Georgia Personal Injury Law Blog

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…

In Georgia, the struggle against drunk driving continues every day. From education in schools, to Georgia State Patrol troopers using checkpoints and stopping suspected drunk drivers, a great deal is being done to reduce the number of traffic fatalities caused by drunk driving accidents. But the need remains great. Too many people are killed and too many suffer lifelong injuries that will inflict decades of pain and require lifetime medical care. So it is important to learn that binge drinking, the consumption of more than five drinks in a row, remains prevalent among high school students. Frighteningly, almost sixth percent of high schools seniors admit to incredible binge drinking of 15 drinks or more at a single time. One wonders how it is possible to avoid alcohol poisoning or death at this level, but this extreme binge drinking continues to occur and it is disturbing to find that it has…

Perceiving movement and calculating the time it takes for one object to strike another object is an inherently complex operation. Those who are very good at it can become successful baseball or tennis players. But we all have to do it. Whether driving on I-75 through Macon, or on winding Georgia state roads, every time you drive a car, your brain is making unconscious calculations when you change lanes, merge or make a turn. The brain uses the data received from your eyes and the size of the object on your retina to complete part of the calculation. However, it also uses "rules of thumb" such as the artist's depth cues that function as a shortcut in figuring outdistance. For motorcycle riders, this has a consequence that drivers may perceive them a further away, resulting in a motorcycle accident when they pull out in front of them. Research has found that…

This week, the Governor's Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) tried to "make it real" in demonstrating the dangers of not wearing a seat belt, texting, and DUI to students in a Macon school. The GOHS uses a real pick-up truck equipped with dummies to show what happens in a rollover car accident. During the simulation, the dummies in the pick-up truck are not wearing their seat belts, and they are ejected from the vehicle during the rollover crash. A frequent cause of death in car accidents is the ejection of the occupants from the car. Upon ejection, a vehicle occupant typically strikes the ground or other objects at highway speeds. Even if they survive the ejection, they can receive additional severe or fatal injuries if they fall in the roadway and are struck by other vehicles. The director of GOHS commented that students are frequently found not complying with seat belt…

Car accidents can range from trivial fender benders to catastrophic multi-vehicle accidents involving other cars or trucks that often result in severe injuries or fatalities. The cause of these car accidents is nearly infinite in terms of specifics, whether it is drunk driving after a few too many drinks at a bar, or distracted driving from attempting to read or reply to a text on a cellphone. A typical Georgia car accident is the result of negligence, or operating a vehicle in a manner below the standard with which we would expect a reasonable driver to operate their vehicle. In an extreme case of negligence, a 17-year-old in Warner Robins was charged with criminal vehicular homicide after a car accident in June left his passenger dead. Now, what makes a car accident a criminal offense? In this case, it appears to be due to the fact that the driver was "traveling too…

Because we drive them every day, the streets, roads, and highways around, Macon and Warner Robins, can appear ordinary and unthreatening. Being familiar, they can lull us into a sense of complacency, where we think, "We've driven the road a 1000 times, we know every mile..." However, like water flowing in a river, the traffic on a road like I-75 is never exactly the same. This week, two people died on I-75 in a fatal car accident when they stopped to fix a flat tire and were struck by as many as six vehicles. The Morrow Police department was investigating the accident that occurred on I-75 at the ramp to Jonesboro Road. The two victims were from Texas and were identified as brother and sister. The accident happened when they stopped their vehicle in the "gore" of the road, the extra lane that develops when an on-ramp angles into the main road.…

When you are driving from Macon, up I-75 to Atlanta, or down I-16 to Savannah, there are things you can do to have a safer trip. If your vehicle is in good operation condition, you can make sure you have had enough sleep, don't speed, avoid any impairing alcohol or medicine and leave your cellphone turned off and out of sight. By remaining focused on the road and vehicles around you, you can greatly increase your chances of arriving safely. Of course, you can't control any of those behaviors in other drivers. If a fatigued truck driver falls asleep and crosses the median, you can only hope you are aware of it in time to take evasive action. All of your careful preparation and safe driving habits can be wiped out by a drunk driver speeding through a stop sign and striking your car broadside. With tens of thousands of car…