Tennessee SUV Rollover Crash

SUV ROLLOVER CRASH FACTS FOR 2010

* 10,657 passenger vehicles were involved in fatal rollover crashes. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA)

* Crashes in which a vehicle rolled over accounted for more than half of all single-vehicle crash deaths. (NHTSA)

* Vehicle rollover crashes are especially serious because they so often result in head injuries. Head trauma is the most frequent type of fatal and nonfatal injury in rollovers. (NHTSA)

* The rate of serious injury in passenger vehicle rollover crashes is 36 percent higher than in crashes where there is no rollover. (NHTSA)

* The high fatality and injury rates are due, in part, to the high percentage of rollover crashes in which passengers are ejected from their vehicles. Ejections account for 63 percent of all fatalities in rollover crashes and often result in costly and debilitating head injuries. (NHTSA)

* More than 90 percent of passenger vehicle rollover crashes are single-vehicle crashes, and 8,345 of the 10,142 occupant deaths occurred in single-vehicle rollover crashes. (NHTSA)

* More than half, 56 percent, of single-vehicle crash deaths resulted from rollovers compared with only 11 percent of rollover deaths in all multiple-vehicle crashes. (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, or IIHS)

For more Tennessee highway safety information check out our website at Phillip Miller & Associates. If you are involved in a Tennessee auto accident call us at 615-356-2000 for a free consultation.

Texting & Drinking A Dangerous Mix

As an experienced Tennessee auto accident lawyer I can tell you for certain that texting and drinking while driving is a dangerous game, a game that took the life of a Nashville driver last night. Here’s the scene, it’s 4AM and the driver is exiting an interstate highway while drunk and texting. The distraction caused him to leave the road, slide sideways before rolling three of four times and ejecting the driver.

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.

Today there are more than 285.6 million wireless subscribers in the U.S. And although public sentiment appears to be turning against cell phone use while driving, many admit they regularly talk or text while driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 11 percent of all drivers at any given time are using cell phones, and the National Safety Council estimates more than one in four motor vehicle crashes involve cell phone use at the time of the crash. Cell phone use while driving has become a serious public health threat. In Tennessee and the majority of other state it is illegal to text and drive.

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 texting driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.

Three Separate Accidents

It was a bad weekend for three Dickson County, Tennessee families. The deaths caused by vehicular accidents included a 69-year-old man, a 52-year-old woman and an , as of yet identified victim. The article in the local media didn’t provide much information about the multi-vehicle accident that ended in the death of the 69-year-old male.

The unnamed person was the driver of an SUV that was carrying 4 passengers just after midnight when it veered off of the road into a ditch and flipped several times before coming to a stop. This driver was pronounced at the scene, The third fatality was killed in a wreck on I-40 near Charlotte Pike. Witnesses said that her vehicle swerved into the right lane and struck another car causing her to lose control, leave the roadway and strike a concrete retaining wall. The other driver was injured and taken for medical care.

Although the media reports were short on causation facts, it appears that the SUV was either speeding or the driver became distracted and lost control. The same seems to be the cause of the interstate fatality. What makes a person simply veer into another lane when there is another vehicle right there?

The lesson to be learned here is that you can never take driving for granted. You might be doing everything by the book but then along comes a distracted driver or someone who suffers a medical emergency and before you know it you are wrapped up in a highway incident.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed by a negligent Tennessee driver contact the experienced Nashville auto accident attorneys at  Phillip Miller & Associates.

SUV Rollover Fatality

Nashville Police say the driver of a 2001 Ford Explorer was changing lanes to get around slower traffic when the driver lost control. The accident happened during the beginning of rush hour at 3:30 PM. As he he came up upon slower traffic he attempted to switch lanes, lost control of his SUV and rolled over several times. The driver was alone and not wearing his seat belt and was dead at the scene. Police investigators say that the outcome of the SUV rollover might have been different if the man had taken time to buckle his safety belt.

As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney I regularly talk with people about the dangers of SUV rollover crashes.  SUV rollovers do not occur as often as other types of crashes, but when they do occur, they often result in a serious injury or death. SUV rollover accidents, on average, account for more than 10,000 fatalities in the United States each year, which is more than side and rear crashes combined. The result was thousands of deaths and serious injuries. Some rollover accidents may be preventable if consumers realize the dangers involved in SUV vehicles and the serious and tragic injuries that can result.

SUV ROLLOVER CRASH FACTS FOR 2009

* 10,657 passenger vehicles were involved in fatal rollover crashes. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA)

* Crashes in which a vehicle rolled over accounted for more than half of all single-vehicle crash deaths. (NHTSA)

* Vehicle rollover crashes are especially serious because they so often result in head injuries. Head trauma is the most frequent type of fatal and nonfatal injury in rollovers. (NHTSA)

* The rate of serious injury in passenger vehicle rollover crashes is 36 percent higher than in crashes where there is no rollover. (NHTSA)

* The high fatality and injury rates are due, in part, to the high percentage of rollover crashes in which passengers are ejected from their vehicles. Ejections account for 63 percent of all fatalities in rollover crashes and often result in costly and debilitating head injuries. (NHTSA)

* More than 90 percent of passenger vehicle rollover crashes are single-vehicle crashes, and 8,345 of the 10,142 occupant deaths occurred in single-vehicle rollover crashes. (NHTSA)

* More than half, 56 percent, of single-vehicle crash deaths resulted from rollovers compared with only 11 percent of rollover deaths in all multiple-vehicle crashes. (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, or IIHS)

If you or someone you love has been hurt in a serious Tennessee car accident due to somebody else’s negligence, then you may be feeling angry, frightened, or even alone in your suffering.

There is no reason for you to bear your burden alone.  The experience of a Tennessee auto accident is traumatic enough and your recovery will bring its own challenges.  You don’t need the added stress of worrying about who will pay for the medical care you need, how your car will be repaired, and if the individuals responsible for your suffering will be brought to justice.  This is the time to call Phillip Miller & Associates, the law firm of local Tennessee attorneys and staff who for the past 25 years have dedicated their lives to protecting the rights of injured men, women, and children in Tennessee.

Alcohol Related Fatality

As my goal with this Blog, “The Tennessee Auto Accident Attorney” is to educate my readers in the hope that you all will practice safe driving and instill in your family and friends the need to do the same, today I thought I would share a tragic story reported on the website of News Channel 5.

It appears that the crash happened just before midnight when a 27-year-old man veered from the highway in his SUV, hit a concrete culvert and flipped over several times, ejecting and killing him instantly. Investigators say that alcohol was a factor in the accident and that the young man was not wearing his seatbelt. They also said that he was driving on a suspended license and had a long history of driving offenses

How tragic that a young man has to lose his life because he just didn’t get it. It’s impossible to say what caused him to lose control of his vehicle, it might have been the alcohol, he might have fallen asleep or he may have been distracted by a cell phone or radio.

Drunk driving is one of America’s deadliest crimes. In Tennessee in 2008, 327 people were killed in crashes where the driver 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, but even one death is too high of a rate.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your right and remedies.