Georgia Personal Injury Law Blog

The front page WSB-TV website on Tuesday, February 9, 2016, displayed two prominent stories that are connected, although unintentionally. The lead banner headline relayed details of a winter weather advisory for the Atlanta area, including probable accumulation of snow. In another story, a video covered the story of I-75 closing due to a tragic motorcycle crash involving a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer truck. This blog post discusses the increased dangers of riding motorcycles in winter in Georgia. Increased Number Of Accidents In The Winter Months There is no question that all drivers and passengers face increased dangers during the winter months. The federal Department of Transporation (DOT) Highway Safety Administration reports that during a typical winter driving season across the United States, nearly 7,400 drivers and passengers lose their lives, and nearly 675,000 more are injured in crashes. Many can be directly related to adverse weather and road conditions. Although…

Anyone who has driven through Georgia has doubtlessly passed hundreds of tractor-trailers on the state's interstate highways. The large number of trucks on the roads makes the chance of truck accidents increase even when conditions are perfect and drivers are alert. When driver fatigue becomes a factor, the chance of a truck accident increases exponentially. Drivers of semi trucks and other large commercial vehicles have the lives of the people with whom they share the roads in their hands. The size and weight of these trucks make them more hazardous to others than commuter vehicles, such as cars and pickup trucks, should they be involved in accidents. This knowledge alone should make drivers take special care; however, this is not always the case. Some drivers, pushed to the limit by deadlines and management, overextend themselves. Some even drive many more hours in a row than the federal guidelines allow, which…

Every Georgia resident knows that drunk driving is illegal. Unfortunately, countless Georgians continue to get behind the wheel of their cars or trucks after drinking enough alcohol to put them over the legal limit. Even though many make it to their destinations without incident, many do not, and drunk driving-related accidents are often the result. Many of those accidents leave victims seriously injured, while others leave families facing futures without their loved ones. According to statistics released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from 2003 to 2012, almost 3,700 people were killed in accidents that involved drunk drivers in the state of Georgia. The statistics also show that those between the ages of 21 and 34 were more likely to die in drunk driving accidents than Georgians in other age ranges. Additionally, men are slightly more likely to die in alcohol-related crashes than women. Due to these startling numbers…

Anyone who has driven down Interstate 75 knows how many tractor-trailers are on the roads in Georgia. Unfortunately, a large number of semi-trucks on the roads often means an equally large number of truck accidents. If you or someone you love suffered injuries in a truck accident in the Macon area, you can turn to Dozier Law Firm, LLC, for help pursuing personal injury compensation. Pursuing compensation after a truck accident is different from pursuing compensation after a car accident. The main difference lies in the insurance company handling the claim. As most trucks belong to large trucking companies, their insurance companies are large and have access to teams of attorneys whose only jobs are to limit the amounts paid to claimants. In addition to having teams of lawyers, large insurance companies also have networks of resources they use to try to diminish liability. At our law firm, we have…

It goes without saying, and yet we have to acknowledge, there is no true compensation for the loss of a loved one. This is especially true in the event of a wrongful death, an untimely fatal accident that happened because of the negligence or recklessness of another person, persons or company. While there is no compensation you would trade for the chance to have your loved one back, there are numerous expenses that simultaneously occur as a result of a wrongful death. These are expenses you should not be left with. When someone dies, there is often a loss of income. If that person worked and was a contributor to the family, an unexpected stop in that income can cause a domino effect of hardships. Add to that the expenses incurred from the accident, whether they are vehicle repairs or replacement, medical expenses, care flight or ambulance bills, counseling or therapy…

If you have been in an accident with your child in the car, there is a chance that he or she has suffered a traumatic brain injury. Depending upon the injury's lasting effects, you probably feel like you have an unlit road ahead of you and few resources to help shed some light. It is a time full of sorrow and frustration, but hopefully, you will find some joy in the accomplishments your child will make as he or she relearns a new way to do once routine tasks. There are different phases of a child's full or partial recovery from a TBI. The first is the acute phase and is the time when children wake from their comas. This is a great time to have familiar items in the room, like favorite stuffed animals, music from home, and pictures of loved ones. Whether your child emerges from the coma aware…

As the holiday season draws to an end and we welcome 2016, we all look to the future with expectations of improvement and resolution to do better, enjoy more and get things right. But what if we aren't given the chance? Or what if someone we love isn't able to? What if you or a loved one's life is changed forever because you were on the roads on New Year's Eve and so was a driver who had celebrated a little too much and made the poor decision to get behind the wheel, heading to another party or on a beer run or perhaps home, that decision will become a costly one, for them and for the strangers in the car they involve, leaving lasting devastation on countless people's lives. Using victim in an encompassing sense?including families who must cope with either the pain or death of one they cherish?if…

Motorcyclists can never be too careful. The same can be said for everyone else on the road, particularly concerning how we navigate and share the roadways with motorcyclists. Drivers are often encouraged and reminded to look twice for motorcycles. A failure to look carefully may have contributed to the cause of why a woman's life was cut tragically short on a Sunday afternoon in December. A woman leaving a holiday Christmas parade in which she had driven her motorcycle was pronounced dead approximately a half-hour after her bike struck a van that allegedly pulled out of an apartment complex in front of her. The driver of the van was an elderly woman of nearly 90 years. No charges have been filed, and the elderly woman was taken to the same hospital as the deceased woman but was listed in stable condition. A passenger in the van was reportedly uninjured. When…

The act of teenagers borrowing the family car can be considered a rite of passage in many American families. Most of the time this happens, the result is harmless. But on occasion, something can go terribly wrong and an accident ensues that harms others. In such instances, the question can come up whether those who actually owned the car were negligent in allowing another person to drive it. This question comes under the legal theory known as "negligent entrustment." In Georgia, courts have defined negligent entrustment of a motor vehicle to be when an automobile owner lends his or her car to another person (it does not have to be a family member) to someone whom he or she knows (that is, has actual knowledge) is incompetent to drive or is otherwise habitually reckless. The negligence on the part of the vehicle owner in lending it to someone who should…

The fact that motorcycle operators and their passengers do not have a steel frame surrounding them to provide protection is one of the reasons catastrophic injuries are common in a motorcycle collision with a car or other motor vehicle. This is why it is important for motorcycle riders to take precautions before going out on the road to minimize the chances of becoming a motorcycle accident victim. According to Georgia officials, most catastrophic injuries and deaths associated with a motorcycle crash are caused by either a neck injury or a head injury. Wearing a helmet increases your chances of surviving a motorcycle accident. Helmets should meet federal standards and should not show signs of cracks or other defects that could limit their effectiveness in protecting you in the event of an accident. If the helmet is not equipped with a face shield, state law requires you to wear some form of…