Avoid Distractions

A wreck Saturday afternoon on Highway 28 in Anderson County killed two people. State Troopers said a 2000 Chevrolet Malibu was trying to cross Highway 28 at the Hayes road intersection and pulled out in front of a tractor-trailer. Investigators will have to try to figure out what so distracted the driver of the car, that he didn’t see the oncoming tractor-trailer.

More crashes happen at intersections than at any other place. Intersections constitute a very small part of rural and urban street/highway systems, yet they are implicated in 31.9 percent of all motor vehicle crashes and 15.5 percent of all fatal crashes (2004 NHTSA data). Be very careful when approaching any intersection or driveway. Never assume another driver will yield the right-of-way to you. Wait until the coast is clear and always be prepared to stop.

The Tennessee Rules of the Road suggest that when you approach an intersection you should use a technique called “Traffic Checks”. “Traffic checks” is the process of looking frequently and carefully for vehicle traffic approaching from each direction. “Traffic checks” is especially important when merging or changing lanes AND when approaching and crossing intersections.

Preventing injuries and deaths at intersections should be a high priority for towns and cities. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that in 2005 alone, nearly 9,200 people died and approximately one million people were injured in intersection-related crashes which account for approximately 40-45 percent of all crashes.

If you or a loved one is junjured or killed in a Nashville intersection collision contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates. The best law firms will provide a free consultation. We provide a free, confidential consultation to not at fault persons named in this article. The free consultation offer extends to family members as well.

Police Negligence

A recent automobile accident in East Ridge, Tennessee raises some interesting questions about the liability of local police for a accident which left a man in serious condition at a Chattanooga hospital. East Ridge police responded Tuesday evening to reports of a tractor-trailer wedged inside the tunnel on Ringgold Road.

Officers arrived on the scene and closed Ringgold Road at South Seminole Drive to assist in the removal of the truck. About 20 minutes after officers had closed the road, a gray Chevrolet Monte Carlo drove around officers and entered the tunnel.

One of the officers jumped into his patrol vehicle and attempted to catch up to the Monte Carlo to stop him from possibly hitting the truck or emergency workers inside. Apparently the officer set off at a high rate of speed and as he rounded a curve, the Monte Carlo was stopped and he slammed into the vehicle.

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney, I have several questions. If police didn’t want other vehicles to enter the tunnel, why didn’t they have officers there to prevent vehicles from passing through? If the officers were concerned that the vehicle would injure emergency workers in the tunnel, why did the officer tear off at such a high speed?

I am not representing the injured man, but if I was I would certainly be calling on the City of East Ridge to answer these questions. This accident, from start to finish, looks to me like it was caused by negligent police work.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee car accident caused by a negligent police officer, or other governmental official, seeking recovery can be a bit tricky and you will need an experienced Tennessee automobile accident lawyer to successfully pursue that claim. You can find lawyers like this at Phillip Miller & Associates. Call 615-356-2000.

Distracted Driver

A Knoxville man and a woman passenger in his car were seriously injured in a crash the other day when he crossed over the centerline of the highway and sideswiped a tractor-trailer. According to local media reports the truck driver tried to avoid the collision as the SUV was coming into his lane, but his options were limited.

The out-of-control SUV began to spin and left the roadway. Emergency crews had to work to extract the driver who was trapped in the vehicle. In this case, since both the driver and passenger survived, investigators might be able to determine what caused the driver to drift out of his lane.

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney my first thought is that the driver was distracted, either by talking to his passenger, or while using a cell phone to talk or text.

Distraction from the primary task of driving could present a serious and potentially deadly danger. There has been increased attention on the danger of distracted driving recently, specifically on the dangers of cell phone use and texting while driving.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee car crash by a distracted driver or a case like the present one that will require and experienced Tennessee automobile accident lawyer contact the lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies.

Pay Attention To The Road Ahead

The photograph of the accident tells the story of the death of a Baxter, Tennessee man who was killed the other day on I-40 in Smith Country Tennessee. The 28-year-old man slammed into the rear-end of a tractor-trailer that had stopped due to traffic backed up because of another accident.

Local media sources say that there was no evidence that the man tried to stop. Weather conditions may have played a roll, it was dark and raining with high winds, but my experience as a Tennessee personal injury lawyer tells me that the driver was somehow distracted and simply wasn’t paying attention to the traffic in front of him.

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.

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.

There are several driving events, such as rain, snow and ice and darkness, that require intense concentration by the driver. A driver must always be on the defensive—thinking about what other drivers might do AND be prepared to respond with proper reactions. In addition, certain conditions, especially bad weather, trigger the need for special knowledge and skills.

The lesson here for Tennessee drivers is that while driving on the interstate highway a driver, no matter the time or conditions of the road must stay alert to the traffic in front and alongside of your vehicle and avoid distractions at all costs.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee interstate highway accident, contact the experienced Nashville auto accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to determine your rights and remedies.

What Casued the Distraction?

A 43-year-old Tennessee woman died yesterday morning as the result of a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer on US 41-A. My prayers go out to the family and friends of this unfortunate woman. Since she was driving alone we will probably never really know what caused her to be distracted from keeping her eyes on the road and causing her to cross the centerline and slam into an oncoming tractor-trailer.

Whenever you see an accident, usually involving one car that leaves the road, an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney starts thinking about driver distractions. Just what was the driver doing moments before the crash that caused his/her vehicle to go off the highway? What caused the driver to change focus from driving to other things?

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.  Primary causes of driver inattention are distracting activities, such as cell phone use, and drowsiness.

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.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a distracted driver you owe it to yourself to contact the experienced Nashville 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.

Would Seat Belts Have Made A Difference?

Even with the decades of experience as a Tennessee tractor-trailer accident lawyer I am having a hard time understanding how a fatal one-car collision in Greene County Tennessee happened. It appears that a tractor-trailer was turning left onto US Highway 11A and had almost completed the turn into the right lane when a Honda driven by a 27-year-old man in the left lane struck the rear end of the trailer.

The man in the Honda was not wearing his seatbelt and as the car spun around in the median he was ejected onto the roadway. The local media report doesn’t mention anything that could have obstructed the drivers vision, and it’s hard to understand how the driver didn’t see the tractor-trailer in front of him.

Under those circumstances, it appears that the driver was either speeding or was somehow distracted. My prayers go out to the family and friends of the driver. It is up to each of us, when we are behind the wheel of a motor vehicle to keep our attention on the road ahead and the road around us at all times.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee tractor-trailer accident you owe it to your family to contact the experienced Nashville truck accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies.

Stop Sign Runner Dies

A 49-year-old Glade Spring man ran a stop sign just before 3 p.m. A tractor-trailer on the cross street, which does not have a stop sign, plowed into the driver’s side of his Buick Century in the middle of the intersection. The truck pushed the Buick 30 feet down the road and into an oncoming van.

The driver died on scene. His passenger, a 51-year-old woman, was taken to Bristol Regional Medical Center in serious condition. No one else was injured. The Bristol Virginia Fire Department used the Jaws of Life to extract the passenger seat, cut up the carpet and remove the Buick’s black box.

One of the first thing Tennessee drivers learn when they begin to study for their drivers license is the road signs that warn and guide drivers on the way to respond at certain places along the road. The octagon shape means stop. This sign is the only eight-sided sign on the highway. It always means that there is danger. It will always be red with white lettering. It tells you that you are approaching an important street or highway and that you must bring your car to a complete stop, not going beyond the crosswalk. IF you cannot see, then proceed cautiously to a point where you can see, and then go only if you can do so safely.

Something distracted this man from paying attention to what he was doing. Whatever that something was lead to his death. Our prayers are out to the friends and family of this man and our wishes for a quick and complete recovery.

If you or a loved one is seriously injured or killed in a Nashville automobile accident caused by a driver who fails to stop at a stop sign contact the experienced Nashville auto accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.

Pedestrian Fatality

I have often written about the need to hire an experienced Nashville automobile accident if you are the victim of what appears on first glance to be the result of a negligent driver. In order to be compensated for your lost, both for property damage and personal injury you have to show two things, that the driver of the other car was negligent and the negligence was the cause of your loss.

The job of an experienced Tennessee car crash lawyer is to prove exactly that. Some cases are easy to prove while others maybe not so easy. Reference a recent collision in which two Pikeville Kentucky pedestrians were walking along, minding their own business when they were run down and killed by an out of control tractor-trailer truck.

According to a report on the website of WYMI-TV The driver turned the truck to avoid hitting a building and hit the pedestrians instead. According to police, after an initial investigation they determined that the problem was caused by a mechanical failure in the truck itself. At first glance it might appear to a lay person that it wasn’t the driver’s fault. He did the best he could but the trucks failure made it impossible for his to prevent hitting the pedestrians.

An experienced Nashville automobile accident lawyer would look at the situation through a different pair of glasses, finding out whether there was, in fact, a mechanical failure. Was the mechanical problem known to the driver and or the trucking company and had they made reasonable attempts to repair the problem. They would determine whether the truck had been properly maintained.

There are a number of steps that an experienced Tennessee car accident lawyer like those you will find at Phillip Miller & Associates. If you or a loved one is involved in an automobile accident give us a call and take advantage of a free consultation to determine your rights and remedies.

New Federal Rule on Airbrakes in Trucks will save lives

A new federal rule that goes into effect in November will decrease stopping distance requirements for heavy truck tractors, and that’s a good thing (but read “the rest of the story”).

The rule requires new heavy truck tractors to achieve a 30 percent reduction in stopping distance from current levels.

Presently, stopping distance requirements for air-braked buses is 280 feet, while air-braked single unit trucks must stop within 310 feet and air-braked truck tractors must stop within 355 feet.

For heavy trucks, the amended standard (click here) would require vehicles to stop by no more than 250 feet when loaded to their gross vehicle weight rating and tested at a speed of 60 mph, and within 235 feet when lightly loaded. Some service tractors would have a stopping distance requirement of 310 feet under the same conditions.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration these enhanced braking systems will save 227 lives annually and prevent 300 serious injuries each year. According to the Federal Register, improved brakes in tractor-trailers will prevent over $169 million in property damage each year.

Compliance with the rule (improving air brake performance) can be done with existing systems already on the market. Unfortunately, although the rule goes into effect in November 2009, compliance isn’t required for tractor trailers until August 2013.  What this means is that many owners and operators will wait until 2013 to make these improvements to their trucks, and that means years of unnecessary deaths, injuries, and damage even though the technology exists today to make trucks safer.