Head-On Collision

A Bowling Green man did something that doesn’t often come out very well. He was driving his motorcycle north along the highway, when for some unknown reason, he crossed the centerline as he motored through a curve and hit a truck pulling a trailer head-on. The 35-year-old man survived. The truck driver was treated and released.

I’m sure he realizes just how lucky he is. My prayers go out to him for a quick and complete recovery. Investigators will be trying to determine just what was going on with this driver in the minute or two before the collision.

Was he speeding? Going too fast for the roadway is a major problem in motorcycle crashes. Police will look into his experience and training to determine whether he was simply unskilled in the characteristics of the bike.

Another thought comes to mind, was he distracted in the moments before, and as he entered the turn? Distractions are the leading cause of all motor vehicle accident on Tennessee highways. Whatever the investigation reveals, the bottom line here is that the man was extremely fortunate to have survived.

Have you or a loved one been injured in a Nashville motorcycle accident or auto accident as a result of distracted driving or other negligent driving?  If so, you should call the experienced Nashville personal injury lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates, a Nashville motorcycle accident lawyer from our law firm will fight to help you win. We will treat you with the utmost compassion and respect. Call us today and speak with an experienced Nashville personal injury lawyer to discuss the details of your case. Call (615) 356-2000.

Helmets Save Lives

A Tennessee man killed in motorcycle/truck intersection wreck in Florida when a Ford-350 pickup truck turned directly in his path at an intersection. According to the Florida Highway Patrol investigator and local media sources, the Tennessee motorcyclist had a green light and was proceeding through the intersection when the Ford pickup turned into his path. The man was taking advantage of Florida law, that allows him to ride without a helmet. My prayers go out to his family and friends.

Motorcycle accidents can be devastating, and most of the time the accident isn’t even the motorcycle rider’s fault.  Very often other drivers are the ones who cause motorcycle accidents, or something as simple as faulty road design or poorly planned construction can contribute to a crash.

Motorcycle accidents can be devastating, and most of the time the accident isn’t even the motorcycle rider’s fault.  Very often other drivers are the ones who cause motorcycle accidents, or something as simple as faulty road design or poorly planned construction can contribute to a crash.

Have you or a loved one been injured in a Nashville motorcycle accident or auto accident as a result of distracted driving or other negligent driving?  If so, you should call the experienced Nashville personal injury lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates, a Nashville motorcycle accident lawyer from our law firm will fight to help you win. We will treat you with the utmost compassion and respect. Call us today and speak with an experienced Nashville personal injury lawyer to discuss the details of your case. Call (615) 356-2000.

Thanks To The Brave Men and Women of Law Enforcement

The prayers of the lawyers and staff at Phillip Miller & Associates go out to the family of Tennessee State Trooper Andy Wall who was killed while on duty yesterday in a traffic accident. Out prayers and best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery go out to fellow Trooper Buddy Head who was injured in the same accident.

The two Troopers were escorting members of the U.S. Air Force’s Thunderbird Team to the Great Tennessee Air Show. According to local media sources the accident involved the two troopers and three other vehicle. Details of the accident have not been released as the investigation is ongoing.

I have said over and over in this Blog that the brave men and women of law enforcement go to work everyday and never know whether they will return home to their families. All Tennesseans have lost one of our finest and we should be thankful for his service.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee motorcycle accident, contact the experienced Tennessee automobile accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation with a Board Certified civil trial lawyer. Call 615-356-2000.

Teen Driver Texting

With the coming of Spring time, sunny days and more outdoor activity, comes a time of danger, death and life changing events. Springtime is a time of excitement for teenagers, spring break is on everyone’s mind, school is drawing to a close, the proms are a big focus and then graduation.

For teens Spring is a time of celebration and many feel the need to blow off some steam in their last hurrah before becoming adults with adult responsibilities. But for Tennessee highway safety professionals we see this time as a time of concern for the lives of teens and others as they take to the highways and by-ways of Tennessee.

Though crashes can happen at any time, school and law enforcement officials, and especially parents need to be talking to students now about driving risks, urging them to be more careful. We must teach them to reduce speeding and alcohol use, use their seatbelts and reduce driver distractions.

Drivers between 16 and 19 are more at risk than any other age group to be in wrecks. Vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Have you or a loved one been injured in a Nashville motorcycle accident or auto accident as a result of distracted driving or other negligent driving?  If so, you should call the experienced Nashville personal injury lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates, a Nashville motorcycle and car accident lawyer from our law firm will fight to help you win. We will treat you with the utmost compassion and respect. Call us today and speak with an experienced Nashville personal injury lawyer to discuss the details of your case. Call (615) 356-2000.

Intersections and Motorcycles

As an experienced Nashville automobile/motorcycle accident lawyer, I have never seen a good outcome for the motorcyclist in a collision with a car or truck. A 57-year-old Knoxville motorcyclist was involved in an intersection crash with a Nissan Maxima driven by an 80-year-old Knoxville woman.

It appears, from local media reports, that the two met at an intersection and the Maxima turned left in front of the motorcycle. The local media source said that the motorcyclist is hospitalized with life threatening injuries. The motorcyclist did not have a motorcycle driver license as required by law. Our prayers here at Phillip Miller & Associates, go out to this man for a quick and complete recovery.

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 (2004 NHTSA data). Be very careful when approaching any intersection or driveway. Never assume another driver will yield the right-of-way to you.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee intersection auto accident caused by a negligent driver contact the experienced Nashville motorcycle accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation.

Why Did This Motorcycle Accident Happen

Tennessee traffic investigators won’t have far to look to determine whether alcohol was a precipitating factor in a serious motorcycle accident on Clinton Highway. According to local media reports a 45-year-old man pulled out of Coyotes Joe’s bar at approximately 6 PM Sunday evening.

As the man pulled out onto the highway he hit a Chevrolet Trail Blazer and was knocked to the roadway at which time he was hit by a Chevy Camaro heading the other direction. As an experienced Tennessee motorcycle accident attorney, I am concerned that while all other types of fatal crashes involving cars, trucks and pedestrians are on the decrease, motorcycle fatalities continue to rise. What lies at the cause of this phenomenon?

In 2007, 5,154 motorcyclists were killed, an increase of 7 percent over the 4,837 motorcyclists killed in 2006. There were 103,000 motorcyclists injured during 2007.

In 2007, 2,641 (50%) of all motorcycles involved in fatal crashes collided with another type of motor vehicle in transport. In two-vehicle crashes, 78 percent of the motorcycles involved were struck in the front. Only 5 percent were struck in the rear.

Motorcycles made up nearly 3 percent of all registered vehicles in the United States in 2006 and accounted for only 0.4 percent of all vehicle miles traveled. Per vehicle mile traveled in 2006, motorcyclists were about 35 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die in a motor vehicle traffic crash and 8 times more likely to be injured.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a careless motorcycle rider, contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies.

Motorcyclist Dies

Police are investigating the death of an, as of yet, unidentified motorcyclist who died in an intersection crash when a car driven by an 18-year-old driver entered a roadway from a private commercial driveway and failed to yield to the oncoming motorcycle. The 18-year-old driver and his 22-year-old passenger immediately fled the scene but police caught up with the passenger aster he was identified by a witness in a parking lot across the street from scene. The driver was found at his home hiding under a bed.

Do the facts tell you anything about the maturity level of the driver? He left the car which is registered in his name and went home, to the address on the registration, to hide under a bed. This guy is looking like a candidate for my worst driver of the year award. After charges are filed he is going to have plenty of time to ponder whatever it was that distracted him from seeing another human being driving along the highway.

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 (2004 NHTSA data). Be very careful when approaching any intersection or driveway. Never assume another driver will yield the right-of-way to you. Wait until the coast is clear and always be prepared to stop.

The lesson for Tennessee drivers here is perfectly clear. Keep your mind and you eyes on the road and avoid doing things that distract you from focusing on this task.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee auto accident caused by a distracted driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation.

Tennessee Intersection Collision

WRBC TV in Chattanooga Tennessee reports on a tragic but very preventable automobile motorcycle accident just across the Tennessee line in Georgia. The victims, an adult driver and a 7-year-old passenger who was hospitalized and is expected to recover. The pickup was stopped at an intersection and for some unknown reason, he was probably distracted, pulled out into the path of the oncoming motorcycle. The distracted pickup driver was driving without a license.

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 (2004 NHTSA data). Be very careful when approaching any intersection or driveway. Never assume another driver will yield the right-of-way to you. Always be prepared to stop.

Approaching intersections safely. To do the Tennessee Rules of the Road suggest that you employ a concept called “Traffic Checks”, which is the process of looking frequently and carefully for vehicle traffic approaching from each direction. “Traffic Checks” is especially important when merging or changing lanes AND when approaching and crossing intersections. Below are five things to remember to navigate an intersection safely:

Preventing injuries and deaths at intersections should be a high priority for towns and cities. 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.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee 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.

Being an inexperienced motorcycle rider driving on the interstate is dangerous enough, leave your helmet at home and injest some alcohol and you are asking for trouble. Fortunately the trouble didn’t include death but both the rider and the passenger are now in critical condition.

Motorcycles made up nearly 3 percent of all registered vehicles in the United States in 2006 and accounted for only 0.4 percent of all vehicle miles traveled. Per vehicle mile traveled in 2006, motorcyclists were about 35 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die in a motor vehicle traffic crash and 8 times more likely to be injured.

In 2007, 2,641 (50%) of all motorcycles involved in fatal crashes collided with another type of motor vehicle in transport. In two-vehicle crashes, 78 percent of the motorcycles involved were struck in the front. Only 5 percent were struck in the rear. Motorcycles are more likely to be involved in a fatal collision with a fixed object than are other vehicles. In 2007, 25 percent of the motorcycles involved in fatal crashes collided with fixed objects, compared to 18 percent for passenger cars, 13 percent for light trucks, and 3 percent for large trucks.

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney I couldn’t help but think of the many factors that could have caused this motorcycle accident. Was there a medical emergency, a vehicle malfunction such as a blown tire, was he distracted by something such as a cell phone, or was he drowsy and nodded off for just a second?  So many reasons and so many unanswered questions left for the investigators to process.

Stories like these remind us that when we get behind the wheel, or handlebars, of a motor vehicle we have to have our full attention on the task at hand. We must regularly check the condition of our tires and brakes, we must avoid doing things that cause us to take our eyes off the road, and if we begin to feel drowsy or ill we need to quickly and safely get off the road and address these issues.

If you or a loved one is injured in a Tennessee motorcycle accident contact our experienced Nashville accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and learn about your rights and remedies.

Booze and Cycles Don't Mix

As an experienced Tennessee motorcycle accident attorney when I hear of a fatal one cycle accident at 3AM my first thoughts are that the driver might have been impaired. Now don’t get me wrong, I have no other information on the driver or the deceased passenger of a Harley-Davidson that hit the raised concrete median and flipped the cycle killing the passenger and seriously injuring the driver, but when investigators ask the question, how did this crash occur, I can assure you that they are going to first look to the blood alcohol content of the driver for answers.

As an experienced Tennessee motorcycle accident attorney I can tell you right off that a high powered motorcycle, alcohol and high speed on a Tennessee highway is a recipe for disaster. 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 drunk driving.

Motorcycles made up nearly 3 percent of all registered vehicles in the United States in 2006 and accounted for only 0.4 percent of all vehicle miles traveled. Per vehicle mile traveled in 2006, motorcyclists were about 35 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die in a motor vehicle traffic crash and 8 times more likely to be injured.

Stories like this should remind us that when we get behind the wheel, or handle bars, of a motor vehicle we have to have our full attention on the task at hand. Driving while drunk doesn’t help our attention.

If you or a loved one is injured in a Tennessee motorcycle accident contact our experienced Nashville accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and learn about your rights and remedies.