Earlier this month, the NHTSA began a new investigation into the electronic rotary gear shifters in Fiat Chrysler vehicles. The shifters can be found in more than one million vehicles and may have a flawed design. There have been numerous reports of cars rolling away after their drivers exited the vehicle when they believed the vehicle to be in park. In many cases, the car rolled away even when the gear was set to park.

The error is to blame in more than 25 accidents and nine injuries. Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin was killed after his 2015 Jeep Cherokee rolled backwards and pinned him to a pole in his driveway. The electronic gear shifters in question don’t actually change the gears themselves, but instead send a signal to the car to change the gear for you. This method is unlike traditional shifters, which mechanically change a gear’s configuration to the desired function. The technology has been found confusing in the past, and now there is a chance that some units are defective as well. Many people have reported their new cars are not registering being in park, despite the shifter indicating it is.

These electronic gear shifters debuted in 2013 and are used in many vehicle makes, including models from:

• Dodge
• Chrysler
• Jeep
• Jaguar
• Land Rover

Hundreds of thousands of vehicles that use these shifters have been recalled, and this is not the first time the NHTSA has launched an investigation into them. Cars with this issue were also recalled in April of this year. Fiat Chrysler’s response has been to incorporate a failsafe, meaning some cars will automatically activate the parking brake if a door is opened while the engine is running. In some cases, they’ve tried to issue software patches to achieve the same effect.

Nevertheless, these so-called roll-away accidents remain a persistent problem that will need to be addressed. Until the results of the NHTSA investigation are released, the causes of the issues may remain unclear. The one thing that is clear is that until that point, these electronic gear shifters pose a real danger. If have been hurt because your car rolled away on its own and you believe that a faulty gear mechanism is responsible for your injury, contact the Tennessee defective car shifter attorneys of Pohl & Berk, LLP. We can help you determine the liability in your case and whether or not you are eligible for compensation. Call us at 615-277-2765 to learn more.

Under the state law of Tennessee, families of the children who died in a school bus accident on Monday, November 21 can receive no more than $750,000 from the defendants. Unfortunately, 2011 amendments made to Tennessee’s tort reform law capped payouts in personal injury lawsuits against doctors and other businesses at $750,000.

That means this law is bad news for family members who will sue Warrenville-based school bus operator Durham School Services and the bus driver, Johnthony Walker, who lost control and crashed the bus into a utility pole and tree. The accident led to the death of six children, whose families can receive only that amount or less, even though the lives of children were at stake.

If you are faced with a debilitating injury due to a personal injury accident in Nashville or another area in Tennessee, enlist the legal services of our attorneys at Pohl & Berk, LLP. Call our offices today at 615-277-2765 so we can help you file the appropriate lawsuit against the people responsible for your plight.

After a fatal bus accident in Tennessee, bus driver John Walker is facing five counts of vehicular homicide, reckless endangerment, and reckless driving.

In Tennessee, vehicular homicide is the reckless killing while driving an automobile resulting from conduct creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to a person. Vehicular homicide is classified as a Class C felony, which carries with it a sentence of three to 15 years of imprisonment. However, if a driver has prior convictions for driving under the influence or vehicular assault, or if one has a BAC of .20%, the charge may increase to a Class A felony. This upgrade increases the potential sentence to a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 60 years of imprisonment. Walker is also facing reckless endangerment charges, which constitutes reckless conduct that places or has the potential to place other people in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury.

If you are hurt in a personal injury accident that occurred in Nashville or another area of Tennessee, press charges against the people responsible for your plight. Call our offices today at 615-277-2765 to get the help of our attorneys at Pohl & Berk, LLP.

The Morristown Police Department said last Wednesday, October 26 that they arrested Heather Williams for hitting John Paul Wayne Taylor, 6, as he was getting off the school bus. The incident occurred last Monday, October 24 around 6:05 p.m. at Lincoln Avenue near Kennedy Center.

According to preliminary investigations, Taylor walked around his stopped school bus after getting off when Williams struck him and left the scene of the accident. Taylor went to Morristown Hamblen Hospital for treatment of his injuries of an unknown nature and was back to attending Lincoln Elementary School after four days. Police investigators said Williams admitted she was texting while driving at the time of the incident. She is currently detained at the Hamblen County Jail and was assigned a $70,000 bond.

If you are facing an injury or disability after a personal injury accident caused by the negligent actions of other people in Nashville, seek the legal assistance of our attorneys at Pohl & Berk, LLP by calling our offices today at 615-277-2765.

Nashville resident Stacie Reasonover sued Apple Inc. during the third week of October after Reasonover claimed that her overheating iPhone 6 caused injuries to her right breast.

The lawsuit was filed in the Tennessee Middle District Court in Nashville with Judge Todd Campbell presiding. In her lawsuit, Reasonover said she wants to be compensated for “loss of wages and/or earning capacity” because of the scarring due to her overheating iPhone 6. Reasonover said in her lawsuit that Apple’s iPhone 6 contained a product design defect that made it unreasonably dangerous.

It is the responsibility of manufacturers to ensure that the products they put on the market are safe for public use so they are guaranteed not to cause personal injury accidents. However, if the product you purchased does not adhere to these standards and you were injured because of it, you can hire the legal services of our attorneys at Pohl & Berk, LLP in Nashville by calling our offices today at 615-277-2765.

A motorcycle and SUV collision that happened on South Church Street near Rutherford Boulevard in Murfreesboro in on Tuesday, September 20 resulted in one individual getting hurt.

According to preliminary investigations, both the motorcycle, which was driven by 27-year-old Shelbyville resident Eliel Guess, and the SUV, were traveling down South Church Street when they collided. Guess was taken to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville to receive medical attention for his critical injuries. He was listed under stable condition on Thursday, September 22. No one else was hurt during the accident, which is still under investigation.

Our Tennessee personal injury lawyers at Pohl & Berk, LLP provide legal services for our clients in Nashville and other areas of Tennessee. We handle personal injury accident cases such as motorcycle accidents, car accidents, and rollover accidents, among others. Call our offices today at 615-277-2765 to speak with a qualified member of our legal team about the details of your situation today.

The children of the 83-year-old Irudayam Yeddanapalli filed a lawsuit against the Pflugerville, Texas-based water park Hawaiian Falls for damages of over $100,000 after Yeddanapalli drowned at the water park in May 2014.

According to the lawsuit, Yeddanapalli was submerged at the bottom of a wading pool for a full two to three minutes before lifeguards came to his rescue. Afterwards, Travis County Emergency Services personnel performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on him, but they were unable to bring him back to consciousness. Scott Hendler, the family’s legal counsel, said: “Had he been pulled out of the pool immediately and administered CPR, he had a 90% chance of survival.”

Take legal action against people who are guilty of reckless, negligent, and irresponsible behavior if their actions cause harm to others. If you were the victim of a personal injury accident in Nashville or another area of Tennessee, get in touch with the attorneys at Pohl & Berk, LLP by calling our offices today at 615-277-2765.

Multiple individuals sustained serious injuries along Middle Tennessee interstates following multiple car accidents on Saturday, June 18.

The first accident occurred near the Fesslers Lane exit off I-40 West around 2:45 a.m. A car flipped over along the highway, causing non-life-threatening injuries to the driver and child passenger. Investigators said weather disturbances may have played a part in the crash.

The second accident happened when a car that was traveling on the I-24 West Harding Pike exit hit the median, crossed through all four lanes of traffic, and finally crashed into a guardrail around 4 a.m. At least one person was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for critical injuries.

The attorneys at Pohl & Berk, LLP provide legal services for our clients in Nashville and other areas of Tennessee. We have been fighting for years to protect those harmed in personal injury accidents. To learn more about the services that we offer and to discuss your case, call our offices at 615-277-2765.

A new study in the latest issue of BMJ, a weekly peer-reviewed medical journal, shows that most medical errors go unnoticed, especially in official records.

In their study, it was revealed doctors estimate around 251,454 deaths resulting from medical malpractice yearly in the United States.

This statistic is higher than the number released by a 1999 study from the Institute of Medicine, which lists the number of deaths in the 44,000 to 98,000 range, while other studies estimated medical-error related deaths are about 195,000 per year.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General reported in 2008 there had been 180,000 patients who died due to medical error in Medicare patients alone.

Dr. Martin Makary, a professor of surgery and health policy at Johns Hopkins, stated the reason behind the different number of reports on deaths via medical errors is due to the lack of accurate data on these kinds of fatalities.

At Pohl & Berk, LLP, we know how difficult it is for personal injury accident victims to return to their everyday life after experiencing a traumatic incident in Tennessee. Our legal team wishes to restore normalcy in our client’s life by do everything in our power to provide justice and financial compensation via aggressive and compassionate legal representation. Call our offices today at 615-277-2765.

House Bill 700, which was filed by State Representative Jay Reedy (R) at the Tennessee House of Representatives, seeks to provide the choice of wearing a helmet to motorcycle riders while riding their motorcycles. The bill was easily passed in the House Finance, Ways and Means subcommittee.

The main provision of the bill is to make motorcycle riders who are at least 21 years old and who have motorcycle and health insurance exempted from the mandatory helmet law. The bill does not extend the same privileges to those whose health insurance is provided by the state, such as TennCare.

Supporters of the bill argue citizens should have the right to choose while those who oppose the bill claim it would be a mistake to allow riders to use their motorcycles without proper protection.

There are many factors to a dangerous motor vehicle accident on the road – defective automotive design, unsafe roadways, and irresponsible motorists. If you have been seriously hurt in a personal injury incident, such as a motorcycle accident, in Nashville or other areas in Tennessee, please get in touch with our attorneys at Pohl & Berk, LLP by calling our offices at 615-277-2765 today.