Pedestrians Should Avoid Distractions

Nashville traffic investigators are busy this morning with two pedestrian accidents. A pedestrian was struck and critically injured near the intersection of Firestone Parkway and Heil Quaker Boulevard near the Davidson-Rutherford county line early this morning. Local media reports had no other information at the time this is posted, other then to say that the victim was transported with critical injuries, according to police.

Another pedestrian, a 40-year-old man was struck in East Nashville on Fatherland Street, and rushed to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. According to sketchy local media reports the driver told police she never saw the man before he was struck.

According to a recent study of pedestrian accidents, in the last 15 years, more than 76,000 Americans have been killed while crossing or walking along a street in their community. More than 43,000 Americans – including 3,906 children under 16 have been killed this decade alone. This is the equivalent of a jumbo jet going down roughly every month, yet it receives nothing like the kind of attention that would surely follow such a disaster.

Children, the elderly, and ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented in this figure, but people of all ages and all walks of life have been struck down in the simple act of walking. These deaths typically are labeled “accidents,” and attributed to error on the part of motorist or pedestrian. In fact, however, an overwhelming proportion share a similar factor: They occurred along roadways that were dangerous by design, streets that were engineered for speeding cars and made little or no provision for people on foot, in wheelchairs or on a bicycle.

As a Tennessee driver we have a duty to keep a lookout for pedestrians and other vehicles and should be positioned to react to avoid these types of collisions. If you or a loved one are injured or killed by a negligent Nashville driver you should contact the experienced Nashville auto accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates at 615-356-2000, and take advantage of a free consultation.

Practice Parking Lot Safety

The other day I stopped off at a local mall to purchase a Christmas gift and I observed a young mother with a couple of children in the three to four-year-old range. As she got one child out of her car seat and went around to the other side of her SUV to get the other one, she warned the kids to use parking lot manners.

I assumed she had instructed them to stay by her side and look out for cars until she got the car locked and was holding each of their hands. I thought of this woman and “parking lot manners” when I read about a 72-year-old pedestrian accident in a parking lot in Clarksville Tennessee.

Wherever there are cars one has to keep a look out and be ready to respond to an emergency to avoid being run over. A 72-year-old man was pinned between a car and a building Monday in the parking lot of a Madison Street business.

A local media outlet said that a 77-year-old driver of a Ford 500 car was backing out of a parking spot when a vehicle crossed behind her and sounded their horn. The driver then began to pull forward into the parking spot and the accelerator stuck, lunged forward, and struck the 72-year-old man standing in front of the building, pinning him between the vehicle and the building. The man was seriously injured and was transported to Vanderbilt Medical Center.

The lawyers and staff at Phillip Miller & Associates want to take this opportunity to remind you that during this busy holiday season to practice “parking lot manners”, at all times. If you are injured you ought to contact the experienced Nashville auto accident attorneys and find out about your rights and remedies. Call 615-356-2000.

Pedestrians Should Avoid Distractions

In the last 15 years, more than 76,000 Americans have been killed while crossing or walking along a street in their community. Children, the elderly and ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented in this figure, but people of all ages and all walks of life have been struck down in the simple act of walking.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) a pedestrian is defined as any person not in or upon a motor vehicle or other  vehicle. This past year, 4,654 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes in the United States, a  decrease of 13 percent from the 5,321 pedestrians killed in 1997.

On average, a pedestrian is killed in a traffic crash every 113 minutes and injured in a traffic crash every 8 minutes.  There were 70,000 pedestrians injured in traffic crashes last year. A pedestrian in downtown Nashville was hurt after police say he stepped out in front of a police officer’s car.

The circumstances of the accident tell us a whole lot about the facts. The accident happened at one o’clock Sunday morning near 3rd Avenue and Commerce Street, an area that is populated with late night drinking establishments. According to local media reports, witnesses say the pedestrian looked like he was intoxicated when he stepped off the curb and in front of an unmarked police car.

If you, or a loved one, are seriously injured or killed in a Nashville pedestrian accident, contact the experienced Nashville personal injury lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation. Call 615-356-2000.

Motorcycle Accident

Wednesday evening turned into a hectic time for local emergency responders on the streets of Nashville.  First on the agenda was a serious motorcycle crash on Vietnam Veterans Parkway. Information about the cause of the accident are not in yet but it appears the the biker left the road at speed and hit the median guardrail.

Minutes later the call went out to respond to a very serious pedestrian accident at the intersection Nolensville Pike and Harding Place. The latest on the pedestrian’s condition is unknown at this time but we will keep you filled in as facts come to light. According to local media reports it appears that the driver involved will not be cited.

Later that evening, another pedestrian was seriously injured as she walked along a drak section of road without a sidewalk on Wilson Pike. She is now at Vanderbilt in critical condition. Our prayers go out to all three victims for a speedy and complete recovery.

Keep up with issues related to Tennessee traffic related situations by visiting this Blog and our website at Phillip Miller & Associates. Call 615-356-2000.

Tennessee Teen Driver

Under the Tennessee Graduated Drivers License law a fifteen year old can get a Learner Permit but driving is restricted. Anyone under the age of 18 who has a learner permit will be prohibited from driving between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. When driving, permit holders must have a licensed driver age 21 or older in the vehicle with them. Seatbelt use is mandatory for everyone in the vehicle under the age of 18 (passengers age 3 and under must be in an approved child restraint device).

The parents of a 15-year-old Cookeville Tennessee teen are in some serious trouble. The Teen driver faces charges of driving without a permit and failure to have insurance after she dropped of several children at Avery Trace Middle School, and struck a school crossing guard.

The 55-year-old guard was transported to a local hospital and local media reports say her injuries are minor. Is situation creates an interesting set of circumstances that require to assistance of an experienced Tennessee personal injury attorney.

The first thing that I would focus on would be the claim of the Guard for benefits under the Tennessee Workers Compensation law. There is no cause of action against the juvenile driver but there is a strong cause of action against the parents or owner of the vehicle she was driving if they are not the same.

If you or a loved one are injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by an under aged teen der a number of legal issues come in to play and the experienced Nashville personal injury lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates can help you sort them out so that you can obtain the very best result to cover your damages. Call 615-356-2000

Distracted Pedestrian

In Tennessee the relationship between pedestrians and drivers is an important one. Both the driver and the pedestrians have rules to follow to avoid a collision, which, when it happens, is never good for the pedestrian.

Drivers are required to always be on the lookout for pedestrians and are required to yield to them in designated crossing zones and at intersections. Pedestrians, on the other hand, have the duty to keep a watch out for oncoming vehicles. Pedestrians are prohibited from crossing in the middle of a block (Jay-Walking) and dashing into traffic from between parked cars are particularly frowned upon.

In any case, if there is a pedestrian/vehicle collision, the vehicle driver is required to stop, call emergency support and wait at the scene until released by police officers. This past week in Elizabethton a 47-year-old male pedestrian crossing busy Broad Street was struck and injured by a 2006 Saturn Ion around 9 p.m. The man suffered multiple injuries and was in stable condition at Johnson City Medical Center following the accident.

The 20-year-old driver initially left the scene but returned shortly thereafter. According to local media reports she told the police that she was frightened. Upon further investigation the police determined that the victim was crossing from the north side of Broad Street to the south side of the street and he was not crossing at a crosswalk.

Witnesses told police that before the accident the victim had almost been hit in the first eastbound lane by a van, and yet he continued crossing the street and was struck in the second eastbound lane by the young woman’s vehicle.

On average, a pedestrian is killed in a traffic crash every 113 minutes and injured in a traffic crash every 8 minutes.  There were 70,000 pedestrians injured in traffic crashes in 2007. Most pedestrian fatalities in 2007 occurred in urban areas (73%), at non-intersection locations (77%), in normal weather conditions (90%), and at night (67%). More than two-thirds (70%) of the pedestrians killed in 2007 were males.

For more information about highway traffic safety or what to do if you are the victim of a Tennessee automobile accident check out the experienced personal injury lawyers at Philip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation with a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer.

Photo courtesy of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

Pedestrian Fatality

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney, I am well aware of the statistics on pedestrian fatalities. A collision between a human being and moving motor vehicle almost never comes out well for the pedestrian.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a pedestrian is defined as any person not in or upon a motor vehicle or other vehicle. In 2007, 4,654 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes in the United States, a decrease of 13 percent from the 5,321 pedestrians killed in 1997.  On average, a pedestrian is killed in a traffic crash every 113 minutes and injured in  a traffic crash every 8 minutes.  There were 70,000 pedestrians injured in traffic crashes in 2007.

Reference a tragic pedestrian fatality outside Murfreesboro Tennessee a week ago. The victim was a Blackman Middle School eighth-grader who was struck by a car as she walked along Rock Springs Midland Road in Christiana shortly after 10 p.m. on a Saturday night.

According to local media reports the young woman and a friend were walking down a dark rural road in the middle of the street when they were struck by a car driven by a 28-year-old woman with two children in the car with her.

As an experienced car/pedestrian attorney I’d also advise you that the best way to reduce pedestrian injuries and deaths in Tennessee is to obey existing traffic laws and exercising caution when you are behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. Stay alert and avoid distractions like cell phones and loud music. Keep your eyes on the road and save a life.

Visit my website at www.seriousinjury.com for helpful tips about Tennessee highway safety issues. If you are involved in a motor vehicle accident call the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation.

Speeding is one of the most prevalent factors contributing to traffic crashes. Speeding is a dangerous game and can end in death for the speeder, the driver and passengers of the other vehicles and for innocent pedestrians. Fortunately no one else was involved in this accident

Speeding reduces a driver’s ability to steer safely around curves or objects in the roadway, extends the distance necessary to stop a vehicle, and increases the distance a vehicle travels while the driver reacts to a dangerous situation.

Speeding in a high traffic area increases the chance of death or serious injury to other drivers, pedestrians and passengers. Reference a roadway departure crash yesterday in Nashville. A driver was crossing the Bordeaux Bridge coming in to Nashville when he lost control, crossed the centerline and tore through a fence and ended up on the Ted Rhodes Gold Course.

The car caught fire and another driver who witnessed the wreck, ran to his rescue and pulled him from the burning vehicle. The driver’s condition is unknown at this time. The lesson of this incident for all Nashville drivers is obvious.

If you or a loved is seriously injured or killed in a Tennessee motor vehicle accident by a speeding driver you ought to contact the experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates

Speeding Will Get You Dead

and take advantage of a free consultation to find out about your rights and remedies.

Pedestrian Fatalities

Stupid is as stupid does, and a Chattanooga man stands as a great example of this axiom. A 42-year-old Chattanooga woman was walking to work and as she crossed The street at the intersection of Walnut and Fourth Sts. A 26-year-old man driving a red Nissan 240SX hit and killed her.

This low-life then drove away without stopping to render assistance or call emergency workers. He stopped a gas station where he took time to buy chips and a soft drink before calling police and reported a fake car-jacking report.

During his trial this week on charges of DUI and vehicular homicide the state provided video from the gas station that showed the man lingering around and his vehicle parked outside while he called in the false report.

This guy is where he needs to be, before a jury of his peers who will pass judgment on him. When you are in a wreck, whether there is a personal injury or simply property damage, you must stop and share information necessary to identify you and your insurance company. You should immediately notify emergency responders.

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.

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

Teen Drivers Are Dangerous

An inaugural national research report released today from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and State Farm Insurance Companies® shows that the impact of teen driver crashes extends far beyond teen drivers’ families and friends. In 2008, more than half a million (681,000) people were involved in crashes where a teen driver was behind the wheel. More than 40,000 were injured, and nearly 30 percent of those who died in these crashes were not in cars driven by teens.

“When most people think about those affected by teen driver crashes, they think of the teens behind the wheel. We must also consider the significant impact of these crashes on other members of our communities: occupants of other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, and other road-users,” says Dennis Durbin, M.D., M.S.C.E., co-scientific director of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at CHOP, and a co-author of the report. “Whether or not we have a teen driver in our family, we should all care about this issue. This report provides a concrete way to measure the effectiveness of laws, education, and other programs in reducing teen crashes and their impact on communities.”

Researchers focus on four key behaviors among teen drivers that contribute to crashes or crash fatalities that can also be tracked using federal data sources: failure to use seat belts, speeding, alcohol use, and distracted driving.

“Reducing speeding and alcohol use, increasing seat belt use, and eliminating distractions for teen drivers are the four calls-to-action we see in this report that would have great impact on reducing injuries and fatalities for all road users,” says Dr. Durbin, who is also an emergency physician. “More than half of teens who were fatally injured in crashes were speeding, 40 percent had a positive blood alcohol level, more than half were not wearing seat belts, and 16 percent of teen drivers involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving.”

The report also shows that more teens die from car crashes than from cancer, homicide, and suicide combined. Teen driver and peer passenger deaths account for one-quarter (24 percent) of total teen deaths from any cause. However, the authors stress that teen fatalities are just “the tip of the iceberg.” Thousands more – including friends, family members, and others on the road – suffer physical injuries, psychological trauma, and disruption to their everyday lives.

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident lawyer I have seen far too many teen deaths and I strongly encourage parents to be realistic about the skills and propensities of their children. It’s a time of excitement and dread for every parent, the time when their precious little Bobby or Betty reaches the age when they can drive. Excitement because their child is growing up and the parents can relinquish to job of being the chauffeur for their busy teens and dread because the know in their heart of hearts the dangers that teen drivers face as they take to the highways and byways.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a teen driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.