Tennessee Teen Killed In Automobile Tractor-Trailer Collision
Teen Fatality
As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney I have seen a lot of pain and sadness in families that have experienced the loss of a loved one in an automobile accident. Although every life is valuable the life of a teenager, a young child with so much to live for is especially hard.
Today two families, and indeed, a whole community is morning the death of a teen-aged girl who was killed when she pulled out from a stop sign into the path of an oncoming tractor-trailer truck. The 17-year-old driver, who would have been 18 on December 26, was killed and her passenger who had just turned 18 on the day of the accident is now in Vanderbilt Medical Center in critical but stable condition. The tractor-trailer driver was injured and transported to a local hospital. My sympathies and prayers go out to the families and friends of both of these young women, and also to the truck driver.
According to an article on the website of the Shelbyville Times-Gazette the teenager’s car was turning left onto Highway 231 when she was struck by the tractor-trailer. The question that will be asked over and over by her family and friends is “How did she not see the truck?” The answer may well be one that is defining numerous other fatal inTennessee automobile accidents involving teenagers. The answer is that she was somehow distracted and wasn’t paying attention to the task at hand.
Recent studies show that youths 15 to 20 years old represented 9 percent of the U.S. population in 2007 and 6 percent of the licensed drivers; however, 19 percent of the fatalities in the United States in 2007 were related to young-driver crashes. Approximately two-thirds of the people killed in fatal young-driver crashes are the young drivers themselves or the passengers (of all ages) of the young drivers. Of the passengers killed riding in vehicles with young drivers, 67 percent are in the same 15-to-20-year-old age group as the drivers. Fifty-six percent of the fatal crashes and 57 percent of the fatalities involving young drivers occur on rural roadways.
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, talking, adjusting radios and other electronic devices.and drowsiness.
If we are going to change this terrible trend is is up to the political, educational, law enforcement agencies and most of all the parents of teenage drivers to teach them the dangers of distracted driving. Teenage drivers are inexperienced drivers, and as a wise man once said, “The problem of experience as a teacher is that you get the test first and the lesson after.” Please teach your children the dangers of driving and be a good example to them as you drive. Educate yourself and pass it on.
If you or a loved one is killed or injured in a Nashville automobile accident caused by a teen-aged driver you owe it to yourself to take advantage of a free consultation with the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates to 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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