Of all the horrible injuries people suffer in Tennessee traffic accidents, the most mysterious are brain injuries. Brain injuries are often caused when a head injury causes the brain to swell against the skull. The effects of these injuries can be apparent immediately after the accident -- as when a person slips into a coma -- or can appear hours or days later. In some cases, people suffer amnesia that is only temporary, but in many cases brain injuries cause permanent cognitive problems.
To raise awareness of the dangers of brain injury and distracted driving, one state's Supreme Court recently decided to hold arguments in the appeal of a criminal case at a high school. The case involves a teenage boy who suffered traumatic brain injury in a 2010 car accident that police say was caused when another driver looked at a text message instead of the road.
The driver was convicted of second-degree assault in that case and is currently serving a sentence of up to seven years. The man has appealed the conviction, arguing that his actions did not amount to the kind of recklessness required under state law for a conviction on the charge.
The Court will hear arguments in that appeal at the high school as part of a program of introducing students to the judicial process. Spokespeople said that the court chose this case for the program because the justices thought that the issues of texting while driving and the age of the victim would be of particular interest to young people.
A brain injury can lead to permanent disability and a lifetime of inability to pursue a career. This constitutes an economic injury in addition to the physical, mental and emotional injuries the person suffers. A personal injury lawsuit can help Tennesseans who have suffered a brain injury due to someone else's negligence to be compensated for these damages.
Source: Seacoast Online, "N.H. high court to hear texting car crash case at high school," Lynne Tuohy, Oct. 17, 2013