Articles Posted in Truck Accidents

 In California, an appellate court is being asked to consider whether a texting driver can be held liable for punitive damages.  Punitive damages are intended to punish the wrongdoer and, hopefully, deter others from engaging in the same harmful conduct.  In the texting while driving context, the argument is that by texting while operating a vehicle, the driver “consciously disregarded” the safety of others on the roadway.  The same argument is used in drunk driving cases.

While texting and driving is definitely illegal in Tennessee, this issue of whether a driver who was texting and driving can be held liable for punitive damages has not yet been decided by Tennessee courts.  Of course, proving the driver was texting will often be an issue.  In the California case, a witness testified the driver had been testing for a while and had swerved in and out of lanes before finally losing control and injuring someone.  And of course, if there is reason to suspect the driver was texting, a subpoena can be issued for the drivers’ phone records. 

Please do not text and drive.  It could cost a life – maybe your own.  If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident, contact one of our award-winning lawyers for a free, no-obligation consultation.  Call us any time at 615-742-4880 or toll-free at 866-812-8787.  For information about fees, click here. 

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 100,000 police-reported accidents each year are directly attributable to driver fatigue. And this figure is almost certainly low because some states do not have coding for fatigue or driver fell asleep and if fatigue is combined with another factor, such as alcohol use, it does not get coded at all, etc.   Unbelievably, 41% of drivers have reported actually falling asleep at the wheel, and one in every six fatal car crashes is related to a drowsy driver. 

While anyone who is sleep-deprived is at risk for a crash, certain groups are at higher risk. Those groups include: (1) drivers who suffer with untreated sleep apnea syndrome; (2) shift workers who work at night or irregular hours; (3) young drivers (ages 16 to 29) especially males.   And, as this trucker will tell you, truck drivers definitely work at night and keep irregular hours. So it is not surprising that the Large Truck Crash Causation Study found that 13 percent of Commercial Motor Vehicle drivers were fatigued at the time of a crash. 

Some drivers will try to combat fatigue by drinking caffeine, rolling the window down, turning up the radio or other tricks. But, the U.S. Department of Transportation warns that such tricks are not an alternative for rest and can actually produce a false sense of security. 

Let’s start this discussion with how the law handles sudden emergencies. Tennessee law recognizes that a driver faced with an unexpected or sudden emergency which calls for immediate action is unlikely to exercise the same good judgment as a driver who is operating his vehicle under normal circumstances.   In the past, a sudden emergency could constitute a complete defense to an injury claim. However, under current Tennessee law, a sudden emergency is just another factor for the judge or jury to consider when determining if the defendant was at-fault for the car accident. 

So with that in mind, let’s look at some of the examples above. Icy roads might constitute a sudden emergency, but a judge or jury is less likely to excuse the defendant if he or she was driving too fast for the road conditions. Or, if the defendant driver was texting and driving and failed to brake until the last minute and then slid on ice, the defense is  not going to be of much help to the defendant.   Many of the same considerations apply to the situation where a deer suddenly appears in your path. 

In the diabetic reaction example, to decide whether the sudden emergency defense might apply, we would want to know how long the defendant had been diagnosed with diabetes and therefore how experienced he or she was in managing his blood sugar. We would also want to know what the defendant ate and drank that day, what physical activity the defendant had engaged in, did the defendant take their insulin, what the defendant’s blood sugar readings had been in the days leading up to the accident, etc. If the evidence demonstrates the defendant had failed to properly manage his diabetes, then the defense of sudden emergency is less likely to be successful.

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? 

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.

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.