We received a follow-up call from a family member about a fatal accident  we wrote about that occurred May 13. 2010 on I-40 near the Demonbreun exit in Nashville. At the time of the initial reports (and from accident reconstruction) it appeared that a 57-year-old woman swerved to the left, ran off the road and smashed into a guardrail. Unfortunately she died at the scene.

Family members have contacted us to let us know that it appears that a unknown black SUV (perhaps a Range Rover) hit this lady from behind, which would explain her losing control and leaving the roadway.

If anyone saw this event, and can provide further information about this black SUV please contact us (or Metro Police) and we will forward the information to family members.

If you are the victim of a Nashville or Tennessee automobile accident we urge you to contact our 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 Epidemic

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, and drowsiness.

Distraction from the primary task of driving could present a serious and potentially deadly danger. In 2008, 5,870 people lost their lives and an estimated 515,000 people were injured in police-reported crashes in which at least one form of driver distraction was reported on the crash report. While these numbers are significant, they may not state the true size of the problem, since the identification of distraction and its role in the crash by law enforcement can be very difficult.

Something distracted 25-year-old Jeremy Black in a one vehicle accident that left three passengers injured. He was driving along in his SUV when he drove off of the roadway on the left side and hit a tree. None of the three passengers who were injured were wearing their seat belts.

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney we know that these 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. FHWA uses the Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS) compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to compute statistics on roadway departure crashes.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee car crash by a distracted driver or a case like the present one that will require and experienced Tennessee automobile accident lawyer contact the lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies.

Distracted Driver Runs Stop Sign

These days, drivers are faced with so many distractions both outside the car as well as devices inside the vehicle that are supposed to help us accomplish more tasks and save us time. Often other activities, including talking to your passengers, eating dinner, talking on the cell phone, adjusting the radio, lighting a cigarette take place behind the wheel. Experts estimate that drivers are doing something potentially distracting more than 15 percent of the time their vehicles are in motion. Multi-tasking is not our friend when we are driving on the highways and by-ways of Tennessee.

At a minimum you are: operating a piece of heavy machinery at high speed; navigating across changing terrain; calculating speeds and distances; and responding to all the other drivers and obstacles around you. Adding one more activity in the mix can be enough to make you lose control of your vehicle or fail to respond in an emergency.

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.

We will probably never know what Mr. Larry W. Lynch, 64, of Bethel Springs was doing when he failed to stop at a stop sign and drove his pickup truck directly into the path of a tractor-trailer at the intersection of Highway 45 and Hopkins Road. The tractor-trailer driver, Jesse L. Greene, 38, of Kenton, who was wearing his seatbelt, was injured in the wreck, the extent of  his injuries were not reported in the article in the Jackson Sun. My sympathy goes out to the family and friends of Mr. Lynch and my hopes for a quick and complete recovery go out to Mr. Greene.

In the case of Mr. Green it’s critically important that he contact an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney because he has two important issues to deal with. He was probably an employee of the company for which he was driving so he has to go through the worker’s compensation issues and then he has to take a careful look at a personal claim against Mr. Lynch’s insurance carrier.

Think carefully about the statistics, 80% of all crashes are caused by a driver who was distracted within three seconds before the collision. This means that it up to us to keep our eyes and our minds on the task at hand when as we pilot a three thousand pound deadly weapon down the road. If you want to read some guidelines for becoming a safe driver, check out my blog of November 21, 2009.

If you or a loved one are injured in a Nashville automobile accident involving a distracted 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.

Rainy Conditions Require Caution

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, every day, 36 people in the United States die, and approximately 700 more are injured, in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. The annual cost of alcohol-related crashes totals more than $51 billion. In 2006, 13,470 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (32%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States. In 2007, over 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. That’s less than one percent of the 159 million self-reported episodes of alcohol-impaired driving among U.S. adults each year.

When police investigators find alcoholic beverages in the aftermath of a car accident and the facts indicate that the driver suddenly and unexpectedly left the highway and crossed into the oncoming lane, it might be safe to conclude that the wreck was alcohol related. Reference a situation reported on the website of the Johnson City-Press about a fatal collision on I-26 in which Jamin M. Dodd, 19, an underage driver died after his car veered from the road and hit the vehicle driven by Katie A. Flannery, 28, head on leaving her with serious but not life-threatening injuries. Investigators mentioned in the report that it was raining and Mr. Dodd might have hydroplaned.

In Tennessee possession of alcohol is limited to persons over the age of 21 and open containers are illegal for any driver no matter the age. Investigators are withholding a final report as to the cause of this accident until they complete the toxicology tests.

The CDC study went on to state that over the past 20 years, alcohol-related fatal crash rates have decreased by 60 percent for drivers ages 16 to 17 years and 55 percent for drivers ages 18 to 20 years, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, this progress has stalled in the past few years. To further decrease alcohol-related fatal crashes among young drivers, communities need to implement and enforce strategies that are known to be effective, such as minimum legal drinking age laws and “zero tolerance” laws for drivers under 21 years of age. It’s also important for parents to be involved and set a good example for young drivers.

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

Distracted Drivers Kill

When driving a motor vehicle you have to avoid distractions at all times. Just because one is in a parking lot entering a space doesn’t mean you can forget that you are driving a 3000 lb. deadly weapon. Reference an article on the website of Nashville TV station NewsChannel5, that relates the story of how five people were injured when a pickup truck crashed into a busy Waffle House restaurant.

The article, citing the Greeneville Sun, said that security cameras showed that the pickup truck entered the parking space and did not stop, instead it crashed into the restaurant.

Distraction from the primary task of driving could present a serious and potentially deadly danger. In 2008, 5,870 people lost their lives and an estimated 515,000 people were injured in police-reported crashes in which at least one form of driver distraction was reported on the crash report.

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, and drowsiness. One can only guess what the driver of this vehicle was doing when he should have been paying attention. With the holiday season approaching there will be more distractions and it is critical that we make our best efforts to avoid them while driving.

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

Booze It And Lose It

An underage drinking driver, high speed, and early morning hours make for a deadly cocktail that cost the life of an Antioch man and will bring criminal charges against his cousin, the driver of the vehicle. According to an article posted on the website of Nashville NewsChannel5 Miguel Crispin-Reyes, 19, was driving at a high rate of speed with his cousin Ancelmo Crispin-Herrera,21, riding in the front seat with him when he, for some unknown reason, left the road and rolled. Mr. Crispin-Herrera was trapped in the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene. Mr. Crispin-Reyes is listed in stable condition at Vanderbilt Medical Center.

Such a tragedy, how sad that one poor decision has changed the lives of two young men and their family forever. My sympathy and prayers go out to them.

As an experienced Nashville 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. That is down from 377 people killed in 2007 with a BAC of .08 or higher. Over the 2008 Labor Day holiday, 12 people were killed in 10 fatal crashes on Tennessee roadways, down from 17 people killed on Tennessee roadways in 2007.

With the winter holidays approaching we must redouble out efforts and be vigilant in reminding our family and friends of the dangers and the high price, not just the driver, but his passengers and families pay as the result of an automobile accident. If you see a driver who appears to be drunk dial *847 and report them to the Tennessee State Troopers.

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 so that you can learn about your rights and remedies.

Avoid Distractions

Why this tragic tractor-trailer/pickup truck accident happened will most probably never be known but the article in the Bowling Green Daily-News reporting from an accident report from the Kentucky State Police, says that Adam Bowen, 30, of Campbellsville, Kentucky was driving on I-65 in the early morning hours when his pickup truck drifted off the left side of the road and as he over corrected, the vehicle crossed the highway and ran off the right side of the road crashed into the embankment and came to a stop in the right lane of traffic where both Mr. Bowen, who was not wearing a seatbelt, and the pickup were hit by a tractor-trailer and two other vehicles. My prayers go out to Mr. Bowen’s family and friends.

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney the first question that comes to my mind is what caused Mr. Bowen’s truck to veer to the left shoulder. Was he distracted by something he was doing in the car or was he tired and fell asleep? These are the questions that will probably never be answered.

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, and drowsiness.

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. FHWA uses the Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS) compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to compute statistics on roadway departure crashes.

Another question we will never be able to answer is whether Mr. Bowen would have died if he had been wearing his seatbelt? Because of the fact that his pickup was rammed by a tractor-trailer and two other vehicles, it’s impossible to say one way or another. Seatbelt usage reduces automobile crash-related deaths and injuries by at least 50 percent.

To prevent this kind of accident in your life attention must be paid to a few simple rules. If you are sleepy immediately get off the road and take a nap. Always wear your seat belt, whether you are driving on the interstate highway system, or just taking a short drive to the grocery store and always avoid distractions like cell phone use, texting or anything that requires you to take your eyes off of the road for even a couple of seconds.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Nashville automobile accident caused by a distracted or drowsy driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation and find out about your rights and remedies.

Teen Collisions

He was 16 and had no license or insurance but that didn’t stop the young man from getting behind the wheel of his 1993 Dodge Voyager and taking to the streets of Church Hill Tennessee. According to an article on the website of the Johnson City Press he made a turn directly into the path of a car driven by Janet W. Christian, 69, and her passengers Thomas Christian, 69 and Annie Salyer, 53, who were driving to morning service at the at the First Baptist Church. They were transported to a local hospital with injuries related to the airbag deployment. My heart goes out to these victims of a crime that should not have happened.

The young man was uninjured and was cited for driving without a license, failure to provide proof of insurance and failure to yield. His guardian told police that the boy had taken the car without permission. This young man was very lucky he wasn’t a fatality statistic.

According to The Center For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, accounting for more than one in three deaths in this age group. In 2005, twelve teens ages 16 to 19 died every day from motor vehicle injuries. The risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among 16- to 19-year-olds than among any other age group. In fact, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to crash. In 2005, the motor vehicle death rate for male drivers and passengers ages 16 to 19 was more than one and a half times that of their female counterparts.

In the United States during 2005, 4,544 teens ages 16 to 19 died of injuries caused by motor vehicle crashes. In the same year, nearly 400,000 motor vehicle occupants in this age group sustained nonfatal injuries that required treatment in an emergency department.

Young people ages 15-24 represent only 14% of the U.S. population. However, they account for 30% ($19 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among males and 28% ($7 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among females.

These situations create a serious problem for victims. The offending driver has no insurance and they have to rely on their own policy to compensate them for their medcial and hospital expenses as well as any permanent injuries they might have sustained. This kind of case calls for an experienced automobile accident attorney to explore the possibility of an action against the Guardian for failing in his/her responsibility to prevent the child from gaining access to the vehicle.

If you or a loved one is injured in a Nashville automobile accident involving a teenager 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.

Night Driving Dangers

Intoxication and fatigue contribute to a high rate of nighttime crashes, but according to the Federal Highway Administration, nighttime driving also is inherently hazardous because of decreased visibility. Statistics from the Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System show a large proportion of night time crashes are single-vehicle, run-off-the-road crashes. FHWA officials say a contributing factor could be that drivers are unable to recognize pavement markings and warning information. Adverse weather also complicates nighttime driving.

The National Safety Council warns that 90 percent of a driver’s reaction depends on vision, which can be severely limited at night. Twilight is one of the most difficult times to drive because your eyes are constantly changing to adapt to the growing darkness. Depth perception, color recognition and peripheral vision are compromised after sundown.

NSC offers the following tips to stay safe while driving at night:

•Prepare your vehicle for night driving. Clean headlights, taillights, signal lights and windows at least once a week.

•Reduce your speed and increase your following distance. Judging the speed and distance of other vehicles is more difficult at night than during the day.

•Don’t overdrive your headlights. You should be able to stop in the illuminated area.

•When following another vehicle, keep your low-beam headlights on so you don’t blind drivers ahead of you.

•If an oncoming vehicle doesn’t lower its beams from high to low, avoid glare by watching the right edge of the road and using it as your guide.

•Don’t drink and drive. Alcohol impairs your driving ability and acts as a depressant that can lead to fatigue.

•Avoid smoking while driving. Smoke’s nicotine and carbon monoxide hamper night vision.

•If you’re too tired to keep driving, stop and rest.

•Observe nighttime driving rules as soon as the sun goes down. Early evening can be one of the most difficult times to drive.

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney I try to bringing my readers what I consider important information related to operating a motor vehicle. If you or a loved one is injured in a Nashville automobile accident contact our experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s here at Phillip Miller & Associates and get a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies.

Crash Claims Life Of 85-Year Old Woman

Knoxville TV station WBIR reported on a fatal accident involving an 85-year old woman driving a pickup truck and a tractor-trailer in Scott County Tennessee. The article on the website for WBIR says that Edith Mae Marcum, 85, of Oneida was attempting a left turn from Highway 67 onto Highway 63, when  she pulled into the path of an oncoming tractor-trailer driven by William P. Renfo of Louisville. She was pronounced dean at the scene.

My heart and prayers go out to the family and friends of Ms. Marcum and we are thankful that Mr. Renfro was not seriously injured. The Center For Disease Control and Prevention has gathered some interesting facts about older drivers that I would like to share with you.

Older Adult Drivers: Fact Sheet

There are 30 million licensed drivers ages 65 and older in the United States. When injured in motor vehicle crashes, older drivers are more likely to die than younger drivers, underscoring the importance of older driver safety.

How big is the problem?

* More than 175,200 adults ages 65 and older were injured as occupants in motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2006.

* There were 30 million licensed older drivers in 2006, a 18–percent increase from 1996. In contrast, the total number of licensed drivers increased by only 13 percent during the same time period.

* Drivers ages 80 and older have higher crash death rates per mile driven than all but teen drivers.

What are the risk factors, and who is at highest risk?

* Age–related decreases in vision, cognitive functions, and physical impairments may affect some older adults’ driving ability.

* Across all age groups, rates for motor vehicle-related fatalities are higher for men than for women.

* Older drivers are more likely than younger drivers to die from injuries they sustain in a motor vehicle crash.

Are there protective factors?

There are protective factors that may help improve older adults’ safety while driving:

* More than three-quarters (76%) of all older motor vehicle occupants (drivers and passengers) involved in fatal crashes were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash, compared to 62 percent for other adult occupants under age 65.

* Older adult drivers tend to drive when conditions are safest. They limit their driving during bad weather and at night and drive fewer miles than younger drivers.

* Older adult drivers are less likely to drink and drive than other adult drivers.

If you or a loved one is involved in a Nashville automobile accident involving an elderly driver contact the experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation and find out about your rights and remedies.