Georgia Personal Injury Law Blog

  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…

A car accident that occurred in Villa Rica, Georgia, involving a semi-truck and a bus left two people with injuries on Aug. 20. According to the report, the incident took place in the westbound lanes of Interstate 20 in Carroll County just after 6 a.m. A representative for the Georgia Department of Public Safety stated that the driver of the FedEx semitrailer rear-ended the bus while traveling down the interstate. The impact of the collision caused both vehicles to leave the roadway before overturning. Both vehicles then reportedly caught fire. The driver of the semi-truck was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital hospital via a Life Flight helicopter, and the bus driver was taken via ambulance to Tanner Medical Center. Their identities had not been released when the report became available, and the extents or their respective injuries were not known. Those who become involved in truck accidents are at risk for suffering…

Local authorities reported that an accident involving two semi-trucks in McDuffie County left one driver dead and the other with minor injuries on August 11. The former driver was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. According to the Georgia State Patrol, the accident occurred at approximately 11:00 p.m. at the intersection of Wire Road and Highway 17. Authorities said a 28-year-old man driving a semi-truck westbound on Wire Road failed to stop at the sign located at the intersection and struck another semi-truck driven by the victim, a 40-year-old man. The news source did not mention any speculation from authorities as to why the surviving truck driver ran the red light. However, the Georgia Department of Public Safety said that charges could be filed against him pending the findings of an investigation by it Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team. When a family suffers the loss of a loved one…

Police released details from a two-vehicle accident that took place in Glennville and left three people, including a local soldier who was based at Fort Stewart, dead. The Georgia State Patrol said the crash occurred around 12:20 a.m. on Aug. 7 when one of the vehicles crossed the center line and collided head on with the other vehicle. The soldier, who was the driver of the vehicle that was hit, was killed in the accident. The 33-year-old driver and a 20-year-old passenger in the vehicle that allegedly caused the collision were also killed. A third passenger in the same vehicle was taken by helicopter to a local hospital for treatment. Police investigators took a blood-alcohol sample from the driver who is believed to have triggered the collision. The family members of someone who was killed in a car accidentcaused by another driver's reckless or negligent actions may wish to file a…

A 400m runner who took part in the IAAF World Relays in the Bahamas on May 24 died in a car accident on the morning of July 28, authorities reported. According to the report, the 25-year-old University of Georgia track star helped the U.S. win the event and earned a gold medal for his performance. The accident took place on Interstate 75 near Cordele. According to the report, the man's vehicle blew a tire while he was traveling in the middle lane. He reportedly stopped and exited his vehicle before calling for help. Just before 1:45 a.m., a semitrailer collided with the runner's vehicle. The impact of the collision knocked the disabled vehicle into him. Authorities did not release the name of the truck driver who caused the accident. Additionally, it was not known if the authorities planned to file charges against the driver of the truck for his or…

Motorists in Georgia may be surprised to learn that General Motors was warned about possible defects approximately seven years before a recall occurred in 2014. GM was contacted by an investigator employed by Vanguard Car Rental USA about a motorist in a Chevrolet Cobalt who lost control of the vehicle in September 2006. The vehicle drifted across the roadway onto a gravel median and overturned. The driver was wearing a seat belt but still died in the collision. The airbags allegedly failed to deploy during the accident. The claims adjuster for Vanguard contacting GM acknowledged that the cause of the crash was unknown but noted that the details of the crash warranted the automaker opening a claim and inspecting the model for potential defects. Bloomberg recovered these documents with a Freedom of Information Act request. Warranty records, call transcripts and police reports revealed that Enterprise also pressed GM about potentially…

A 50-year-old woman is dead and a 43-year-old man faces criminal charges after a two-vehicle accident in Richmond County on July 17. According to the Richmond County Sheriff's Office, the fatal car accident occurred around 7 p.m. when the man's vehicle, a red Dodge Magnum, struck the woman's Suzuki Grand Vitara as she attempted to turn from Faircrest Avenue onto Peach Orchard Road. Deputies reported that the man was speeding prior to the crash. An ambulance transported the victim to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead at approximately 7:42 p.m. An autopsy was performed the following day in Atlanta. Law enforcement officials charged the driver of the Dodge with first-degree vehicular homicide, reckless driving, and driving under the influence. Deputies said that witnesses told them he may have been racing when the accident happened. The news source did not report the level at which his blood alcohol content…

Two people were killed and two others were injured in a motor vehicle accident that occurred in Georgia, near the Tennessee border, on the morning of July 11. Investigators say a Ford Mustang headed west on Interstate 24 drove into the median, slid sideways, and collided with a vehicle in the eastbound lanes. The impact caused the Mustang to strike two other vehicles, one of which flipped. While speaking with local media, a trooper with the Georgia State Patrol said he suspected the crash took place at 'interstate speeds." All four vehicles involved in the wreck contained a single occupant. Investigators are still uncertain what caused the driver of the Mustang, a woman from Wisconsin, to drive across the median. She reportedly had a cellphone in her hand as her body was extricated from the Mustang. Several motorists stopped got out of their vehicles to call 911 or offer assistance…