Truck Accidents

November 25, 2013

Drunk Driving Continues To Be Leading Cause of Wrong-Way Accidents

The National Transportation Safety Board describes wrong-way accidents as the most serious type of accident on the highway with fatality rates higher than any other types of accidents. More than half and possibly as high as three-quarters of all wrong-way accidents are alcohol-related. In fact, 9% of wrong-way drivers had been convicted of a DUI or DWI within 3 years of the wrong-way accident.

On average, 360 lives are lost each year due to wrong-way driving. Most wrong way accidents happen at night and on weekends. The most typical origin of the wrong-way driver is entering an exit ramp, but U-turns are also a common originating factor. And the most dangerous lane to be in for wrong-way accidents? The lane closest to the median.

If you or a loved one was injured in a wrong-way accident, one of our award-winning lawyers can help. While the wrong-way driver is almost certainly at fault, others may share in responsibility for the accident. For instance, did a restaurant or bar over serve the driver such that a liquor liability claim is appropriate? Or did a construction company fail to install appropriate signage to help drivers ascertain the proper traffic route?

October 29, 2013

Halloween Safety: Slow Down and Be Alert

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

Halloween is a wonderful holiday for kids: costumes, trick-or-treating with friends, candy. But, it can also be a very dangerous holiday. A child is twice as likely to be hit and killed by a car on Halloween. Here are some steps to help avoid a tragic accident that will affect the lives of everyone involved forever:

Motorists:

1. Slow down and be vigilant in residential areas especially between the hours of 5:30 to 9:30.

July 18, 2013

Tennesseans Have the Means to Check the Safety Records of Trucking Companies

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

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Adminsitration (FMCSA) maintains several websites that permit residents of Tennessee and indeed the world to determine the safety record of trucking companies.

Here is a list of the available sites and what information can be gathered from each site:

The Safety and Fitness Electronic Records (SAFER) System: This website offers company safety data and related services to industry and the public. Some information can be found about a carrier’s liability insurance on this website.
The Company Snapshot: The Snapshot is a concise electronic record of a company’s identification, size, commodity information, and safety record, including the safety rating (if any), a roadside out-of-service inspection summary, and crash information.
The Analysis and Information site: This site helps those interested in moving passengers select the right vehicle and find the safest companies to assist in that effort.

Each of these services are free.

July 14, 2013

New Hours of Service for Truck Drivers in Tennessee and the United States

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

Federal law limits the amount of time that over-the-road truck drivers can operate a truck. Effective July 1, 2013, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) of the United States Department of Transportation changed the hours of service rules in an effort to reduce driver fatigue and deadly accidents involving trucks.

The government expects that the new rules will save 19 lives per year and will prevent 1400 crashes and 560 injuries per year.

The new rules limit the average work week for truckers to 70 hours, down from 82 hours under the law in effect before July 1.

May 16, 2013

Will the At-Fault Driver’s Insurance Company Have to Pay My Future Medical Bills?

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

Under Tennessee injury law, a person who causes harm to another is responsible for the reasonable medical costs incurred by the injured party to diagnosis and treat injuries that were caused in the incident and to pay the present day value of future medical expenses likely to be incurred in the future as a result of injuries caused in the incident.

However, the at-fault driver’s insurance company is only responsible for future medical expenses that are more likely than not to occur in the future, not those that might occur. Thus, your ability to recover future medical expenses for injuries that arise out of car or truck accident is dependent on medical testimony that, more likely than not, an injury that happened in the accident will require medical treatment in the future.

The following example will help in understanding the law. Assume you are hurt in a Tennessee truck accident and suffer a fractured hip. You undergo hip surgery and physical therapy. Your total medical bills are $60,000. The insurance company wants to settle your case, but you and your lawyer are concerned about the risk of future surgery because your doctor has told you that you might have to have hip replacement surgery in the future. Hip replacement surgery is expensive, and you want to have the at-fault driver’s insurance company pay for the surgery if it occurs. How can you make that happen?

May 6, 2013

Does The At-Fault Driver’s Insurance Company Have to Pay for A Rental Car While My Car Is Being Fixed?

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

Technically speaking, the automobile insurance company for the driver who caused your accident and damaged your car or truck does not have the responsibility to pay for a rental vehicle while your vehicle is being repaired. However, as a practical matter, many insurance companies will pay for the cost of a rental car for a reasonable period of time while a vehicle is being repaired.

Why do these insurance companies pay for a rental car when the law doesn’t require them to do so? Because the law requires the insurance company to pay damages for "loss of use" while the vehicle is out of service. The time that the vehicle is being evaluated for repairs and being repaired must be a reasonable period of time.

It is difficult to determine the value of "loss of use" but one good way to avoid future litigation over the meaning the phrase and the damages that must be paid is to supply a replacement vehicle for the use of the person whose vehicle was damaged in the wreck. Thus, insurance companies who believe that their insured driver was at fault will frequently give the claimant the right to rent a replacement vehicle.

May 4, 2013

Hit and Run Accidents in Tennessee

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

If you are involved in a Tennessee hit and run accident you may still be able to recover damages for the injuries you sustained in the accident. How? Your uninsured motorist insurance coverage on your vehicle protects you from hit and run drivers.

To prove an uninsured motorist claim in a hit and run case, you have to prove that t(a) here was actual physical contact between your vehicle and the hit and run driver; (b) the driver that hit you was negligent; (c) you reported the accident to a law enforcement agency within a reasonable period of time; (d) you were not negligent in failing to learn the identity of the hit and run driver or the owner of that driver’s vehicle; and (e) the nature and extent of your injuries caused in the accident.

Different rules apply if the there was no physical contact between your vehicle and the other vehicle that you say caused the accident.

April 29, 2013

Deadline for Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Tennessee

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

Tennessee law requires that a personal injury lawsuit be filed within one year of the date causing an accident. Failure to file a lawsuit on time against the person or company responsible for your injuries will result in a loss of your rights.

There are certain exceptions to the one year deadline for filing personal injury lawsuits, but you should not assume that any exception applies to you unless a competent lawyer familiar with all of the facts advises you that you have more than one year to file a lawsuit.

Do not wait until the last few days before the one-year deadline to file a lawsuit expires to hire a lawyer. Delay in seeking a lawyer means that valuable evidence may be lost and it is likely that mistakes have been made that effect the value of the case.

April 27, 2013

What Is A Summary Judgment in a Tennessee Auto or Truck Accident Case?

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

A "summary judgment" is a decision by a judge that an automobile accident, truck accident, or other type of case should not go to a full trial before a jury. A judge can make a decision not to let a jury decide a case only if the judge determines that there is no dispute about the important facts of the case and that a reasonable jury could arrive at only one result in the case. If that is true, the judge will grant summary judgment (that is, a judgment before trial) to the person who he or she thinks should win the case before permitting a full trial on the case before a jury.

Sometimes a judge will grant a "partial summary judgment." Thus, the judge will determine that a car accident or truck accident was the sole fault of the defendant (the person or company sued in the case) but a jury must determine what damages were caused in the wreck and the monetary value of the damages.

Summary judgments are very rare in auto accident and truck accident cases. They are much more common in medical malpractice cases and in cases where people have been injured by defective or unreasonably dangerous products.

April 22, 2013

What Does An Expert Witness Do In a Tennessee Injury Case?

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

An expert witness is a person permitted by a judge to give opinions at trial. Most witnesses are usually only permitted to testify only about facts – what they saw or heard or otherwise have personal knowledge of. (There are certain exceptions to this rule.)

But experts have specialized knowledge, training or experience and thus have the right to give an opinion about some issue in a case. The judge determines whether a person who is offered to give expert testimony has the qualifications to be recognized as an expert, and the jury determines what weight to give to the expert’s testimony.

For example, in a Tennessee medical malpractice case expert testimony is almost always necessary to prove that the health care provider did not comply with the recognized standard of professional practice in the community where the patient was injured (or in similar communities) and that the injury (or death) occurred as a result of that error. The patient’s lawyer has the responsibility to locate and employ a qualified expert and the judge has the responsibility to ensure that the expert is qualified to give an opinion. The failure of a patient to have a proper expert in a medical malpractice case will almost always result in a loss of the case. (There are very rare exceptions to this rule. Only an experienced Tennessee medical malpractice attorney will understand exactly when it is possible to avoid the use of an expert witness on one or more issues in a medical malpractice case.)