Georgia Personal Injury Law Blog

After serious auto accidents, the lives of injured victims often hang in the balance with each passing second before medical responders arrive. Recently, a Georgia Air National Guardsman relied on his training and his commitment to the core values of the Air Force to help a woman who was badly injured in a car wreck near Robins Air Force Base. The airman provided medical attention and stayed with the woman until paramedics arrived on the scene. The Security Forces superintendent was en route to work when he saw the aftermath of a two-vehicle collision. One of the cars had broken through part of the base fence, and a woman injured in the crash was unconscious inside her vehicle. Because the car doors were locked, the airman and a civilian who had also stopped used their fingers to pry a window away from its frame until the window shattered. According to the…

Drunk driving remains a significant problem in the U.S. Every year, thousands of motorists die in accidents caused by intoxicated drivers. Sometimes, a single impaired driver runs off the road in Georgia, late at night, strikes a tree, and dies alone. Other car accidents may involve a drunk driver running into a van with a family, killing or seriously injuring the members of a family, who had been innocently returning home from a movie. While much has been done in the last few decades to address this problem, from lowering the amount of alcohol that determines legal impairment to stricter enforcement and stiffer penalties, there is still a long way to go in the fight to prevent the death and destruction caused by drunk driving accidents. But in order to know what we should be doing, we must know how well we have done. In most cases, a death certificate lists…

No one really needs to be told drunk driving is something that should be avoided. During the last 30 years, there has been an endless stream of studies examining and explaining the dangers of drunk driving. Additionally, the penalties for drunk driving have been ratcheted up, year after year, with significant fines and severe punishment likely outcomes of any DUI arrest and conviction. With tonight being St. Patrick's Day, announcements again have been made by the Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety to warn residents that Georgia state troopers, county sheriffs and local police will all be out in force on the roads to prevent drunk driving accidents. The death, destruction and mayhem caused by alcohol impaired driving are truly staggering. In 2013 alone, the number of people killed in Georgia in alcohol-related collisions increased by six percent to 161. Many people may dismiss 161 as rather insignificant compared with the population…

Cars present a multiplicity of ways to kill an occupant. When an object that weighs more than a ton can move at speeds approaching 100 mph, the physics of the situation suggest a bad outcome should any part of the system suddenly stop. Crashes can range from vehicles striking another car head on, to drivers losing control, running off the road and hitting trees or utility poles, or vehicles rolling over and ejecting drivers and passengers. With all of the potential types of car accidents, it is a wonder anyone arrives home safe each night. But, as they say on the television commercials, "Wait! There's more!" Sadly, a truly bizarre set of circumstances played out in northern Florida, when a car driving on a highway lost a front tire. The tire, still moving at full speed, bounced along the shoulder, went airborne when it hit the driveway apron of a body…

Every motor vehicle accident is tragic. No one gets into a car or on a motorcycle with the intention of dying. The tragedy is multifaceted. It affects families in different ways, sometimes killing a husband or father outright, other times severely injuring a mother or child, leaving them with crippling injuries, years of rehabilitation and a lifetime of pain. More than 30,000 Americans are killed every year in motor vehicle crashes, or nearly 100 every day. Few deaths in Macon are as infamous at the one that occurred after a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971. Duane Allman, leader and guitarist of The Allman Brothers Band had just returned from visiting New York. He was in a great mood, according to a letter sent to his young daughter, explaining the events of that day. He should have been, as the Allman's had released At Fillmore East and he had worked that year…

Highway fatalities are a big issue in Georgia, because car accidents are a big issue. The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates nationwide in 2013 there were 35,200 deaths from motor vehicle accidents. Terrifyingly, that is an improvement and a decline of three percent from the previous year. This number may appear larger than traffic fatality numbers you may be familiar with, namely, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) death toll. The difference is the NSC's total is larger because they included deaths of those injured in car accidents that died within a year of the accident. Moreover, this number may be the more accurate one, because NHTSA only records those who die within 30 days of the car or truck crash. But some injured drivers or passengers may linger for some time, suffering from their injuries, before they succumb. In 2013, 3.8 million individuals suffered injuries in motor vehicle accidents that…

Most people trust their doctors. They trust that they have been educated, trained and licensed by the state of Georgia, and that their medical procedure will be handled safely with the appropriate level of care. When something goes wrong, we would like to think that the authorities would respond to complaints, investigate, and, if necessary, discipline those responsible. This week marks the one-year anniversary of the death of a woman at a Kennesaw medical clinic. She was having a liposuction procedure. During the procedure, she began to complain that she felt "tearing and burning." According to employees of the clinic, who were present during the procedure, a rag was placed in her mouth to keep her quiet. The medical examiner found perforations in her diaphragm and puncture wounds in her liver. How has the Georgia Medical Board dealt with what appears to be wrongful death of this patient? Her family notes that…

With the memory of the winter storm that paralyzed Atlanta fresh in their minds, Georgia's Governor and other officials presented a plan to deal with the winter weather that is expected over the next few days in Northern Georgia, including a mix of rain, snow, and ice. The January winter storm caused horrific traffic jams throughout the metro area, triggered numerous car accidents across the South, stranded hundreds of students in their classrooms, and left thousands of commuters stuck on the road as the storm passed. The governor noted that it was important to avoid an overreaction, as that could have an "economic impact," just the same as an under-reaction. Nonetheless, when you consider traveling in winter weather, especially if ice is in the forecast, think about the economic impact on your bank account of even the most minor of car accidents. Say, you decide to risk driving to work on…

Let's imagine the concept of a "moderate car accident" -- a wreck that does a fair amount of damage to the cars involved, and probably leaves one or two people with some injuries. Those injuries could be severe, but probably aren't. However, they are still injuries that will affect the person's life. Now, this context is a common result after a car accident. Most wrecks aren't the headline-grabbing, metal-twisting accidents that you hear about online or on TV. But even these more mundane accidents can cause serious problems for the victims. For example, there are many injuries that can be suffered in a car accident that are not immediately apparent. Neck pain and whiplash are common types of this kind of injury. A brain injury or concussion could be suffered as well, and even if it is a minor form of such an injury, the effects can still be debilitating. Headaches,…

The legal intoxication limit for a driver is a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08. This number means something different for everyone. Depending on your weight, your metabolism, and myriad other factors, you will reach 0.08 after only a small amount of alcohol, or maybe after quite a few drinks. But regardless of how you got there, when you surpass 0.08 (and even if you only reach it), you run the risk of being caught for drunk driving. Drunk driving is an astonishingly negligent act that ruins lives and leaves many people severely injured (or worse). But a new report says that 0.08 may not necessarily be the best indicator for a person's intoxication; and it also suggests that at BAC levels below 0.08, even at minuscule amounts, a person may be a significant risk for causing a crash. The report looked at more than 570,000 car accidents from 1994 to 2011.…