Highway fatalities are a big issue in Georgia, because car accidents are a big issue. The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates nationwide in 2013 there were 35,200 deaths from motor vehicle accidents. Terrifyingly, that is an improvement and a decline of three percent from the previous year. This number may appear larger than traffic fatality numbers you may be familiar with, namely, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) death toll. The difference is the NSC's total is larger because they included deaths of those injured in car accidents that died within a year of the accident. Moreover, this number may be the more accurate one, because NHTSA only records those who die within 30 days of the car or truck crash. But some injured drivers or passengers may linger for some time, suffering from their injuries, before they succumb. In 2013, 3.8 million individuals suffered injuries in motor vehicle accidents that…

Most people trust their doctors. They trust that they have been educated, trained and licensed by the state of Georgia, and that their medical procedure will be handled safely with the appropriate level of care. When something goes wrong, we would like to think that the authorities would respond to complaints, investigate, and, if necessary, discipline those responsible. This week marks the one-year anniversary of the death of a woman at a Kennesaw medical clinic. She was having a liposuction procedure. During the procedure, she began to complain that she felt "tearing and burning." According to employees of the clinic, who were present during the procedure, a rag was placed in her mouth to keep her quiet. The medical examiner found perforations in her diaphragm and puncture wounds in her liver. How has the Georgia Medical Board dealt with what appears to be wrongful death of this patient? Her family notes that…

With the memory of the winter storm that paralyzed Atlanta fresh in their minds, Georgia's Governor and other officials presented a plan to deal with the winter weather that is expected over the next few days in Northern Georgia, including a mix of rain, snow, and ice. The January winter storm caused horrific traffic jams throughout the metro area, triggered numerous car accidents across the South, stranded hundreds of students in their classrooms, and left thousands of commuters stuck on the road as the storm passed. The governor noted that it was important to avoid an overreaction, as that could have an "economic impact," just the same as an under-reaction. Nonetheless, when you consider traveling in winter weather, especially if ice is in the forecast, think about the economic impact on your bank account of even the most minor of car accidents. Say, you decide to risk driving to work on…

Let's imagine the concept of a "moderate car accident" -- a wreck that does a fair amount of damage to the cars involved, and probably leaves one or two people with some injuries. Those injuries could be severe, but probably aren't. However, they are still injuries that will affect the person's life. Now, this context is a common result after a car accident. Most wrecks aren't the headline-grabbing, metal-twisting accidents that you hear about online or on TV. But even these more mundane accidents can cause serious problems for the victims. For example, there are many injuries that can be suffered in a car accident that are not immediately apparent. Neck pain and whiplash are common types of this kind of injury. A brain injury or concussion could be suffered as well, and even if it is a minor form of such an injury, the effects can still be debilitating. Headaches,…

The legal intoxication limit for a driver is a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08. This number means something different for everyone. Depending on your weight, your metabolism, and myriad other factors, you will reach 0.08 after only a small amount of alcohol, or maybe after quite a few drinks. But regardless of how you got there, when you surpass 0.08 (and even if you only reach it), you run the risk of being caught for drunk driving. Drunk driving is an astonishingly negligent act that ruins lives and leaves many people severely injured (or worse). But a new report says that 0.08 may not necessarily be the best indicator for a person's intoxication; and it also suggests that at BAC levels below 0.08, even at minuscule amounts, a person may be a significant risk for causing a crash. The report looked at more than 570,000 car accidents from 1994 to 2011.…

A car crash on I-285 near the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport left one woman dead and snarled traffic for more than two hours, as police shut down the highway. The crash occurred at approximately 4 a.m. when it appears the woman driving the car hit the guardrail. The police report her car was disabled by the crash and had stopped in the traffic lanes. Apparently, she exited the vehicle, and shortly after that, she was struck by her own vehicle as it was hit by another vehicle. When the police arrived at the scene of the car accident, she was found deceased. This situation is among the worse for any motorist to encounter, as remaining in your vehicle would be unsafe, because of the likelihood of the vehicle being struck by oncoming traffic. At the same time, leaving a vehicle exposes a person to the risk of being struck directly by traffic,…