Posts Tagged ‘Death’

A Tennessee man was killed in a single vehicle automobile accident while driving west on I-24 early on October 3^rd. According to officials, his pickup truck rolled over on an interstate exit ramp in Davidson County after he had lost control. The truck flipped at least one time before it landed back upright. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. The passenger riding with him was hospitalized with minor injuries. The exit ramp was closed for about three hours, while the emergency crews cleaned the debris. Our sympathies go out to the driver’s family and friends.

This is a tragedy to them and should be to all of us. The unfortunate tendency is to always blame the driver for any car wreck in Tennessee. Was this Tennessee car accident unavoidable? Were the injuries from this accident avoidable? Investigators believe that the driver may have been traveling at a high rate of speed, and we have no information to the contrary. Maybe that was the cause. Speed is a factor in many fatalities from car accidents in Tennessee and across the U.S. (for more information about speed as a factor in fatalities, click here).

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A driver of a pick up truck was driving on Bell Road in Nashville around 7:45 p.m. in early September, when he struck a pedestrian and fled the scene. The young lady he hit was heading home from Percy Priest Lake here in Nashville, when she was carelessly run over. Her sister was on the way to pick her up, and saw the accident unfold. The passenger of the pick up truck in this later returned to the scene, and told officers who the driver was, and told officers that he pled with the driver to go back after the truck hit this young woman.

It is alleged that the two people in the truck were drinking before the accident. After the accident was aired on News channels, the driver turned himself in. He was later released on bond. The young woman struck in this collision later died in a Nashville hospital.

This is another sad case of what drunk driving can do to yourself, and families. You not only can destroy your life, but another’s in seconds. The family of the 22-year-old young woman now wants to know why the man responsible was able to leave with no charges, still with his license. Drunk driving is the cause of thousands of fatalities each year, (for more information about fatalities linked to drunk driving, click here). The criminal justice system is only part of the solution to this problem, as you can see by what has happened here. For example, can we be sure that this driver isn’t driving today? Suing these kinds of drivers makes sense and sends a message that you can’t walk away by paying a fine, attending classes, and spending a few days in jail.

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A woman has been killed in a Nashville car accident on I-40. The woman was heading west on I-40 when she lost control of her car and slid from the right side of the interstate into the median guard rail. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Police officials say that she was not wearing her seat belt and was thrown from the driver seat to the back seat of the car, resulting in her fatal injuries. Officials also say that had she been wearing her seat belt, this could have been avoided.

According to The Naval Safety Center, Only 1% of passengers who were restrained were ejected from their seats during a car crash. Of those ejected, 73% were killed. And for the survivors of an automobile accident, medical costs are on average 50% more expensive for those who aren’t wearing seat belts.

The real question here is why did this lady lose control? It doesn’t appear that the Nashville Metro Police had any clues, but someone may have seen this happen.  If you were a witness to this event, contact our Nashville law office or the Nashville Metro Police with your information.

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Each winter people are killed quickly and silently by carbon monoxide. The carbon monoxide (often referred to with its chemical abbreviation CO) generally comes from a poorly vented heating device. It could be a kerosene heater, a gas heater, or even a hot water heater. Older people and those on limited income are often victims, as are those who are trying to save something on their electric bill. The problem is that people often assume that if there is a gas, that there will be some smell like there is with natural gas (which has a scent added to it for safety). They victims often just fall asleep and don’t wake up. Warnings by the manufacturer of the heating device may be non-existent or inadequate, or the venting may be inadequate. The best advice is to ventilate the heated space with fresh air -but when it’s cold that’s the last thing people think of doing. For a detailed fact sheet on carbon monoxide risks, click here.

Ian McCllelan, a 29 year old man from Columbia, Tennessee was driving the wrong way on I-40 near McCrory Lane. It was 2 a.m. on May 6, 2009. Mr. McClellan had been arrested twice in Alabama for driving under the influence, and had pled guilty to DUI charges in both 2006 and 2007.  Driving west bound Katie Kerr from White Bluff had no way of knowing what was coming toward her. She saw Mr. McClellan’s Jeep Cherokee with enough time to lock up her brakes and leave 40 feet of skidmarks before impact. There was no indication of braking from Mr. McClellan’s Jeep.  Ms. Kerr had her seatbelt on, and her airbag deployed. Unfortunately, it was not enough – she was declared dead at the scene.  Three hours later when Mr. McClellan was interviewed by officers at Vanderbilt University Hospital, he still smelled like alcohol. He was charged with vehicular homicide.

We sue drunk drivers. Unfortunately, the criminal system is often not enough by itself to stop people like this. Mr. McClellan had 2 DUI convictions before this happened, and had likely driven under the influence many times when he wasn’t caught. One of the real benefits of suing people like Mr. McClellan is that it can contribute to keeping him out of the driver’s seat. He will go to jail for this death, but that is cold comfort to the family of Katie Kerr.

While it is easy to blame this irresponsible drunk driver, there is more here than that. This jeep was not titled to this driver.  Did the owner know that Ian was driving his/her jeep?  Did he/she know this driver had a history of multiple DUI’s ?

DUI victims cannot rise from the grave to ask these questions, but someone should. If this were our case, the owner of this jeep would be in the hot seat for a long, long time.