Articles Posted in Motorcycle Accidents

According to a new report, Tennessee is worst in the nation for distracted driving accidents.  Distracted driving car accident deaths in Tennessee are almost five times the national average.  In just two years, Tennessee had more than 1,400 fatalities that were directly attributable to distracted driving accidents.  When we hear distracted driving, most of us automatically think about texting and driving but it is more than that.  It can be anything that keeps you from giving your full time and attention to driving such as putting on make-up while driving.

Unbelievably, from 2015 to 2017, Tennessee drivers and drivers in four other states were responsible for roughly 31% of all distracted driving deaths.  That number is almost certainly higher because many drivers do not self-report and sometimes it is not obvious to investigators that distracted driving was the culprit in an accident.   Actually, that is not exactly right.  When we say, “distracted driving was the culprit”, it sounds like it was some outside force like the flu.  The reality is those deaths were caused by a driver, a human being, using their phone or doing something else while operating their vehicle.  This is not some outside force.  This is us as drivers making the wrong decision.  We have to stop it.   Here are some tips on how you can avoid making this wrong decision. Continue reading

Ochophobia is the fear of vehicles.  For a specific fear of semi-trucks, one writer has coined the term: semiochophobia.  If you have semiochophobia, you are not alone. A lot of passenger car and truck drivers, as well as motorcyclists,  are scared of 18-wheelers, and for good reason according to a recent Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Report.  Below are some insights into semi-truck accidents offered by the IIHS report:   Continue reading

Every Christmas Eve, after church and dinner, you will find our family in our living room with the Christmas tree on, and the lights turned down, ready to watch Christmas Vacation.  We have seen the movie so many times we can quote most of it, and it is a treasured tradition.  One of the funniest scenes is when the Griswolds drive out to the country to get a Christmas tree the old-fashioned way: cutting it down themselves.   Let’s look at all the driving tips that can be derived from this one particular scene:   Continue reading

Semi-trucks accidents and other large truck accidents are killing roughly 4,300 people a year in this country, and the number is increasing.  Since 2009, deadly tractor-trailer accidents are up 28%.  Crash-avoidance technology is becoming more common place in passenger vehicles with 41% of new cars using collision warning systems with automatic braking.  In fact, car manufacturers and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have agreed to a regulation that requires this technology be in all passenger cars by 2022 and in trucks by 2025.  Yet, there is no such mandate for tractor-trailers and other large trucks.  Why? Continue reading

According to travel forecasts, 25% of Americans plan to travel for the Labor Day weekend, and 86% will travel by car.  Unfortunately, traveling by car is becoming more and more dangerous, especially in Tennessee as we were recently rated the second-worst state in the nation (another blog post to follow on that). But even across the country,  according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, car accidents are on the rise, up roughly 14% in two years.   The latest reporting shows more than 40,000 people are losing their lives every year in car accidents, and another 4.6 million are being injured.  So if you and your family are planning on being on the roads this Labor Day weekend, here are a handful of important safety reminders:  Continue reading