Speed Kills

A driver was killed in a one-car crash in Rutherford County early Thursday morning. The 27-year-old man was driving a Ford F-150 westbound on State Route 840 when he failed to navigate a curve and ran off the left shoulder. He then overcorrected and the truck overturned on the roadway. He was ejected and died on the scene. He was not wearing a seatbelt.

Whenever you see an accident, usually involving one car that leaves the road, an experienced Tennessee automobile accident lawyer starts thinking about driver distractions. Just what was the driver doing moments before the crash that caused his/her vehicle to go off the highway? What caused the driver to change focus from driving to other things?

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.

Speeding is one of the most prevalent factors contributing to traffic crashes. The lesson of this incident for all Nashville drivers is obvious, respect the streets and the other drivers. 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

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

What Distracted This Driver?

A Carter County, Tennessee Constable is in critical condition this morning, and a local woman is dead after a one-car traffic accident in Carter County yesterday, according to local media reports. The story is similar to a number of other roadway departure crashes, the vehicle leaves the roadway, crashes into a ditch, or over corrects, crosses the road and hits a solid something, (tree, bridge abutment, another car) and people die.

The report went on to say that the driver was not wearing his seat belt. The passenger was but died at the scene from injuries received in the crash. One would think that elected officials whose job it is to patrol the highways and byways would be more aware of what has truly become an epidemic of roadway departure fatalities.

The message to Tennessee drivers is that if you want to arrive alive and avoid killing someone you love, you have to pay attention to the fact that you are piloting a deadly weapon and lives are in your hands.

If you or a loved one are injured in a Tennessee roadway departure crash caused by a distracted driver, contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates. Call 615-356-2000.

Motorcycle Wreck

A fellow Tennessean and his wife were hospitalized in Kansas. The two were riding a Harley with on U.S. 56 west of Satanta just before 7:20 Sunday evening. Investigators say the driver drifted off the road into a ditch causing both riders to be thrown. The driver is in critical condition and the wife’s condition is unknown.

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.

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.

If you or a loved one are involved in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a distracted motorcycle driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies. Call 615-356-2000.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol investigate a fatal single-vehicle roadway departure crash yesterday in Anderson County, Tennessee. A 22-year-old man, was killed when the 2004 Hyundai sedan he was driving ran off the roadway along Laurel Road, near Long Hollow Road, in Clinton, Tennessee.

The driver over-corrected, crossed the roadway and struck a utility pole, according to the THP incident report. The vehicle broke the pole and continued down an embankment, overturning. According to the report there was no evidence of drug or alcohol use, although the victim was not wearing a seat belt.

Whenever you see an accident, usually involving one car that leaves the road, an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney starts thinking about driver distractions. Just what was the driver doing moments before the crash that caused his/her vehicle to go off the highway? What caused the driver to change focus from driving to other things?

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.

As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney I find it hard to believe that people still get into an automobile and fail to secure their safety seat belts. I mean this isn’t rocket science and it’s not like they don’t know that it’s a deadly mistake. Tennessee law requires the use of seat belts. An overwhelming number of studies show that seat belts, when used correctly, save lives.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Nashville automobile accident caused by a distracted driver 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 find out about your rights and remedies. Call 615-356-2000.

Distracted Driving

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. Each of these accidents had the potential to have taken numerous other lives but somehow that didn’t happen

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.

The FHWA’s Roadway Departure Safety Program provides important information for transportation practitioners, decision makers, and others to assist them in preventing and reducing the severity of roadway departure crashes, but no matter what steps they take this problem will never be successful if drivers refuse to observe the speed limits, avoid distractions, refuse to drive when sleepy and continue to drink and drive.

The lesson here for Nashville drivers is that you must keep all of your attention on the acting of driving and avoid distractions. You never know when another driver is going to fall asleep, have a medical emergency or get distracted and leave their lane and initiate a deadly collision.

If you or anyone you know has been injured or killed in a Tennessee car accident, please contact Nashville injury attorney Phillip Miller and the Tennessee personal injury attorneys at Phillip Miller and Associates at (615) 356-2000, or contact our office online here.

Elderly Drivers

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney my experience tells me that when an 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 Dover Tennessee in which a said 78-year-old worker for the Federal Emergency Management Agency was injured in a car crash in Stewart County. Investigators say the man, without notice, crossed the centerline into oncoming traffic. Upon collision, the man hit a telephone pole and flipped over. At this time I don’t know his condition but my prayers go out for a speedy and complete recovery.

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 upon whether risk is being measured on a per-driver, per-trip, or per-mile basis.

If you or a loved one is seriously injured in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by an older driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.

Photo thanks to http://www.dreamstime.com/

Car Caught Fire

Two people died in a Tennessee automobile accident in Robertson County this past week. The accident began when a 21-year-old Adairville, Kentucky woman became distracted and drove of  the right side of the road. Surprised, she whipped the car back to the left, over-corrected, crossed the centerline, hit another car, left the road, rolled several times and caught fire. She was not wearing her seatbelt.

The other driver was injured critically and was pronounced dead at the hospital. As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney, I can tell you that these kinds of accidents are referred to as roadway departure crashes. The main cause of these types of accidents is a distracted driver. The driver takes his/her mind or eyes off the road and in a matter of seconds is off the road and out of control.

Many times roadway departure crashes are fatal. The main cause of driver distraction is cell phone use, talking to passengers, using other electronic devices such as radios, GPS and eating while driving. My prayers go out to the family and friends of both of these drivers.

If you or a loved one becomes involved in a serious Tennessee automobile accident caused by a distracted driver, contact the experienced Nashville auto accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation.

Head-On Motorcycle Crash

My decades-long experience as a Nashville motorcycle accident lawyer tells me that when a motorcycle and a car driving at highway speed crash head-on into each other the outlook for the motorcyclist is not a good one. Reference a recent crash involving a 25-year-old Alabama man.

The man was driving along state highway 207 when for some unknown reason he drifted across the centerline and slammed head-on into a car driven by an 81-year-old woman. The woman was hospitalized and later released with minor injuries.

As an experienced Nashville motorcycle 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. Driver inattention is the leading factor in most crashes. Primary causes of driver inattention are distracting activities, such as cell phone use, and drowsiness.

If you or a loved one are involved in a Tennessee motorcycle accident caused by a distracted driver contact the experienced Nashville motorcycle accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.

What Casued the Distraction?

A 43-year-old Tennessee woman died yesterday morning as the result of a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer on US 41-A. My prayers go out to the family and friends of this unfortunate woman. Since she was driving alone we will probably never really know what caused her to be distracted from keeping her eyes on the road and causing her to cross the centerline and slam into an oncoming tractor-trailer.

Whenever you see an accident, usually involving one car that leaves the road, an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney starts thinking about driver distractions. Just what was the driver doing moments before the crash that caused his/her vehicle to go off the highway? What caused the driver to change focus from driving to other things?

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.

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.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a distracted driver you owe it to yourself to contact the experienced Nashville auto accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.

He Crossed the Centerline

Clarksville Tennessee police believe that alcohol and speed were the factors that caused a two-car head-on collision Warfield Blvd. on Friday.  The 24-year-old man driving a Chevy S-10 crossed the centerline and slammed into a vehicle carrying a 5-year-old girl.

The S-10 driver and the child were airlifted to Vanderbilt MC in critical condition and another passenger was treated at a local hospital. All three people involved were wearing seatbelts. My prayers go out to the injured, with my hopes for a speedy and complete recovery.

The S-10 driver had a previous arrest for DUI that had been reduced to reckless driving. It appears that he didn’t get the message, but since charges are pending, I think the local judge will make the consequences somewhat more dramatic.

As an experienced Tennessee 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.

If you are a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee car accident caused by a drunk driver you owe it to yourself to contact an experienced Nashville auto accident lawyer like those at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to find out about your rights and remedies.