Death Cases

March 7, 2022

Vehicle Safety Recall Week

March 7^th through the 13^th is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) National Vehicle Safety Recall Week. Since 1966, when NHTSA was given the authority, the agency has recalled almost 400 million cars, trucks, buses, RVs, motorcycles and mopeds. In addition, the NHTSA has recalled more than 46 million tires, 66 million pieces of motor vehicle equipment, and 42 million car seats due to safety defects. Do you know how this federal agency decides a recall is warranted? Do you know how the safety recalls work? Do you know how to make sure you receive notice of a safety recall?

February 3, 2022

Immediate U-Turn Needed According to Recent Crash Stats

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

Traffic deaths continue to surge. For the first nine months of 2021, 31,720 people lost their lives in car accidents. For reference, Johnny “Red” Floyd Stadium at MTSU has a capacity of 30,778. For that same time period in 2020, deaths from car accidents increased 12% – the biggest increase over a 9 month period since the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) began keeping records in 1975. In short, people are dying on our roads in record numbers. So what is being done to reverse this trend and what can you do to protect yourself? Continue reading

January 28, 2022

Prohibition and Modern-Day Limits on Selling Alcohol

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

Earlier this week, on January 26, 1838, Tennessee was the first state in the nation to pass a Prohibition law. The law made it a misdemeanor to sell alcoholic beverages. Interestingly, the penalty for doing so was left completely to the discretion of the court. Whatever fine the court did impose was to be used for the support of public schools. Prohibition officially ended in 1933 but there are still plenty of laws related to the sale and consumption of alcohol in the State of Tennessee including laws creating liability for bars, restaurants and clubs that over-serve patrons who then get into accidents or otherwise harm others. Read on for more on this type of prohibition. Continue reading

January 20, 2022

Felony Criminal Charges for Misuse of Self-Driving Technology

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

In California, a man has been charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter after his car left the freeway at a high rate of speed, ran a red-light and struck another vehicle killing two people. After the accident, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) confirmed that Autopilot was in use in the Tesla at the time of the crash. The NHTSA has categorized these types of crashes as “automation complacency”. This raises the questions of: why are drivers being complacent and who is to blame? Continue reading

January 12, 2022

Breaking News: Speed Kills (and Injures)

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

On this day in 1904, Henry Ford set a land-speed record of 91.37 miles per hour in Michigan. A lot has changed since then. Ninety-one miles per hour is hardly a record. In Nashville, you can find folks doing that speed during rush hour on Interstate 65. But like so many of our decisions and actions, drivers that speed are not just placing themselves at risk but others on the road as well. Do you know how many accidents were caused by speeding last year? More importantly, how do you keep you and your loved ones safe on the roadway? Continue reading

November 30, 2021

Bad Accidents and Good Fortune

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

Last week, author Seth Godin wrote a blog post about good and bad accidents and, to be honest, we keep thinking about it. Perhaps Seth’s article has stuck with us because at the Law Offices of John Day, our award-winning lawyers see bad accidents and their lasting aftermath every single day. Quite frankly, it can get you down. Needless injuries and deaths caused by carelessness can be hard to stomach day in and day out. So what keeps us going? Good fortune. Or as Seth put it, good accidents. In follow-up to Thanksgiving, we thought we would share some with you. Continue reading

November 12, 2021

Deadly Car Accidents Increase Significantly in First Six Months of 2021

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

Two weeks ago, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released the statistics for fatal traffic accidents for January through June of 2021, and the numbers are depressing. More than 20,000 people lost their lives in the first half of 2021, an increase of 18.4%. Of course, 2020 saw major changes in driving behaviors, but the jump can’t simply be chalked up to the decrease in driving in 2020. Why? Because the first half of 2021 is the largest number of fatalities from January to June since 2006. The NHTSA has also reached some conclusions as to what is causing so many car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle and pedestrian accidents and what drivers can do to protect themselves and others on the road. Continue reading

October 20, 2021

October is National Pedestrian Safety Month

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

Whether you live in downtown Nashville or out in the country, we are all pedestrians. For example, when you drive to the grocery store or to the football game and you get out of your car to walk into the store or to the stadium, you are a pedestrian. So pedestrian safety impacts each one of us. Nationwide, a pedestrian is killed every hour and a half. In Tennessee, crashes involving pedestrians are increasing. And more locally, last year, Nashville alone had its worst year of pedestrian deaths with 39 and is on pace to surpass that horrible mark this year. Do you know Tennessee law with respect to pedestrians? Read on for a refresher and for tips on staying safe. Continue reading

October 12, 2021

Another Reason Not to Drive Distracted: Voided Insurance Coverage

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

An insurance policy is a contract between you and the insurance company. At its most basic, you agree to pay the premium and the insurance company agrees to pay certain claims. For instance, in an Accidental Death policy, the insurance company agrees to pay benefits to the designated beneficiary in the event the insured dies in an accidental manner such as a car accident. Again, that seems relatively straight-forward. And if that were the only sentence in the policy it would be very simple. But anyone who has ever purchased insurance knows, insurance contracts are long, complex and filled with exceptions or exclusions. And texting and driving may be an exclusion that could void the insurance coverage for which you have been paying, maybe for years or decades. Let us explain. Continue reading

September 17, 2021

A Safe Ride Home from The Law Offices of John Day and MTSU

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

The first person ever arrested for drunk driving was a man named George Smith. According to the History Channel, on September 10, 1897, Mr. Smith, a young taxi driver, got drunk and then drove his taxi into a building. 124 years and 6 days later, drunk driving continues to be a problem on roadways. That is why The Law Offices of John Day continues to offer safe ride homes, and we are excited about our current free rideshare program with Middle Tennessee State University. Continue reading