Tennessee Injury Lawyer Blog

On-the-job injuries can be of all different varieties, and figuring out how to recover and from whom can be difficult for plaintiffs. For example, say you are driving a delivery van for your employer and someone runs a red light and t-bones the van, causing permanent injuries that leave you partially disabled. Who can you turn to for help paying your medical bills and recovering from your injuries. The answer lies in the facts and circumstances surrounding the accident, your employment status, and a host of other factors that determine which parties may be liable for your injuries.

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For the first-time in four years, traffic fatalities rose in Tennessee as the 2010 mark exceeded the number of traffic-related fatalities in Tennessee in 2009. According to reports, fatalities rose more in rural areas than urban ones, with the increase being attributed to a lower seat-belt usage rate in the rural areas. Law enforcement officials also cited an increase in multiple-fatality wrecks as being a cause for the rise in traffic fatalities this year.

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Police say a Newport woman is to blame for a Tuesday night crash on Alcoa Highway that sent the woman and her passenger to the hospital. According to reports, authorities believe that forty-five year-old Tammy Trentham of Newport was driving her 1999 Ford Explorer southbound on Alcoa Highway when she decided to attempt an illegal u-turn to head northbound. She was reportedly attempting to cross all lanes of southbound traffic when she pulled into the path of thirty-one year-old Melissa Turner of Knoxville who was driving a 2003 Dodge pickup truck belonging to the truck's passenger, off-duty police officer Steven Kaufman. Trentham was taken to UT Medical Center in critical condition and there has been no update on her condition as of yet.

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Rare as it may be, there are hundreds of auto accidents that take place every year for which none of the parties actually involved in the crash can be held responsible. The most common form of this type of accident is one that is weather-related. Tennessee recently experienced a couple of severe winter storm systems that resulted in icing and dangerous driving conditions on many of Tennessee's roads and backroads. Drivers who hit ice, especially black ice, may find themselves in wrecks that involve other vehicles and drivers, but it may be nature that is at fault and there may be nothing any of the drivers involved could have done to avoid the accident.

Continue reading "Third-Party Liability in Auto Accidents" »

Given the high number of people that will be on the roads after midnight tonight and the high likelihood that many of them will be operating under the influence of some form of intoxicant, it is very likely that tonight will be among the most dangerous, if not the most dangerous, nights to take to the roadways. This blog has discussed repeatedly the dangers of driving under the influence, and how such conduct is presumed negligent in Tennessee. The unfortunate truth is that many people look forward to this night all year as a night to let loose and enjoy their drink or drug of choice. Even more unfortunate is that many of these individuals have to travel to their party destinations and then make the ill-fated decision to drive back home or to their next destination, thus endangering the lives of anyone else trying to use the roads.

Continue reading "New Years Eve Presents Many Driving Hazards" »

Tennesseans who take to the roads this morning are finding travel extremely treacherous due to a winter storm system that brought ice raining down on much of East Tennessee last night. The storm resulted in ice accumulations of almost an inch in some places, and below-freezing temperatures throughout the night ensured that the ice would remain on the roadways to terrorize Tennessee motorists throughout the morning. Weather reports indicate that the ice should melt later in the day as temperatures get above freezing, but it is expected to be a gradual process and leave the roads in a dangerous state until the afternoon.

Continue reading "Winter Storm Puts Deep Freeze on East Tennessee" »

It has been a busy twenty-four hours for tow truck drivers in the area as a major snowstorm has dumped several inches of snow across East Tennessee. Tennesseans who have been forced to brave the roads during the storm have discovered that the low temperatures, dipping down into the teens in most areas, have also caused the roads to become icy and extremely slick in many areas. Not surprisingly, this has lead to a confluence of automobile accidents in Knox County, Sevier County, Blount County, Cocke County, and surrounding areas.

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As America becomes increasingly mobile and more companies are investing in providing services to their clients at their homes, more and more Tennesseans find themselves engaging in an extensive amount of driving as part of their jobs. Unfortunately, this also presents an increased risk to these Tennesseans that they may become injured in a car wreck while driving on the job, either as a result of someone else's negligence, their own bad driving, or something out of the ordinary like a vehicular malfunction. When these wrecks, happen it is important for drivers to know that they have two potential avenues for recovery.

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With the holiday season fast approaching, many Tennesseans are making plans to travel to various destinations in order to spend Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year's Day with loved ones. Many such families choose to unite in the many cabins, hotels, and various resorts that populate much of the Sevier County area of the Great Smoky Mountains, other families choose winter-vacation destinations, and others still like to meet somewhere warm to escape the bitter cold that often accompanies this time of year. The combination of lots of people traveling and inclement weather often leads to the formation of dangerous walking conditions in and around stores, hotels, cabins, and parking lots in areas where lots of foot traffic occurs and busy employees may not be able to ensure that conditions remain safe at all times.

Continue reading "Slip and Fall Injuries" »

A tanker truck that was reportedly carrying methacrylic acid partially tipped while trying to turn into a Knoxville parking lot at around 9 p.m. Saturday night, causing the toxic substance to spill onto Western Avenue. According to reports, the truck was exiting I-640 in Knoxville when it hit a four-foot tall concrete pillar that formerly supported a light pole and caught under the trailer portion of the tanker's tires, causing the accident. Due to the flammable and corrosive nature of the chemical, the portion of the roadway where the spill occurred had to be blocked off by authorities until the spill could be cleaned up and the tanker could be restored to its upright position.

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Alcohol reportedly played a role in a car wreck that claimed the lives of two victims along I-75 in McMinn County on Saturday Afternoon. According to the reports, two vehicles were traveling in the same direction along the road when the first car, driven by 41-year-old Stephen A. Martinson, veered into the left hand lane and then over-corrected by swerving back into the right lane, causing it to strike another vehicle. This made both vehicles lose control and drive off of the roadway. Martinson, who was killed in the wreck, had reportedly been drinking. Officers are not sure who was driving the other vehicle involved in the crash, but 32-year-old Jason Higgins was killed in the accident. Both of the other passengers, 27-year-old Jason Duncan and 31-year-old Justin James Higgins were both injured in the accident. Martinson, Jason Higgins and Justin James Higgins were reported as not wearing seatbelts during the accident.

Continue reading "Auto Accident Kills Two in McMinn County" »

Seventy-six year-old Irene Atkins of Crossville, Tennessee was reportedly struck by a tractor-trailer and died after a six-vehicle crash on 347 eastbound in Roane County at about 6:00 a.m. on Monday. A trooper from the Tennessee Highway Patrol described the accident as a "chain reaction crash." The first car was driven by 36-year-old Arthur J. Rivers, who hydroplaned and ran off the right side of the road, leaving the front end of his car in traffic. The second car, driven by 35-year-old Scott Bilbrey, hit Rivers's car and then the third car, driven by 56-year-old Charlie Langley, swerved to avoid the first two vehicles and hit the Rivers' vehicle on the left side. The fourth car, driven by 43-year-old Robert Calabrese, Jr., hit the car driven by Langley in the rear and the fifth car, driven by Atkins swerved to avoid the other cars and hit Rivers' vehicle one on the left side. Atkins' car came to rest against a concrete wall and she got out of the vehicle, at which point she was struck by a vehicle driven by 43-year-old Kirk Patrick Romero, who swerved to avoid the collision and struck Atkins's car in the rear and hit Atkins as well, killing her.

Continue reading "Driver Killed in Six-Vehicle Crash Involving Tractor-Trailer" »