Tennessee Injury Law Center

July 18, 2013

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

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 17, 2013

Train Accidents in Tennessee

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

The recent train derailment in Quebec, Canada caused me to investigate how many train accidents we have had recently in Tennessee.

In the first four months of 2013, there have been twelve incidents involving trains in Tennessee. Seven of those incidents involved derailments, the largest of which occurred in Lawrence County shortly after the first of the year. Fortunately, no personal injury occurred, but the estimate of property damage was $175,000. Only one locomotive and four cars derailed in that incident, which occurred at a relatively low rate of speed.

Two collisions of railroad cars have occurred since January 1, 2013, but each of them occurred in railway yards.

July 16, 2013

Overloaded Tires on Commercial Buses (Motorcoaches)

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

Operators of buses, known in the industry as motorcoaches, place their riders at risk of serious injury or death if they operate the vehicles with tires that are overloaded or are overly worn or damaged. Also at risk are other motorists and pedestrians if the motorcoach experiences a tire failure and the driver of the motorcoach loses control of the vehicle.

The risk is increased in the summer, when the tires are operated in warm weather conditions, increasing the risk of overheating and tire failure.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has warned motorcoach operators of the need to consider maximum tire load carrying capacity and tire speed rating, and allow an adequate tire pressure safety margin when carrying maximum passenger and luggage loads. The failure to take appropriate action can lead to the assessment of penalties against the operator.

July 15, 2013

Who Is Reasonable When Negligent Boating Causes Injury or Death in Tennessee?

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

Tennessee law provides that the negligent operator of a boat is responsible for injuries or deaths caused by the operator’s conduct.

The boat owner is also held responsible for the acts of the operator if the operator had permission of the owner to use the boat and if the boat owner was not in the business of leasing or selling boats. If the boat owner is in the business of selling or leasing boats, the owner is not liable for the negligence of the operator. However, a boat owner in the business of selling and leasing boats can still be held liable for negligently entrusting the boat to an incompetent driver.

Many boat owners have liability insurance on their boats and this insurance is available to provide compensation to those negligently injured by a boat operator.

July 15, 2013

Train Derailments in Tennessee

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

The horrible train derailment in Quebec, Canada resulted in the deaths of as many as fifty people and untold property damage.

The Canadian authorities are still investigating the cause of the incident, but several things seem to stand out. First, the 72-car train was parked and unattended at the time the incident began to occur. Apparently, there was only a one-person crew assigned to the train. A supervisor for the railway has accused the employee assigned to the train as failing to set a sufficient number of hand brakes to hold the train in place after the employee left the site and went to a local hotel to sleep.

The parent company of the owner of the train that derailed and set off a series of explosions is Rail World Inc. The actual owner of the train is Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway (MMA). MMA, which is headquartered in Chicago, has a long history of accidents in Canada, according to Transportation Safety Board data, which shows 129 accidents, including 77 derailments — some of them minor — since 2003.

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.

July 7, 2013

Transvaginal Mesh Trials Begin in West Virginia That Will Impact the Transvaginal Mesh Cases of Tennessee Women

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

On July 8, 2013 the first of four back-to-back transvaginal mesh trials begins in a federal courtroom in West Virginia. The results of these trials have implications for Tennessee women who have been injured by transvaginal mesh products inserted in them for pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence.

What do trials in West Virginia have to do with lawsuits filed by woman in Tennessee? The trials are part of an MDL (multi-district litigation) proceeding that has collected various lawsuit filed against various transvaginal mesh manufacturers in federal courts around the country. The result in these cases will give the manufacturers and the lawyers for the woman who have been injured an opportunity to determine how jurors truly feel about these cases and what value, if any, they assign to the harm suffered by the female patient and her spouse. Indeed, these cases are known as "bellweather" cases – cases that are used to predict the likelihood of success in other similar cases against the mesh manufacturers.

The results of the West Virginia trials do not legally determine the outcome of any case other than the patient and the manufacturer involved in that particular trial. Rather, they simply provide all involved with more data about how a jury evaluates the liability and damage allegations in such cases. Thus, the outcome of these cases will have an impact on any later settlement of some 30,000 cases pending against various manufacturers of these products.

July 2, 2013

How Do I Pay For Medical Bills After A Car or Motorcycle Accident If I Don’t Have Health Insurance?

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

We receive calls almost every day from people who have been in a Tennessee car, motorcycle or truck accident and are unable to get medical treatment because they do not have health insurance. Many doctors refuse to see accident victims unless they have health insurance or are willing to pay cash for the service. There are lots of people – about 48 million in the country – who have no health insurance and many of those people cannot pay cash for medical treatment.

There are only four options left for these people. One, borrow money from family or friends to see a doctor. Two, attempt to ignore the medical problem and hope that it will solve itself. Three, use the medical payments (also called "med pay") provision of the insurance on your vehicle to help pay for treatment. Fourth, ask your lawyer if he or she can make arrangements for a doctor to treat you – a doctor who will forgo seeking payment until after you case resolves.

It is a mistake to assume that the at-fault driver’s insurance company will pay for treatment. They may accept responsibility for the accident, but the at-fault driver’s insurance company will almost never pay medical bills for you as they are incurred. It is possible this insurance company will reimburse you for the bills at the time your treatment is complete and you are ready to settle the entire claim, but they will not give you money in advance of treatment or let your doctor bill them for treatment.

July 1, 2013

“Shut Up and Drive” – Voice Activitated Text Message Devices in Vehicles

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

While on opposite ends of the music spectrum, Chely Wright and Rihanna were in tune on some good advice: shut up and drive. While the dangers of texting and driving are well known, drivers still do it. So, the automakers are now rolling out vehicles that allow a driver to use their voice, rather than their fingers, to send text messages. The system is similar to Siri on a i-Phone, but it is actually part of the vehicle’s electronic system. Ford and Toyota already have such systems in some vehicles. And while intuitively the idea seems like a good one for reducing distracted driving, studies show it is not an improvement at all. According to the AAA, hand-free voice messaging causes a “large” amount of mental distraction. In addition, Texas A & M Transportation Institute has found hands-free texting was just as distracting as a driver who actually uses his hands to text. Both methods slowed driver’s reaction times to almost two times that of a non-distracted driver. Without question, distracted driving is dangerous. And so, the best and safest advice remains to simply shut up and drive. Coming from someone who remembers the days of finding a pay phone if you wanted to talk to someone while out on the roads, pull over if your text message can’t wait until you reach your destination. You might just save your life or someone else’s.

June 28, 2013

How Can A Child Sue A Child Sex Abuser?

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

Sexual abuse of a child is not only a crime that can (and should) result in criminal charges against the abuser. It is also wrongful conduct that makes the abuser liable for damages in a civil lawsuit.

Civil wrongs are called "torts." There are lots of categories of torts, but the two most applicable to sex abuse claims to minors are the tort of "battery" (the unlawful touching of another person) and "intentional infliction of emotional distress" (engaging in outrageous conduct that results in severe emotional injury to another). A person who commits a tort is liable for compensatory damages to the person injured by the conduct. If the tort is an intentional tort, or one that involves reckless conduct, the wrongdoer is also liable for punitive damages.

So, a child who is a victim of sexual abuse can (with the assistance of his or her parents or guardian) file a lawsuit against the abuser and seek compensatory and punitive damages for the injuries he or she suffered at the hands of the abuser. Whether the conduct occurred, what injuries were caused by the conduct, and the amount of damages to be awarded are issues that will be determined in the case.