Atlanta Injury Attorneys Blog

Strange things happen on the road, and a car accident is often not what it seems--especially if it takes place during a downpour. What was thought at first to be a crash caused by a thunderstorm has been called into question by Gwinnett County police, who have filed criminal charges against a Lawrenceville man for causing the Lawrenceville crash that killed his wife and injured her 10-year-old daughter.

The man allegedly grabbed the car's steering wheel from the passenger seat, making the car crash through a mailbox, a utility pole, and finally into a tree. His wife, in the driver's seat, died at the scene. Currently booked at the Gwinnett County Jail on felony involuntary manslaughter and misdemeanor reckless conduct charges, the man intentionally grabbed the steering wheel, according to police investigators. His motive for doing this, however, remains under investigation.

With this limited information it is impossible to know whether the man grabbed the steering wheel in a vain attempt to control the car on slick roads, or whether he acted belligerently in the heat of an argument, or even whether the act was intentional and premeditated. There are too many variables to be completely certain. As a Lawrenceville car accident attorney I have seen many cases, and any of these motives is plausible. It will be interesting to see what this investigation uncovers.

It's the middle of summer in Georgia--and as we all know, summer in Georgia means fires. In the past week alone, several fires were reported in Gwinnett County, and I'm sorry to say that more than one of them caused enough damage to leave dozens of families temporarily homeless. Here's a rundown:

Yesterday afternoon there were three very different fires in Gwinnett County. The first was in Lawrenceville, where a knocked-down tree had apparently pulled down a power line sparking a fire. The second fire was at a Norcross apartment building. Four units were damaged, 25 residents were forced to seek temporary housing, and one was taken to Gwinnett Medical Center-Duluth for minor symptoms of smoke inhalation. The last call was for a vehicle fire in Suwanee; unfortunately the car was too far gone to be saved. Collateral also damage occurred in the form of damage to the garage it was parked at and blistered paint to a nearby vehicle.

And Thursday was only the beginning.

This past Sunday in Lawrenceville, a car crashed into a restaurant--the second such incident to occur in Gwinnett County over the past two weeks, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post. And then on Monday, a Snellville man slammed his car into his own home.

Sunday's restaurant crash happened at a Sonic drive-in on Grayson Highway; the driver who caused the accident said that his accelerator got stuck as he was trying to park at the church next door. Instead of going to church, however, the man and his passenger ended up inside the fast-food restaurant, and then the Eastside Medical Center with minor injuries. Luckily, no one in the Sonic was hurt, but the eatery did have to be closed for structural repairs.

The previous restaurant accident happened 10 days prior in Snellville, when a driver slammed into the Hot 'n' Cold Chinese Buffet. This time the people inside the building weren't so lucky; nine were injured.

Texting While Driving Deemed Not "Reckless" by Gwinnett County District Attorney

On Tuesday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that vehicular homicide charges against Lori Reineke, a Gwinnett County woman who hit and killed a pedestrian last October, had been reduced from a first-degree felony to a second-degree misdemeanor.

Police had originally charged Reineke with first-degree vehicular homicide due to reckless driving because she had been texting behind the wheel when she struck and killed James Eaton III.

There were mitigating factors in Reineke's favor: it had been dark and rainy that night, and Reineke's light had been green at the time, so Eaton was not supposed to have been in the crosswalk. That said, there was clear evidence that Reineke had been exchanging text messages at the time of the incident. Therefore, police maintained that Reineke hit Eaton not because of poor visibility, but because she was distracted.

However, after reviewing the case, District Attorney Danny Porter said that there were no "reckless driving" factors present at the time of the accident, so there was no way to charge Reineke for more than a misdemeanor.

The question, then--and this is particuarly interesting to me as a Gwinnett County car accident lawyer--seems to have been: Is text messaging while driving reckless?

According to the Gwinnett Daily Post, two people were arrested as of Wednesday after a fatal Dacula accident this past Saturday that ejected two, killed one, and allegedly involved racing. One of the arrested is 24 years old; the other is only 18.

I don't need to tell you that highway racing is an extremely bad idea. I especially don't need to tell the families of Emmanuel Vasquez-Marrero, who died in the crash, and Carlos Bonilla, who narrowly escaped the same fate.

But I would like to point out something that often doesn't occur to people when they think of automobile accidents. Despite the fact that there were four injuries, two arrests, two cars racing and one death, there was only one vehicle in this crash. Does that mean the driver of other car that was allegedly racing doesn't hold some responsibility? Of course not. But no one in that car died. Only one car crashed, and the person driving, the person who killed Vasquez-Marrero, was none other than a trusted friend.

It's tempting to blame the brashness of youth for tragedies like these. Teenagers in particular are at risk for automobile accidents, especially nighttime fatalities. Higher likelihood of drinking, text messaging or trying to impress friends, plus a lack of experience and true gravity regarding a driver's responsibilities, can all be factors.