Posts Tagged ‘Children’

An east Tennessee car crash involving a tractor trailer has left 4 people dead including two children and two adults, one who was pregnant. The accident happened on Tennessee Highway 68, and county road 292.

The Tennessee Department of Safety is including the woman’s unborn baby as a victim in the case. The driver of the big rig escaped injury even after the cab of his truck caught fire, but all of the people in the car that was hit, were killed.
Our condolences to the family and loved ones for this terrible tragedy.

The facts we have are scant – and certainly trucks are entitled to be on the roadway, but what happened here?  Truck drivers are supposed to be professional drivers, and they are legally required to limit their driving time so they can be alert. That’s a rule that is often violated. Was that rule violated here? Was the car not visible from any of the truck’s mirrors? Did the driver look?
It can be scary out there. If you are around large trucks, don’t assume they are paying attention (as they should be) or using their mirrors (as they should be).

To learn more about transfer truck accidents, please click here.

1-800-377-HURT (4878)

www.seriousinjury.com

A Middle Tennessee woman was killed this past Monday, September 25th taking her son to school. The incident occurred on Highway 25, in Robertson County, around 7:25 a.m. When rescue patrol arrived at the scene, EMS said that it took a while to get the trapped woman out of her earlier model Camaro. Her son was rushed to Vanderbilt where he was listed in critical condition.

Reports are that the victim was traveling toward Springfield when she lost control, and hit another car. Our condolences go out to this woman’s family, this seems so random and without reason.

Why did this accident happen? We don’t know at this point. We know the weather wasn’t bad that day. The driver/mother wasn’t under the influence. Were there other distractions involved? We may never know.

Dozens of people are involved in car accidents in Tennessee daily due to driver distractions and speeding. You can click here to read more about them.

Please click here to learn about what you can do to avoid accidents.

1-800-377-HURT (4878)

www.seriousinjury.com

Two Nashville children were frightened by two dogs, and ran out into the road, where they were struck by a car. This Nashville car accident happened on West Trinity Lane. The police reports indicate that an 8 year old girl, and her 10 year old brother missed their bus and were walking to school. A Chihuahua and a beagle mix ran off of their owner’s porch toward the two children, scaring them into the street. When they got into the road, it was too late for a Pontiac Grand Prix to stop.

Ambulances were dispatched to the scene, and the children were taken to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, and admitted in critical condition. The driver of the car was not charged in connection with the crash. However, the owner of the two dogs was charged for letting the dogs run freely, and not having their rabies shots up to date.

So, how could this type of accident been avoided? Metro Davidson County has a “leash law” that prohibits owners from letting their dogs doing things exactly like this. Tennessee law also prohibits owners from letting their dogs run “at large”.  We don’t know what happened to the dogs’ owner, but let’s hope it was measured in part by the harm he/she caused.

1-800-377-HURT (4878)

www.seriousinjury.com

Sometimes research states the obvious, but sometimes the obvious is ignored or denied. Children who suffer some trauma, including victims of Tennesssee or Nashville automobile accidents, may experience personal injury and  post traumatic stress.

The “surprise” is that parents of a child in a Tennessee automobile accident may also experience post-traumatic stress. This is especially true if the child had a personal injury that required hospitalization. The pain experienced by a child, and the extent to which the child’s life was at risk, both made the parents’ stress worse.

If you or anyone you know has been killed or suffered a personal injury in Nashville car accident, please contact Nashville injury attorney Phillip Miller and the Tennessee car accident attorneys at Phillip Miller and Associates at (615) 356-2000, or contact our office online here. No matter what you do, before you settle your case with an insurance adjuster, read our materials on dealing with insurance adjusters first!

One last thing: If you are hurt and have any questions at all, contact our office at (615) 356-2000. Don’t delay. Cases involving personal injury or death in Tennessee must be acted on quickly. Time is running. Call for an appointment, if it’s bad enough that you need to read this far into a website blog, it’s bad enough to get an attorney involved. Contact us before you settle your case with an insurance adjuster!

Seatbelts make a difference in reducing personal injury in auto accidents. Although seatbelts have been required safety equipment in passenger cars since the 70’s, there is no such requirement for buses. Does it make sense that school buses in Tennessee or anywhere else should be operated without this kind of basic safety equipment? There have been arguments over the years that the rigid, closely spaced seating in school buses provides adequate protection and makes seatbelts unnecessary. School bus accidents are very serious events. Rigid closely placed seats do not protect students from lateral “t-bone” collisions (where they are knocked out of their seats) or from rear-end or rollover collisions. Rollover collisions are especially dangerous to school children who have nothing to keep them in their seats once the bus begins to roll. Finally, the Federal Department of Transportation is considering a requirement of seatbelts in buses, see their plan here.  The National Coalition for School Bus Safety has been adovcating for this for years. For more information from the National Coalition on School Bus Safety, click here. If seat belts reduce personal injury in auto accidents, don’t we want the same for our kids?

Car crashes and auto accidents where children are involved can be catastrophic. In a study published in Pediatrics, researchers studied more than 7000 crashes and found that children who were in a booster seat were 45% less likely to be injured than children who were in seat belts alone. The greatest reduction in injuries was in side impact collisions. While the overall reduction in injury risk was 45%, for nearside collisions the use of a booster seat reduced injury risk 68%. Booster seats are required (in most states) for children between the ages of 6 and 8. This study suggests that there is no difference (from a safety performance standpoint) between booster seats that have backs and those that do not have backs. Some older children in this range may think a backless booster is more acceptable than a booster that may resemble a child seat for a younger child. While your 6-8 year old may want to be “grown-up” and just use a seat belt, it is clearly a choice they should not be allowed to make. For information about child seat guidelines and airbag risks to children, click here.