Automobile Accidents

April 27, 2013

What Is A Summary Judgment in a Tennessee Auto or Truck Accident Case?

A "summary judgment" is a decision by a judge that an automobile accident, truck accident, or other type of case should not go to a full trial before a jury. A judge can make a decision not to let a jury decide a case only if the judge determines that there is no dispute about the important facts of the case and that a reasonable jury could arrive at only one result in the case. If that is true, the judge will grant summary judgment (that is, a judgment before trial) to the person who he or she thinks should win the case before permitting a full trial on the case before a jury.

Sometimes a judge will grant a "partial summary judgment." Thus, the judge will determine that a car accident or truck accident was the sole fault of the defendant (the person or company sued in the case) but a jury must determine what damages were caused in the wreck and the monetary value of the damages.

Summary judgments are very rare in auto accident and truck accident cases. They are much more common in medical malpractice cases and in cases where people have been injured by defective or unreasonably dangerous products.

April 21, 2013

Obtaining Medical Records in Tennessee Car and Truck Accident Cases – Why Does It Take So Long?

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

It is almost always necessary for an experienced Tennessee injury attorney to obtain an injured person’s medical records before a personal injury claim for a car or truck accident can be fully evaluated, Also, the at-fault driver’s insurance company will also want to see the records before authorizing a settlement of the claim.

Many personal injury clients get frustrated at the delay in obtaining medical records. It can often take a month or more to obtain medical records from doctors, hospitals, and physical therapists, and even more time from certain health care providers. There is no good excuse for these delays – virtually every provider charges for this service and the delays are extremely frustrating, both for the lawyer and the lawyer’s client.

The delays are caused because the health care providers don’t have enough staff on hand to meet the demand for records, and put record requests by attorneys for clients at the bottom of the stack. In other words, these health care providers give a higher preference for record-copying to other health care providers and insurance companies than they do lawyers.

April 15, 2013

Deadline for Filing Automobile Accident Lawsuits in Tennessee

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Tennessee law requires that lawsuits concerning injury claims that arise from automobile accidents must be filed in court no later than one year after the date of the accident. Thus, the case must be settled, or a lawsuit filed, or the injured person’s rights will be lost.

There are a couple of exceptions to this general rule, but you should not assume that any claim survives the one-year deadline unless a Tennessee automobile accident lawyer familiar with all of the facts tells you that you have more than one year to file suit.

You should not wait one year to seek the advice of a lawyer. Not only does a lawyer need some amount of time to file suit, but he or she must investigate the merits of the case. In addition, a delay in hiring lawyer means important evidence can be lost, memories can fade, and thus your case can be adversely affected. It is recommended that you seek an experienced accident attorney promptly after the accident so that you can fully understand your rights and begin to take the steps to protect those rights.

April 5, 2013

The At-Fault Driver Has No Insurance – Now What?

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

As a Nashville and Tennessee automobile accident attorney, one question that I am frequently asked is what happens when the person who causes the motor vehicle does not have any liability insurance. Here is the answer?

1. First, don’t assume that there is no liability insurance just because the driver did not have proof of insurance in his or her vehicle at the time of the accident. In Tennessee you are supposed to have proof of insurance present when you drive (most of us keep a card mailed to us by our insurer in the glove compartment of the vehicle) but some people forget to do so or do not replace an expired card with a new card. So, even if the police officer investigating the crash reports that the at-fault driver did not have proof of insurance, it is possible that the driver had liability insurance in place at the time of the crash.

2. It is possible that some other person (other than the driver of the car or the owner of the car) is responsible for the crash. For example, on several occasions we have discovered that an uninsured driver was running an errand for his employer at the time of the crash. Under Tennessee law, the employer is responsible for the crash if the employee was engaged in an activity that was furthering the employer’s business interest at the time of the crash. This is true even if the employee was using the employee’s personal vehicle. From time to time there are others who contributed to cause the crash, such as the bar who served too much alcohol to the at-fault driver, a defect in the roadway; an unsafe or defective vehicle, and in appropriate cases those options need to be investigated as well.

April 4, 2013

Distracted Driving Kills

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Distracted driving is taking lives on our highways, and this study takes a look at what is taking the attenion of drivers away from the road.

According to police report data analyzed by Erie Insurance, a automobility liability insurer, of the more than 65,000 people killed in car crashes over the past two years, one in 10 were in crashes where at least one of the drivers was distracted. the data comes from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Rank	Distraction Type	Percentage of Distracted Drivers
1	Generally distracted or “lost in thought” (daydreaming)	62%
2	Cell phone use (talking, listening, dialing, texting)	12%
3	Outside person, object or event, such as rubbernecking	7%
4	Other occupants (talking with or looking at other people in car)	5%
5	Using or reaching for device brought into vehicle, such as navigational device, headphones	2%
6	Eating or drinking	2%
7	Adjusting audio or climate controls	2%
8	Using other device/controls integral to vehicle, such as adjusting rear view mirrors, seats, or using OEM navigation system	1%
9	Moving object in vehicle, such as pet or insect	1%
10	Smoking related (includes smoking, lighting up, putting ashes in ashtray)	1%

The numbers are probably conservative (that is, under-reported) because many people are reluctant to admit that they were distracted immediately before the crash.

The study did not look at the number of injuried caused by distracted driving, but instead looked only at deaths.

March 29, 2013

Can I Still Bring A Lawsuit If I Was Hurt in A Car Accident That Wasn’t My Fault But I Was Driving Without A Valid License?

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

From time to time we are asked to represent people who are injured in a car accident but were driving illegally at the time of the wreck, that is, they did not have a valid license to operate a car or truck on Tennessee roads. These people are obviously concerned that their failure to have a driver’s license will affect their ability to recover damages for the personal injury car accident that was not their fault.

Tennessee law provides that the failure to have a driver’s license does not affect a person’s right to recover compensation in a car or truck accident that was not the driver’s fault. I am not saying that you should drive without a valid license, or if you have a restricted license that you should drive outside the proper scope of the restrictions. It is important to follow the law. My only point is that if you make a mistake and drive without a valid license or outside the scope of a restricted license and end up in an car or truck accident that is not your fault current law says that your mistake cannot be used against you.

Despite this law, I can envision several circumstances in which the failure to have a valid license at the time of the wreck might become relevant in a car, so I encourage you to tell your lawyer the truth about the status of your license during your initial meeting with the lawyer.

March 18, 2013

Laws Limiting Driving By the Elderly in Tennessee

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Many states have laws that place some restrictions on elderly drivers, but Tennessee does not. Here is a list of the limitations that other states have placed on elderly drivers.

March 8, 2013

Texting While Driving Injuries Increase

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

As a Tennessee automobile accident attorney for over three decades, I have seen lots of incidents where cell phone use (either for calls or texting) causes car wrecks. This study from the West Virginia School of Public Health puts numbers to our experience.

The study finds that in 2003, cell phone use by vehicle operators was estimated to cause more than 300,000 total injuries annually, 2,600 of which resulted in fatalities. The numbers increased 22 percent between 2005 and 2009. The authors of the study believe that the problem is expected to worsen in coming years, despite efforts to curtail distracted driving.

The bottom line is this: don’t text and drive. And, if you must use a cell phone while driving (and a teenager never should) make sure you use a hands-free option and then only when traffic conditions permit you to do so safely.

February 25, 2013

Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Statistics for Clarksville and Montgomery County, Tennessee

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

The Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts has released information about Tennessee personal injury and Tennessee wrongful death cases filed and tried in Clarksville and Montgomery County, Tennessee for the year ended June 30, 2012:

Here is the data;

Total personal injury and wrongful death cases filed in court: – 281
Total personal injury and wrongful death cases resolved in court – 283
Total number of cases going to trial – 12
Total number of jury trials – 4
Total number of non-jury trials – 8
Total number of cases in which damages were awarded 2 (17%)
Total number of cases where damages awarded was between $1 and $99,999 – 1
Total number of cases where damages awarded was between $100,000 and $999,99 – 1
Total number of cases where damages awarded exceeded $1,000,000 – 0
Total damages awarded in all cases – $126,126
Average damages awarded – $63,063

The average success rate for plaintiffs at trial in Tennessee was 38.49% for 2011-12. Thus, the win rate for plaintiffs in Montgomery County was much lower than the statewide-average.

February 8, 2013

I Just Got Sued in an Automobile Accident Case. Now What?

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

If you received a summons and complaint (the documents which initiate a civil lawsuit in Tennessee) you need to immediately notify your insurance company that you have been sued. If you have already reported the claim, the insurance company will already have told you to whom you should send the papers. If you have not reported the claim, call your insurance agent and tell them that you have been sued. The agent will tell you what to do with the papers.

Your insurance company will hire you a lawyer who will defend you. If you don’t hear from the lawyer within 20 days of the time you contact the insurance company, call the insurance company (or agent) again and let them know you have not heard from the lawyer.

To understand more about the litigation process, read our Legal Guide called "Understanding the Steps in the Civil Litigation Process."