Motor Vehicle Cases

December 29, 2010

Uninsured Motorist Article Published in the TBA Journal

The Tennessee Bar Association has graciously permitted me to write a column on tort law for many years. I must admit that I enjoy writing these articles, although I must also admit that each time the calendar reminder pops-up on my computer reminding me of yet another deadline for yet another article a small groan slips out from my aging body.

The January 2011edition of the Journal is now available. My newest article is titled "Presents From ‘Round Back of the Tree." The article alerts readers to two recent Court of Criminal Appeals cases that may be of assistance to tort lawyers as they attempt to prove John Doe UM claims.

Confused? Here are the first three paragraphs (footnotes omitted). Read them and see if you can figure out where the article is headed.

December 1, 2010

Drugs and Drivers

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

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has reported that post-mortem testing has demonstrated an increase in the level of drug involvement among fatally injured drivers over a five-year period from 2005 to 2009.

According to data compiled by NHTSA, 63 percent of the 21,798 drivers who were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2009 were tested for drugs. Of these, 3,952 tested positive for drug involvement, representing 18 percent of the total for that year. The report also showed drug use reported by the states among fatally injured drivers increasing from 13 percent in 2005, to 15 percent in 2006, 16 percent in 2007, and 18 percent in 2008. Drug involvement does not mean the driver was impaired or that drug use was the cause of the crash.

The drug data was collected by NHTSA as part of its Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and included information collected from the states under three broad categories: whether the driver was tested, the type of test conducted, and the test results. The types of drugs recorded in FARS include narcotics, depressants, stimulants, hallucinogens, cannabinoids, phencyclidines (PCPs), anabolic steroids, and inhalants. The groups include both illicit drugs, as well as legally prescribed drugs and over-the-counter medicines.

November 2, 2010

Duty of Rental Car Companies to Check Driving Record of Renters

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

Does a rental car company have the duty to check the driving record of potential customers before renting them a car? Does the fact that the records are available electronically have any impact on whether a duty exists?

The California Court of Appeals recently considered these issues and re-affirmed an earlier ruling that (a) a car rental agency is "not negligent for entrusting a car to a person lawfully qualified and apparently fit to rent and drive it” and (b) "an agency has no duty to ask questions to investigate the driving record of the customer, and that the agency may rely on presentation of a valid driver‟s license as sufficient evidence of fitness to drive, absent a legislative declaration to the contrary."

The court went on to conclude that despite changes in technology car rental agencies "have no duty to conduct an electronic search of the driving records of their customers before entrusting a vehicle to them." The court said that it was the responsibility of the legislature and not the courts to impose such a duty.

October 28, 2010

Do Auto Safety Standards Save Lives?

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

On Tuesday the 26th I posted about a NHTSA report on traffic safety. I saved for today a reference to what the organization believes is a major cause of the decrease in deaths and injuries in motor vehicle cases: safety regulations and programs imposed by state and federal governments.

Here is a summary of the findings on this point:

The long-term declining trend observed in fatalities since reaching a high in the early 1970s has occurred while significant vehicle and occupant safety regulations and programs were being enacted by NHTSA and the States. NHTSA-administered behavioral and vehicle safety programs, both in the crashworthiness and crash avoidance areas, and through the issuing of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards has contributed tremendously to the long-term downward trend seen in motor vehicle traffic crash fatalities. In 2008, an estimated 244 lives were saved by the use of child restraints, 13,250 lives of people 5 and older were saved by seat belts, 2,546 lives of people 13 and older were saved by air bags, 1,829 lives were saved by the use of motorcycle helmets, and 714 lives were saved by minimum-drinking-age laws (NHTSA, 2009). Significant life-saving vehicle technologies like electronic stability control (ESC) have begun to penetrate the vehicle fleet. NHTSA estimates ESC would save 5,300 to 9,600 lives and prevent 156,000 to 238,000 injuries in all types of crashes annually once all light vehicles on the road are equipped with ESC (NHTSA, 2007).

October 26, 2010

Vehicle Crashes, Death and Injuries Continue to Decline

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

The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration has issued a report analyzing motor vehicle crash data for 2008. The good news: the number of vehicle crashes, deaths and injuries continue to decline.

From the report:

The number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is the primary exposure measure used when analyzing the occurrence of fatal motor vehicle crashes. VMT is collected by the Federal Highway Administration and in 2008 FHWA reported a decrease in VMT of almost 2 percent from that reported in 2007. This is the first reported decline in VMT since 1980. The number of motor vehicle crash fatalities per 100 million VMT was 1.25 in 2008, which is a decline of approximately 8 percent from the 2007 rate and is the lowest fatality rate per 100 million VMT ever recorded. The estimated number of people injured in crashes continued a long-term decline, dropping by 5.8 percent in 2008.

October 19, 2010

Cost of Auto Accidents

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

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that motor vehicle accidents cost the United States economy almost $100 billion each year, or about $500 per licensed driver.

Motorcycle accidents cost about $12 billion. Car and truck accidents total $70 billion.

The CDC looked at data from 2005. In that year, there were 3.7 million injuries and deaths resulting in medical care from motor vehicle accidents.

September 10, 2010

Motor Vehicle Injuries and Deaths Decline

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

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood released updated 2009 fatality and injury data showing that highway deaths fell to 33,808 for the year, the lowest number since 1950. The record-breaking decline in traffic fatalities occurred even while estimated vehicle miles traveled in 2009 increased by 0.2 percent over 2008 levels.

In addition, 2009 saw the lowest fatality and injury rates ever recorded: 1.13 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2009, compared to 1.26 deaths for 2008.

Fatalities declined in all categories of vehicles including motorcycles, which saw fatalities fall by 850 from 2008, breaking an 11-year cycle of annual increases.

August 28, 2010

An Example of Why Texting While Driving is a Bad Idea

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

ABC News reports that Dr. Frank Ryan, the surgeon who performed extensive plastic surgery early this year on Heidi Montag, was sending a Twitter message about his dog before his fatal car crash Monday in Los Angeles. The dog, who was in the car at the time of the crash, survived injuries to the head, eye and paw. Dr. Ryan died of blunt force head injuries.

July 1, 2010

Tennessee Court of Appeals Uses Photographs in Opinion

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

Judge Susano and his colleagues on the Eastern Section of the Tennessee Court of Appeals issued an opinion yesterday in Usher v. Charles Blalock & Sons, Inc. The opinion addresses some important issues of Tennessee law, but is mentioned here because it utlizies photographs scanned into the body of the opinion to help the reader understand how the wreck occurred.

From time to time, I have seen drawings (and maybe even a photograph) appended to court opinions but I do not recall seeing a photograph inserted into the text of a Tennessee appellate opinion. The photographs help tell the story in this case, and Judge Susano and his colleagues are to be congratulated for using them.

Usher has been assigned Case No. E2009-00658-COA-R3-CV. The opinion was released on June 30, 2010.

May 20, 2010

Tennessee County Maps

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

Can’t quite figure out if that automobile accident case happened in Davidson or Wilson County, Tennessee? This website has a detailed map of every Tennessee county that you can use to start your investigation into this issue.