Distracted Driver Rollovers

One week ago I blogged about what appeared to me to be an epidemic of automobile accidents in East Tennessee. Apparently, I missed three other fatal Tennessee accidents that occurred during that same time period. I feel compelled to raise the question again, What’s Going on in East Tennessee?

According to an article in the Cookeville Herald-Citizen Irene Malgeri, 84, of Crossville was killed on Tuesday afternoon when she attempted to turn into a church parking lot and did so right into the path of an oncoming tractor-trailer. Ms. Marleri died instantly and the driver of the tractor-trailer, Derrick Ogletree, 28, of Flovilla, Ga., was hospitalized.

Another Crossville citizen, Ronnie J. Stoke, 57, was killed in an accident on Sunday afternoon. According to the article Mr. Stoke was driving on I-40 when he lost control of his pickup truck and left the road, hit a guardrail and rolled, ejecting Mr. Stoke from the vehicle.

The following Friday morning 20-year-old Sarah Delk of Jamestown was killed when she lost control of her vehicle, ran off the road, struck an embankment and overturned. Ms. Delk was ejected from the vehicle.

Studies of real-world single-vehicle crashes show that more than 90% of rollovers occur after a driver runs off of the road. This is not referring to vehicles trying to negotiate difficult trails away from public roads, rather it refers to vehicles rolling over off of the pavement after the driver has lost control of the vehicle. The pavement, a ditch, soft soil, curb or other tripping mechanism usually initiates the rollover accident once the vehicle slides off.

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.

My sympathy and prayers go out to the families of the deceased. The lesson to be learned from these tragic accidents are that seatbelt use can and does prevent traffic fatalities and the driver inattention or distraction, even for a second or two, can have horrible results. The lesson for the political leadership is that to stem this epidemic they must be proactive and start an urgently needed public educational campaign to instruct and remind East Tennessee drivers of these two valuable lessons.

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

An Automobile Accident Epidemic

According to Dictionary.com an epidemic is defined as a “rapid spread or increase in the occurrence of something.” That something going on in East Tennessee is an epidemic of drivers losing control of their vehicles and leaving the road and killing themselves and others. Something has to be done and someone has to step forward and bring this epidemic under control.

This weeks incidents include:

24-year-old Roxie Cramer pulled into the path of a waste management (Mack) truck. The impact spun the Subaru into the path of a third vehicle and up against a support beam of a local strip mall before it came to rest.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol said Silas E. Parks, 20 of Lenoir City was driving south on I-75 when he lost control of his 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass, ran off the right side of the roadway and struck a tree. George E. Parks Jr., 47 of Lenoir City was sitting in the back seat behind the driver at the time of the wreck and died on scene. Silas and a 17 year old girl in the front passenger’s seat were both injured. The accident report indicates all three people in the car were not wearing seatbelts.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol report indicates Freddie W. Davis, 58 of Sharps Chapel was driving north on TN-33 when he lost control of his 1998 GMC Jimmy. The SUV veered off the right side of the road, went down a hill and flipped near Grandview Drive. Davis was wearing a seat belt at the time of the wreck, and troopers have requested drug and alcohol tests be preformed along with the autopsy.

A young woman died in an ATV wreck early Saturday morning and the Tennessee Highway Patrol say alcohol was a factor. The official report says Megan Smith, 18, was riding on a 2006 Kawaski ATV around 2:20 a.m. on Trent Valley road in Hancock County. The ATV lost control, ran off the road and into a tree. She, and fellow rider, Orry Trent, 20, were thrown off. Smith died on scene.

A Campbell County man was killed Monday morning when he lost control of his car on Highway 63. It happened around 6:15 AM near the intersection with Brown Drive. Troopers said Charles “Chuck” Taylor Jr., 52 of Jacksboro was headed east when his car went off the road. He apparently swerved to regain control, but ended up slamming into an on coming tractor-trailer. The driver of the semi was treated on the scene for minor injuries. Taylor was pronounced dead on the scene.

A Campbell County man was killed Thursday afternoon when he lost control of his car on I-75 in Anderson County. Tennessee Highway Patrol investigators said it happened at 4:13 p.m. while Ivan Lazaro, 23 of LaFollette was driving south in a 1998 Pontiac Sunfire. The accident report indicates he was in the left lane and passing mile marker 122 when a 2000 Nissan Maxima in the right lane crossed into his lane. Lazaro swerved to avoid the impact and ran off the side of the roadway. His car continued into the median and rolled over. Lazaro was wearing a seat belt but passed away from his injuries. Four others in his car including an unrestrained five month old child were injured. Neither of the people in the Nissan were injured.

A Scott County woman was killed Tuesday afternoon during a two-vehicle wreck in Huntsville. The Tennessee Highway Patrol said it happened at 12:40 p.m. on US Hwy. 27, at the intersection of State Hwy. 63. According to the accident report, Edith Mae Marcum, 85 of Oneida was headed south on Hwy. 27 when she merged into the left lane and attempted to turn onto Hwy. 63. As she made the turn, she pulled directly into the path of a tractor-trailer hauling automobiles that was headed north on Hwy. 27. The driver of the truck veered to the right side of the road but was unable to avoid colliding with Marcum’s pickup truck. He hit the right side of her vehicle, pushing it onto an embankment just off the east side of the roadway. The driver of the tractor-trailer was injured in the wreck. Marcum died on the scene.

A woman and her two children have been killed in an East Tennessee traffic crash. The Tennessee Department of Safety said Della H. Bussell of New Tazewell, her 17-year-old daughter Brianna G. Bussell and her 11 year-old son James Bussell died Sunday night. Department spokesman Mike Browning said Della Bussell was driving a Mercedes north on Highway 33 in Claiborne County when she ran off a curve, overcorrected and struck a pickup truck head-on. The truck was driven by a 17-year-old boy, who was injured. Browning said Della Bussell — who was 47 — crossed into the southbound lane and the truck driver swerved into the northbound lane trying to avoid her. He said Bussell then swerved back into her lane and the crash occurred.

If this many people were dying from some disease the news media and the political leadership would be clamoring for a solution, but the clamor from those who should be speaking out is…Silence. There are answers and there are people who could educate the leadership about these answers if anyone really cared.

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