Category: Drunk Driving Accidents

When people in Tennessee and across the United States choose to drink and drive, they put other peoples’ lives at risk. In 2017 alone, drunk drivers killed more than 10,800 people and injured more than 300,000 in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That equates to one death every 48 minutes. 

A young man’s poor choice to climb behind the wheel after drinking took the life of a Covington Pike man and injured another driver. The victims’ car was turning at a green arrow light onto the interstate when the drunk driver ran a red light and collided into them. 

The passenger of the car died at the scene of the accident, while the driver was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. The drunk driver fled the scene on foot and apparently had arranged for some friends to pick him up. Yet, a witness to the accident ran after the suspect, caught up to him and held him until police arrived. The man faces a multitude of charges, including vehicular assault, public intoxication, vehicular homicide while intoxicated, reckless driving, leaving the scene of a deadly accident, driving without a license, disregarding a red light, DUI, failure to exercise due care and violation of financial law. 

Drivers who injure and kill innocent motorists should be held responsible for their negligent actions. An attorney in Tennessee may help victims of DUI accidents receive the compensation they deserve. 

Source: News Channel 3, “Witnesses help catch driver in deadly DUI crash at I-40 Covington Pike,” Eryn Taylor, Jerrita Patterson and Andrew Ellison, Feb. 28, 2020. 

Determining liability for car accidents that occur in Knoxville can often be tricky, especially when no clear cut evidence points at one particular party. In cases where suspicion as to whether or not alcohol may have been involved exists, those who are believed to have been drunk at the time of an accident may point to them not having been shown to be legally intoxicated on a sobriety tests as absolving them. By now, popular media and word of mouth likely has filled most of the general public in on the details found in Section 55-10-401 of Tennessee’s Annotated Code: that a blood-alcohol concentration of .08 percent is the standard for determining intoxication. 

Hidden within this standard seems to be an implication that it is permissible for one to drive after having consumed alcohol provided that his or her BAC remains under the legal limit. While one certainly could be said to be taking a big gamble by assuming that his or her BAC is below .08, technically he or she could avoid a DUI in such a scenario (the exception would be one driving a commercial vehicle; his or her BAC need only be above .04 to be charged with DUI). An important point to remember, however, is that simply because one suspected of driving under the influence did not register a reading above the legal limit, that does not absolve him or her of liability if his or her impairment caused a car accident. 

There may be another way to legally link local drunk driving laws to an accident even if a driver’s BAC is not above .08. Per the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, the state does have an open container law. A proven violation of this law may cited when trying to assign liability in an accident. 

In Tennessee, people are aware that drunk drivers can be on the road at any time of day or night and at any season throughout the year. It is not only New Year’s Eve or other such times when people can be seriously injured or killed by intoxicated drivers who should never be behind the wheels of vehicles. Law enforcement officers continue to search for ways to curb this behavior and to nab those who choose to engage in it.

A new law has been proposed in Tennessee that at first glance seems to make life easier for drunk drivers. However, it actually may give law enforcement officers a leg up in their effort to find and arrest these people.

Currently, if a person chooses not to have their blood tested when asked by an officer who suspects they may be driving drunk, that driver may end up being charged with a misdemeanor crime. The new bill would change that and eliminate criminal charges for such refusals. The benefit to officers of doing this is that they may have an increased ability to then push for the chemical testing to be done since a Supreme Court decision in 2016 requires a search warrant for such testing if a person originally refuses.

While it remains to be seen if this bill will pass, drunk driving accidents may continue to happen. After they do, those involved might want to talk with a lawyer to see how they can get help.

Source: WBIR.com, “Bill would remove criminal charge for refusing blood test for DUI,” Grant Robinson, April 2, 2018

With a Tennessee spring quickly approaching, warm weather festivities and outings are becoming a regular occurrence. The state’s hot cities on the map create extra perks to the upcoming warmer seasons, causing many to hit the road to adventure. One aspect that is not as thrilling, however, is that of driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Driving after a drink or two may seem tempting, but even buzzed driving can result in a world of personal and legal issues.

Not all buzzed driving results in a ticket or an accident, but this type of influence can certainly increase one’s chances of running into these risks. Ad Council provides an article on buzzed driving and some common misconceptions, sharing in a study that only 49 percent of adults reported using taxi services when feeling buzzed. This statistic is especially concerning since one driver is killed every 51 minutes in an alcohol-related car wreck. And although this percentage dropped in the late 1990s, it has seen an increase in recent years. Ad Council also shared information on their campaign against drunk driving and other resources.

The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration gives another accessible overview of America’s drunk driving problem. According to the NHTSA, deaths and damages caused by drunk driving accidents cost the country over $40 billion per year. When it comes to distinguishing between buzzed driving and drunk driving, the NHTSA shares that a blood alcohol concentration of just .02 percent can skew one’s judgment; a BAC level of .05 percent can alter one’s behavior and cause the loss of muscle control and a lowered alertness. There are fine lines to draw between buzzed driving and drunk driving, but all Tennesseans should understand the potential risks at stake.    

Any person in Tennessee who has ever known someone who has been killed due to the negligence of a drunk driver understands the senselessness of these accidents. Despite some improvements in the past several decades, too many lives continue to be lost in drunk driving crashes. Finally, some are starting to push for yet even tougher actions in order to prevent more of these deaths.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine recently published data that shows strong researched-based support for the fact that after consuming alcohol, a person’s cognitive functioning begins to decline far sooner than when their blood alcohol content reaches 0.08 percent. In fact, such reduced abilities are seen when BAC levels reach 0.05 percent. That is nearly half of the current legal limit at which a person may be arrested for drunk driving.

With this in mind, the organization is calling for states to amend their laws and lower the 0.08 threshold to 0.05 percent. This would mean that a driver may be considered drunk and able to be arrested at a much lower BAC level. The goal of this change is to not only reduce but to completely eradicate crashes in which alcohol is a factor. 

WebMD explains that additional efforts are sought to support this goal. These include making the sale of alcoholic beverages more controlled so as to prevent minors from obtaining alcohol. Increasing taxation on beverages may raise prices and therefore making it slightly harder or less enticing for people to want to afford alcoholic beverages.

It would seem reasonable that people in Tennessee believe that drunk driving is not as much of a problem today as it has been in the past. With all of the public awareness and education campaigns throughout the year and especially during holiday times, drivers should know that operating a motor vehicle after consuming alcohol is something they should not do. Unfortunately there are too many people who fail to believe this it seems as they continue to engage in this dangerous behavior.

An example of this can be seen in a recent wreck that took place in Murfreesboro just last month. Reports indicate that not only was the driver at fault for the crash believed to be intoxicated but he also refused to comply with law enforcement officers by performing field sobriety test actions or providing a breath or blood sample for the purposes of testing his blood alcohol content.

Reports indicate that two vehicles were stopped facing each other so that a set of jumper cables could be connected between them to enable the one disabled vehicle to be started. One of the drivers was standing between the cars when the drunk driver plowed into the vehicle that was stranded. This left the person in between the cars injured. The impaired driver is now facing multiple criminal charges including vehicular assault.

Tennessee residents who are injured due to the negligence of a driver who refuses to put away keys after driving might want to talk to an attorney to see how they may seek compensation.

Source: WGNS Radio, “DUI and Vehicular Assault Charges Filed – Suspect released from jail on bond as victim heals,” February 7, 2018

It has been many decades now since large-scale efforts to raise awareness about the dangers of drunk driving in Tennessee have been initiated. Advocacy groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Students Against Drunk Driving along with local governments and law enforcement entities are just some of the groups behind this awareness. However, even with these efforts and laws that might be stricter than they were in years past, too many people continue to be injured or killed by drunk drivers.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 291 people killed in motor vehicle crashes in Knox County between 2012 and 2016. Of those, 77 died in accidents involving alcohol. That means more than 26 percent of all fatalities during that five-year period were due to drunk drivers.

Statewide, the number of vehicular fatalities associated with impaired driving due to alcohol remains concerning. In 2016, there were 223 such deaths. While this number is lower than in prior years, it nonetheless is 223 deaths higher than it should be.

The ongoing deaths and realities of drunk driving accidents make it logical to wonder if the state’s drunk driving laws are tough enough.

According to the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, it is not until a person is convicted of fourth drunk driving offense that a charge is considered a felony. A fourth driving under the influence charge is treated as a Class E felony. First, second and third offenses are still treated as misdemeanors. A DUI may be charged against a driver with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent or higher. It is not until a BAC exceeds 0.20 percent that consequences increase.

It has been many decades now since groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving began their important efforts to highlight the dangers of drinking and driving. Because of this, many people might assume that drivers in Tennessee today make the right decision when it comes to consuming alcohol and operating motor vehicles. Sadly, this is not the case. Despite widespread public awareness and a growing number of ride options including ridesharing services, too many innocent people continue to be killed by drunk drivers.

In looking at data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it is clear that Knox County is far and away the deadliest county among its neighboring counties when it comes to drunk driving fatalities. Over the five years spanning from 2012 to 2016, a total of 77 lives were lost in Knox County at the hands of people who refused to put away their car keys after consuming alcohol. The neighboring county with the next-closest number of fatalities in that period was Blount County where 27 people died.

In Sevier, Anderson and Loudon Counties intoxicated drivers claimed another 19, 17 and 11 lives, respectively. Roane and Jefferson Counties were each the locations of another 10 vehicular fatalities involving alcohol. Rounding out the region were Grainger County where eight drunk driving deaths occurred and finally Union County where another six drunk driving deaths were recorded.

If you would like to learn more about how to get help after an accident caused by a negligent drunk driver, please feel free to visit the impaired driving crash assistance page of our Tennessee personal injury and accident website.

When residents in Tennessee get into a car accident, it’s very plausible that they’ll also end up with a case of whiplash. This can be more severely damaging to your health and future than you might think, which is why you should be mindful of the symptoms.

Medicine Net states that people who experience whiplash will generally exhibit the following signs:

• Dizziness or fainting
• Fatigue or irritability
• Nausea or vomiting
• Pain and stiffness in the neck or shoulders
• Headaches
• Problems with upper arm mobility

Whiplash can actually affect way more than your neck alone, which not everyone is aware of. It can cause you problems over your entire body, as it affects your spine which impacts everything else. The bulk of the pain and tenderness is generally focused in the shoulders, neck, and head, however. This can last for days, weeks, months, or even years if it isn’t treated properly and early.

If you experience any symptoms of whiplash, you should see a doctor as quickly as possible. The ways to treat whiplash vary depending on the severity of the injury. For example, you may be prescribed physical therapy or asked to wearing a brace that will keep you from moving your head much, allowing the muscles to heal. However, the longer you wait to get it treated, the harder it might be to return to your pre-accident physical state.

Whiplash should not be written off simply because it’s a “common” accident-related injury. If you believe you’re suffering from whiplash, the sooner you treat it, the better.