Summertime is a time for relaxing, planning family time and trying to squeeze as much as possible into the long summer days. Planning and anticipating such events can be a distraction as one is talking on a cell phone, is not focused on driving or is even just daydreaming. With increased traffic on Tennessee roadways, safe driving requires that drivers remain fully focused on the traffic around them. Distraction may have played a part in one of the area’s recent tragic car accidents.
A beloved area high school teacher was stopped in heavy traffic on Interstate 75. Another car crashed into the rear of his vehicle. The teacher, who was alone in his car, was airlifted to an area hospital with serious injuries and transported from there to University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. The medical staff were unable to save him.
It is not known if speed contributed to the crash, but the impact from the collision did cause the teacher’s car to rear end a vehicle in front of him. It is not known if the driver of the second car suffered any injuries. The teacher was married with two young children. The accident remains under investigation.
Travelling on an interstate normally allows one to travel at a fairly constant speed, but one must always be on the alert for sudden changes in traffic conditions. Car accidents, construction or merging traffic can quickly cause slowdowns. Losing a loved one in an accident that may have been preventable creates a horrific sense of loss that may not be healed by time. No one can turn back time and undo the tragedy, but a civil suit against the party deemed responsible may provide compensation for medical costs, final costs and other verifiable losses.