Memphis personal injury law blog

Losing a loved one in a car accident is naturally a traumatic experience that causes not only emotional trauma but also financial hardship. An unanticipated death can ruin the financial security of any family. Every year, many wrongful death claims are filed in civil courts in Tennessee by surviving families of people who lost their lives in crashes caused by others who were negligent.

If a fatality in an automobile accident is caused by the negligence, carelessness, recklessness, willful misconduct or aggressive behavior of another party, those left behind might have grounds to file a wrongful death lawsuit. This often follows distracted, inexperienced or aggressive driving, impaired driving and failure to comply with road rules. Sometimes, the drivers who cause the accidents are not the owners of the vehicles, in which cases, the vehicle owners can also be held liable. Examples include a teenage driver crashing a parent's car or a big-rig driver causing an accident in a company-owned truck.

Pedestrians are much more likely to sustain injuries following a traffic collision than someone else who is inside a vehicle. A report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that in 2015, approximately 129,000 pedestrians had to go to the emergency room for non-fatal injuries. 

You may feel shocked, angry and frightened after a pedestrian accident. However, the actions you take in the immediate aftermath will significantly affect the claims process later. You should try to move out of the street if possible to assess your injuries. Otherwise, keep the driver at the scene and follow these steps: 

In a recent collaboration between the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and other organizations, safety authorities held a trench safety stand down nationwide, including in Tennessee. Many people take power and water supply in their homes for granted without giving thought to the construction workers and utility workers who risk their lives in trenches and excavations to make sure those services are available. Every time a worker enters a trench to lay a pipe, cable or gas line, his or her life is on the line.

For that reason, safety authorities thought it appropriate to raise the level of awareness among construction company owners, contractors and employees. They encouraged employers to use actual trenches during this week to demonstrate potential hazards and safety precautions to prevent cave-ins and other emergencies. Workers were also reminded that they have the right to refuse to enter unsafe trenches.

The Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration is concerned about the number of fatalities reported in the state's construction industry. A spokesperson for TOSHA says the two-year period from 2016 through 2017 was the deadliest yet. In the metropolitan area of Nashville, 16 employees lost their lives in construction worker accidents during that period -- more than in any other rapidly growing areas in other states. This is based on the latest information made available by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Two such fatalities have been reported in the Nashville area so far this year. Although construction company owners, contractors and subcontractors are required by state and federal laws to provide safe workplace environments, TOSHA says that noncompliance continues to be a significant problem. The agency says the declining number of safety inspections due to fewer inspectors has led to employers disregarding employee safety in favor of profits. This has resulted in devastating construction site accidents.