Watch Out For Others

Pursuant to the Tennessee Rules of the Road, when you are driving on an interstate highway and there is a vehicle sopped on the right shoulder, especially if the vehicle is an emergency responder, you are required, if safely possible, to move to the left lane of traffic.

Sunday night on I-40 in Cumberland County Tennessee a tractor-trailer driver did just that. She saw a vehicle stopped on the shoulder and proceeded to change lanes. When she successfully completed the change she observed a man standing directly in front of her truck. She had no time to take evasive action and ran over and killed the man.

Follow-up reports indicate that the New Orleans man committed suicide by stepping out in front of the truck. A note was found in his vehicle that said he intended to take his own life. My prayers go out to this man, whatever troubled him is no longer causing him pain. My prayers also go out to the driver of the tractor-trailer who was used as the instrument of this man’s suicide. I hope she finds peace.

The lesson here for Tennessee drivers is that no matter how safe you drive, no matter how you follow the rules of the road, you have to be always alert to the actions of the other guy.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by another driver, contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation.

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.