Posted in Car Accident,Negligence,Personal Injury,Tennessee Accident Law on January 8, 2015
71-Year-Old Woman Killed in Crockett County Crash on Tuesday
A 71-year-old woman was killed in a two-vehicle accident in Alamo, Tennessee, on Tuesday afternoon.
According to reports by wbbjtv.com and The Jackson Sun, the woman, who was from Friendship, Tennessee, was ejected from her vehicle in the crash after she collided with a pickup truck at the intersection of Highway 412 and Egg Hill Road around 4:30 p.m. while headed westbound. The woman was a passenger in a 2006 four-door Ford sedan driven by a 66-year-old woman.
The driver of the Ford sedan was also hurt in the crash, but the driver of the pickup truck did not suffer any injuries. Tennessee Highway Patrol stated that the woman who was killed was not wearing her seat belt, but the other driver was buckled up at the time of the accident.
The Clarksville car accident lawyers at Matt Hardin Law express our condolences to the woman who died in this tragic accident.
Myths about Seat belts
Not only is wearing a seat belt required by law in Tennessee, but it’s also your best defense against suffering serious and even life-threatening injuries in an automobile accident. Unfortunately, there are many myths about wearing seat belts, including some that say they are dangerous. Here are some of the most commonly believed myths along with an explanation of why they’re invalid:
Imagine running into a brick wall at full speed. The average human can run around 15 miles per hour, but most car accidents, even low-speed ones, occur at speeds much faster than that. Without a seat belt holding you in place, even accidents in places like parking lots and alleys can cause serious injuries.
While airbags are a great safety feature than can add additional protection during the event of a collision, they are no substitute for seat belts. In fact, hitting an airbag with your head or face at full speed in an accident can cause serious injuries, including broken bones, fractured skull, and even a brain injury.
In almost all cases, being trapped inside your car during an accident is far better than the alternative. People who are ejected from vehicles in accidents are much more likely to suffer serious injuries or die than people who remain inside their vehicles due to seat belts holding them in place. In addition, it’s rare for a seat belt to trap someone inside their vehicle, as it’s most commonly caused by structural failure of the car itself.
Seat belts are designed to be nearly unnoticeable except when they’re needed most—and that’s when your vehicle suddenly decelerates due to hard braking or an actual collision. The tug produced by a seat belt is the same thing that holds you in place in the event of an accident and prevents you from being ejected from your vehicle or striking the dashboard with high levels of potentially deadly force.
Wearing a seat belt not only helps save your life, but it can also save the lives of your family members if you make sure they buckle up as well. Police in Tennessee are also on the lookout for drivers and passengers who don’t buckle up, and anyone who isn’t wearing a seat belt can be receive an expensive ticket.
At Matt Hardin Law, our Clarksville car accident lawyers know that safety measures like seat belts can help reduce the impact of car accidents, but they can’t eliminate them from occurring or people getting injured.
If you or someone you love suffered an injury in a car accident that wasn’t your fault, we want to help you get compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and other accident-related expenses. Call us today at (615) 200-1111 or fill out a free online form to see how we can help you.
