Atlanta Injury Attorneys Blog

Recently, Southeastern Georgia's WTOC 11 carried an Associated Press (AP) report that motorcycle accident injury and motorcycle deaths have decreased by two percent during the first three quarters of 2010. Unfortunately, this may not mean that a downward trend will continue for any lasting safety improvement. Practicing as a Gwinnett County catastrophic injury and wrongful death lawyer, and having a platform to speak to the public about safety in the Atlanta Injury Attorney Blog, I want to go through the sobering statistics with our readers.

The statistics show that from January through September 2010, 80 fewer bike riders lost their lives in the same period in 2009. Unfortunately, the situation changed in the last three months of 2010 as fatal motorcycle crashes began to increase again.

Since the 1990's, annual motorcycle fatalities have more than doubled. In 2008, fatalities climbed to 5,312 deaths. And then dropped over 15 percent in 2009.

Some experts believe the reason for the decline in fatal bike crashes, was the economy. These same experts believe that as the economy improves more riders will be out on the roads with a possible rebound in the deaths of recreational motorcycle riders. But others do not see this correlation and believe that increases in gas prices also increases motorcycle ridership and that more bikers are out on the roads when gas is at such high prices.

The most worrisome trend reported by AP is that "the number of motorcyclists wearing federally-approved, impact-absorbing helmets dropped 13 percent in the first nine months of 2010." During this period the use of lighter weight helmets increased by 9 percent. These helmets are said not to protect riders as well as the heavier helmets.

Here is another sobering statistic: helmets that comply with federal safety standards have a huge impact on saving lives. They reduce the biker's chances of being killed in a bike crash by 40 percent. Many bike enthusiasts would prefer not to wear helmets and have successfully lobbied to reverse mandatory helmet laws.

The National Transportation Safety Board says there are 20 states that require motorcyclists to wear helmets and 13 of those states go beyond the basic requirement and require the use of helmets that meet federal standards.

Motorcycle ridership will be up throughout Georgia during the spring and summer months. As we continue to report on Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, we hope our readers will consider the statistics and safety recommendations when they get out to enjoy their bikes.

As part of my practice as an Atlanta injury and accident lawyer, I have represented many clients involved in serious motorcycle accidents in our area. It is well-known that drivers of these vehicles are more vulnerable to motorcycle crashes involving serious injury and death than drivers of other types of vehicles. There are no more enthusiastic drivers than those who own and enjoy riding their bikes.

The National Safety Council (NSC) wants to help avoid death and injury to motorcyclists and keep them as safe as possible. To further that effort the NSC has made the month of May, Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. We would like all Atlanta area drivers, whether they are driving a truck, car or a motorcycle, to pay close attention to the information that the NSC has provided.

According to the NSC, many accidents involving cars and motorcycles are caused by the fact these vehicles can be hidden in a driver's blind spot. Those driving a car or truck should always check their blind spots visually prior to changing lanes. Many motorcycle crashes and tragic injuries result from these common maneuvers on the road.
The NSC also urges that motorists share the road with motorcycles by taking extra precautions when they are traveling in proximity to one another. Suggestions for motorists include several important points.

First, motorists should allow more distance when following a motorcycle. Second, it is critical to be very careful when traveling in an intersection. The NSC says that "[m]ost crashes occur when a motorist fails to see a motorcyclist and turns left in front of a motorcycle." Third, the NSC suggests that it is very unwise to try to share the lane with a bike -- instead, give the motorcycle a complete lane.

The statistics of bike crashes, injuries and deaths are not good. In fact, deaths that involved both motorists and motorcyclists increased 131 percent in the decade between 1998 and 2008. Alarmingly, the motorcyclists' death rate by miles was "37 times greater than for passenger car occupants."

The advice to bike riders to avoid crashes is also very important information. If at all possible, do not drive your bike in bad weather. Second, avoid riding in the blind spot of the vehicles around you, whether they are trucks or cars. Third, make sure to signal when you are turning or making a lane change.

Over many years, I have had the opportunity and the honor to help families devastated by the tragedy of accidents involving serious injury and death. But when literally an act of God, such as a tornado devastates families and towns, it is nearly impossible to comprehend.

And it is also difficult to describe how out of tragedy we can find a way back to hope. These experiences change us, but I have learned as I have stood closely by many families and individuals who have suffered unimaginable tragedy, that the human spirit finds a way to recover. And out of tragedy, can come renewal and hope.

The recent tornado that brought devastation to the town of Ringgold has also brought residents together -- some to mourn and others to help. One family paid the greatest price and all four members were killed in this tragedy.

All Georgians mourn this loss along with the residents of this devastated town. As the Black family was laid to rest, literally hundreds attended their funeral service. So many communities were devastated in the southeast and there were an unprecedented number of deaths.

Like a scene out of a war zone, the Atlanta Constitution-Journal reported that "family members led the procession down rain-drenched U.S. 41, the main artery through the storm-ravaged town" passing the devastation along the way.

And while the mourning continues, the kindness and support of fellow Georgians is evident. Teams of firefighters from Marietta, Atlanta, Cherokee and Clayton have converged on the area, helping with the clean up and search. The devastated Walker County also sent help. A disaster team from Dalton has arrived as well. These teams are working through the downed trees and making sure all buildings and homes have been searched.

Georgians have heart, and when our neighbors are in trouble, we come to their aid. My thoughts and prayers are with all the families and individuals who have suffered through this tragedy.

As a supplement to our previous post concerning a tragic Atlanta auto accident fatality at the intersection of MLK Drive and Westlake Boulevard, we want to report received a call from a witness to the wreck who did not want to be identified. This witness claimed that the accident was "100% the fault of the truck driver." The witness claimed that the truck turned into the oncoming path of the Toyota. She claimed that she stayed for more than an hour after the accident but that the police would not talk to her.

With auto accidents involving a wrongful death in Georgia, state authorities routinely perform a SCRT Team investigation. The SCRT Team is a specially-trained group from the Georgia State Patrol which conducts a very thorough forensic evaluation, taking measurements, auto damage assessments and witness interviews. I recently learned, however. that the SCRT Team is not always called in. I am the attorney in a pedestrian fatality in Gwinnett County where no SCRTinvestigation was done. Evidently, there is some discretion by local law enforcement.

Hopefully, there will be further investigation in this case so that the conflicting accounts by witnesses are reconciled and the true facts are ascertained.

In this day and age of lawsuits, the million-dollar award over a coffee burn has almost become a cultural joke. However, it really did happen earlier this year for a Buford woman, Cynthia Nance, who was seriously wounded by a QuikTrip cappuccino machine. As an experienced Atlanta burn injury lawyer, I can assure readers that this case is quite real and very serious.

How did Nance win so much money from such an apparently commonplace injury? Well, for one thing, her encounter with the machine left her with a permanent nerve disorder. But this is not to say that one can win a million dollars--or any dollars for that matter--by simply spilling hot coffee on oneself.

What happened in this case was that 190-degree water shot from the machine onto Nance's hand and arm, due to a part that had been removed for cleaning and not been replaced. Therefore, the QuikStop staff was culpable for not routinely replacing the part of an extremely dangerous machine.

Burn injuries can be very serious. In addition to Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy syndrome, which is what this particular Gwinnett County burn injury victim was left with, severe burns can lead to a variety of crippling conditions, including shock and severe infection.

Since this 2007 accident, QuikTrip has wisely replaced all of its cappuccino machines, presumably to a model that is less likely to cause catastrophic personal injury due to simple forgetfulness on the part of an employee.

As an Atlanta car accident attorney, it is always heartbreaking to learn of a tragic death in our area. Saturday evening a head-on collision occurred while a vehicle traveled westbound on Martin Luther King Jr. drive at the intersection of Westlake Boulevard. In this Fulton County truck accident -- the truck driver had no warning of the impending crash as he drove southbound on an Atlanta street.

According the report published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the westbound vehicle driven by Justin Moss, crossed over into the oncoming lane and crashed into a truck. Mr. Moss who was an Atlanta resident and 18 years of age, was driving the westbound vehicle and was identified by the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office. He was pronounced dead on the scene of the accident.

Two others were injured in this accident. A passenger in Mr. Moss' vehicle was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in critical condtion. The driver of the truck that was struck by the westbound vehicle, was also taken to Grady Memorial in critical, but stable condition.

Head on collisions are among the most dangerous of all motor vehicle accidents. Even with the introduction of air bags, which we do not yet know were in the vehicles involved in this accident, many Americans are killed or catastrophically injured in these dangerous collisions every year.

And no population is more vulnerable to death on the road than teens. The Department of Transportation launched an effort several years ago to improve the safety of teen drivers since motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death of those between the ages of 15 - 20 years of age.

We do not yet know whether alcohol or other factors were a part of this tragic accident.