Tennessee Injury Law Center
You probably have seen them – the bumper stickers, sometimes profanity-laced, urging drivers to put down the dang phone and drive. On July 1st, if you don’t put down the dang or %#@$ phone, you could be talking to a police officer. Continue reading
Articles Posted in Injury Cases
Five Important Safety Tips to Keep Your Family Safe on Tennessee Lakes and Rivers
We love being on the water. On a typical weekend morning, John is on his jet ski at sunrise ready to cruise every nook and cranny of Tims Ford Lake. The day continues with several boat rides during the day, maybe pulling a knee boarder or a skier, and we usually wrap up with a short evening cruise after dinner. And while we love the water, we also respect it. Joy’s grandfather drowned in a boating accident and every year Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) has to deal with accidents and tragedies. In fact, over Memorial Day weekend, TWRA made 21 boating under the influence arrests, worked five injury accidents and six property damage accidents, and two teens have already drowned on Middle Tennessee lakes this summer. Here are the top 5 things you should and should not do while on the water.
Share the Road on June 17th (and everyday)
June 17th is the 28th Annual National Ride to Work Day. Bicyclists, scooter riders and motorcyclists are encouraged to ride to work to help raise awareness about all the positive aspects of two-wheel transportation such as the health benefits (at least for bicyclists) fewer emissions, less space needed on roadway and for parking, etc.
Unfortunately though, commuters on two wheels face greater dangers than those in cars and trucks because they are not as protected in the event of a crash. In 2017, more than 5,000 motorcyclists were killed and over 700 bicyclists. As a car or truck driver, do you know your obligations to bicyclists, motorcyclists and scooter riders on Tennessee roadways? Continue reading
Accountability v. Responsibility
In a recent blog post, Seth Godin wrote: “Accountability is done to you by the industrial system, by those that want to create blame. Responsibility is done by you. It’s voluntary. You can take as much of it as you want.” Seth Godin is a marketing guru and I enjoy his blog. As it relates to the legal field and the work of the lawyers at the Law Offices of John Day, I would change this post slightly: Accountability is done to you; when you do not take responsibility. Here is why I say that. Continue reading
100 Deadliest Days: 5 Important Tips for Keeping Your Teen Driver Safe
We are now officially in the 100 deadliest days for teen drivers. Teen accidents spike during the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day for a number of reasons. One reason is that teens are on the road more because school is not in session. Aside from sending kids to school all year long (an idea likely to cause a revolution), not much can be done about this factor. But, there are other things you can do to reduce the risk to your teen driver. Below are five critical steps parents can take to reduce the chances that your teen will be involved in an accident. Continue reading
Would You Hire a Lawyer Who Had Been Convicted of Murder?
This was essentially the headline of a recent New York Times article. As a 19-year-old, the subject of the article had flown into a rage and killed a man who had picked him up the week before as a hitch hiker. While in prison, he spent hundreds of hours learning the law and, after being released on parole, was accepted to law school at Tulane University, where he was met with, perhaps not surprisingly, mixed reactions. Even if he graduates from Tulane, the question remains as to whether he will ever be allowed to sit for the bar exam due to the character and fitness requirement of that exam.
Of course, we do not know, and probably don’t care to know, the complete and entire life story of most people we hire from our plumber to our doctor to our lawyer, but there are some things you should know when hiring a lawyer. Read on for 5 essential questions you should ask: Continue reading
Will Motorists Get Greater Protection Against Deadly and Underreported Underride Accidents?
An underride accident is when a car, SUV or passenger truck goes underneath a tractor-trailer. Underrides typically occur from the rear or the side. Regardless of the type, the key parts of the vehicle that are designed to prevent intrusion into the occupant compartment like the bumper, frame and pillars are either not engaged at all or only partially engaged. So underride accidents typically have a tremendous amount of intrusion into the occupant compartment and then, not surprisingly, a high rate of fatalities. These underride accidents kill on average about 219 people a year, but many experts believe that number is low due to underreporting and, although there are ways to prevent these types of accidents, not enough has been done. But, that might change with a new bill. Continue reading
Spring Showers Bring May Flowers and Accidents
Did you know your risk of being involved in a fatal car or truck accident increases by roughly 127% during light precipitation? In a heavy rain or snow storm, the odds of being in a fatal car or truck crash surges to an increase of 246%. And, the most dangerous time of day to be caught in a rain or snow storm: morning rush hour.
These alarming stats were published in a recent University of North Carolina report. The report goes on to predict that, with climate change, we can expect the frequency and severity of storms to increase. And in Middle Tennessee, spring already tends to bring heavy rains like it did this weekend. To stay safe, we recommend the following tips:
1. Leave yourself enough time to get to your destination. One has to wonder if morning rush hour is the most dangerous time because folks are in a hurry to get to work so they are not late. While everyone wants to get home from work as early as they can, the same “being late” anxiety is not usually present and so people do not feel the need to push the limits with their driving. So if you think the weather could be bad, leave a little earlier so that you can slow down and be extra cautious.
New Tennessee Car Accident Facts You Should Know
At the Law Offices of John Day, our award-winning lawyers work on car and truck accident cases every day. We also try to stay abreast of hot topics and new information related to car and truck accidents. Here are a few of the ones that have hit our radar lately: Continue reading
Talk to Your Kids: Drowsy Driving
As parents, we try to warn our kids about the dangers associated with driving. We want to keep them safe so we talk to them about texting and driving, drinking and driving, wearing their seatbelt, etc., but one danger we often fail to discuss is drowsy driving. And drowsy driving kills almost as many people as drunk driving. In fact, drivers who have not had enough sleep are at the same risk of being in an accident as a driver who is at or a little above the drunk driving limit of 0.08 BAC. Here is what you need to know and steps you can take to protect yourself and your driving family members:
When you are sleep deprived, clusters of brain neurons actually take a break. This is dangerous because those neurons are the transmitters of messages from your brain to your body. When a large enough group of brain neurons fall asleep or take a break, a driver’s attention can decline. Not to mention the obvious: if you nod off at the wheel, you are not focused on driving at all.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates drowsy drivers are involved in 16.5% of all fatal crashes and 7 percent of all non-fatal crashes. To understand just how dangerous drowsy driving is, consider this: the NHTSA estimates 8,000 people a year are killed due to drowsy driving and drunk driving kills about 10,500 people each year.
Unfortunately, there is no easy test like a breathalyzer that can determine when you are too sleepy to drive. But there are some things you should consider in order to keep your family safe: Continue reading