Georgia Personal Injury Law Blog

We all know the holidays are fraught with peril when it comes to driving on the highways and byways. Everything seems to conspire to make the roads a more dangerous place. From fewer hours of daylight and more bad weather, to more parties and social events that entail alcohol and drinking, to frazzled shoppers attempting to find that one item to finish their shopping list, the streets and roads around Macon have many hazards. A study by the University of Alabama's Center for Advanced Public Safety, looking at data from that state, found during the holiday period, that the six days before Christmas were the most risky. That period had 18 percent more car accidents than Thanksgiving and 27 percent more than New Year's Day. It pays to take extra time and an extra deep breath. Racing through parking lots at stores, just to beat another driver to a parking…

There is no doubt that driving while intoxicated is a negligent and reckless decision. Alcohol impairs vision, decision making and reaction time, none of which are helpful when trying to drive. The unfortunate truth of the matter is that there are a seemingly endless number of accidents that act as an example of the damage that this behavior holds. A recent drunk driving accident occurred in Georgia that acts as an all too real reminder of the consequences of impaired driving. The accident occurred on Sunday, Nov. 8, at approximately 3:30 a.m. It started when a vehicle ran out of gas. The driver was forced to stop on the side of the road, and a Good Samaritan stopped to help. While the two vehicles were pulled over alongside the road, a third vehicle involved itself in the situation. This third vehicle wasn’t there to help. Instead, the driver slammed into the back…

You never think your are driving to a car accident. You get in their car or truck, and head down the road in Macon, or to destinations unknown in Georgia, but you never believe it will be your last drive. Certainly, Paul Walker and Roger Rodas did not believe when they left the charity event on Saturday they were going to crash within minutes. Sure, the car they were driving, a red 2005 Porsche Carrera GT was temperamental and could be dangerous if mishandled. But, they were both experienced racecar drivers. The driver could easily handle the Porsche on a city street well enough to avoid a car accident. Nonetheless, the Carrera GT struck a utility pole and exploded into flames, killing both men. Police ruled out that they were street racing with another car, but they suspect speed played a role in the accident. The Carrera GT is a car…

Last week, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the agency that investigates transportation accidents, issued a statement that was critical of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the agency responsible for oversight of the truck and bus industry. The NTSB, because of its investigatory role in truck and bus accidents, has a great deal of insight as to the types of safety violations that lead to deadly truck accidents, and criticized the FMCSA for a lax response to companies' failures to comply with safety regulations. The NTSB cited four accidents within the last 12 months as examples of where the FMCSA had evidence of the companies involved safety violations, yet failed to act prior to the fatal crashes that left 25 dead and 83 injured. Two crashes involved bus companies that had various violations, including defective brakes, inappropriate tires, numerous vehicles placed out of service and a history of driver…

Last week, just north of Atlanta, in the town of Milton, a woman had a very narrow escape. As she drove along the road, she suddenly heard a "huge boom" and when she finally recognized what had happened, she could only say, "Oh my God, oh my God." Her left hand had been crushed by the impact of a 9-lb rock the size of a volleyball had crashed through the windscreen on her vehicle. She was incredibly lucky, as police calculated the rock was moving at close to 100 mph when hit struck her vehicle. Of course, if the rock had hit any part of her body besides her hand, the outcome would have been far worse. Instead of a damaged vehicle and an injured hand, her name would like to have been added to the list of fatalities from car accidents in Georgia this year. The rock it the windscreen…

Driving presents a conundrum for most people in Macon. Experience is essential to developing the skills necessary to safely operate a motor vehicle on the streets and highways of Georgia, but in order to gain that experience, you must begin as an inexperienced, and typically, teen-aged driver. Moving a teen driver from inexperienced and overwhelmed to experienced and competent is a significant problem. Fatal car accidentsare the leading cause of death for teens, and yet for most Americans, giving your keys to your son or daughter and sending them out on their own, is an essential rite of passage. In addition to their inexperience, teens today are faced with an unparalleled barrage of distraction while driving. And no device is more distracting than a smartphone, a device that insinuates itself in to our driving habits, making it seem as if no would be able to go anywhere without it It is…

Driving from Macon to Atlanta on I-75, you may think that it would be fairly easy to engineer a driverless car to deal with such a route. And while I-75 is not some lightly traveled route, after all, it is six lanes most of the way, the wide lanes, gentle curves, and controlled access intersections limit the number of unpredictable events you may encounter. Sure, driving the road still comes with any number of potential causes of a car accident, from deer crossing in twilight to a recapped semi-trailer tire blowing out as you pass by, but as compared to a busy city intersection, the interstate makes for an easy drive, especially for a computer. As driverless car prototypes are already operating on U.S. highways, you may expect that they could appear in your favorite dealer's showroom any day. That may be overly optimistic. The interstates, for all their challenges, are…

When we hear about a car accident, our first thought is often, "Was anyone killed." Macabre as this thought is, it is hard to suppress. Even though we never think that a car accident is going to happen to us as we drive about our day in Macon, the truth is we never really know. A writer in the Atlanta Magazine details her experience after a "minor" car accident. She says she did not see the accident coming until the interior of her car "exploded" and she was plunged into darkness for seconds as the airbags inflated. Luckily for her, the accident was both minor and there were paramedics nearby, who had been eating dinner. They rushed to the accident site to help. She suffered only minor injuries, like bruising and soreness. She complained of chest pain, which could have been from a slight fracture of her ribs. These low-speed car…

Most people have had the sensation while driving the roads in Georgia, especially while on the interstates. You may not feel tired when you begin driving, but after a while, staring at the road in front of you, you sense you eyelids becoming heavy and you may even feel your chin drop, as you momentarily drift off. You may arrive at your destination, and think to yourself that maybe you should have had a little more sleep, but you do not feel as if you were ever in any danger. After all, it is not as if you were driving drunk. Or is it very much like driving drunk, and in the range of car accidents, could it even be worse? A recent study finds that many people who believe they have had an adequate amount of sleep still are driving drowsy. The study from the University of Pennsylvania Health System…

When you driving the roads surrounding Macon and Warner Robins, you probably have seen the occasional deer along the highway. Sometimes you may even see a group of deer, often with their young. While you may be charmed by this bucolic scene, you should take it as a warning. While deer can be cute at a petting zoo, along the road they pose a danger, and in many cases a mortal danger for car and truck accidents. The good news is the number of deer-car accidents declined last year, according to an analysis done by a large insurance company. They calculate the odds of a driver in the United States striking a deer as 1 in 174. This represents an improvement from last year when the odds were 1 in 167. While Georgia was not in the top states for deer collisions, it is no reason to be complacent. The…