Tennessee Injury Lawyer Blog

Twenty-one year-old Jeffrey Brian-Edward Wills of Mosheim, Tennessee is facing several charges after authorities say he intentionally ran the SUV of nineteen year-old Jackie Ricker of Rheatown off the road, causing Ms. Ricker to be killed in the wreck. Mr. Wills was reportedly driving at a high rate of speed when he intentionally hit the Ford Explorer driven by Ms. Ricker, causing her car to drive into an embankment. Ms. Ricker was killed in the crash and two of her passengers, 31-year-old Sammy Shanks of Greeneville and 29-year-old Nancy Wills of Rheatown were injured and taken to Johnson City Medical Center. The criminal ramifications of this situation are discussed here.

Continue reading "Greene County Man Allegedly Wrecks Other Driver Intentionally" »

Twenty-two year-old Rochelle Kay Lee of Plainfield, Indiana was killed yesterday when her vehicle flipped over the guardrail near mile marker 144 at the Stinking Creek exit and was struck by a tractor-trailer. The driver of the tractor-trailer, Paul Jenkins of Madisonville, Tennessee was not injured in the crash. No drugs or alcohol seem to have been a factor in the crash, which was reportedly caused by the fact that Lee lost control of her vehicle due to heavy rainfall. Both drivers were also reportedly wearing their seatbelts.

Continue reading "Indiana Woman Killed in Wreck on I-75" »

Forty-seven year-old Paul Rodgers of Knoxville died a few weeks ago when the van he was driving through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park reportedly drifted off of the right edge of the road, struck a tree, and then slid several feet down an embankment. According to reports, Rodgers was found dead at the scene, although he was properly wearing his seat belt and the van’s airbag deployed. There is no evidence that alcohol or drugs were involved, but the investigation into the crash is ongoing.

Continue reading "Knoxville Man Dies in Crash in National Park" »

Forty-Six year-old Louis Michael Haney of Clinton, Tennessee was arrested Sunday afternoon on suspicion of DUI after law enforcement officials spotted him driving his John Deere riding lawnmower along the shoulder of the Tri-County Boulevard in Anderson County heading in the opposite direction of traffic. Haney subsequently failed a sobriety test and was taken into custody and charged with felony DUI, driving on a revoked license, and violation of the implied consent law.

Continue reading "Clinton Man Arrested for Fifth DUI" »

Early this morning, a gas tanker overturned near mile marker 121 on I-75 North, causing the tank to puncture and gasoline to leak all over the interstate. I-75 near Callahan Road in Knoxville was closed for a few hours while crews worked to clean up the spilled gasoline, and one lane of I-75 was reopened at about 10:30 a.m. The accident was reportedly caused when a Pontiac Sunfire blew a tire and was unable to get out of the left lane before coming to a stop. The driver of the Sunfire tried to get the attention of the driver of the gas tanker, now identified as John Stepp of Gate City, Virginia, but was unable to do so before it was too late. The tanker crashed into the Sunfire, causing it to flip and begin leaking gasoline. The driver of the tanker was transported to UT Medical Center and his condition was unknown at the time. The driver of the Sunfire was not injured.

Continue reading "Gas Tanker Overturns, Closes Down Part of I-75" »

Sixty-Four year-old Rita Webber had just finished having lunch with her husband on Wednesday at Nixon’s Deli in Knoxville when Mrs. Webber got into her car, started it up, and proceeded to drive directly into the Deli at which she just ate. Investigators reportedly believe that she had the car in drive instead of reverse (a fact which would seem easily deduced without an immense amount of investigation) and accidentally drove into the storefront. Thankfully no one was hurt, although the restaurant did suffer a substantial amount of damage and will require major repairs. It is recommended that customers who are unhappy with their dining experience refrain from driving their automobiles through the restaurant and instead contact a manager or fill out a comment card.

Continue reading "Car Crashes Into Knoxville Deli, But No One Injured" »

A member of the Tennessee Highway Patrol was charged with DUI last Friday after law enforcement officials spotted the pickup truck of Gregory Brown, age 40, driving erratically and weaving in and out of traffic. At one point, officials aw the truck briefly cross into oncoming traffic before swerving back over to the correct side of the road. Brown was stopped on suspicion of DUI and failed a good number of field sobriety tests including balancing, walking heel to toe, and counting backward. Upon making the stop, the officer also noticed that Brown was driving with a cup of beer in the console.

Continue reading "Tennessee Highway Patrol Pilot Charged with DUI" »

The Tennessee Highway patrol is reporting that one person is dead after an accident involving a car and a tanker truck that closed down part of I-75 in Campbell County near the Stinking Creek exit at mile marker 144. The tanker truck reportedly rear-ended a car and then slid off of an embankment, sliding 500 to 700 feet off the interstate and killing the driver of the truck. Police have not released the driver’s name as of yet.

Continue reading "Campbell County Crash Leaves One Dead" »

According to the Montana Highway Patrol, a Tennessee man was killed last Saturday afternoon when an SUV crossed over the center line and hit his motorcycle head-on as he was riding through Glacier National Park. The victim has been identified as 58 year-old Fred Childress of Oak Ridge, TN. Mr. Childress was a co-founder and president of the Tennessee Liberty Alliance and was reportedly winding up a four-week cross-country motorcycle tour when he was involved in the wreck. Our condolences go out to Mr. Childress’s family and friends in the wake of this unfortunate tragedy.

Continue reading "Oak Ridge Man Killed in Head-On Crash" »

Lillian Michelle Clarke, of Miramar, Fla., and toddler Catherine R. Howard, of Lexington, Ky were killed Tuesday when 61 year-old Ben Edward Parrot of Jellico, Tennessee crashed the semi-truck he was driving into a Mazda in which the two aforementioned victims, along with three others who survived the crash, were sitting. A wreck earlier in the day had caused traffic to back up and come to a stand-still in the northbound lanes of I-75 around mile marker 122. For a reason that is either unknown or has yet to be released, Mr. Parrot drove into the traffic jam in his semi without stopping, obliterating the Mazda and causing it to crash into two more cars although the occupants of those cars received minimal injuries. Criminal charges are reportedly pending against the driver of the semi.

This is terrible tragedy, and prayers and condolences go out to all of the victims involved and their families.

Continue reading "Semi Slams Into Mazda, Killing Woman and Toddler" »

It usually doesn’t pay to get excited or even speculate about legislation making its way through Congress. After all, the legislative process seems to usually result in a lot of bickering among opposing politicians with nothing ever really coming to fruition. A new bill, however, is in the works (spurred by the recent series of defects that have plagued Toyota) that may prove to be huge in the field of personal injury law. Since the bill may prove so important, it may be worth discussing even if it never amounts to much.

The new bill proposes to tighten the safety standards applicable to vehicle manufacturers wishing to sell automobiles in the United States. Among other provisions, it contains proposals that would require carmakers to install systems that would give a car's brake priority over its accelerator and record data that could be used in crash or defect investigations. Both of these conventions would be noteworthy from a personal injury context. Giving a car’s brake priority over its gas could make the car drive differently, which would tend to increase the accident risk for drivers who are unfamiliar with how the car drives in such a condition. However, it would also prevent many accidents that are caused by unintended acceleration or negligent driving. Whether the pros of such a system would outweigh the cons could really only be determined after the system was put into practice.

The data recorder that would be placed in vehicles could potentially play a crucial role in many personal injury cases. Many of these cases turn on which version of two different sets of facts the jury believes. If the data recorder can clear up such disputes or support one side of the testimony, personal injury cases may settle with more frequency and may be avoided altogether when the liability of a party is clear. For anyone interested in the realm of personal injury law, this bill will be one worth watching.

Source: http://www.philly.com/philly/business/homepage/20100720_Fight_looms_in_Washington_over_proposed_auto-safety_rules.html

A Kansas jury has found an auto dealership not liable for negligence in a lawsuit brought against the business by the widow of a man who was killed when a bus apparently given away as a gift by the dealership ran into an overpass and injured some passengers who were standing on top of a modified party deck which had been built onto the bus. The widow claimed that the auto dealership sold the bus in its converted state, thereby putting a dangerous vehicle on the street, for $1,000 but the dealership claimed they never made any such modifications and gave the bus away as a gift while it was still in school-bus form. Ultimately, the jury believed the defendant and found them not liable. Several other parties were named as defendants in the suit but settled before trial and remain sealed.

Even though this case took place in Kansas, it helps to illustrate several important points regarding personal injury law in Tennessee. The first point is that there are almost always multiple parties who bear some degree of responsibility for an accident. Tennessee’s comparative fault system allows plaintiffs to recover for their injuries from other responsible parties, even if the plaintiff was also negligent to some degree. In this situation, the plaintiff was almost certainly negligent since he was apparently standing up on top of a converted school bus partying while it was in motion. The driver of the bus would also have been negligent here, because you simply cannot operate a vehicle while people are standing up on top of it and drinking alcohol, and you certainly need to make sure your vehicle isn’t over fifteen feet tall before you smash into an overpass which clearly says “Clearance: 15 feet 0 inches.” Had the jury found that the dealership converted the bus prior to sell it, the dealership too would bear some degree of liability for constructing and selling a dangerous vehicle. Several other parties would potentially be liable in such a situation including the owner of the bus, the organizers of the party, etc., but their liability would depend on the facts of the case.

In a complicated case where many different parties may be liable, it is important to know who can be held responsible and what level of responsibility they may bear. Consulting a skilled personal injury attorney can assist plaintiffs in maximizing their recovery.

Source: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/jul/13/cat-tracker-fatality-case-now-lawrence-jurys-hands/