In California, an appellate court is being asked to consider whether a texting driver can be held liable for punitive damages. Punitive damages are intended to punish the wrongdoer and, hopefully, deter others from engaging in the same harmful conduct. In the texting while driving context, the argument is that…
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 100,000 police-reported accidents each year are directly attributable to driver fatigue. And this figure is almost certainly low because some states do not have coding for fatigue or driver fell asleep and if fatigue is combined with another factor, such as…
Let’s start this discussion with how the law handles sudden emergencies. Tennessee law recognizes that a driver faced with an unexpected or sudden emergency which calls for immediate action is unlikely to exercise the same good judgment as a driver who is operating his vehicle under normal circumstances. In the past,…
The National Transportation Safety Board describes wrong-way accidents as the most serious type of accident on the highway with fatality rates higher than any other types of accidents. More than half and possibly as high as three-quarters of all wrong-way accidents are alcohol-related. In fact, 9% of wrong-way drivers had been convicted…
Halloween is a wonderful holiday for kids: costumes, trick-or-treating with friends, candy. But, it can also be a very dangerous holiday. A child is twice as likely to be hit and killed by a car on Halloween. Here are some steps to help avoid a tragic accident that will affect the lives of…
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Adminsitration (FMCSA) maintains several websites that permit residents of Tennessee and indeed the world to determine the safety record of trucking companies. Here is a list of the available sites and what information can be gathered from each site: The Safety and Fitness Electronic Records…
Federal law limits the amount of time that over-the-road truck drivers can operate a truck. Effective July 1, 2013, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) of the United States Department of Transportation changed the hours of service rules in an effort to reduce driver fatigue and deadly accidents involving…
Under Tennessee injury law, a person who causes harm to another is responsible for the reasonable medical costs incurred by the injured party to diagnosis and treat injuries that were caused in the incident and to pay the present day value of future medical expenses likely to be incurred in…
Technically speaking, the automobile insurance company for the driver who caused your accident and damaged your car or truck does not have the responsibility to pay for a rental vehicle while your vehicle is being repaired. However, as a practical matter, many insurance companies will pay for the cost of…
If you are involved in a Tennessee hit and run accident you may still be able to recover damages for the injuries you sustained in the accident. How? Your uninsured motorist insurance coverage on your vehicle protects you from hit and run drivers. To prove an uninsured motorist claim in…