Tennessee Automobile Accident Lawyer Comments On a Centerline Crossing Tennessee Highway Fatality
Distracted or Drunk?
Police and Firefighters gathered at a Firehouse for an emergency response meeting said that a recent Tennessee head-on collision in Mount Carmel, Tennessee jarred the building and was the worst head-on collision they had ever seen. As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney I have never seen a good head-on collision but inthis one the result was fatal for Patricia Menzel age-49.
According to the accident report and a report in the Kingsport Times-News, Ms. Menzel was driving along minding her own business when a car driven by Carol-Anne Starnes, age 25, traveling in the opposite direction, crossed the centerline and smashed head-on in the Menzel vehicle. Ms. Menzel was killed and Ms. Starnes is listed in good condition. My prayers go out to the family and friends of Ms. Menzel and Ms. Starnes, who has a lot of explaining to do.
What is it that makes a driver simply veer across the centerline and directly into an oncoming vehicle? Although the article does mention that charges are pending the result of the investigation, the article doesn’t mention whether Ms. Starnes had been consuming drugs or alcohol or she was simply distracted and took her eyes off of the road.
Distraction from the primary task of driving can present a serious and potentially deadly danger. In 2008, 5,870 people lost their lives and an estimated 515,000 people were injured in police-reported crashes in which at least one form of driver distraction was reported on the crash report.
While these numbers are significant, they may not state the true size of the problem, since the identification of the distraction and its role in the crash by law enforcement can be very difficult. One recent study concluded that eighty percent of all automobile accidents are caused by distracted drivers. One main distraction is a cell phone and investigators will be able to determine from phone records whether Ms. Starnes was using her cell phone or texting at or near the time of the crash.
If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a drunk or distracted driver you owe it to yourself to contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.
Phillip Miller is a Tennessee Accident Attorney specializing in
Phillip has an AVVO rating of 10.0 (Superb), has been designated as a “Superlawyer”, and is the President Elect of the Tennessee Association for Justice.
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