Tennessee drivers may be driving confidently with half the tread left on their tires. However, tires give up significant ability to grip road surfaces even with half the tread left, especially during rain and snow. Hydroplaning, when tires lose their grip on the road and driver cannot control the steering, can become a serious problem on wet roads that may lead to car accidents. While even new tires can hydroplane and lose their grip, at half the tread tires hydroplane more quickly and at lower speeds.

To make sure tires have enough tread, measure with an inexpensive tread-depth gauge by using a penny to measure the depth of each tire groove. If the top of Abe’s head is showing in any of the grooves, the tires have reached their wear limit and need to be replaced. When tires are new, they have 10/32 inch-deep groves. When the grooves measure 2/32 inch deep, they are considered bald.

Consumer Reports tested tires by comparing full- and half-tread performance in wet, snowy and dry conditions. In wet conditions, half-tread tires had about 8 percent less hydroplaning resistance. On snow, half-tread tires showed a loss of 15 percent snow traction. Only on dry pavement did half-tread tires grip better, so they could be safer in arid conditions, but not when there is rain or snow.

Because tires with less tread take longer to stop, can hydroplane and have less traction, they can contribute to automobile accidents. A lawyer may be able to help a person who has a personal injury in an auto accident, such as trauma, broken bones or brain injury. If a negligent driver who may have failed to maintain his vehicle properly allegedly caused the crash, a lawyer could help the injured party file an insurance claim seeking compensation for the injuries.

Drivers from Tennessee may be interested in learning what factors make a driver liable for a car accident. Whenever illegal activity, such as driving while intoxicated or traveling above the speed limit, causes a car accident, the driver who was not complying with the law might be held liable for damages stemming from the crash.

Negligence typically occurs when a driver is being careless while behind the wheel and causes injury or damage to another motorist. Recklessness typically refers to disregarding the safety or well-being of others. Whenever damage or injury is caused by an absence of fault, such as a car having defective auto parts or a commercial vehicle operator transporting hazardous chemicals, strict liability may be established. Motor vehicle statutes are what determine who will be responsible to pay for those damages.

In an effort to make it easier to be able to challenge fault when one of their customers is involved in an accident in which they broke a traffic law, the auto insurance industry requested that legislatures base the liability on motor vehicle statutes rather than common legal assumptions. There are four basic levels of common law faults, including negligence, recklessness, intentional misconduct and strict liability.

Understanding if a common law fault occurred depends on the state’s roadway mandates and the specific circumstances that lead to the traffic accident. There are a number of common traffic incidents that take place every day in the United States, and these range in severity and repercussions. Many of these incidents are caused by negligent behavior, such as distracted driving, failure to yield, driving under the influence, driving while texting and more. Whenever an individual is involved in an automobile accident and feels that another motorist may be at fault, a lawyer who is familiar with traffic cases might be able to help assist in building a case.

When you have suffered a back, neck or spinal cord injury in a Tennessee car accident or other type of accident caused by another person, you may be facing a lifetime of debilitation and disability as a result. Catastrophic spinal cord injuries can result if your spine was crushed, bruised, twisted, severed or pinched, possibly leaving you with paraplegia or quadriplegia. You may be unable to continue working, personal assistance to complete your daily tasks may be required, and you may require ongoing rehabilitative treatments to prevent your muscles from atrophy.

You may have also incurred other types of back and neck injuries, including broken vertebrae, herniated, ruptured or slipped discs, whiplash, ongoing numbness and tingling or permanent nerve damage. Whether your injury has left you needing total care or ongoing pain management for such conditions as neuropathy or other associated problems, you may be unable to work and may have significant and ongoing medical and care expenses. Your quality of life may have been permanently altered by such a disastrous accident.

In the event you were injured in such a serious manner, you may want to file a personal injury lawsuit against the person whose negligence caused your accident and resulting injuries. Through such a lawsuit, the person may be held to be responsible to you for your expenses and losses.

Our attorneys are compassionate with our clients who have suffered such terrible injuries in accidents. We thus aggressively advocate on their behalf in order to secure them compensation to pay for all of the losses they have suffered as a result. We understand that people may be overwhelmed by the lifelong effects of such accidents and may wonder about the process of recovering damages, and so we have gathered additional information on our spinal cord injury page.

A part-time musician faces extensive rehabilitation after being seriously hurt in a deadly collision in Tennessee on Jan. 10. At press time, the man was undergoing treatment for his injuries at Skyline Medical Center in the neurological intensive care unit. News sources say that the injured man was traveling in a fellow musician’s Corvette when it was hit by a wrong-way driver on Interstate 65. The driver of the Corvette lost his life in the crash.

The incident happened near Old Hickory Boulevard at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Reports indicate that the 38-year-old woman who allegedly caused the fatal car accident is expected to be charged with vehicular assault and vehicular homicide by intoxication upon her release from the hospital where she is also undergoing treatment for serious injuries.

Few details about the accident are available. According to news sources, authorities received a number of emergency calls from drivers who spotted the wrong-way driver prior to the incident. However, police were not able to stop the alleged drunk driver in time to prevent the collision.

When a person is catastrophically injured in an accident, mounting medical bills and lost wages may represent only a fraction of the total loss that the individual might suffer. Knoxville residents facing such circumstances may find it beneficial to ask a personal injury attorney for help. An attorney may be able to determine the true value of a claim as well as negotiate a favorable settlement for clients outside of the courtroom. The attorney could also establish liability of all negligent parties in a claim.

Source: WATE, “Family of fatal wrong-way I-65 crash survivor asks for prayers,” Joseph Pleasant, Jan. 12, 2015

Tennessee readers may be familiar with the dangers associated with distracted driving, which is understood by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to include any activity done while driving that takes one’s attention away from the road. The public health agency reported that more than 9 people are killed in accidents related to distracted driving every day in the United States.

Distracted driving can be either visual, manual or cognitive. While taking one’s eyes or hands off the road or wheel can certainly be dangerous, cognitive distraction may be even more insidious because most people aren’t aware they’re distracted when it happens.

Studies have shown that younger drivers under the age of 20 tend to be most at risk for causing such distracted driving-related accidents; according to a 2011 CDC report, nearly half of high school students admitted to texting while driving, an activity that involves all three forms of distraction.

The problem has become large enough to spur action by the federal and state governments. For instance, the Federal Railroad Administration and Motor Carrier Safety Administration have both banned the use of cellphone texting while employees are on the job. In addition, multiple states have enacted laws seeking to mitigate the occurrence of cellphone-related accidents by raising awareness of the dangers of distracted driving.

If someone causes serious injury to another driver while driving distractedly, they may be held accountable for all of the victim’s medical expenses and any additional damages related to their pain and suffering should the victim pursue a claim against them. Since some drivers attempt to dispute the extent of their liability or hide it entirely, the victim of such an accident may benefit from enlisting an attorney to advocate their case. The attorney may be able to present evidence against the opposing party and expedite the transfer of any compensation that is ultimately awarded.

Source: CDC, “Distracted Driving“, January 02, 2015