Georgia Personal Injury Law Blog

Several weeks ago, our blog discussed how a recently released study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that road debris was responsible for over 200,000 car accidents from 2011 through 2014, and, even more shockingly, caused roughly 39,000 injuries and another 500 fatalities from 2001 through 2014. If these numbers still seem hard to believe, consider the story of a woman right here in Georgia who suffered devastating bodily trauma after the car in which she was riding struck a piece of equipment that had fallen off a work truck. What exactly happened? On New Year's Eve 2010, the woman was riding in the passenger seat of a friend's car on Georgia 400, just north of former toll plaza, when a metal vice grip, later discovered to have fallen from a Department of Transportation truck, came crashing through the windshield. Tragically, she was placed on a hospital ventilator…

In our last post, we discussed how both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration have introduced a new proposal calling for all trucks rolling off the assembly line -- and a potentially large number of trucks already on the highways -- to be outfitted with electronic speed limiters. Specifically, the proposal, which has been published in the Federal Register, calls for these electronic speed limiters to physically prevent trucks from going faster than one of three speeds: 60, 65 or 68 miles-per-hour. Not surprisingly, most safety advocacy groups have already come out in support of the measure, owing in large part to some of the accident prevention figures offered by the NHTSA and the FMCSA. Indeed, the proposal indicates that in addition to preventing thousands of truck accident injuries, a 60 mile-per-hour max speed could prevent 162 to 498 fatalities per year, a 65…

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration made headlines last week when they announced a proposal that, if enacted, would require all new semi trucks to be equipped with electronic devices that limit their maximum speed to anywhere from 60 to 68 miles-per-hour. While it's possible that many greeted this news with little more than a shrug, it's important to consider that the two agencies predicted this new proposal could save the lives of anywhere from 96 to 498 motorists per year and prevent many of the 1,115 heavy truck crashes that occur here in the U.S. on an annual basis. Indeed, all of this really serves to underscore the unfortunate -- and perhaps grim -- reality that despite all of the progress that has been made in making both roads and vehicles safer, motorists are still very much at risk of being involved in…

Medical malpractice lawsuits are filed when a medical professional's negligent behavior leads to physical, emotional and/or financial harm to a patient. This occurs when a doctor fails to diagnose a life-threatening illness that a more competent doctor would have identified or when a medical practitioner fails to notify a patient of risks or to deliver competent, timely treatment for a diagnosed condition. What are the requirements for a claim, and when to file The most successful malpractice lawsuits are filed soon after the negligent occurrence and provide clear evidence that all claim requirements are met, including: A clear doctor-patient relationship Negligent behavior on behalf of the doctor Injury that resulted directly from the negligent behavior Damages that resulted directly from the injury If you have the evidence needed to prove all of these requirements to the satisfaction of a court of law, then you may successfully win your case against one or more…

The National Safety Council, the nonprofit dedicated to preventing injuries and deaths "through leadership, research, education, and advocacy," recently released data showing that not only do we have a long way to go to make the nation's roads and highways safer, but that we've actually taken a step backward in this important endeavor in recent years. According to the NSC's preliminary data, there were 19,100 fatalities on roads and highways here in the U.S. during the first six months of 2016. As shocking as this figure is on its own, consider also that it constitutes a 9 percent increase from the first six months of 2015, and an 18 percent increase from the first six months of 2014. Breaking the numbers down further, the NSC found that at least seven states have seen even higher jumps in fatalities since 2014, including Illinois (24 percent), Indiana (33 percent), California (31 percent), North Carolina…

As you made your way to work, school, or another location on the highway over the last month, there's a good chance you've witnessed fellow motorists engaging in all sorts of rather dangerous and altogether frightening conduct behind the wheel. Indeed, you may have seen people texting, speeding, changing lanes without signaling, tailgating, and even driving with objects hanging precariously from trailers, trunks, and roofs. While this last practice on the part of motorists certainly elicits headshakes and gasps, a recently released study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety shows it should perhaps elicit outrage. What exactly did the study find? The AAA researchers set out to determine just how much of a toll debris was taking on road safety here in the U.S., focusing on the number of accidents it was responsible for causing from 2011 through 2014. Among their shocking findings: Road debris was responsible for over 200,000 crashes…

Even though the calendar shows we are rapidly approaching the midway point of August -- and the end of summer -- there's still plenty of time left for people to enjoy their favorite outdoor activities from fishing and softball to bicycling and, of course, motorcycling. Indeed, the coming weeks will undoubtedly see many motorcyclists out on the scenic highways throughout Georgia. While these riders will undoubtedly agree that there is no feeling quite like the open road, they will also undoubtedly agree that the risk posed by negligent motorists never really abates as the summer drags on. In other words, even though drivers should be accustomed to sharing the roads with motorcyclists by mid-August, the simple truth is that many still aren't looking for them, and still aren't properly judging distances when passing or pulling out from side streets. As alarming as this reality is during the daytime, consider how…

As much as we would like to believe that people are now more prone to rethinking their decision to get behind the wheel after a night spent imbibing, statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reveal that drunk driving is still the single biggest cause of deadly motor vehicle accidents, accounting for over 10,000 fatalities per year. In light of figures like these, questions naturally arise as to just how effective ride sharing services like the omnipresent Uber have been in reducing fatal drunk driving accidents. Indeed, the company, which markets itself as an on-call designated driver, frequently cites research showing that the ride sharing model reduces both DUIs and fatal drunk driving accidents. Interestingly enough, a recently published study in the American Journal of Epidemiology has called these claims about the efficacy of the ride sharing model in reducing drunk driving accidents into question. As part of the study, researchers…

As hard as it may be to believe, the 2016 football season is officially here, with players at all levels -- from youth and high school to college and professional -- putting on their pads and heading back to the field. If you don't believe it, consider that the Atlanta Falcons officially opened training camp earlier this week, while the Georgia Bulldogs first game is just over a month away. It's important to understand, however, that just as the football season is heating up, so too is the weather, as heat indices, meaning the combination of heat and humidity, in many areas of the country -- including here in Georgia -- are now routinely in the upper 90s or even the 100s. While this type of heat can be incredibly dangerous and even deadly for anyone exerting themselves outside, it is perhaps even more so for football players given their…

Thanks to the tireless efforts of scientists, engineers and software developers, many of the vehicles on the roads and highways are now equipped with safety technology that would have been unheard of a decade ago. Indeed, there's now technology to stop rear-end collisions, prevent lane departures and even assume complete control of the driving experience. As fascinating and encouraging as this has been, there are a few areas in which real safety solutions are still lacking, including drowsy driving. Interestingly enough, however, we may be on the precipice of seeing this dangerous driving condition rectified by safety technology currently being deployed in a somewhat unlikely industry. What exactly is this industry and what technology are they using?   Caterpillar Safety Services, a subsidiary of the Illinois-based construction giant, has outfitted 5,000 vehicles around the world involved in mining operations with facial recognition software and equipment designed by the tech company Seeing Machines.…