Share the Road Safely

As an experienced Nashville auto accident attorney I have seen a whole array of different highway collisions, but I can only remember a few that involved a tractor-trailer and a horse-drawn buggy. A collision like that can’t ever have a happy ending.

Hopkinsville Kentucky Police are investigating a Friday evening collision between a tractor-trailer and an Amish horse and buggy that left a 3-year-old little girl dead.

Police say the child was a passenger in her family’s horse and buggy on Highway 41-A, a four- lane highway with a grassy median. The child was killed instantly when an 18-wheeler, driven northbound on Highway 41-A, by a 52-year-old man, from Robinson, Illinois struck the buggy. The truck had just left the Wal-Mart distribution center. The highway does have signs warning of horse and buggy travelers.

The police report and local media went on to say that the truck driver failed field sobriety tests, and was deemed under the influence of a drug, or narcotic. Police believe that lab results from blood and urine tests will give them a precise and more scientific idea of what foreign substance might have been in the truckers system at the moment of impact.

The driver of the tractor-trailer told police he glanced down to get a cigarette at the precise moment he came upon the horse and buggy he rear-ended. In a media report out of Nashville it appears that the Commonwealth Attorney plans to charge the trucker with murder, driving under the influence, three counts of assault, first degree, and criminal mischief.

The rest of the child’s family, her father, mother and teenage sister are all being treated at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville.

The principal concern regarding drugged driving is that driving under the influence of any drug that acts on the brain will impair one’s motor skills, reaction time, and judgment. Drugged driving is a public health concern because it puts not only the driver at risk, but also passengers and others who share the road.

As an experienced Tennessee tractor-trailer accident attorney I can tell you that it takes less than 2 seconds of taking your eyes and mind off of your driving before you can lose control of whatever vehicle you are driving and crash.

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.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee tractor-trailer crash caused by a drugged driver you owe it to yourself to contact the experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to find out about your rights and remedies. Call 615-356-2000.

Rash Of Interstate Tractor-Trailer Accidents

As an experienced Tennessee personal injury lawyer, I monitor highway traffic accidents across the state, and I am seeing a serious number of tractor-trailer accidents on and off the interstate highways. One thing I noticed about the recent articles in local media sources is that the age of the truck drivers in a number of these wrecks exceeds 68 years of age. Now don’t get me wrong, I think that a person ought to be able to work as long as they want but when it comes to piloting an 80,00 lb. rocket down a busy interstate highway, it’s an issue we ought to scrutinize.

I’m wondering out loud whether the sour economy is forcing drivers to continue to work when they are past the age of safety. As we age we lose some of our physical and mental skills that might have served us well in our younger years. Another problem is medication, that may affect the drivers ability to go for long hours without becoming drowsy.

Reference a recent accident in Dooley County Georgia, just south of the Tennessee in which a Tennessee man driving a converted school bus along I-75 around 4 AM was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer causing to to depart the highway where it crashed head-on into a tree killing the driver.

The truck driver was 71-years-old and he told the highway patrol that he just came up on the school bus quicker than he predicted. An experienced Tennessee tractor-trailer lawyer would investigate the 12 hours leading up to this tragic collision. How long had the truck driver been on the road, was he taking medication, what was his medical history, and driving record.

As I’ve said many times, when you are involved in an accident with a trucking company vehicle time is of the essence and you ought to get an experienced tractor trailer lawyer on the case as soon as possible. The trucking company will have it’s investigators on the scene within an hour or so of the collision.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee tractor-trailer accident you owe it to your self to contact the experienced Board Certified civil trial lawyers like you will find at Phillip Miller & Associates and put them to work for you.