Last week, we told you that Tennessee ranked as the 7th worst in the nation for car accidents and how to protect yourself with uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Unfortunately, Tennessee also ranks 7th worse in the nation for accidents involving trucks, so this week we have advice for you in the event you are injured by a large truck. Continue reading
Litigation is fighting with rules, confrontation with a referee. Most people do not enjoy confrontation, and for others, it brings out their worst. If you are involved in litigation or have a claim that may result in litigation, please take our advice: don’t get cute. A few news articles lately have shown what happens when people try to get cute during litigation. Continue reading
Drivers are using their cellphones during 58% of trips taken, an 8% increase from just 3 years ago. Just as alarming, the amount of time drivers are interacting with their phones while driving increase by 23% during that same time period. In 2020, drivers would interact with their phone while driving for 1 minute and 47 seconds. A recent report indicates that has now increased to 2 minutes and 12 seconds. Not surprisingly, all of this distracted driving is literally killing people. Accidents involving cars, bicycles and pedestrians are all up because distracted drivers are 2.4 times more likely to cause a crash. Read on for more scary statistics and tips to protect yourself. Continue reading
Perhaps, too many of us watched an excessive number of Smoky & The Bandit reruns or thought Ricky Bobby of Talladega Nights should be used for driving inspiration. We don’t know the cause, but we do know this: the South is a dangerous place to drive. In fact, according to recently released federal statistics, 8 of the top 11 most dangerous places to drive are “southern states”, as that term is defined by the U.S. Census as opposed to the teams currently comprising The SEC. Read on to learn where Tennessee is ranked and our number one piece of advice on protecting yourself. Continue reading
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently released its report on accidents involving cars, trucks, pedestrians and cyclists for 2021 (the most recently analyzed data) and the numbers are alarming. So, let’s just get right to them. More Americans were killed on our roadways in 2021 than any year since 2005 – 42,915 people lost their lives. Another 4.5 million people were injured and 23 million vehicles were damaged. 7,342 pedestrians were killed in 2021, the biggest number since 1981. 985 cyclists were killed, the biggest number since 1980. What is causing this increase in car, pedestrian and bicyclists accidents? What are the financial costs? And how can you protect yourself from this growing trend? Continue reading
Kristen Chenoweth, the Emmy and Tony winning actress, has a new book out, and this week she has been giving interviews to promote it. In the interviews, she has talked at length about the serious injuries she sustained in an accident on the set of the television show “The Good Wife.” Lighting equipment on the set fell and hit her causing a fractured skull, a fractured rib and nose, broken teeth and other long-lasting injuries. Chenoweth’s Dad counseled her to get legal representation. She did not. She now regrets it. Here are some things you should think about if you are hurt in an accident and are reluctant to seek legal representation. Continue reading
Well, here we are – the second week of January. How are your New Year’s resolutions going? Or as some people refer to them: casual promises I make to myself but I am under no legal obligation to fulfill. If you are struggling with your resolutions, you are in good company. Twenty-five percent of resolutions fail within the first week and the overwhelming majority fail within the first month. For this reason, every January, we like to give people some resolutions that are easy to keep and can make a huge difference in your life. More good news: these three can be done together! Continue reading
According to recent data, in just a single year, 4,282 large trucks were involved in fatal accidents, a 33% increase since 2011. Another 107,000 trucks were involved in injury accidents. (These statistics include trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating exceeding 10,000 pounds) Not surprisingly, trucking companies and their insurance companies are looking for ways to reduce the number of accidents involving their fleets of trucks. Improved technology in the cab with drivers is helping safety managers monitor their drivers more closely in an effort to improve safety on our roadways. And this technology could be useful to injury victims who are involved in accidents with large trucks. Continue reading
Self-driving cars are not really “self-driving.” Instead, manufacturers warn drivers of autonomous vehicles that they must remain in control of the vehicle. For instance, Tesla states: “keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times” and to always “maintain control and responsibility for your vehicle.” ProPILOT (Nissan/Infiniti) and SuperCruise (GM) focus on the fact that those programs are an assistance feature and not a substitute for a human driver. And yet, a recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that 53% of SuperCruise, 42% of Autopilot (Tesla) and 12% of ProPILOT said they were “comfortable treating their vehicles as fully self-driving”. Perhaps not surprisingly, in the event of an accident, drivers using a self-driving vehicle could face legal trouble – both criminal and civil. If you have a self-driving vehicle or you have been injured in an accident with one, read on for the latest.
Have you heard about these recent road rage incidences in Tennessee? Four days ago, a man was shot in the hip in a road rage incident on I-24 in Nashville. On October 18th, a man in Sevierville got out of his car and started punching another driver and was then shot. On September 18th, a man was killed and children were injured in a car accident caused by road rage. A month earlier, in a Chattanooga road rage incident, a man followed a woman and her son home and has now been charged with assault, vandalism and disorderly conduct. And these are just the ones that made the news! Road rage problems are plaguing our roads and police are ramping up enforcement in an effort to curtail it. But do you know what to do to help prevent road rage and how to protect yourself if it occurs? Continue reading
Tennessee Injury Law Center