Articles Posted in Auto Accident

Like all states, the Volunteer State sees its fair share of motor vehicle accidents. Accidents can cause one’s life to flip upside down in the blink of an eye. While some victims are fortunate in that the wreck causes little to no damage to anyone’s vehicle or property, others are not nearly as lucky. Catastrophic accidents can cause permanent injuries or even death. The Tennessee Department of Safety & Homeland Security works to protect Tennesseans and reduce motor vehicle crashes, which includes providing driver education and keeping track of statistics.

2017 Tennessee driving statistics were recently released, and they yielded interesting results. For starters, there were a total of 208,104 motor vehicle crashes statewide, with 50,174 deemed to have caused an injury. Of course, these would only include injuries reported at the scene, so this figure is likely much higher considering some motor vehicle accident related injuries can take hours, days, or longer to develop. The total accident figure is an increase from 2016, when 206,404 wrecks were reported. While accidents saw a slight increase from 2016 to 2017, these figures represent a stark increase from 2008, when 159,214 accidents were reported.

In 2017, fatal car accidents slightly increased from 2016, going from 1,037 to 1,040. July was the deadliest month, with 120 fatal crashes. This can likely be attributed to the 4^th of July, a holiday that typically sees a higher rate of drunk driving. 83 of the fatal crashes in 2017 involved teen drivers, compared to 103 in 2016. While teen driving fatalities decreased, the opposite occurred to seniors aged 65 and older. In 2017, 250 seniors were involved in deadly accidents, compared to 231 in 2016. Pedestrian fatalities also increased from 2016, going from 110 to 134.

According to a recent report in the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the number of traffic citations issued to Hamilton County drivers decreased for the 5^th year in a row in 2017. For example, in 2012, police officers in Chattanooga wrote 6,776 tickets for speeding and 1,653 tickets for seatbelt violations. In 2017, officers only wrote 2,119 speeding tickets and 378 seatbelt violation tickets. On a similar note, tickets for red light violations dropped from 668 to 280.

With tickets going down, that must mean more people are choosing to follow the rules of the road, right? Not so fast. The Chattanooga Police Department has provided several reasons why traffic citations are declining in the area. The first concerns officer discretion. A supervisor of the Chattanooga Police Department’s traffic division stated police officers have discretion when it comes to issuing tickets and citations. For example, if an officer pulls someone over for speeding, he or she can issue a verbal warning instead of writing a ticket. Since the police department wants to always encourage safe driving, some officers believe that having a conversation with the offender and providing a verbal warning can do more to prevent violations in the future than writing that person up with a citation.

Police attrition may also be linked to less tickets being issued. Losing officers has been a problem for many municipal police departments over the year, and the issue is no stranger to Chattanooga. According to the Chattanooga Police Department, between three and four police officers leave the department each month, on average, with some being transferred to new divisions and others leaving the force altogether.

Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. The 13-county Nashville metropolitan area is currently home to nearly 1.8 million people. According to data tracked by the U.S. Census, this area gained close to 31,000 people per year between 2010 and 2015. This annual growth rate of 1.8% is more than double the national growth rate of 0.8%. A surging population has contributed to an economic boom in Nashville and Davidson County, but it has also come at a cost. Pedestrian deaths are on the rise.

As of October 2017, 19 pedestrians have died in Nashville. In the entire year of 2016, just 16 pedestrians were killed. With Nashville roads being crowded, many people walk when possible to avoid such dense traffic. According to safety experts, pedestrians are most at risk during the winter months, in part because it gets dark much earlier. As a result, people are walking home when it has already become dark.

Is there anything that can be done to fix this problem? In Middle Tennessee, two organizations have decided to team up – Walk Bike Nashville and the Tennessee Highway Safety Office. Together, they have created a campaign called “Look For Me,” designed to raise awareness for pedestrians. According to Walk Bike Nashville, pedestrian fatalities are expected to reach 24 this year, nearly double from 2009, which saw 13 fatalities.

In a great victory for people injured in Tennessee, Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz lawyers Glenn Vines, Mark Geller, Kevin Graham, and Jason Yasinsky were able to ensure injured victims have the right to submit the full value of their medical expenses in their personal injury claim. This case, Dedmon v. Steelmon, was argued all the way up to the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Plaintiff Jean Dedmon originally filed suit in the Circuit Court of Crockett County, Tennessee, for injuries sustained in an automobile accident. As part of the lawsuit, Dedmon attached her full medical bills for hospital treatment and doctor visits caused by the accident. While the case was pending, the Supreme Court of Tennessee issued an opinion in another case, West v. Shelby County Healthcare Corporation. That case dealt primarily with hospitals that filed liens (pursuant to Tennessee’s Hospital Lien Act) for the full amount of treatment billed to the patient, regardless of whether they had health insurance. While health insurance companies often pay at discounted rates due to contractual agreements with providers, the Court ultimately decided that based on the language of the hospital lien law, the hospital’s lien is limited to the discounted amount paid by the patient’s health insurance company.

Counsel for Steelman took that holding and sought to apply the principle to all of Dedmon’s medical bills. The trial court agreed and ruled that Dedmon could not submit the full amount of her medical expenses to the jury; instead, she could only submit the amounts of the contractually-agreed payments that the providers accepted from her insurance company. NST Law, on behalf of Dedmon, appealed that decision. After both sides submitted legal briefs and argued their respective positions, the Tennessee Court of Appeals reversed the trial court ruling, stating Dedmon could introduce her full bills but Steelman could introduce proof contradicting the reasonableness of those bills. Steelman moved to appeal this ruling to the Tennessee Supreme Court.