A motorcyclist is dead after an accident on Sept. 19 in Columbus. His Harley-Davidson was hit by a minivan driven by a Salem, Ala. woman. Both he and his wife were in the state to attend the Georgia HOG Rally. According to the coroner from Muscogee County, the man died at the Midtown Medical Center at about 10:19 a.m. An autopsy has been scheduled. The driver who hit the biker was taken into custody and charged with vehicular homicide and cited for a traffic light violation. She was released from the Muscogee County Jail after posting bond. The accident occurred on Victory Drive near the Econo Lodge when the biker, who started entering the intersection, was hit by a 64-year-old minivan driver who did not stop at a red light while making a left turn. According to witnesses, the minivan dragged the motorcyclist for around 75 feet under the van's…

  While Georgia prohibits adults who are behind the wheel of a motor vehicle from a specific type of cellphone use, texting, many states have enacted bans on cellphone use altogether while driving. In large part, the reason that lawmakers in Georgia and other states enacted these bans is the troubling correlation between cellphone use while driving and traffic accidents resulting in death or injuries, as expounded by various statistics and studies. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted driving can be a mortal mistake. Reportedly, distracted drivers caused 18 percent of deadly traffic accidents throughout the country in 2010. In this way, distracted driving was responsible for the deaths of 3,092 people in total. In that same year, 2010, crashes attributed to distracted driving caused 416,000 people to suffer injuries, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports. A Pew survey indicates that four out of every 10…

A man was killed in Atlanta on the morning of August 31 when his vehicle was hit by a suspected drunk driver as he was driving home. According to authorities, his car was hit head-on at the intersection of Neal Street NW and Joseph E. Lowery Street by a car operated by a 41-year-old woman. The woman was headed north on Neal when the collision took place. She was charged with first-degree homicide by vehicle, driving under the influence of alcohol, improper turn and reckless driving. As evidenced by this incident, alcohol sometimes plays a role in fatal accidents. Other factors in fatal accidents might include distracted driving, from the use of a cellphone for talking or texting, reckless driving and road and weather conditions. While some of these factors are out of a driver's control, some, such as speeding and using a cellphone, can be used to show that a…

A fatal car accident that occurred in DeKalb County on the night of Aug. 28 resulted in the death of a 51-year-old man. The man was reportedly driving a pickup truck when he collided head-on with an 18-wheeler, and a sedan that was behind the 18-wheeler also became involved in the crash. The driver of the pickup truck died at the scene. The semi-truck driver and the sedan driver were transported to a local hospital with minor injuries. Police stated that the pickup truck was traveling the wrong way at the time of the accident. Authorities were investigating the reason behind this wrong-way driving at the time of the report. In a car accident such as this one, the driver who was performing the illegal act is considered to be at fault. In this case, the pickup truck driver demonstrated negligence by illegally traveling in the wrong direction on the road. The…