’re getting a qualified and dedicated lawyer. Details about our attorneys and staff can be found by viewing our website at www.seriousinjury.com where you can get to know the men and women who will be looking out for your best interest.

Roadway Departure Crash

A tragic loss for the family and friends of Barbara A. Krantz and her 18-year-old son Clifford, who were killed yesterday when their automobile driven by Ms. Krantz, departed the roadway and hit a tree. My sympathies and prayers go out to the family. For more information about the accident check out The Nashville Tennessean. 

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney we know that these types of 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.

In crashes of this sort investigators will be focusing on two areas of interest. They will focus first on the possibility of  some sort of medical emergency that might have incapacitated Ms. Krantz, a finding that will be made by the coroner. The second area of interest is whether she was distracted and the distraction caused her to leave the road. Distraction investigations are very difficult because the only people that were there at the time are unable to tell investigators what happened.

If you or a loved one is injured in a Nashville automobile accident contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies