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.

Get These Bad Drivers Off The Road

It seems that lately I’ve been blogging more about incidents involving people who need to be taken off of the road for the safety of the driving public. For the most part the people involved in these incidents have already had a number of  run-ins with the law leading to the suspension of their driving privileges. In a recent article in the Kingsport Times-News we are introduced to another of these driving menaces. Reference Anthony Lee Davis, 27, 126 N. Shepard Drive, Kingsport, who has previously had his drivers license suspended, and who, after deep thought and consideration, gets behind the wheel of a car with a loud muffler, a police magnet if you will, and ventures out for a ride to cool off after arguing with his wife, onto the streets of Kingport, Tennessee.

An event occurs, totally unforeseen by the deep thinking Mr. Davis, in which a police officer attempts to stop his vehicle because of the loud muffler. After further deep thinking Mr. Davis pitchs his cigarette out at the feet of the officer, rolls up his window and speeds away. The officer begins the pursuit of Davis’ vehicle but makes the decision to call off the chase on the basis of public safety when the fleeing vehicle reaches speeds in excess of 80 m.p.h.

Other local police agencies were on the lookout for Mr. Davis and within ten minutes the original officer gets word that the subject of his chase had wrecked his car outside the city limits. When questioned he admitted he fled the scene and pled the fact that he was upset with his wife as the reason he made the decision to put the lives of others in jeopardy. Kingsport Police filed an affidavit charging Davis with a violation of the muffler law, reckless endangerment,  reckless driving, felony evading arrest, and driving on a revoked license.

It’s people like Davis and the thousands of other Tennessee drivers like him who have lost their privileges to drive a motor vehicle because they make bad choices and who flaunt the law that our insurance rates in Tennessee are what they are. If you as an individual citizen want to get involved to keep people like this off the road there are two things we can do. The first thing is to learn the Tennessee Rules of The Road and obey them. If you are following the rules and stopping at red lights and driving the speed limit, local and state police officers are free to deal with the Mr. Davis’ of the world. The second thing that we can do is to talk to your neighbors about this problem and make sure your public officials, such as your local District Attorney General, feel anger over this kind of business and seek serious penalties and other remedies that will keep them from getting behind the wheel of a car.

If you are a loved one are injured in a Tennessee car accident by someone like Mr. Davis contact our experienced Nashville accident lawyers

and find out about your rights and remedies.