Last year, 121 motorcycle riders were killed in Tennessee. And statistically, July is the most dangerous month for motorcycle riders. So now is the time to review steps that can be taken to help reduce the number of motorcycle accidents. Below are six ways you can help. Continue reading
The 4th of July is almost here. Cookouts, parades and fireworks are iconic activities for the holiday weekend. My idea of a perfect 4th of July is throwing something on the grill, hanging out with family and friends then watching the fireworks on the lake in our boat.
But for many others especially kids, the holiday is not complete without shooting off some fireworks. So many folks will pick up sparklers, firecrackers, roman candles, bottle rocket, smoke bombs and the like. But even these seemingly innocuous fireworks can cause serious injury if proper safety rules are not followed. For instance, did you know that sparklers can generate heat up to 2000 degrees or the equivalent of a blow torch or hot charcoal in a grill. In fact, sparklers cause 25% of all fireworks-related burns. Bottle rockets and small firecrackers sent a whopping 8,600 people to the emergency room in 2010. More fires are reported on the 4th of July than any other day of the year, and the spike is attributed to fireworks.
Below are some tips for keeping your family and friends safe while shooting off fireworks this holiday: Continue reading
And stabs and kills his mother’s boyfriend. The parents of the murder victim sue the restaurant and win $40 million dollars. Probably not the punchline you were expecting and you might be wondering how the restaurant is to blame. Well, let me give you a few more facts. Continue reading
Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) will prevent a car from moving if the driver has a blood alcohol concentration at or in excess of .08, which is the legal limit in all 50 states. The technology is available in two forms: breath analysis and touch analysis. With breath analysis, the driver simply exhales normally into the device for an instantaneous measurement. And for those with a germ phobia, you do not have to actually touch your mouth to anything. The system is contact- free. The touch system measures BAC under the skin’s surface via the use of an infrared light at the fingertip. So when will it be available and where? Continue reading
Car crashes are the number one cause of death for teenagers. And according to AAA, the deadliest days of driving for teens are the 100 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day. With teens out of school, they are on the roads much more and often have other passengers in their vehicles with them. Below are some statistics for teen drivers in Tennessee and some tips on how to keep your teenager safe during this peak accident time.
First, let’s look at teen driving statistics for some Tennessee counties. Listed below are the counties with the highest young driver (ages 15-24) crash rate rank for 2014 and the number of crashes for each county: Continue reading
Recently, officials for the Music City Star commuter train announced construction on a new Lebanon station will get underway later this summer. The new Lebanon station will be the seventh for the commuter rail line operating through Davidson and Wilson counties.
Mass transit options are welcome by many in the Nashville area. Mass transit would help alleviate some of the heavy volume that regularly snarls traffic on area interstates. And because the Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization estimates one million more people will be in Nashville by 2035, traffic volume will only increase. So many see commuter train travel as an easier and cheaper way of getting to and from Nashville. Continue reading
Last week, a Franklin woman drove her Lexus SUV into a ditch. After she managed to get her vehicle out of the ditch, she proceeded along Battle Avenue until she crashed into a brick mailbox. When police arrived on the scene, they found the driver disoriented. Upon searching her vehicle, they found 13 cans of nearly empty whipped cream. According to reports, the driver had been huffing the aerosol in the whipped cream cans in order to get high.
Of course, a natural reaction upon hearing this story is to titter and then crack all sorts of wise comments. But, we need to remember that impaired driving is impaired driving. It really does not matter whether you impairment stems from alcohol, prescription drugs, street drugs, whipped cream or something else. If you are impaired, you should not be driving. Fortunately, for this woman, she did not hurt anyone else or herself. So how common is this problem? Continue reading
Almost two decades ago, Congress decided $200 million should be the most a passenger train company like Amtrak should be required to pay to injury victims. Sounds like a lot of money, but let’s look at that for just a moment.
Passenger trains can hold hundreds of people and train wrecks can cause an array of injuries from broken bones to death. Without knowing how many people would be injured or what type of injuries they sustained, Congress set a limit on how much money, as a group, they could recover. Congress set a limit without knowing how many people would be killed and what those lives lost meant to their families. For example, was the person who was killed the sole breadwinner for a family consisting of three very young children? But it gets worse. Continue reading
Wrong-way accidents are just as the name implies: an accident caused by another driver going the wrong way on a street, highway or interstate. Wrong-way accidents are not terribly common but when they occur they typically involve a fatality because the impacts are usually head-on and severe. In fact, more than 350 people are killed each year in wrong-way accidents.
By and large, wrong-way accidents involve a driver who is impaired by alcohol. So then, it will probably not surprise you to know that you are more likely to be the victim in a wrong-way accident at night and on weekends. You are also more likely to be involved in a wrong-way accident if you are driving in the lane closest to the median. Why? Because the wrong-way driver will typically move to the far right lane thinking it is the slow lane. Since they have been drinking, they choose this lane so they do not get pulled over for speeding. Finally, older drivers are over-represented in wrong-way accidents. Aside from cracking down on drunk driving, what can be done to prevent wrong-way accidents? Continue reading
Last week, my wife and daughter were driving home from school when they noticed a goat in the road. Fearful the goat was going to get run over or cause an accident on the narrow little road, my wife decided to try and find its owner. Two farms were nearby so my wife pulled into first farm and went to the front door to alert the owner about the escaped goat. The homeowner advised my wife the goat in question belonged to the farm on the other side of the street. The woman also reported she herself had put the goat up on several occasions. Armed with this information, my wife drove to the farm across the street to alert them their goat was loose.
When my wife and daughter exited the car, the goat was still at the road. They knocked on the door and waited a few moments but no one was home. As they turned to walk back to the truck, they noticed the goat was approaching. Before they could get back to their vehicle, the goat became aggressive, and this goat had horns. Continue reading
Tennessee Injury Law Center