Category: motor vehicle accidents

When people get behind the wheel of a vehicle, they take on a responsibility to drive safely, stay alert and protect other motorists on the road. Motorists should avoid distractions while driving, get plenty of rest and never drink and drive. Those who do not take the rules of the road seriously may end up taking the life of an innocent person.

This is what recently happened on Dolly Parton Parkway. A 26-year old man lost his life when a car crashed into his vehicle, causing it to start on fire. The man was trapped within the burning car, and first responders were unable to get him out. The man was stopped at an intersection when the 30-year old woman hit his car. She was speeding at the time. A law enforcement officer witnessed the accident and said that the intoxicated woman was driving at high speeds then suddenly turned in an attempt to stop at the intersection. The woman was charged with vehicular homicide and DUI and booked into jail.

One bad decision made by a negligent driver can take the life of a friend or loved one. People who choose to drink and drive should be held responsible for their thoughtless actions. If you are going through a similar situation, you may want to consult an attorney in Tennessee who is experienced in handling cases involving motor vehicle accidents and driver negligence. An attorney may help you organize a case that will bring justice to your situation.

Source: Knox News, “One dies in car crash on Dolly Parton Parkway, other driver arrested for DUI and vehicular homicide,” Allie Clouse, Mar. 15, 2020.

A rollover accident is a very serious situation that often results in fatalities or serious injuries. Vehicles do not have a design intended to provide safety when rolling over onto the roof. Because of this, rollovers are a particularly dangerous type of accident. 

The U.S. Department of Transportation explains that this violent type of accident is almost always something that officials can link back to the interactions leading up to it between the driver, vehicle and road. More so than other types of crashes, rollovers are commonly single-vehicle accidents, which means that you are responsible for avoiding them and understanding what can lead to such a crash. 

Typical circumstances 

Rollover accidents are most common in vehicles that have a higher center of gravity, such as an SUV or a van. They happen most often on two-lane roads with speed limits of 55 miles per hour or more. Most of these accidents are in rural areas. 

It is also common for rollover accidents to happen during routine driving activities. What this means is that you are most likely to have such an accident when you are just driving down the road without any interference from another vehicle or anything else that may lead to an accident. 

Common factors 

The biggest factor that contributes to rollover accidents is bad driving behavior. Distracted driving, for example, usually plays a role because rollovers often are a result of a loss of control. 

Alcohol is the most common factor in a rollover accident. About half of all accidents will involve alcohol, which affects your ability to control your vehicle. 

Speed is also a common factor in this type of accident because it affects your ability to control the vehicle and adjust to changes in the roadway or environment. When speed is a factor, it is more likely that you and your occupants will die in the crash. 

After an accident, you may want to move on quickly and not spend a lot of time mulling over what happened. If you had property damage or had to undergo medical treatment, you may be fine with just accepting whatever the insurance company offers you. However, taking this type of approach could be quite detrimental.

You may lose out on many benefits and not get what you should by not considering all your options for how to react after the accident. While you may be hesitant to bring a lawyer into things, it could be the most ideal way to protect yourself and your interests.

The insurance company

While you may think that insurance companies are on your side, that is not true at all. Insurance companies always look out for their interests, according to U.S. News and World Report. They want to find solutions that cost them the least amount of money. Furthermore, they handle a lot of cases, so it is not uncommon for an insurer to make a mistake. If you do not know what you should get in an accident situation, then you will not know if the company is providing you with the optimal benefits.

The legal aspects

An accident may bring about a variety of legal considerations. If you do not understand personal injury law, this could leave you in a very vulnerable position. Having an attorney on your side, even if it is just to explain what is happening or to answer your legal questions, can ensure that nobody takes advantage of you or cheats you out of anything to which you have a right.

Just knowing that there is someone in your corner after an accident can put you more at ease. When you hire an attorney, you have someone fighting for you when everyone else, the other party and the insurance companies, are opposing you.

Susceptibility to peer pressure and vulnerability to distractions make teenagers some of the most dangerous drivers on the road. They are also the most at risk. Every year, dozens of teenagers die because of unsafe driving practices in Tennessee. Sometimes, they are at fault. Other times, they are passengers. There are also instances where lack of experience makes it difficult for them to safely maneuver out of dangerous situations caused by other drivers on the road.

Tennessee’s state website reports that motor crashes form the number one killer of children who fall between the ages of 1 to 14 years old. It is also the second most common reason that these children are hospitalized or seek emergency care. When it comes to teens between the ages of 15 to 19 years old, car crashes claim 68 lives in Tennessee each year.

One of the reasons teens often do not survive car crashes is a refusal to wear seatbelts. A campaign called Battle of the Belt hopes to combat this. Schools compete against each other for the highest compliance rates with seatbelt use laws. The school with the best educational campaign and the highest seatbelt percentage use gets a trophy at the end of the year.

Perhaps, some bittersweet news is that Tennessee does not rank among the worst states for teen drivers, though it does not stand with the best either. Believe it or not, WalletHub reports that the safest state for teen drivers is New York; the worst is Wyoming. Tennessee ranks at 34 out of the 50 American states. Researchers used several factors to calculate safety for teen drivers. These include teen driver fatalities, quality of roads, driving schools per capita and teen DUIs.

Knoxville is teeming with people at all hours. Whether you do most of your road travel during the daytime or overnight, you can bet you will not feel alone out on the roadways. 

Unfortunately, car accidents happen daily on the roads as well, especially in areas where the traffic clogs. If you have never experienced an accident firsthand, you may not know what to expect in the moment or the aftermath. Understanding what to expect after a crash can help you keep your senses about you when facing a scary and possibly traumatic experience. 

Managing the accident scene 

As soon as you are able after a crash, make sure that everyone else is safe. You may find yourself in a bad spot in the roadway where it is hazardous to remain. Before you move the vehicles out of the way, snap a few pictures of the scene. These photos may become an integral part of the accident investigation, especially if the driver at fault does not take responsibility. After moving the vehicles to safety, make sure you get copies of the other driver’s insurance information and license. 

Calling your insurance company 

Soon after you leave the scene, you ought to call your insurance company to report the accident. While this is a crucial step, it is important to know more about the process before you jump right to the phone. 

Your insurance company is your advocate, and if the collision is due to the other driver, your insurer will do what it can to collect. However, part of the claims process is speaking on a recorded line to both your insurance company and the other driver’s. If you have any doubts about what transpired, you may want to speak with an attorney before making that statement. You may report the accident to your insurer but defer the recorded statement until you find a representative to help. 

The damages suffered by you and your property may add up quickly. Going through the insurance claims process with an ally can help. 

Across Tennessee, there has been a push to lessen distracted driving. People are trying to combat these risks with hands-free technology. But just how much does this technology actually do to improve safety?

The National Safety Council itself has stated that hands-free is not risk-free. This campaign slogan implies that hands-free technology does improve driver safety. In fact, there has not been a significant reduction in distracted driving incidents. This is in spite of claims that hands-free technology makes driving much safer.

Hands-free technology is risky because it is still a form of distracted driving. To drive safely, you must have your eyes and mind on the road and your hands on the wheel. Hands-free driving only addresses one of these concerns. Even with your hands on the wheel, your eyes may be on the screen. Even if your eyes are on the road, your mind may be on the conversation.

Other studies showed that conversation reduces a driver’s field of vision. Sometimes, the reduction can be drastic. When engaged in conversation, drivers reportedly missed up to 50 percent of what they drove by. This is like driving with half of your windshield or rear-view mirror covered. Needless to say, this is not the safest way to be driving.

The best way to avoid distracted driving crashes is to limit in-vehicle distractions. This includes keeping devices out of the vehicle or turning them off when driving. Unfortunately, hands-free devices are not a cure for the distracted driving epidemic. While they may help in some instances, you should not rely on them.

It is no secret that driving or riding in a vehicle is a dangerous activity. However, it is something most people do every single day. For the majority of people in Tennessee, driving or riding in a vehicle is a necessary activity because they need to commute to work, take the children to and from school, visit the doctor’s office, go grocery shopping or do other things they must do. What this means is there is a very high number of vehicles on the roadways every day, and accidents happen all the time. While most are minor and do not result in serious injuries, there are some that end up being fatal. It is everyone’s responsibility to try to figure out how to prevent and stop fatal accidents.

This duty starts with understanding why so many people die from motor vehicle accidents. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explain the U.S. has an incredibly high rate of death from motor vehicle accidents that other high-income countries do not. The two leading causes of fatal accidents are drunk driving and speeding.

There are also a lot of risk factors in the U.S. that lead to serious accidents. Behind drunk driving and speeding is not wearing seat belts. These safety devices save lives as shown time and again by statistics. Yet, many people do not use them.

There is also an increasing number of people who drive distracted. When driving, you should focus only on that task. You should not look at your cell phone or even fiddle with the radio. You need your whole mind on driving and your eyes on the road.

Every cause of a fatal car accident is preventable. This makes it so frustrating when these accidents happen. It is why every driver must take responsibility, follow the laws and be a safe driver. This information is for education and is not legal advice.

Tennessee residents have certainly heard and read a lot about distracted driving over the last decade or so. A lot of the focus in this discussion has centered around the use of cell phones while driving. However, there are numerous things that may distract drivers including built-in infotainment systems, children and other passengers, eating and drinking in the car, even personal grooming and more. Just how serious is distracted driving in America?

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, distracted drivers claimed the lives of 3,450 people in 2016. In the prior year, almost 395,000 people were either injured or killed in distracted driving accidents. Today, it is believed that nine people die every day on U.S. roads in these crashes.

Records from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that in 2017, distracted drivers were responsible for the deaths of 3,166 people. The use of cell phones was reported to be involved in 434 of those, highlighting the reality that distractions extend far beyond the phone.

The insurance comparison site, The Zebra, conducted a survey earlier this year to gauge the opinions of drivers across the country. It seems that job pressures may contribute to some distracted driving as 25% of people said they felt strongly compelled to respond to messages or calls when in the car if they were related to work. This pressure was felt even more by drivers between 18 and 34 years of age as 37% of those drivers indicated a strong urge to respond while driving. It seems many drivers still watch videos, take photos and more when they should be focused on the road.

Winning the state championship is an accomplishment that many high school football teams aspire to. However, one Tennessee team has made it a mission to take home the championship trophy in honor of one of their teammates who died approximately a week and a half ago in a motor vehicle accident involving another vehicle with what appears to have been an improperly secured load.

On a Saturday afternoon, the high school student was following a truck hauling bales of hay on a Tennessee highway. For reasons that are still under investigation, one of the hay bales fell out of the back of the truck. Details as to what, precisely, happened next are a bit vague, but authorities report a head-on collision between the errant bale of hay and the teenager’s vehicle in which the high school student lost his life.

The young man who died was a senior in high school, active in athletics. His football coach describes him as universally beloved. His teammates have reportedly taken the loss very hard, perhaps more so because it occurred the day after a significant gridiron victory which the deceased had been enthusiastic in celebrating at its conclusion.

Charges are pending against the 21-year-old driver of the truck that lost part of its load. Once the investigation reaches its formal conclusion, the district attorney will make a decision in regard to moving forward.

Nothing can replace the loss of a loved one, but family members have the right to seek damages against a negligent party that caused an accident. Hiring an attorney may be helpful in this endeavor.

Riding your bicycle through the streets of Knoxville is a great way to get around without using up gasoline in your car, and in the process, you get to enjoy some exercise. However, the price for taking in the outdoor weather during a bike ride is greater vulnerability to injury or even death if you are struck by an automobile.

Causes of bike accidents can vary. Cyclists and motorists alike can be distracted and not pay full attention to the road until it is too late. Some roads, due to greater traffic flow, create greater risk for bicycle accidents. Reasons for bicycle accidents occurring are more specific to certain cities and communities than others.

What Causes Bike Accidents in Knoxville?

A 2018 article by Knox News cited a report by the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization which showed that the predominant contributing factor of vehicles colliding with a bicycle was due to the driver not yielding during a turn, ranking 39% of bicycle/car accidents. 29% of accidents were caused by bicyclists riding on the sidewalk, and other factors compromised 32%.

Marking bike lanes for bikes to ride separately from motor traffic did not always help. The article identified a particular road where a bike lane was marked out. However, the number of bike and car accidents actually increased because vehicles, likely not used to the presence of bicycles, turned into the bike lane, causing bicycles to collide with the vehicles.

What Can Prevent Bike Accidents?

In an attempt to reduce incidences of bicycle/car accidents, the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization has created an interactive map that shows residents where bicycle and pedestrian accidents are most likely to occur. Local government authorities have also been marking bike lanes with more distinct colors, prohibiting right turns on red at certain locations, and putting up warning signs on roads.

In general, awareness of bicycles on the road is key to preventing collisions. According to Tennessee law, bicycles have the right to share the road with motor vehicles, so motorists should be on the lookout for bikes. A bike rider cited in the Knox News article observed that many drivers are courteous, but some can be inattentive and others resentful of the fact bikes ride on streets and not on sidewalks.

Remember that bike riders are much more vulnerable to injury than a person in an automobile. Proper driving and vigilance can prevent the worst from happening. Keep in mind that this article is written to inform Knoxville area residents about bicycle accidents and does not give actionable legal advice.