Mississippi’s roads and highways are essential for transportation, commerce, and daily life.

Whether it’s a major highway or a backcountry avenue, the upkeep of these roads is critical to ensuring safety, reducing vehicle accidents, and offering accessibility for drivers.

Road maintenance responsibilities, however, are not assigned to a single entity. Instead, each party plays a unique role in maintaining our state’s extensive roadway network. Below, we address who is responsible for maintaining Mississippi.

A dog offers unconditional love to its owner. All it asks in return is food, water, shelter, and affection. Being a responsible dog owner goes beyond basic care. You also have to keep the dog safe by having control over it when you take it for walks. That is why it is important to follow the leash laws of your community to protect your dog and your neighbors.

Unlike other states, Mississippi does not have a statewide leash law. Instead, each county and city creates ordinances pertaining to leash laws. For instance, Jackson County has the following leash law in place: “It is unlawful for any dog, cat, domesticated livestock, or any other owned animal to run at large upon the streets, alleys, or other public or private property not your own unless restrained by a leash or lead.”

Truck drivers, in general, cannot spend all day on the road. Long-haul truckers, for example, must abide by the federal Hours of Service rules, which generally limit them to spending 11 hours behind the wheel of their truck.

Given how many employers in the fleet industry pay their tractor-trailer operators on a per-mile basis, many of them see it as worth the risk to drive faster to get done hauling their load sooner rather than later. By doing so, they often believe it will make them more appealing to dispatchers to allow them to carry additional cargo since they can get it there quicker than anticipated, pleasing the customer.

The United States Department of Transportation released a crash statistics report in 2021 that is not good news for Mississippi. According to it, Mississippi leads the nation in the percentage of fatalities per 100,000 licensed drivers at 37.98%.

Each of those accidents comes as a surprise for those involved. In the immediate aftermath of a Jackson auto collision, assessments are made as to what happened and who might be liable, especially when catastrophic injuries occur. That is when the issue of the sudden emergency doctrine can be a factor.

There are around 202 licensed nursing homes in the country, and of that number, just four received a 5 out of 5 overall rating from a survey conducted by U.S. News and World Report. That doesn’t mean the other nursing homes aren’t worthy, but it is important to note that any nursing home could be the subject of a complaint. If your loved one has been the victim of any sort of abuse, you should know about the correct nursing home abuse reporting requirements.

Every road trip is a choice. You can choose to take a direct or scenic route. You make the same choices when planning your work commute or running errands. What roads you drive on not only determines how fast you arrive at your destination but also how safe you might be. Which are more dangerous: city or rural roads?

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA), of the 42,939 motor vehicle accidents that involved a fatality nationally, 40% occurred in rural areas, while 60% happened in city areas. However, in Mississippi, those numbers are flipped. Data collected by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) finds that 67% of fatal accidents occur on rural roads, and 29% occur on city roads.

As a motorist, you’re extra-vigilant. You make sure that you’re well-rested and don’t allow yourself to be distracted by your phone or anything else before getting behind the wheel of your car. You also give yourself ample time to get to your destination in case you encounter traffic congestion, so there’s no need to speed, run lights, or otherwise drive recklessly.

While you do your best not to cause or become involved in an auto accident in Jackson, MS, you’ve found that others don’t necessarily do that.

Driving a truck can be a difficult job. When a driver is tired, it can cause that individual to have a slow reaction time and misjudge situations on the road, all of which could lead to a deadly accident. Fortunately, there are rules that state how long a driver can operate a vehicle on any given day. If they fail to abide by these regulations, it can mean fines and other serious consequences.

If you would like to learn more about how long truckers drive during a single shift, the legal team at Pittman, Roberts & Welsh, PLLC is here to help answer that question.

Many states assign points for every type of traffic violation. The more points you get, the more likely you will have your license suspended. Mississippi does not use the driver’s license point system. However, moving violations will remain on your driving record for three years.

A traffic ticket can determine who is at fault for an accident. That is good if you’re filing a claim against the other driver. Of course, it can also work against you if you are held responsible for the accident. Because Mississippi is a comparative negligence state, you could share in the blame for the accident if both drivers get a ticket.

A spinal cord injury can be devastating for both the victim and their family members. These injuries can affect mobility and, ultimately, the person’s quality of life. Everything from car accidents to slips and falls can lead to a traumatic spinal cord injury.