by Queener Law | Jun 26, 2017 | Auto Accident, Tennessee
Tens of thousands of Americans die on the roadways each year, with more than a third of all fatalities attributable to alcohol in some way. While most individuals understand the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, the dangers of smartphones are just now becoming evident.
The latest evidence indicates that as many as half of all vehicle accidents have at least one driver who is using a phone, and a third of crashes involved drivers using a phone at the time of the accident. Among the sobering conclusions of a recent study is that texting while driving is a direct contributor to the deaths of at least 11 young people every day.
Most states and municipalities are now passing some form of legislation in an attempt to reduce the number of accidents these distracted drivers are causing in increasing numbers. However, some of the same studies mentioned above note those laws have largely proven ineffective. These realities make it important to contact an attorney Nashville TN residents trust after any major vehicle accident. This is especially the case if a smartphone is suspected as a cause of the crash.
An experienced attorney in Nashville, TN will know how to seek evidence of distracted driving, and this information is often critical to protecting a victim’s rights. Auto and truck accidents cause billions of dollars in damage and affect hundreds of thousands of drivers each year.
Seeking recovery for lost wages, medical bills and other costs, including short and long-term disability is often a challenging and difficult proposition. Without proper legal assistance, that process will defeat the average individual’s efforts.
An experienced attorney for Nashville TN accidents will carefully examine and sort out the facts in an auto accident. Today, that process will include gathering records of phone usage from the other drivers and determining the role that use and other factors played in causing the accident.
When a commercial truck is involved, a thorough investigation by the attorney in Nashville TN will also explore such details as truck maintenance records and the driver’s logbooks. These and numerous other factors all play a role in determining liability in a truck-vehicle accident.
Receiving the appropriate financial compensation as the victim of a vehicle accident is never the result of luck. Rather, it is the committed attorney Nashville TN clients rely on that produces the best results.
by Queener Law | Jun 11, 2017 | Auto Accident, Colorado, Kentucky, Tennessee
Front-crash collision systems such as automatic brakes and collision warnings have been demonstrated to be highly effective in preventing rear-end accidents. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reviewed data to determine how effective these newer types of collision avoidance systems are and found that they greatly reduce the rates of rear-end crashes. An auto accident attorney represents victims of rear-end collisions to help them to recover damages when they have suffered injuries and financial harm.
How Effective Are Front Collision Systems?
Front collision warning systems have sensors to detect other vehicles or objects ahead of the vehicles in which they are installed and alert the drivers of their presence so that they can react in time. Automatic braking systems detect other vehicles and objects and automatically apply brakes to the vehicles to help them slow down in time to avoid collisions.
Early research about collision avoidance systems was conducted using information from insurance claims. While this data continues to be useful for studying crash avoidance technology, it has its limitations. To more accurately determine how effective these systems are in preventing accidents, the IIHS reviewed police reports from accidents and evaluated how front crash warning systems and automatic braking systems relate to the rate of rear-end collisions. The IIHS found that vehicles that are equipped with automatic braking systems had 39 percent fewer accidents. Those that had front-crash warning systems without automatic brakes were involved in 23 percent fewer collisions than vehicles that did not have these types of collision avoidance technologies.
What the Data Means
The IIHS states that if all vehicles had the front crash collision avoidance systems installed in 2013 during the study period, there would have been 700,000 fewer accidents and 300,000 fewer injuries. The efficacy of these systems has led the IIHS and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to recommend that they are offered as standard equipment on all new vehicles. Until the industry is required to offer these types of systems on their cars, people who are in the market for new vehicles can choose models that have the systems already installed or add them as options.
While safety technology will not prevent all accidents, its availability may help people to avoid them. Since motor vehicle collisions may result in significant injuries or deaths, taking steps to prevent them and implementing the use of advanced technology is important.
by Queener Law | May 16, 2017 | Auto Accident, Tennessee
Tennessee state law requires parents transport children in a rear-facing seat until the child is one-year-old or weighs more than 20 pounds. Children older than one year who weigh more than 20 pounds must travel in a forward-facing car seat system that is secured with a safety belt until the age of three. Children from ages four through nine who are less than 4 feet, 9 inches in height must also be secured in a belt-positioning booster seat.
Booster seat systems should always be placed in the rear seat if possible. The National Highway Safety Administrationrecommends parents use the rear-facing type of child safety seat as long as possible because the rear-facing seats provide more protection for the child in a crash.
Automobile seat belt systems
Children taller than 4 feet, 9 inches who are age 9 through 12 must be secured by the automobile’s seat belt system. Children should ride in the rear seat if possible to avoid injuries from the dash-mounted air bags. Children over the age of 13 must wear safety belts and the driver can be fined if any child in the vehicle is not properly secured according to their age, weight, or height.
Proper installation of car seats
Improperly installed car seats can lead to injuries in a crash. If a child is injured in an automobile accident due to an improperly installed seat, parents may have no legal recourse against the car seat manufacturer. A Nashville car accident lawyer can advise parents of children injured in a crash of their possible legal options.
Car seat expiration dates
Child car seats and child booster seats have expiration dates that are typically 6 years from the date of manufacture. If there is no specific expiration date printed on the car seat, the date should be in the owner’s manual. Parents can call the manufacturer to find out the expiration date, but need to know the seat’s date of manufacture.
Car seat recalls
Car seats are sometimes recalled for various reasons. Manufacturers usually contact owners who have registered the recalled product with the manufacturer after purchase. Parents can check the National Highway Safety Administration site for recall information and other safety updates.
The dangers of second-hand child seats
Parents should always know the complete history of any booster or child safety seat they use to be sure it is not expired, recalled, and has not been in a crash previously.
by Queener Law | Mar 28, 2016 | Auto Accident, Tennessee
Keeping your child safe in the car is easy – here are five simple ways.
Learn some simple things you can do to keep your child safe while riding in a car.
Many people visit a car accident lawyer in Nashville after their child suffers an injury. Car accidents cannot always be prevented; however, that doesn’t mean that children must always become victims. Here are five simple things you can do to protect your little one from danger.
#1. Buckle your child up using the appropriate car seat or booster seat
According to the Centers for Disease Control, buckling children in and/or placing them in age-appropriate car seats can greatly reduce the risk of death or serious injury. Placing infants under one year of age in a car seat reduces their risk of death by 71%. Among children ages one to four years of age, car seats reduce the risk of death by 54%.
Placing children ages four to eight years of age in a booster seat reduces the risk of death by 45% when compared to placing them only in seat belts. Children over the age of eight who are placed in seat belts will see their risk of death or serious injury be cut in half.
#2. Use safety seats correctly
A recent study was performed on nearly 3,500 users of car and booster seats. The results from that study showed that 72% of all participants did not use their car and/or booster seats correctly. Furthermore, their misuse of these seats occurred in such a way that it increased the risk of a child suffering from an injury during a crash.
The Community Preventative Services Task Force has recommended that governments enact new car seat laws, and that education programs be implemented to raise awareness. Such education programs are thought to be effective at encouraging people to use car seats appropriately. If you have questions about the proper use of a car seat, you may consult your owner’s manual, or contact a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician.
#3. Always place your children in the back seat when using a car or booster seat
Children under the age of 12 should always be placed in the back seat of your vehicle. That way, even if you are involved in an accident, you will not have to worry about them becoming injured by a deploying airbag. How children are placed in the back seat will largely depend upon their age, and here are some guidelines to consider:
- From birth to around age two, you should place your child in a rear-facing car seat in the middle of the back seat. Your son or daughter should remain in this car seat until he or she has reached the upper height and weight limits as stated in your manual.
- From approximately age two through five, your children should be placed in a forward-facing car seat that is placed in the back seat of your vehicle. The exact age at which your child outgrows this seat will vary, and will be based upon the limits imposed by the manufacturer.
- Ages five and older should be placed in a forward-facing booster seat that is properly secured in the back seat. Your children should continue to use a booster seat until they are big enough for seat belts to fit properly. This is generally considered to be whenever they are at least 57 inches tall.
Once children are old enough to wear seatbelts, you may allow them to ride in either the front or the back seat, provided they are buckled in during each trip.
#4. Do not drink and drive
After drinking and driving, you pose a threat not only to those around you, but also to the passengers in your own vehicle. Between the years 2001 and 2010, approximately one in every five children age 15 and under who died in an accident did so as a result of drunk driving. In 65% of those cases, it was the child’s own driver who was intoxicated. Intoxication is defined as having a Blood Alcohol Content of greater than .08 percent, which is the legal limit in most states.
#5. Set the example for your children to follow
Of all the children ages 12 and under who were killed in an automobile accident during 2013, approximately 38 percent of them were not properly restrained. When it comes to getting older children to wear a seat belt, your actions will speak louder than your words. The Centers for Disease Control reports that as many as 40% of all children riding with adults who do not wear their seat belts are also unbuckled. Black and Hispanic children were more likely to be unbuckled during a fatal crash than white children were.
These five things take very little time, but can go a long way toward keeping your children safe. Make sure to follow these five tips each time you get into your vehicle, and the odds of your children surviving an accident will be much greater.
by Queener Law | Mar 23, 2016 | Auto Accident, Tennessee
The beginning of the 2015-2016 school year brings the influx of the student population, increasing the traffic population on Tennessee’s roadways. The excitement and high spirits that often accompany the start of a new semester are oftentimes hampered, however, because with more drivers comes an unfortunate repercussion: an elevated number of vehicle accidents.
According to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) Encyclopedia, approximately 32,719 people lost their lives in vehicle crashes in the United States in 2013, and an estimated 1,591,000 were injured. Of those, 995 fatalities were in Tennessee. So far this year, an estimated 90,200 vehicle crashes have occurred in the state, with 393 being fatality accidents and approximately 22,470 being injury accidents.
Motor Vehicle Accidents Involving Teens
Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for teenagers ages 15-19 in the United States. In fact, approximately 20 percent of teenage deaths are related to car crashes. In 2013 alone, there were an estimated 2,600 teenage drivers who were involved in fatality accidents and approximately 130,000 received accident related injuries. That same year, the Governors’ Highway Safety Administration reported that Tennessee was number one in the nation (tied with Indiana) for the most vehicle accident fatalities involving teens.
The rate of fatality accidents per 100 miles traveled on Tennessee roadways is highest in the months surrounding a new school year. While many passenger vehicle accidents are clearly a result of inexperienced drivers, students and parents who are not familiar with the community are partly to blame as well. With National Teen Driver Safety Week quickly approaching, it is vital that drivers of all ages become educated about the causes of teen driver related accidents and take measures to prevent such alarming statistics. But what can be done?
Motor Vehicle Accidents Involving Teens: Reducing the Risk
Although the majority of teens in Tennessee wear their seat belts and try to practice safe driving, inexperience, distractions and overconfidence cause many teen drivers to make critical errors that sometimes result in tragic consequences. Some of the leading causes of motor vehicle accidents involving teens include:
- Cell Phone Use and Use of Other Electronics: An estimated 56 percent of all teenage drivers in the United States use their cell phones while driving. Not only do they call and text, but they often play video games and look at social media sites as well.
- Distractions from Other Passengers: The number of fatal motor vehicle crashes involving teen drivers increases with additional passengers. Becoming distracted by loud or overly energetic teens, talking to friends, and becoming influenced by peers to drive riskily are some of the reasons that driving with more passengers results in a higher risk.
- Inexperience: During the first 500 miles of a teenage driver’s drive time he or she is 10 times more likely to become involved in a car accident than an experienced adult. Lack of experience impairs a teen driver’s ability to react in unexpected situations or handle new types of driving experiences like observing the right of way, merging into oncoming traffic, or avoiding accidents caused by other drivers.
- Speeding: Almost 1/3 of accidents involving teenage drivers are due to driving too fast. Teen Driver Source reports that more than half of teens interviewed admitted to driving more than 10 mph over the posted speed limit on some occasions.
- Alcohol Use: Approximately 1/4 of motor vehicle accidents involving teenagers are related to alcohol use, and nearly 60 percent of fatality accidents involving teenagers are related to drunk driving. Consumption of alcohol impedes a driver’s reaction time and impairs judgement.
When a Teen Driving Accident Involves Injuries
No matter how prepared a teen driver may be, accidents sometimes occur, and unfortunately, many times those accidents involve serious injuries and sometimes fatality. In some cases, individuals in Tennessee who are involved in motor vehicle accidents are able to obtain adequate compensation for injuries, lost wages, medical bills and vehicle damage/ loss without the use of a personal injury lawyer in Nashville. Unfortunately, however, this is typically not the case.
Thankfully, experienced personal injury lawyers in Nashville are familiar with the laws regarding motor vehicle accidents in Tennesseeand how they could affect the outcome of a personal injury case. Some factors that can impact a claim include:
- Statute of Limitations: In Tennessee, an individual has the right to file a lawsuit for personal injuries suffered in a vehicle accident up to one year after the accident occurred, and when suing for property damages the individual has up to three years.
- Modified Comparative Fault: When an individual is deemed to be partly at fault for an accident, the modified comparative fault rule can have a significant impact on the amount of compensation that is able to be obtained. With this rule, the driver’s at fault percentage is deducted from the amount of compensation that would have been awarded.
by Queener Law | Mar 18, 2016 | Auto Accident, Tennessee
Advances in technology coupled with people living extremely busy lives has led to an increase in distracted driving. Perhaps one of the most dangerous distractions out there involves texting. In an effort to keep people safe, many areas have enacted texting-while-driving bans that carry significant penalties for anyone caught using a cell phone in such a manner. Have these bans been effective at saving lives? According to several researchers, the answer is “yes.”
How Common is Texting While Driving?
According to a 2011 survey from the Centers for Disease Control, 31 percent of all drivers ages 18 to 64 reported that they had either sent or read a text or email message at least one time in the previous 30 days. During 2011, 3,331 people in the United States were killed in a distracted driving automobile crash, and 387,000 were injured in one. The results of this survey show that texting while driving is a common practice that could have devastating consequences.
American Journal of Public Health Study
A study performed by the American Journal of Public Health was conducted over a period of seven years from 2003 to 2010. Researchers collected data from 19 states to determine if texting bans had an impact on “crash-related hospitalizations.” They then analyzed this data to determine if hospitalization rates increased or decreased after a texting-while-driving ban was implemented. Data from states with a ban was also compared to information from states without a ban to determine if there was a significant difference.
What the researchers discovered was that crash-related hospitalizations decreased by around 7% in states that had enacted a ban. They also claim a significant decrease in hospitalizations occurred in those ages 22 and older, but only a moderate decrease was noted by those 21 and under. As a result of this study, The American Journal of Public Health recommended that all states enact a texting-while-driving ban.
Primary vs. Secondary Bans
Researcher Alva Ferdinand with the Department of Health Care Organization and Policy of the University of Alabama, Birmingham, performed a more in-depth analysis of “in-state” laws, using data gathered from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System from 2000 through 2010. The information obtained from this study was also included in the results that were published in the American Journal of Public Health.
According to Ferdinand, there is considerable variation in texting-while-driving laws, so it is important to know exactly which laws have been most effective. For example, some states ban all drivers from texting, while others restrict only youth.
Laws also vary as to whether they have primary or secondary enforcement. In areas that allow for primary enforcement, officers may stop drivers if they observe them texting. In other locations, officers can pull motorists over only if they observe them breaking another traffic law such as speeding, which amounts to secondary enforcement.
As a result of Ferdinand’s research, primary texting bans were the most effective at reducing traffic fatalities. Primary texting bans accounted for a three percent reduction in deaths, or 19 lives saved per year in each state that had enacted such a ban. When primary texting bans were targeted only at young people, an even higher reduction in fatalities was noticed. Laws targeted toward those age 21 and under resulted in an 11 percent reduction in traffic fatalities among people in that demographic.
Secondary Bans not Effective
Surprisingly, this study showed that there was little to no decrease in fatalities in states where texting-while-driving bans require secondary enforcement. The reason for this was unclear; however, Consumer Affairs surmised that it could be because these laws are rarely enforced.
Nashville, Tennessee news station WSVM reported that the state’s secondary enforcement bans were difficult for officers to implement. A Tennessee Highway Patrol officer agreed, stating that it was difficult to prove whether or not a driver was actually texting. As such, those who visit a Nashville injury lawyer after being hurt by a texting driver may find that proving their case to be challenging.
Surprising Results
Ferdinand was surprised to discover that texting bans with primary enforcement did not result in a significant reduction in traffic deaths among people ages 21 to 64. She did however note that accident-related fatalities among this age group did decline significantly in states that had enacted bans against the use of hand-held cell phones while driving.
Recommendations
Ferdinand hopes that policymakers will take note of the results, and enact laws accordingly. Her mentor, Dr. Nir Menachemi agreed, stating that “distracted driving is a growing problem affecting everyone on the roadways. It is my hope that policymakers act upon our findings so that motor vehicle deaths can be prevented.”
This study clearly shows that texting-while-driving bans can help save lives, although the degree to which this happens does vary. As awareness increases, chances are more states will want to enact new laws that will help keep people safe.
