Posts Tagged ‘Safety Regulations’

In April of 2010, a young man, his first year out of high school, was killed in a car accident on HWY 41. His accident occured in Davidson county, however, Robertson county rescue was closer to the scene. He waited for the Davidson county rescue, and ultimately, lost his life.

His mother is furious. She, and so many others, want to know why Robertson county officals weren’t informed, or allowed to go in after this accident. Less than 5 months later, another accident happened just 10-20 feet away from where the first accident occured. This time man the victim was a motorcyclist. The same problem arose as he waited for the Davidson County rescue, he also lost his life. His passenger was critically injured.

The problem here isn’t always the roads. The thing we should be looking at, is why people are dying on the streets, when rescue is less than two miles away, but can’t respond due to county jurisdictions. It’s terribly said what has happened to these two men, and we are very sympathetic toward thier families.

There should be work on this system.. Work that allows neighboring counties to respond to potentially deadly accidents. Please click here, to learn more about Tennessee auto accidents..

1-800-377-HURT (4878)

www.seriousinjury.com

Monday, October 4^th, a Tennessee driver in a truck crashed into the home of a Clarksville, Tennessee family on Vanleer Street.
It is reported that the driver was “spinning” his tires in the street. He let go of the brakes by accident’ fell to the side, and the truck crashed into the house.

A mother and two children were in the house in Clarksville at the time of the incident. The family escaped any immediate physical injuries, however, the crash left the bricks of their home scattered and huge cracks in the cinder block foundation, and the entire wall leaning over.  I think they may get a little nervous after this whenever they hear squealing tires, whether inside a house or not.

After the accident, the driver got back into his vehicle, and fled the scene. Was he another Tennessee DUI driver or doing drugs?

Near residents say that there are usually kids playing in the yards of this neighborhood. It is very fortunate that no one was injured, or worse, in this accident. Boneheads like this one are a menace to innocent people and themselves. This level of immaturity and stupidity in any driver is unacceptable. Statistics show that drivers that are being careless, or just not paying close enough attention are 56% more apt to cause an accident, see here. Warrants have now been issued for the driver of the truck, but my concern is that the message won’t get through – there will be a deal and some fines and this bonehead will be back on the road again. Warrants have now been issued for the driver of the truck.

1-800-377-HURT (4878)

www.seriousinjury.com

Around 1 am Wednesday, October 6, a young couple was killed in a car accident around the Rivergate Mall, in Madison, TN. The accident occurred on Gallatin Road at the Alta Loma intersection. A man driving a pickup truck hit the couple’s Sebring and he has been charged with driving under the influence. The passenger of the pick up truck had minor injuries. Officials found several beer cans in the cab of the truck. The two young people in the car were pronounced dead at the scene, the two had been dating a little over a week.

Our condolences go out to the families of these two young adults. This accident could have been avoided, had this careless driver not have been behind the wheel drunk (see here for more information on drunk driving collisions in Tennessee). It is not immediately apparent how the accident occurred, other than the truck crashed into the driver side of the car. Officials have ordered blood tests on everyone involved in the accident, and more charges may be filed after the results come in. The driver of the truck was not only driving under the influence, but was behind the wheel with a revoked license. One of the victims father saw the news reports that fit the description of his daughter’s car, and sent his son, her brother, to the scene, to find that his sister was one of the deceased.

The young woman was attending Vol State for Nursing, and had a bright future ahead of her. The two young people’s lives have been cut short due to the carelessness of one drunk driver. Our condolences go out to the families of these two young adults. This accident could have been avoided, had this careless driver not have been behind the wheel drunk, and without a valid license.

1-800-377-HURT (4878)

1-800-377-HURT (4878)

www.seriousinjury.com

Around 4:00 p.m. on June 28^th, a 25-year-old Nashville man was driving an Explorer and was moving from one lane to the other to pass through the slower moving traffic on Briley Parkway in Nashville, Tennessee. He soon lost control on the wet road, and slid and rolled over. The man was not wearing his seat belt and was ejected from his car, where he died at the scene.

Our sympathies go out to this young man’s family and friends. This was a pointless, unnecessary death and I am sure they are suffering from this loss. Is there anything that can be learned from this kind of accident? A couple of things maybe: First, wet roads present a much greater risk to drivers than they think (click here for more info). Dropping your speed, regardless of your vehicle, tires, or handling is the smart thing to do. Second, even if this crash was unavoidable, would this young Nashville man have died if he were wearing a seat belt?

According to the National Traffic Safety Administration, fifty-five percent of people killed in car accidents were not wearing seat belts (see here). The numbers for car wrecks in Nashville aren’t any different. The unasked question has to do with this young man’s age. His greatest risk of death at this age is from a car accident. Statistics prove it (see here). What are we doing about it? The smart thing would be to restrict vehicle use among young men under 30 – that alone would save tens of thousands of lives, and hundreds of deaths in Tennessee from car accidents.

1-800-377-HURT (4878)

www.seriousinjury.com

Two Beech High School students have died as a result of a car crash involving two cars on Friday, August 6 on Long Hollow Pike around 3:30 according to The Hendersonville Star News.

Two boys were both riding in a 1993 Toyota, that was driven by one of the boy’s older brother, when the car crossed the center line and  hit another Eastbound vehicle according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol’s report.

The boy who was riding in the front passenger seat, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, and the other was sent to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital and was in critical condition. The 15-year-old died on Friday according to the Davidson County Medical Examiner’s Office.

37-year-old Jennifer W. was the other driver that was involved in the crash, and was injured and transported to Hendersonville Medical Center, and has since been released.

According to the report, none of the three teenagers riding in the 1993 Toyota were wearing their seatbelts, but Willingham had been wearing hers.

Our sympathy goes out to the families of the teens involved in this tragedy, and this is yet another example of the dangers of not wearing a safety belt.

According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), they estimate that 15,383 lives were saved by seat belts in 2006, and from 1975 to 2006, safety belts have saved the lives of 226,567 people.

Unfortunately, one out of every four Americans still do not wear their seat belts! Many of these crash related deaths, like these two teenagers, could be avoided with the simple act of buckling up.

A copy of the official police report may be obtained by contacting:

1-800-377-HURT (4878)

www.seriousinjury.com

A wreck that occurred around 3 p.m. on Sunday August 8 on North Greenhill Road in Mt. Juliet took the life of a 16 year old girl, according to The Wilson Post.

She was a junior at Wilson Central High School, was a passenger in the 2003 Mercury Mountaineer pickup at the time of the wreck, and according to police she was not wearing her seat belt.

The 17 year old driver of the car, also a female, was wearing her safety belt and survived the crash. According to police, the driver crossed over the center line and then overcorrected, causing the truck to lose control.

The girl was thrown from the vehicle during the incident and landed about 90 feet from the road. According to the Wilson Post, she was transported to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, but died at 6:34 p.m. that evening.

“The driver of the vehicle wore her seatbelt while the passengers did not,” said Trooper Bill Fitzgerald of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, according to the report.

Approximately 35,000 people die in automobile accidents each year, and about 50 percent of these victims could have been saved if they had been wearing a seat belt.

Drivers and passengers are also 25 times more likely to be killed or gravely injured when they are thrown from the automobile that when remain in the vehicle.

This is a sad, sad thing for the family of this young woman. Our sympathy goes out to the family of the victim, and we can only hope that this can serve as a reminder to others to always fasten your seat belt when driving or riding in a motor vehicle.

A copy of the official police report may be obtained by contacting:

1-800-377-HURT (4878)

www.seriousinjury.com

Car accidents in Tennessee are a fact of life, but serious injury and death can be avoided when seat belts are used.

Although seat belts are mandatory safety equipment, and are present in any vehicle involved in a Tennessee auto accident, they are not always in use at the time of the collision.

It’s not that Tennessee drivers haven’t improved, they have. In 2002 about 66% of Tennessee drivers wore their seatbelts (according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration).  In 2009 seatbelt use was up to 80%!

Unfortunately, the national average for seatbelt use is 84%. In Texas, 93% of drivers are belted – 90% in Alabama. Why do so many more drivers in Texas and Alabama use their seat belts?  I have no idea.  We have had a “click or ticket” ad  and enforcement program in place for several years – so it’s hard to believe that Tennessee drivers don’t know about the importance of seat belts. For a closer look at the NHTSA data, click here.

If you or anyone you know has been injured or killed in a Nashville  car accident, please contact Nashville injury attorney Phillip Miller and the Tennessee  personal injury attorneys at Phillip Miller and Associates at (615) 356-2000, or contact our office online here.

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.

Construction zones cause thousands of auto accidents and personal injuries every year and they cause their share of auto accidents and personal injuries in Tennessee as well. Nationally there are over 11,000 people injured in auto accidents that occur in construction zones and more than 800 deaths (click here for data from Federal Highway Administration).

There are regulations for “traffic control” in construction zones, the so called Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, and those rules apply to construction zones in Nashville or anywhere else in Tennessee. Unfortunately, the rules are too often not followed or enforced and when that happens people inevitably are in serious car wrecks with personal injuries. Knowing the rules exist is the first step for a lawyer handling construction zone accidents.

If you or anyone you know has been killed or suffered a personal injury in Tennessee, please contact Nashville injury attorney Phillip Miller and the Tennessee personal injury attorneys at Phillip Miller and Associates at (615) 356-2000, or contact our office online here.

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.

Auto accidents in Tennessee can be caused by what are often routine traffic manuvers. U-turns are done thousands of times every day, usually without incident, but they can also be the cause of auto accidents and personal injury. The problem is that they are very hazardous manuevers both to the driver executing the U turn and to any oncoming traffic.

The key for any driver is to keep a proper look out. This means that the U- turn does not begin until the driver is sure there is no oncoming traffic that will be affected by the U turn temporarily blocking a lane during the turn. Tennessee’s Rules of the Road specifically provide that drivers must keep a proper look out (see pages 62-65, Chapter 9, Tennessee Driver’s Manual). Following those rules keeps everyone safe from unnecessary auto accidents and personal injury.

If you or anyone you know has been injured or killed in a Tennessee  car accident, please contact Nashville injury attorney Phillip Miller and the Nashville  personal injury attorneys at Phillip Miller and Associates at (615) 356-2000, or contact our office online here.

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.

Guardrails save thousands of lives each year by keeping cars away from dangerous drop-offs, ravines, and other traffic. Traffic deaths would be infinitely higher without them. Like most things, there is a right and wrong way to place guardrails. There is a safe way, and an unsafe way.  If guardrails are place too high, too close to the roadway they don’t serve their purpose and can become an object that can cause injury and death. A recent case in New Jersey illustrates the tragedy from the unsafe, incompetent use of guardrails. A 34 year old man was in a car on his way to the airport. When the driver lost control of the car, the car hit the guard rail. So what? Usually this would mean some damage to the car, and missing an airplane…but nothing more. Unfortunately, this guard rail was too high and too close to the roadway, it served as a spear that ended up piercing the passenger compartment and killing the passenger. This unnecessary, wrongful death resulted in a lawsuit and ultimately a multi-million dollar settlement, but despite the settlement and dangers of the guardrail the turnpike authority didn’t fix it. They paid the money but didn’t fix the problem?  What kind of goobers are in charge of things up there? The widow has gone on record pointing out that the guardrail is still unchanged, and needs to be. Let’s hope they pay attention to her, finally.