Atlanta Injury Attorneys Blog

In my experience as a Georgia personal injury and serious accident lawyer, insurance policies are most often poured over by insurance companies before they are ever issued and it is difficult to get courts to find ambiguity in these policies. As an individual or small business, it is important that you read your policy terms and understand them before an accident occurs.

Last week, the Arkansas Supreme Court held that a particular policy of insurance was ambiguous and that an insurance carrier could not avoid paying twice what it expected to pay.

The court was deciding a case that involved a lawsuit resulting from a tragic and serious accident in which passengers were killed. In the accident that took place in 2009, a bus driver ended up in a collision with a car that resulted in death and serious injury of passengers.

The police investigation found that the car driver was at fault in the accident, but that driver was underinsured. That meant the insurance proceeds were not enough to cover the tragic accident. The non-profit transportation company's policy carried much higher coverage than the car driver's policy and included underinsured coverage, for situations in which the other driver(s) did not have sufficient insurance.

As noted, the bus driver was driving on behalf of a non-profit transport company, which was insured by Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company. The insurance company was willing to pay the proceeds of its policy, which totaled $1 million in coverage. In what is called a complaint for interpleader, the insurance company essentially said, "we will pay the full amount of the policy" in exchange for no additional liability. They claimed that amounted to $1 million.

The intermediate appellate court said the insurance company was exposed to more than the $1 million the insurance carrier argued was all they should pay. But the passengers who had been injured and the administrators of the deceased passengers' estates filed what are called counterclaims against the insurance company. They said they were entitled to a portion of the funds (and in fact additional funds) from the insurance company saying that the insurance policy provided for more coverage than the carrier claimed it was liable for under the policy terms.

The insurance company asked the court to accept that it had paid all that was required under their policy with their insured. But the appellate courts had held previously that when an insurance policy is ambiguous (meaning that it is subject to interpretation) it must be construed in favor of the insured. The court found that there was a notation in the policy that was not defined in the policy terms and that there were other terms that made the coverage amount unclear.

That meant the difference between the insurance carrier paying $1 million, as opposed to $2 million for the accident. In the opinion of the Arkansas Supreme court the policy terms were ambiguous and the carrier was liable for more coverage than it claimed saying: "We repeatedly have stated that if the language of a policy is susceptible to two interpretations--one favorable to the insured and one favorable to the insurer--then the interpretation most favorable to the insured must be adopted."

Insurance companies are very experienced at avoiding payment of claims. It is a fact of their business model. If you have been injured in an automobile or other motor vehicle accident and have any questions about your insurance coverage or your ability to recover your medical and other damages from another driver, please contact Georgia injury attorney Charles Scholle.

As an Atlanta car crash and bus crash lawyer, he has the knowledge and experience to help victims get through the legal process successfully.

The eve of the summer solstice brought heartbreak as a two-year-old Georgia toddler died in a tragic Jonesboro van accident. The child was left in a day care van and that is where she was found and taken to the hospital. Our hearts go out to the family involved in this tragedy.

Infant and toddler deaths can occur very quickly in a hot parked vehicle. As an Atlanta personal injury lawyer, I want to remind parents that accidental injury and death can be avoided. Never leave your child or children unattended in a parked vehicle, under any circumstances.

In the Jonesboro incident, the toddler was left in her day care van for approximately two hours or more. The day care children were on an outing to a local Chuck E. Cheese. Once the toddler was discovered, she was taken to the Southern Regional Medical Center. She passed away at the hospital.

The facts of this situation are currently under investigation by the Clayton County police and it has not yet been determined whether criminal charges will be brought. The specific cause of death has not yet been determined, but the outside temperatures reached 95 degrees. Potentially, Georgia day care licensing authorities could also review the licensing of this center.

In addition, depending on the facts, the toddler's mother could bring a lawsuit for wrongful death against the day care center and individuals involved in this tragedy. A wrongful death is any death caused by the negligent, reckless (extremely careless) or intentional actions of another which can include vehicle accidents, crimes due to poor security, elder abuse and many other situations.

In Georgia, personal injury claims usually the injured person sues on his or her own behalf to recover compensation for an injury and the financial costs, physical pain and emotional suffering. However, when the injury results in a victim's death, Georgia law allows the close relatives, in this case the toddler's mother, of the deceased person to bring an action for wrongful death.

The day care facility that apparently was responsible for the child, is located about 20 miles north of Atlanta. The toddler's mother told local Atlanta news outlets that she wants to see the day care center closed. She also said that the providers told her that her child was falling asleep "between the seats" of the van and was not noted to be left behind. If she was in a car seat, which is required under Georgia law, it is not clear why she would have fallen between the seats which might have made it difficult for her care givers to realize she was not accounted for with the other children.

As an experienced child injury and wrongful death lawyer practicing throughout Georgia and the Atlanta region, I am available to evaluate at no charge any potential legal claims involving injury and death. These cases are tragic and life-changing.

Just in time for the major global event called "Ride to Work Day," we have learned about the most dangerous intersections that have resulted in motorcycle accident injury or death in the Atlanta area. Before sharing thoughts on the newly-released information on Atlanta's dangerous intersections, I do want to encourage riders to participate in the Ride to Work Day event and to ride safely to avoid personal injury.

The big Ride to Work Day event will take place on June 20, 2011. it is a worldwide effort to demonstrate the benefits of riding motorcycles or scooters to work. The global event, which is expected to draw millions of participants, is meant to show the efficiencies in riding these smaller vehicles and their positive impact on traffic congestion, fuel consumption and parking.

Georgia's Motorcycle Safety Program manager noted that: "It is important to spread the word that motorcyclists are from all occupations and all walks of life. We are proud to be joining hundreds of cities, groups and organizations worldwide already supporting the annual Ride to Work Day." I hope the event will be very successful throughout Georgia.

Georgians are committed to their enthusiasm for motorcycling. And there are many resources for safe riding in Georgia. For example, The "Ride Safe and Legal Georgia!" program encourages riders to wear safety gear, get licensed and take a course to make sure your riding skills are as good as they can be. Among many other things, the Georgia Department of Driver Services offers programs to ensure rider safety and share the road campaigns.

Now for the information on the dangerous intersections. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported recently that a large insurance company received 2009 data from the Georgia Department of Transportation to rank various intersections in Fulton County and indeed found that 14th and Peachtree is statistically the most dangerous. The intersection was the scene of seven fatal motorcycle crashes in Fulton County, which represents 39 percent of the total of 18 fatal crashes. Overall, there were 337 crashes within the county in 2009.

A list of the other intersections in Fulton and Dekalb that had more than one motorcycle crash in 2009 are as follows: Barge Road and Campbelltown Roads; Camp Creek Parkway and Welcome All Road;10th St. and Piedmont Avenue; Bolton Road and Marietta Road; Buford Highway and Peachtree Street; Delmar Lane and Delmoor Court; and Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway and Eugenia Avenue.

In an effort to make these intersections safer and provide greater awareness to all, the AJC reports that new traffic signs will be installed to alert motorists and cyclists that they must use caution in these intersections.

As an experienced motor vehicle accident lawyer, I have always urged riders to follow Georgia traffic and motorcycle licensing and safety laws when riding their bikes. I hope all riders will consult some of the resources provided by Georgia, such as the Georgia's Motorcycle Operator's Manual which includes a great deal of technical and safe driving information.

Earlier this week, a woman was killed in a motorcycle crash on I-285 in Atlanta that began with a simple flat tire. The deceased was a passenger on the motorcycle that her husband was driving at the time of the accident.

This serious and deadly motorcycle and vehicle collision began with a disabled vehicle, but ended in the death of a motorcycle passenger. The accident is instructive, because the way it unfolded is in some ways a very common occurrence, but some aspects of this accident are also unusual and worthy of serious consideration. As an experienced Georgia motor vehicle accident lawyer, I want readers to understand both the facts and the law in this incident.

To begin with, the driver of a Toyota Corolla had a flat tire and came to a full stop in the second lane from the median on the northbound direction. That driver, Mr. Touray, a resident of Atlanta apparently was not able to, or did not, move his car from the second lane. This failure to move his vehicle has led to serious consequences that might not be obvious to most drivers.

The next event in this series was that an SUV had to stop in highway traffic to avoid hitting the Toyota -- thus, the SUV also came to a stop behind the Toyota. The final and tragic part of this accident occurred when the motorcycle, a Harley Davidson, driven by Mr. Jerry Miller with his wife Mary Joyce as passenger, crashed into the stopped SUV. The Millers were thrown from the bike. Mrs. Miller sustained fatal injuries and Mr. Miller was bruised, but is said to have declined treatment. The driver of the SUV was not injured.

The driver of the Toyota has now been charged with vehicular homicide and improper stopping on the highway. This is a serious consequence to a flat tire.

Vehicular homicide in Georgia carries various penalties. Depending on the severity of the charge, whether it is deemed a first or second degree vehicular homicide, a driver charged with this offense can receive a sentence that is anywhere from one year to 15 years in prison. There is some leniency in the penalty for an unintentional homicide by vehicle (second degree) which carries the potential for a fine and the lesser prison sentence.

What is instructive about this incident is the fact that the police have charged the driver of the stopped vehicle with this crime. The driver apparently presented other cars with a dangerous condition by staying in the lane and should have moved to the side of the road -- even with the flattened tire and even if it meant damaging his own vehicle.

It is important to consider this in the event that you are ever in a situation in which your vehicle is disabled. If your engine will not allow you to move that is one thing, but if your engine is not disabled and you can drive your vehicle, it is important to get it off the road so that it does not become the hazard that happened in this tragedy.

The driver of the Toyota might not have anticipated the consequences of his blocking the highway lane. Now he is dealing with criminal charges.

With good weather and summer fun, come some added dangers of personal and catastrophic injury. And as a Georgia personal injury lawyer experienced with helping victims of serious injuries and their families pick up the pieces after suffering injury, I see first hand the dangers of summer fun. I do not wish to step on anyone's summer fun, but I am compelled to warn parents of some specific dangers noted earlier this week in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The age of social media and access to sites like YouTube has made communication more interesting and information more available. But along with this, teens are doing more and more dangerous activities to get the attention of their peers filming dangerous or daring acts to post for others to see.

Parents must pay attention to this potential and warn their children of these dangers. They are real and potentially life-changing and they are happening right here in the Atlanta metro area and surrounding counties.

As noted in the piece in the AJC, the dangers include the allure of tall bridges with shallow waters under them. Some bridges are lower, but the water is not deep enough to support the jump from above. Gainesville police told the AJC that divers do not consider what they are jumping into ... but they do it anyway. And of course, adding to this danger is the use of alcohol, which impairs judgment.

Social media is a part of the problem, say local police. As noted in the AJC article, "[w]ith school out and the summertime heat, bridge jumpers are out in full force around Lake Lanier and Lake Allatoona, both a quick drive from Atlanta." Law enforcement near these popular lakes is all too aware of the dangers of jumping from bridges.

The potential for debris that is unseen catching a diver and keeping them from surfacing is one real problem. Another is the fact that jumpers often misjudge the distance to shore and have difficulty swimming the distances back to safety. And the police caution that another very real danger is the height of the bridge and distance to the water which can be a very hard blow to the diver's body.

Only last February, "a Buford woman was seriously injured when she was forced to jump 40 feet into Lake Lanier to avoid being struck by an oncoming tractor-trailer." She was seriously injured.

Another danger is that drivers can become distracted by jumpers and end up in an accident themselves. In addition, some train trestles are too narrow for pedestrians and if you are walking on a trestle, you might be forced to jump to avoid being hit by a train. The Forsyth County Fire Department was quoted as stating that the public cost of rescue is a factor that most do not consider.

The police in Cobb, Forsyth and other areas, will write citations when they find jumpers, but sometimes these teens and others are able to jump when no one is around. Which is, in itself, quite dangerous.

Being in the top five nationally of most lists might be a positive, unless the list has to do with Georgia or Atlanta area fatal car crashes. That is why as a Gwinnett County auto injury and wrongful death lawyer, I report with concern about a recent statistic that was published about fatal auto wrecks in Georgia.

Last month, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an analysis that found Georgia has the dubious distinction of ranking fourth in the nation for the costs of medical and work losses that result from fatal car crashes. The rankings were based on data from 2005, the most recent available.

The cost is a staggering $1.5 billion to victims and to their employers for medical and work losses. The total cost from the top 10 states alone was $41 billion in 2005.

Representing the families of victims of fatal auto crashes, I am all too aware of the cost to victims and their surviving family members. The basis for the high costs in Georgia is not specified. If you read our local newspapers or watch our local media news, you will likely be aware that many of our most-traveled highways, such as I-285, I-85 and I-75 and others surrounding the metro Atlanta area, can be dangerous places to travel.

The CDC Injury Center included some recommendations to lower these statistics nationally, including seat belt enforcement, child car safety policies, graduated drivers license programs that slowly increase teen driving privileges and universal motorcycle helmet laws.

These efforts can make a real difference. The use of motorcycle helmets is said to decrease brain injury by 69% and reduce the risk of death by one-third. The use of Graduated Driver Licensing programs have already been instituted in some states and have been reported to reduce teen crashes by 40 percent for drivers who are 16 years of age.