Georgia Personal Injury Law Blog

Two police officers could face civil litigation after their criminal convictions in the Taser death of a suspect. The officers were both convicted in mid-December, with the jury only requiring 30 minutes to deliver verdicts in connection with this latest in a string of police-induced fatal accidents. Police departments throughout Georgia and the rest of the nation have been facing increasing civil pressure from wrongful death suits, particularly those related to Tasers and stun guns. This is one of the few high-profile criminal cases that have resulted in an actual conviction. In this case, the victim was reportedly shocked more than a dozen times as he was being taken into custody by the two officers. The man, who had fled the scene of an alleged domestic disturbance, lost consciousness shortly after the repeated shocks. Medical experts in the case found that the cause of death was directly related to the…

Three children suffered serious injuries after the vehicle in which they were riding was struck by another vehicle in Jackson County, Georgia, in mid-January. The children -- two teens and an elementary-school student -- were riding with their father on the way to school when they were involved in the injurious car accident. Authorities say that the victims were taken to nearby hospitals, and one was transported via helicopter because of worsening injuries. State officers are currently investigating the collision. Witnesses reported that the white sedan in which the children were riding was struck by a pickup truck while attempting to cross a highway during the trip to school at about 7:30 a.m. on U.S. 441. Another vehicle then struck the pickup truck, which flipped over because of that initial collision. It is not clear exactly who has been deemed at-fault for the crash. A family member of one of…

Almost everyone suffers a burn from time to time. Most are common heat burns caused by hot objects or liquids, steam, or fire. Children and elderly people are the most susceptible to these, but anyone can suffer these types of burns. They are typically first-degree burns, which affect the top layer of skin. Second-degree burns injure the first and second layers, while third- and fourth-degree burns go deeper and require immediate medical treatment. Heat, however, is by no means the only cause of such injuries. Electrical burns may require emergency care Lightning, household current, high-voltage wires, and stun guns can cause electrical burns. An injury of this kind might cause damage to internal tissues, and the victim should be seen by a physician. Call 911 if the person seems confused, has trouble breathing, is experiencing muscle spasms or seizures, or has suffered cardiac arrest. Chemical burns can be caused by…

Back in 2011, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the private organization that establishes training standards for physicians, made history by limiting the number of hours that first-year residents (i.e., interns) could work per shift to 16. These changes were hastened by the findings of a 2009 study by the Institute of Medicine, which determined after a yearlong review that doctors who worked over 16 straight hours posed a very real danger to both the patients in their care and themselves. Subsequent research supported this notion, as Harvard researchers found that interns who worked in the Intensive Care Unit for 24-plus hours made 36 percent more serious medical errors than their well-rested counterparts. Furthermore, a 2007 study by UCLA researchers found that almost 20 percent of residents who worked extended shifts indicated that they had fallen asleep behind the wheel on their way home. Given this comprehensive body of…

During the holiday season, anyone who dares ventures onto the internet without a defined purpose will invariably find themselves inundated with not just advertisements, but a multitude of ratings for everything from home electronics and kitchen appliances to clothing and power tools. However, thanks to the recent efforts of researchers at the Auto Insurance Center, a news-driven website focused on "all things automotive," people can now browse an entirely new set of ratings that they may find both helpful and horrifying. Specifically, the AIC used information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting Center to identify the most common elements present in deadly accidents, and then rank the 50 states according to the prevalence of these types of fatal crashes within their borders from 2005 to 2015. What were found to be the most common elements of deadly accidents? According to the AIC's 2nd Annual Study of America's Fatal…

Due to the rigors of everyday life -- going to work, attending school, raising children, managing a household, etc. -- many people find themselves operating on a sleep deficit on a regular basis. In fact, even those people who don't have these types of concerns can still find themselves sacrificing sleep, perhaps staying up late to read, watch television or spend time with friends. While most people try to offset the loss of a few hours of sleep with an extra cup of coffee or two, the reality is that most will end up going through the day feeling altogether drowsy. As rough as this can be, it can also prove to be incredibly dangerous should they make the decision to get behind the wheel. According to a recently released report by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, those drivers who sleep less than the seven hours per day recommended by the…

Every day, people across Georgia head to local medical offices for what they hope will prove to be uneventful visits, meaning their physical exams, blood work, and imaging tests reveal them to be in acceptable -- if not great -- health. While this proves to be the case for the majority of patients, there are others for whom these visits can prove to be highly unnerving if not entirely nightmarish. Indeed, they might receive a less than stellar diagnosis from their treating physician who informs them that surgery is either necessary or at least worthy of serious consideration. As upsetting as this reality can be, many patients will go on to meet with a specialist and, based upon their subsequent consultation and their faith in his or her abilities, agree to undergo the surgical procedure. While most of the time these surgeries will prove to be successful, or at least…

For the last twenty years or so, public policy around driving privileges and the ways they are licensed has been the center of an active and ongoing debate. One of the key topics when it comes to licensing drivers and regulating their safety has been the country's methods of training and licensing drivers. Many states have responded to pressures from public safety advocates and parents' groups by instituting graduated licensing programs. They claim these programs increase oversight and help teens learn to be more responsible on the road, pointing to the multi-stage process of earning various levels of driving privilege as evidence of a more adaptive learning curve when these laws are put into place. As of 2011, all 50 states now have some form of graduated license program, and the evidence about their effectiveness has started to come in the form of studies designed to look at the impact…

At this moment, thousands of people throughout Georgia are busy relaxing after what has likely proven to be an exceptionally busy Thanksgiving week complete with cooking a huge dinner, visiting with seemingly innumerable relatives and, of course, making a long car trip. Indeed, AAA has estimated that as many as 1.2 million people here in the Peach State will travel 50-plus miles away from home from Wednesday through Sunday, a considerably larger number than in recent years owing in large part to lower gas prices. While the first part of the trip is now in the books, traffic experts are warning motorists that there is still the return voyage to consider and, by extension, that there is still the matter of safe driving to consider. In case you remain unconvinced, consider that the National Safety Council has estimated that as many as 50,300 people will be seriously injured and another 437 will…

In a post last week, our blog discussed how the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has introduced a rule calling for the creation of a database listing the names of licensed truckers who have either refused drug tests or failed drug tests. Curiously enough, this issue perhaps took on added significance after last week's elections, which saw voters in four states -- California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada -- legalize marijuana for recreational purposes and voters in three states -- Arkansas, Florida and North Dakota -- legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. Indeed, statistics show that as many as 80 million people currently live in states where recreational marijuana is now legal in some form, while over half the states permit medical marijuana. Given this dramatic expansion of pro-pot laws, it naturally raises the question as to what, if anything, the FMCSA has recently had to say about use of the drug…