Buckle Your Seat Belt And Arrive Alive

A few inches can make the difference between life and death. The Tennessee gravel truck driver’s right-side wheels were only inches off the right side of the roadway but inches were all that mattered when you are driving a loaded gravel truck. The few seconds it takes to secure your seatbelt can mean the difference between life and death. The Tennessee gravel truck driver didn’t have his seatbelt secured and when the truck rolled down an embankment and ejected him, crushing him, you have to know he wished he had those seconds and inches back for a do-over.

In life there are no do-overs. The cause of this man’s death is no mystery he was crushed by a fully loaded dump truck because he was ejected after leaving the roadway, because he didn’t have his seat belt on. The lesson here is patently obvious, take a second and put your seat belt on and live.

For more information about highway safety and some good Tennessee accident prevention tips go to my website at www.seriousinjury.com. If you need further information and or the advice of a group of experienced Tennessee automobile accident lawyers call Phillip Miller & Associates for the answers.

An Unnecessary Child Fatality

A 20-year-old Obion County Tennessee woman took the time to buckle her seat belt but didn’t bother to secure the 6-year-old boy with her. For some unknown reason she ran off of the road and overcorrected and returned to the roadway and rolled ejecting the child and rolled again before coming to a rest. The Trooper who investigated stated in the report that had the child been properly restrained there would have been a different outcome for this unfortunate child.

Child safety seats reduce fatal injury by 71 percent for infants (less than 1 year old) and by 54 percent for toddlers (1 to 4 years old) in passenger cars. Young children restrained in child safety seats have an 80 percent lower risk of fatal injury than those who are unrestrained.

Tennessee was the first state in the country to pass a Child Passenger Protection Law requiring children to be restrained in child safety seats (car seats and booster seats).

A.  A child under one year old, or any child weighing less than 20 pounds, must be in a child passenger restraint system (car seat) that is facing the rear of the car.

B. Children who are one through three years old, and who weigh more than 20 pounds, must be in a child passenger restraint system that is facing forward.

C. Children who are four through eight years old and whose height is under four feet, nine inches, must be in a belt positioning booster seat system (child booster car seat) and wearing a seatbelt.

These seats should be in the rear seat of the car, if possible. The children can’t make the decision to protect themselves, this is the legal responsibility of the parents. It is also the responsibility of the parents to teach by example.  If you are driving and witness a parent driving without having their child properly restrained it is your duty to notify the authorities. Call 911 is you are in an urban area and *847 in a rural area. Make the call and save a child’s life.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee highway automobile accident contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident law firm of Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to determine your rights and remedies