Teen Driver Dies

According to local news reports an 18-year-old Cookeville teenager was killed in a traffic crash on the Gainesboro Grade in Jackson County on Wednesday afternoon. Three passengers, a 39-year-old woman, an 80-year-old man, and a 57-year-old woman, all of Gainesboro, Tennessee were injured.

The facts of the accident are confusing, at best. It appears that the teen driver was driving westbound in the eastbound lane and crashed head-on into an oncoming van. The driver was not wearing his seatbelt. The three people in the van were all injured but the report doesn’t describe their injuries.

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney, I’ll have to say, I’m confused and have lots of questions. The main question is why was the young driver in the wrong lane, followed by why he was not wearing his seatbelt. I’ll keep up with this story and try to gather more facts. Was he passing another car? Was he somehow incapacitated by a medical problem? Was he distracted in some way?

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Nashville automobile accident contact the experienced Tennessee auto accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation. Call 615-356-2000.

Intersection Crash

According to the Tennessee Rules of the Road, when you are sitting at a green light that doesn’t have a protected left turn arrow, you are required to wait and yield the right of way to oncoming vehicles. In this kind of situation green doesn’t mean go, it means wait until the oncoming traffic has cleared.

Unfortunately for a Springfield, Tennessee man, he failed to yield and the error cost him his life. According to local media sources the driver had a green light but he turned into oncoming traffic and hit an SUV head-on. The man was pronounced at a local hospital and three other people were injured but their injuries were considering non-life threatening. Our prayers go out to the family and friends of the deceased and to the injured for a speedy and complete recovery.

If you or a loved one are injured or killed in an accident like this, contact the experienced Tennessee auto accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates, and take advantage of a free consultation. Call 615-356-2000.

Interstate Driving Is Different

One of the things I have learned about teen drivers is that their lack of hands on experience with interstate driving can and often does turn fatal. One of the most important rules of interstate driving is that a driver must be aware of all vehicles near them. This requires a driver to constantly be using your mirrors and judging speeds and distance of these other vehicles.

This past week, a teen driver was piloting a Dodge Durango on I-24 at Exit 31, just north of Nashville. At the last second the teen driver swerved to avoid a piece of blown-out tire and hit a tractor-trailer loaded with ethanol. The collision caused both vehicles to go out of control and leave the roadway to the right.

The tractor-trailer rolled over and spilled the content of it’s cargo onto the roadway and into a stream. It is truly a miracle that neither the truck driver, the Durango driver or his passenger were seriously injured.

Interstate driving is different and if you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Nashville interstate accident you ought to consider contacting the experienced Tennessee auto accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates to learn about your rights and remedies.

A recent study done by the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention, found that drivers older than 65 were half as likely to notice pedestrians near or moving toward the street as were experienced drivers between the ages of 28 and 45. Even though older drivers have much more experience behind the wheel, apparently older drivers, according to the study, have a narrower field of vision than younger drivers and this causes them to miss developments at curbside and on sidewalks that could negatively impact their relationship with pedestrians.

The difference is significant, with drivers 65 and old being half as likely to see pedestrians moving toward the street than younger drivers. Using a driving simulator, researchers found that those older than 65 tapped on their brakes in response to a “roadside hazard” about half as often, suggesting either that they did not see it or that they did not consider it something they needed to attend to.

On a positive note the study found that older drivers drive more slowly — about 20 percent more slowly, perhaps to compensate for shortcomings in their peripheral vision and attention. The lesson for Tennessee drivers is that we should recognize that older drivers see the road differently and that we should give them plenty of road room when we encounter one.

If you have parents or loved one you might want to discuss this study with them and encourage them to take due precautions when they drive. If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee roadway accident caused by an elderly driver, you owe it to yourself to contact the experienced Tennessee auto accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies.

Drunk Drivers are Dangerous Drivers

As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney I’ve heard plenty of strange drunk driving stories but this might take the case. Smith County Sheriff Department deputies had been alerted to a possible drunk driver.

While looking for the driver, Deputy Jerry Hickman was cruising along a stretch of highway when the drunk driver pulled out of a side road directly in front of Deputy Hickman’s cruiser causing a serious collision.

Deputy Hickman suffered broken ribs and an injured knee, and was released from the hospital that same evening. The drunk driver was flown to Vanderbilt MC in critical condition. We wish both the officer and the drunk driver  a quick and speedy recovery.

This accident is a good example of the dangers that these brave men and women of law enforcement face everyday when they take to the highways and byways of Tennessee.

If you see a person you believe is driving drunk, take a second to pull over and report what you saw to the police.

If you are injured or killed in a Nashville accident caused by a drunk driver contact the experienced Tennessee auto accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.

Look and Signal Before You Change Lanes

A lane change into the path of a tractor-trailer leaves the passenger of a pickup truck dead, the driver hospitalized in critical condition. A 46-year-old woman was driving a pickup truck along I-40 in Jefferson County Tennessee when she made a quick, and unadvised lane change.

She cut off a tractor-trailer that had the right of way and the driver of the truck was unable to avoid hitting the pickup. The passenger, a 45-year-old Parrotsville Tennessee woman was pronounced at the scene.

Traffic on interstates usually moves more safely and efficiently because access is controlled. There are no stop signs, no railroad crossings and no traffic lights. Interstates usually have few steep hills or sharp curves to limit the view of the road ahead. Limited access or controlled access means that drivers enter or leave the roadway only at entrances and exits, called interchanges, without ever crossing the path of other traffic. Interstates and divided highways have largely removed the chance of head-on collisions.

Interstate driving requires good skills and habits so you can safely get where you are going. Safe use of the interstates demands a complete awareness of a higher speed type of driving and constant alertness by the driver. The lane change rule on interstate highways is simple, look first, and signal, before you make the change.

For this and other Tennessee highway safety tips visit the web site of the experienced Tennessee auto accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates. If you are involved in a serious Tennessee auto accident give us a call at 615-356-2000.

Get This Guy Off Of The Street

I’ve been a Tennessee automobile accident lawyer for several decades and I’m still amazed at the stupid things people do when they are behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.

Before I get into the facts of the accident I need to point out that the driver of the offending vehicle has had his driver’s license suspended and is a habitual motor vehicle offender for his past transgressions.

So, here is this habitual motor vehicle offender, and in Tennessee we have far too many of them, fails to keep his pickup truck under control and slams into the rear-end of a stopped vehicle. This crash set into motion a six-car wreck. Fortunately no one was seriously injured.

To compound his problems this fellow then jumps put of his vehicle and flees the scene of this motor vehicle accident. Is this guy going to ever make a correct decision? He is prohibited from operating a motor vehicle yet he gets behind the wheel. He fails to maintain control of his motor vehicle and wrecks some cars and then flees the scene, all really stupid decisions.

Finally he decides to turn himself into the authorities, a good decision, so maybe all is not lost. It’s time for this guy to be taken off of the road for good and if that means jailing him, so be it, but get him off the road.

The problem that arises in Tennessee automobile accidents like this is this guy, and others like him will not have insurance, and in order to recover damages from him an innocent driver will have to rely on their own uninsured motorist policy to collect.

There are things that can be done and if you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee motor vehicle accident like this one contact the experienced Tennessee auto accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation.