by Queener Law | Apr 3, 2016 | Tennessee, Trucking Accident
Federal trucking regulations aim to reduce traffic accidents, but they fail to address many of the root causes of the problem. Poor visibility and the corresponding inability to react to changing road conditions, play a major role in the frequency and severity of traffic accidents.
A Nashville truck accident lawyer can point to seven factors that limit visibility, primarily through driver negligence.
Time Of Day
Nighttime driving has always been more dangerous than driving during the day. Not only does darkness induce fatigue, it has a strong impact on visibility.
A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) study in 2007 reported to Congress that nighttime visibility is severely limited because of night glare and range issues. Night glare from oncoming traffic destroyed the night vision of drivers, especially those over 50, leading to temporary blindness and potential loss of vehicle control. The NHTSA found night glare the most problematic in areas with few streetlights or other roadside sources of light.
Sun
Driving during particular periods of daylight is no less dangerous than driving at night, depending on the direction the truck is traveling. Truckers driving into the sunlight at sunrise or sunset face protracted periods of intense sunlight and glare from the roofs and glass of other vehicles.
Many trucking companies require drivers to use sunglasses or other protective eyewear in the hour before sunrise or sunset as a way to reduce the impact of the sun on driver visibility.
Fatigue
The NHTSA blames a large portion of trucking accidents on driver fatigue, and for good reason. Drivers face longer work weeks than ever before, and trucking companies have put increased pressure on drivers to stay on the road at all costs.
Fatigue hinders visibility in two ways. First, drivers fight to stay awake, and closed eyes provide no visibility and a complete inability to prevent an accident. Second, even when a driver is awake, fatigue causes blurriness and sluggish reaction times. As a result, drivers are unable to judge distances in time to stop before a collision.
Speeding
The difference between a deadly accident or a fender bender is often a matter of inches. Speeding trucks have lower reaction times than other vehicles, and any errors the driver makes are magnified in a crash.
If the truck was speeding, a Nashville truck accident lawyer may be able to prove the driver was liable for an accident, because the truck driver left himself without enough time to stop. Scientific evidence and the truck’s own computer can provide the hard evidence a Nashville truck accident lawyer needs to argue the case.
Eyesight
Truckers, especially long haul drivers, spend days or weeks on the road at one time. While they are on the road, it’s easy to let health and medical issues slide, if those issues do not directly hinder the driver’s ability to keep the truck on the road.
A driver with a weak prescription has an increasingly short field of vision, and the problem can only be solved with a trip to an optometrist and a new set of glasses. Not every driver is willing or able to take the time to stop for new glasses, wrongly assuming that the problem can wait until they get home. The slow degeneration of the field of vision can lead to drivers with an effective eyesight of 20/50 or worse.
Other Drivers
Not every problem with visibility is the trucker’s fault. Sometimes the actions of other drivers play a role in the accident. Even with proper mirror positioning, a trucker still has large blind spots around the vehicle. The most dangerous spots are near the driver’s door, from the trailer hitch to the nose of the truck on the passenger side, and the nose of the truck.
Drivers who slam on their brakes or drive for long distances in a truck’s blind spot greatly increase the probability of an accident. Through an examination of the positions of other vehicles involved in an accident, a Nashville truck accident lawyer may be able to prove that the accident was not the fault of the trucker, but another driver.
Weather
Hard rain and snow diminish a driver’s field of vision in a matter of seconds. When this occurs, truckers must adjust their driving patterns to slow down and avoid accidents.
A Nashville truck accident lawyer can expand a liability suit after an accident to include the trucking company if there were maintenance issues involved in the accident. A trucking company that fails to replace worn out wiper blades or provide other safety equipment puts everyone on the road at risk.
Truck accidents are serious, and are more likely to be deadly than other vehicle collisions. With the assistance of a truck accident lawyer, victims can apply liability where it belongs and seek compensation.
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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 19, 2016 | Tennessee, Trucking Accident
Truck accidents were on a steady decline several years ago. Unfortunately, this positive trend has sharply reversed, as laws have became more lenient. Of course, their sheer size makes driving around big rigs dangerous, but when truck drivers experience fatigue, the results can be deadly.
Staggering Statistics
In 2009, truck-related deaths were at an all-time low, and 2,983 truck accidents were responsible for 3,380 deaths. In 2013, the last year that these finalized statistics were available, over 3,500 wrecks resulted in nearly 4,000 deaths. In Tennessee alone, there were 126 truck-related accidents in 2013. Trucking accidents are responsible for one in every seven highway deaths in this country.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, driver fatigue is the leading cause of trucking accidents. Of course, there are plenty of additional factors that contribute to large vehicle crashes, but it’s wise for everyone on the road to keep an eye out for drowsy drivers.
Safety Laws
Over the past few years, there have been some modifications to trucking safety laws, but they may be short-lived. In 2013, Federal law reduced the maximum hours a trucker can work each week to 70, from 82. Drivers who hit their limit must take a 34 hour rest period before starting a new work week. This rest-session must include two periods between 1 and 5 am. Drivers may not drive for more than 11 hours each day, which must include a 30 minute break.
As helpful as these laws may be to reducing trucking accident deaths, many trucking industry officials are citing a decline in profits as their reasoning behind their push for a repeal of these regulations. They have also pushed for changes to the 80,000 pound haul limit, along with length regulations that mandate that no truck can haul a trailer over 28 feet. If they get their way, a double-trailer rig could carry trailers that are 33 feet long, making the truck as long as an eight-story building is tall.
Some groups, like the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, are pushing for additional safety measures. Since 2008, they have recommended that drivers get screened for sleep apnea, a condition that is closely linked to sleep deprivation. Unfortunately, due to the high cost of testing, they have recently backed off.
As updates to the laws continue to be debated, safety advocates and truck accident attorneys urge that drivers use caution on the roads.
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.
by Queener Law | Mar 17, 2016 | Tennessee, Trucking Accident
Washington, DC – April 25, 2016—This week the United States Senate began deliberations on a new budget for the Department of Transportation. Though the purpose of the bill is to fund both the Department of Transportation and HUD, there are provisions in the budget that are deeply troubling to groups lobbying for safer roads.
Groups opposing the bill point to several key provisions that indicate capitulation to the trucking industry, and increase the risk of accidents. The most controversial provision changes the current calculation on hours of service restarts for drivers.
Current rules state that drivers are required to take a 34 hour break once they reach their hours of service cap for a seven day period. The break reduces driver fatigue, the leading cause of semi truck accidents. The new bill would permanently roll back hours of service restarts to pre-2011 levels, a decision which significantly reduces the downtime between restarts and eliminates mandatory 30 minute breaks for long-haul drivers.
The trucking industry and its lobbyists argue the reduction in restart periods is vital to maintain profitability for trucking companies and higher wages for drivers. Profits for trucking companies have remained flat since the start of the Great Recession, despite the recent drop in the price of diesel. If trucking companies are unable to increase the turnover rate of their trucks through more frequent deliveries, American Trucking Associations believe there will be a collapse of the transportation industry.
Henry Queener, a semi truck accident lawyer in Nashville, sees proposed changes to the hours of service in the Department of Transportation budget as a clear step in the wrong direction. “We’ve seen a steady increase in the number of fatal semi truck accidents, as well as continued increases in the economic cost of accidents. Putting tired drivers on the road, and encouraging drivers to miss hour of service restarts, will make all of our roads a lot less safe”.
The budget debate is certain to be contentious, especially after the trucking industry suffered setbacks with proposed speed limiters and a Congressional refusal to increase the size and weight of trucks.
