Atlanta Injury Attorneys Blog

With Halloween coming up soon, I would like to remind drivers and families to keep safety in mind as they have fun. Most people don't realize this, but according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Halloween is the second deadliest day of the year for pedestrians, surpassed only by New Year's Day. Not surprisingly, alcohol plays a big part in that statistic. The Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety reports that across the nation. 58% of highway fatalities involved a driver who was legally drunk, with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 or greater. This is far above the national average for the entire year, which is routinely around 32%. As a father and a Georgia drunk driving accident attorney, I'd like to offer safety information for trick-or-treaters of all ages.

In response to the typically high rate of DUI accidents on Halloween, the Governor's Office of Highway Safety promises that law enforcement will be on high alert for drunk drivers. In fact, police agencies began their crackdown a week before, on Friday, Oct. 23, according to MyFox Atlanta. On that day, police agencies throughout Metro Atlanta set up checkpoints to check for alcohol-impaired drivers and stepped up patrols. The same measures are expected throughout the Halloween weekend that begins Friday evening. The enforcement effort includes mobile blood-alcohol testing as well as a team of wreckers standing by to impound vehicles of drivers found to be under the influence of alcohol.

Avoiding drunk driving is at the top of the list of Halloween safety tips offered by Consumer Reports for drivers. In a blog post dated Oct. 28, the magazine reminded drivers that kids may be out even later than usual this year because it's a Saturday followed by the end of Daylight Saving Time, which adds an extra hour to Nov. 1. The blog suggested to drivers that they use extra caution in residential neighborhoods and anywhere else children are gathered, driving slowly and keeping an eye on child pedestrians. It also reminded parents to let kids out of vehicles on the curb side of the road; use flashers during stops; avoid using phones while driving and always use age-appropriate safety seats. For trick-or-treaters on foot, Consumer Reports said parents should accompany kids under 12; kids should stick to sidewalks and walk rather than run; and parents should consider giving their kids glow sticks, flashlights or costumes with reflective material, so drivers can see them easily.

As a Gwinnett County DUI accident lawyer, I hope both drivers and pedestrians take these warnings to heart. Through my work, I frequently see the heart-breaking results of drunk driving. When people choose to get behind the wheel after drinking, they expose all of the innocent drivers and pedestrians around them to death and permanent, irreversible disabilities. These catastrophic, emotionally devastating injuries can throw victims into a financial panic as well, thanks to the double whammy of huge medical bills and unplanned, injury-caused time off work. And of course, the drunk drivers themselves face the heartbreak of knowing they are responsible for these injuries, as well as criminal prosecution and liability in a potential Georgia drunk driving injury lawsuit.

As a Metro Atlanta auto accident lawyer, I was pleased to see that the driver allegedly responsible for three deaths in commuter traffic last week is facing the charges against him. According to an Oct. 20 article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, driver James Miles surrendered to authorities at the DeKalb County Jail that day. Miles is accused of driving recklessly in the Oct. 13 incident, which caused the deaths of three Southern Co. employees in a nine-person commuter van. One other employee is hospitalized with a broken skull and leg. No injuries to Miles were reported.

The crash happened on U.S. 78 in DeKalb County. Witnesses say Miles, in a Dodge Stratus, was changing lanes in and out of traffic before he clipped the back of the Southern Co. van. The crash caused the van to flip it on its side, trapping the passengers and requiring rescue crews to remove the roof. Killed were the driver, Robert Harold Clinton Jr., 60; and two passengers, Ollie Benny Stephens Jr., 49, and Cindy Fitzgerald, 54. All were from Lilburn. Seriously injured was Courtney Hill, 25, also of Lilburn. Miles is now facing three counts of misdemeanor vehicular homicide, charges that some of the crash survivors said seemed light. Misdemeanor vehicular homicide is punishable by up to a year in jail for each offense. Felony vehicular homicide is punished more severely, but is reserved for cases of DUI, reckless driving or certain other offenses. A former district attorney told the newspaper that reckless driving can be difficult to prove.

I understand the frustration these survivors, who are co-workers and friends of the victims, may be feeling. As a Gwinnett County car wreck attorney, I see the results of careless driving through my work on a weekly basis. Even if a choice doesn't meet the legal standards necessary for a felony vehicular homicide charge, that doesn't mean it's a safe, reasonable or necessary choice under the conditions on the road at that time. However, even if prosecutors' hands are tied, surviving family members have another legal option for bringing the careless driver to justice: a Georgia auto accident lawsuit. With a legal claim, victims of a serious crash can hold the wrongdoer responsible for his or her actions and recover the costs the accident caused.

As a Georgia defective product attorney, I was pleased to see an announcement Oct. 5 of the largest U.S. recall in Toyota Motor Corp.'s history. According to an Oct. 5 article by the Associated Press, Toyota is recalling 3.8 million vehicles because they have floor mats that, if not properly secured, may cause the gas pedal to stick, leading to uncontrollable speed that can cause a deadly crash. Drivers of the affected vehicles are being asked to remove the driver's side floor mats and wait for Toyota to call them in for a more permanent solution, still in development. More information is available from Toyota's press release, or consumers may call the federal National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's hotline at 1-888-372-4236.

The vehicles affected by the recall include:

• 2007 - 2010 Toyota Camry
• 2005 - 2010 Toyota Avalon
• 2004 - 2009 Toyota Prius
• 2005 - 2010 Toyota Tacoma
• 2007 - 2010 Toyota Tundra
• 2007 - 2010 Lexus ES350
• 2006 - 2010 Lexus IS250 and IS350

Unfortunately, the recall was prompted by a deadly accident that took place in San Diego in August. California Highway Patrol officer Mark Saylor and three members of his family died when the pedal became stuck on their Lexus ES350. People inside the vehicle called 911 for help, but couldn't stop the vehicle before it reached a speed of 120 mph. They hit another vehicle, then fell from an embankment and rolled several times before bursting into flames. Toyota's press release included instructions for drivers in this situation to pull away the mat, brake, shift into neutral or turn off the engine.

As a Metro Atlanta product liability lawyer, I'm impressed that Toyota has taken what seems like reasonably quick action on this problem. In the past, manufacturers have not always been quick to order a recall, even when the safety problems were real and undeniable. You may remember the Bridgestone/Firestone tire recalls of 2000, which primarily affected Ford vehicles. The tires were unreasonably likely to fall apart (tire tread separation), particularly at high speeds, due to a manufacturing problem. In that recall, safety advocates claimed that Firestone undertook a "documented coverup" of problems that reached back into the mid-1990s or earlier. This claim is controversial, of course, but if there was a delay, it undoubtedly helped raise the death toll to an estimated 40 to 120 -- far more than the four deaths documented so far in the Toyota recall.

I want to personally thank all those brave souls who took time out to attend the MADD Walk at Zoo Atlanta last Saturday. My team was able to raise almost $1,000 toward a noble and worthy cause?

As an Atlanta personal injury lawyer who reprsents DUI victims, it is gratifying to work with a great organization like MADD.

As a Metro Atlanta bus accident attorney, I was saddened to hear of a Sept. 15 accident in which a school bus fatally hit a five-year-old child. Atlanta NBC affiliate WXIA reported Oct. 5 on a bond hearing in the case for bus driver Sharon Dale. Dale is charged with second-degree homicide, failure to use due regard and violating procedures for school bus drivers in the incident that killed kindergartener Everett Johnson in northwest Atlanta. The hearing, which was attended by a group of Dale's colleagues, ended with Dale's release on a signature bond. She is suspended from her job with pay until the outcome of the trial.

According to the article, the accident happened shortly after Johnson and six other students got off the bus. Johnson reportedly fell behind the pack because he had dropped his book bag. When he bent over to retrieve it, Dale allegedly couldn't see him and tried to pull the bus away from the curb. Dale was reportedly so distraught that police waited a day to interview her. At the hearing, police officer Kim Jones testified that she climbed into the driver's seat and found that it would have been impossible to see a bent-over child in the position Johnson had occupied. However, Fulton County prosecutor Richard Elliott argued that Dale had a responsibility to adjust the mirrors for full visibility. Jones testified that she observed nothing wrong with the mirrors.

My heart goes out to Johnson's family. As his grandmother observed in the article, no amount of legal maneuvers can reverse this terrible accident. But as a Gwinnett County bus accident lawyer, I am very interested in what bus manufacturers and bus drivers can learn from the tragedy. Dale may be guilty of extreme carelessness if, as Elliott suggested, adjusting the mirrors correctly would have helped her see Johnson. If that's the case, Dale, and perhaps also her employer, would be liable for her negligence in any lawsuit the Johnson family chooses to file. However, if it's not possible to adjust the mirrors to remove every blind spot from the driver's view, the negligence may more properly lie with the manufacturer of the bus. In that case, it would be the manufacturer who would be liable for the wrongful death.

As a Georgia car wreck lawyer, I was pleased to learn that the federal government called a meeting among top government and private transportation experts to discuss the problem of distracted driving. As Fox News reported, the two-day Distracted Driving Summit ended Oct. 1 with a promise from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to make new rules against distracting use of handheld electronic devices while operating a vehicle. Speakers denounced a variety of driver distractions, but a major focus of the conference was the problem of texting and talking with cell phones while driving. A series of studies that appeared before the summit made the problem explicit, with one study finding that texting increased truck drivers' chances of a crash by 23 times.

No specific legislation emerged from the conference, although LaHood said the Department of Transportation would call for permanent rules against the use of handheld devices by people operating trains, buses and tractor-trailers. However, one of the speakers, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), used the conference to endorse his federal legislation against texting and driving. The ALERT Act would require states to make laws banning texting and driving for all drivers or lose 25% of their federal highway funding. A similar law helped establish nationally consistent laws on drunk driving -- and indeed, Schumer said texting is more dangerous than drunk driving. Federal research showed that an average of 800,000 Americans use hand-held phones while driving each day.

The research on texting and driving is sobering. The above study on texting and driving found that truck drivers took their eyes off the road for an average of five seconds while texting. That's enough time for a Mack truck at highway speeds to travel the length of a football field -- without anyone behind the wheel paying attention. In another study, the University of Utah found texting increased the chance of a crash by eight times among students using a driving simulator. And federal research on actual crashes showed that nearly 6,000 people died from distracted driving in 2008. That's enough to convince me, as a Metro Atlanta auto accident attorney, that we should address this safety problem. Mobile devices have improved our lives, but we should never let those improvements come in exchange for lives.

As a Gwinnett County auto accident lawyer, I was sorry to read in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about how the recent rains claimed their first life Sept. 23. Barbara Jean Smith of DeKalb County was killed after she stopped at Spaghetti Junction to help a driver whose car had spun out on the wet roads. She was out of her vehicle and standing on the ramp from I-85 south to I-285 east when a third driver rear-ended one of the stopped vehicles, pushing the vehicle into Smith and Smith over the edge of the bridge. She fell about 50 feet onto the northbound lanes of I-85, the newspaper said, and died at the scene.

Smith's three children, ages 19 to 22, describe her as a generous person who was sometimes impulsive in her urge to do good. She may have been acting on impulse when she stopped for the spun-out driver, Donald Sykes of Covington in Metro Atlanta. She had lent Sykes her cell phone and was standing with him on the elevated shoulder of the road when Marcelino Chavez-Lopez rear-ended one of the stopped cars. The crash pushed the stopped car into the two, throwing Smith over the bridge's railing and leaving Sykes with multiple fractures. Chavez-Lopez is charged with second-degree vehicular homicide, driving without a license and failure to stay in his lane.

I'm sorry to say that, as a Metro Atlanta car wreck attorney, I have long been aware that stopping by the side of the road is not very safe. Drivers who pull into shoulders and breakdown lanes to take care of car trouble or other unavoidable problems are killed far more often than they should be by drivers who drift out of their lanes. In fact, this is such a widespread problem for law enforcement and emergency personnel that Georgia has a Move Over Law requiring motorists to change lanes or slow down when passing emergency vehicles on the side of the highway. Drivers have a legal and moral obligation to be careful at all times, of course, but it's especially important to slow down and stay aware when passing stopped vehicles on a busy, high-speed highway.

I am deligthed to be participating in this year's Mothers Against Drunk Driving's Walk Like MADD walk this Saturday October 3, 2009 at Zoo Atlanta. Ceremonies begin at 8:00 a.m., and the walk starts at 8:15.

Please visit the website for Georgia's MADD chapter to learn about the cause.

Please support my team or any one of the other teams participating this year. If you cannot walk, you can still make a financial contribution online.

Drunk driving accidents in Georgia kill many innocent victims every year. As a father of two small children, I certainly fear for their safety on the roads. Reprsenenting victims in court is one thing, but organaizations like MADD need financial assistance so that they can continue providing the good work they do.

Please support them!