Georgia Personal Injury Law Blog

Each day, parents in Georgia put their children on school buses out of convenience or necessity. These parents trust the bus drivers to get their precious loved ones safely to school and back home, never even thinking of the day they might not see their child again. Although the number of fatal accidents involving a school bus is lower than those of other vehicles, any life lost is devastating to family and friends. A young girl was killed in one of those fatal accidents, and the bus driver was recently arrested on newly developed charges. In January 2018, the driver was taking her load of children home after school when she lost control of the bus as it came to a curve in the road. Investigations showed she was driving too fast for the trajectory of the road. The bus landed on its side after leaving the road and rolling. A…

Many drivers who drink before heading out on the road do not believe they will cause an accident, and still, others do not care whether they do or not. Drunk driving not only puts the driver at risk, but it also puts any passengers as well as others on the road in danger. One Georgia woman got more than she bargained for when she was arrested for drunk driving. According to a report, the woman veered from the lane in which she was driving and into oncoming traffic. She crashed head-on into a car traveling in that lane. The three young people in the car she hit were able to jump out of their car just before it went off the road and down a steep hill. All three suffered minor injuries but were able to walk away from the scene. When police arrived and began questioning the woman, they discovered…

Death as a result of another person's negligent actions can be devastating to family and friends left behind. Once grief has somewhat abated, a course of action is often taken in the form of a wrongful death lawsuit. The family of a 42-year-old Georgia man may soon be contemplating filing their own wrongful death lawsuit after he was killed in a recent car accident. The initial investigation shows that the 34-year-old driver of a BMW convertible lost control of his car and crashed off the side of the road. The impact threw the passenger from the vehicle, causing serious injury. The driver was also injured although not as severely as his friend. Emergency rescue personnel took both men to a nearby hospital where the passenger died as a result of his injuries. At the time of a report on the accident, the driver had been admitted to the hospital but is…

A September weekend was dangerous for pedestrians in Georgia. In less than 24 hours, seven pedestrians were hit by motor vehicles in five separate incidents throughout the state. Out of the seven hit, four died from their injuries. Two killed on Sept. 14 On the evening of Sept. 14, 2018, a minivan hit a 74-year-old woman who was crossing six lanes of traffic in Athens-Clarke County. Her injuries were severe, and she died at the hospital. Police were not expecting to file charges against the driver who struck the woman. Less than a half-hour later, a hit-and-run driver struck and killed a 40-year-old woman in Cobb County. The police had little information to go on, and the driver in that accident remains at large. Three injured, two killed on Sept. 15 On Sept. 15, in Clayton County, a stolen delivery truck mowed down three pedestrians. The trio sustained moderate injuries, including broken bones,…

Vehicular accidents do not only happen within the confines of the vehicle. Pedestrians or bystanders on the side of the road are at risk when a driver's negligence causes a car accident. A former member of the police department of a Georgia town recently pleaded guilty after causing a car accident that injured an 18-year-old man and killed his 16-year-old cousin as they were occupying a part of a sidewalk. In his duty as a police officer, the man was responding to the call of an accident, driving at a speed close to 100 mph. He pulled over to the center lane in an effort to pass a car just ahead of him, but that car also pulled into the center lane in an effort to get out of the way of the police car. As the officer swerved to avoid crashing into the car, he lost control of his patrol…

With overly aggressive drivers, drivers who have been drinking, and drivers who are distracted -- whether by cell phones or other factors -- people are injured in wrecks every day. While the use of a seat belt is a legal requirement, it may not always be enough to escape severe injury in a car accident. After a recent car accident, a 5-year-old child has been admitted into a Georgia hospital, with his condition listed as critical. Police reports state a driver approached an intersection and hit a car that was stopped for a red light, causing that car to hit another vehicle. The driver kept going through the intersection, hitting yet another vehicle. The injured child was not responsive when found, and witnesses to the collisions were able to start CPR before an ambulance reached the scene. The driver responsible for the collisions left her vehicle and began running in…

Hundreds of news sources all over the country have daily reports of vehicular accidents. Sometimes an SUV, 18-wheeler, or car accident may just be a fender-bender with minor or no injuries. But another can be catastrophic, adversely impacting a number of people. A Georgia woman died in a recent car accident, and the person believed responsible has been arrested. The 41-year-old woman was just one of several passengers in a car as it was traveling on Interstate 85. A report stated the driver of the car lost control of the vehicle when she was changing lanes ahead of a semitrailer. The car came to a stop in a lane of traffic and was struck by the tractor-trailer. The truck driver tried to stop but was unable to avoid hitting the door on the rear passenger side. The impact of the collision killed the woman and injured three other passengers. All…

Even after many years of pleas from law enforcement and those who have lost a loved one by someone who drives after drinking, the problem still looms large all over the country. Getting busted over one drunk driving incident also does not necessarily stop some from becoming repeat offenders. Georgia State Patrol joined city police in the chase to stop a drunk driving suspect but was unsuccessful until his actions are said to have killed a passenger in his car. According to the GSP, an officer attempted to pull the 30-year-old driver over for an undisclosed violation. The driver would not stop, resulting in the officer calling for backup. The chase took the vehicles onto Interstate 85, but the vehicle crashed when the driver could not negotiate the curve on an exit ramp. One of the passengers in the speeding vehicle had served in the National Guard before departing for medical reasons.…

School buses are an invaluable mode of transportation for parents who, for any reason, are not able to ferry their children to and from school each day. One group of Georgia parents have filed a lawsuit after seven children were injured in a crash allegedly caused by reckless driving. The bus' video recording system showed the driver possibly displayed reckless driving tendencies in a timeline of events just before the crash. According to the video timeline, the bus driver hit a mailbox, swerved into the oncoming traffic lane, and increased his speed, all while driving with one hand, holding a cup between his legs, and not wearing his seat belt -- all in the span of 11 minutes. The video cuts off before the actual crash but does show that, because the driver was not wearing his seat belt, he slid off the seat and was not able to control the…

Using a cell phone while you operate a vehicle greatly increases the likelihood you will end up in a collision. According to the National Safety Council, you are up to 23 times more likely to end up in a car accident while texting than if you had both eyes on the road. To combat the epidemic of distracted driving taking place around the state, Georgia passed a new law that went into effect on July 1st earlier this year. Here is everything you need to know about the new law, but for the most part, as long as you keep your phone out of the way, you will have nothing to worry about. The Hands-Free Georgia Act This law prohibits motorists from holding a cell phone while a vehicle is in motion. That means they cannot make a call or text with an exception if there was an emergency taking place. You can also hold a…