Atlanta Injury Attorneys Blog

Today I read a Gwinnett County hit-and-run accident story with some bad news and some good. The bad news was that on Tuesday morning, Aubrey Turner of Pine Mountain in Gwinnett County was hit by a motorist while walking to work--and as if that weren't bad enough, the motorist kept on going rather than pulling over to help. According to the victim's brother, who spoke to the press, "They just left him ... you know, for dead."

The good news is that Mr.Turner was discovered shortly thereafter on the side of the road by a coworker, also on the way to work, in time to get the help he needed at Gwinnett County Medical center. At the time of this writing he is in serious condition, having already undergone treatment for a shattered left arm and a ruptured spleen.

The good news, of course, doesn't even come close to making up for the bad. "Serious condition" is just that, and Turner could have any number of terminal conditions as a result of this tragic incident. Georgia hit-and-run accidents can cause severe burns, catastrophic brain injuries and, of course, death.

Continue reading "Gwinnett County Man Hit-and-Run, Discovered by Co-Worker" »

On Monday night, Phil Youngclaus from the Gwinnett Gladiators was hospitalized due to an accident in which he lost control of his truck. The truck had overturned, rolled across the highway several times, ejected Youngclaus, and hit a mailbox and fence.

The hockey player also was cited for driving under the influence (DUI), possession of an open container in a vehicle, failure to maintain lane and not wearing his seatbelt. The arrest reportedly occurred after Youngclaus refused to comply with a blood alcohol test. According to Georgia's Implied Consent Law, law enforcement officers are allowed to ask for breath, blood or urine samples to determine whether a driver is intoxicated. Refusal to submit to such tests can lead to fines, arrests, or suspensions of driving privileges.

It's really a shame when a sports figure, ostensibly a local hero and a role model for youth, decides to drive drunk. And make no mistake. Getting behind the wheel while intoxicated is always a decision--one with definite, often deadly consequences. In this case, Youngclaus sustained head injuries and apparently broke his back in several places. Back injuries from a DUI car accident can result in catastrophic spinal injury, paraplegia, quadriplegia or even death. So really, he got off easy.

Continue reading "Gwinnett Gladiator Loses Control of Truck, Is Cited With DUI" »

Hot on the heels of my last post, which concerned a Georgia initiative to reduce the incidence of crashes between commercial trucks and lighter-weight vehicles, came a grisly Suwannee accident involving a head-on collision between a tractor-trailer and a pickup truck.

On Wednesday afternoon,the pickup reportedly crossed the road's center line and struck the tractor-trailer coming in the other direction. Its driver, a Valdosta, Ga. man who had not been wearing a seat belt, was ejected and died that night. The semi driver, a man from Live Oak, is still in critical condition at Shands at UF.

Often, the commercial vehicle driver gets out of a major auto accident with only minor injuries, but this one caused the trailer to separate from the cab as a result of the head-on impact. Had the semi driver not been wearing his seat belt, his fate might have been the same as that of the pickup driver.

Continue reading "Head-On Suwannee Crash Kills Driver, Injures Trucker" »

Big news in the prevention of Georgia car and truck crashes: a new initiative, the Georgia Targeting Aggressive Cars & Trucks Program, began on Monday. The program specifically focuses on reducing the number of crashes, injuries and deaths related to accidents involving collisions of lightweight vehicles with large commercial trucks.

Tractor-trailers can weigh 50 times more than ordinary consumer vehicles--sometimes up to 40 tons--and this obviously puts the average Joe's car at a distinct disadvantage in a collision. Large commercial trucks have many safety concerns that ordinary vehicles don't have, and this means many different safety checks a driver must perform each and every time he or she hits the road.

But what happens while they're actually on the road? Driving behavior accounts for as much if not more risk for accidents, and commercial truck drivers bear extra responsibility to be careful while driving. To help enforce this, Georgia is having law enforcement officers on I-85 and I-585 specifically look out for aggressive driving behavior such as tailgating, improper lane changes, speeding and failure to signal.

The goal is to significantly cut back on the number of crashes between commercial and lightweight vehicles in Gwinnett and Hall Counties. Between 2007 and 2009, approximately 1,160 crashes were reported, with almost 800 injuries and 25 deaths resulting.

Continue reading "Georgia Commercial Truck Crash Safety Program Makes Debut" »

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.

Continue reading "Lawrenceville Man Charged with Grabbing Steering Wheel in Deadly Crash" »

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.

Continue reading "Three Drivers in Past Two Weeks Crash into Gwinnett County Buildings" »

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?

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

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.

Continue reading "Dacula Drivers face Homicide, Felony Charges after Highway Racing Accident" »

It's incredible sometimes what people decide to do while driving. Today, a 52-year-old Dacula man went on a veritable rampage down I-85, for 21 miles from the Hamilton Mill Road exit through Duluth and beyond--almost the entire length of Gwinnett County, according to police. In all, Strawn reportedly hit seven vehicles, amassing 30 felony charges and counting. These include aggravated assault, hit and run, and fleeing law enforcement.

Despite the fact that this man, Mike Strawn, sat in his aptly named Dodge Ram and slammed other vehicles with impunity--three of them as he was pursued by police!--no serious injuries had been reported at press time, although one motorist did say they were in pain. This, of course, is subject to change: when one is injured in an adrenaline-inducing event such as a car crash, it can take hours or even days for symptoms to fully reveal themselves.

It was not reported whether the vehicle-ramming was entirely rear-end collisions or if some cars were side-swiped, but as a Gwinnett County car collision attorney I can tell you that likely injuries from such an event include neck and back injuries like whiplash, head injuries such as concussion, spine injuries, and even brain injuries. All of this risk, and just from one case of road rage.

Continue reading "Road Rage? Rogue Driver Faces 30+ Felony Counts" »

Two Georgia 18-wheeler accidents caught my eye in the news this week. One took place on Georgia Highway 88 and Ramsey Road. In an all too familiar scenario Dennis Neely of Hephzibah, Ga. drifted into the opposite lane and was hit head-on by a Pepsi-Cola delivery truck. By all appearances, he died instantly. By all appearances, the delivery truck was pretty much fine.

Another accident took place right here in Gwinnett County. Here, a tractor-trailer hauling flammables caught fire, and was completely destroyed within a very short period of time. The driver, and other motorists, fortunately got away unharmed, but the fact that such a fire occurred and developed so quickly that the vehicle was a total loss by the time the fire department showed up should give serious pause to any trucker hauling any potentially flammable load.

There was no information on what exactly had caused the fire, but 18 wheels of friction plus high outdoor temperatures plus who knows what conditions inside the trailer or under the hood can definitely spell trouble. Truckers commonly have safety checklists they are required by law to fulfill every time they hit the road, and this is why--to catch just as many potentially deadly situations as possible before they can happen. Tractor-trailers are uniquely dangerous vehicles inside and out.

Continue reading "The Dangers of Tractor-Trailers" »

This week I read about two tragic DUI -related accidents in the Atlanta area. One critically injured a teenager, another seriously injured a baby. Both caused considerable monetary damage and heartache to families, and both could have been prevented simply by abstaining from drinking before driving.

In the case of the baby injury, the driver's intentions were good. Vehicle crashes are called "accidents" for a reason. Rarely are they borne from evil intentions; instead, they tend to be the work of a simple, honest miscalculation, which all too often is due to slowed thinking and reaction time--which in turn is all too often due to alcohol. In this case, the driver was swerving to avoid a dog. Unfortunately she was unable to account for the vehicle she ended up flipping over, which happened to have a baby inside.

Continue reading "DUIs: Too Much Risk, Too Little Reward" »

Did you know that car accidents are now the number one killer of teenagers? It's true--and unfortunately, it's only getting worse. This week a couple reports emerged stating a number of sobering facts. One of them, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions National Center for Health Statistics, stated that motor vehicle crashes caused a full third of all teenage deaths from 1999 to 2006. Another report, released by the Teens in the Driver Seat Center of the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), probes further into this disturbing trend. The study, which focused on night driving, found that traffic accident deaths involving alcohol actually decreased slightly for teens between 1999 and 2008.

What factor increased during this time? Cell phone use. Researchers believe that the use of mobile devices while driving is the main factor accounting for the increase in teenage deaths due to auto accidents. The proportion of deaths due to motor vehicle accidents actually had increased for all age groups, but teens most of all. Add that type of distraction, hands-free or not, to the decreased visibility of night driving and the relative inexperience of teenage drivers, and the risk of critical injury or death skyrockets.

Interestingly, TTI's study notes that driving fatalities had decreased overall nationwide during the same time period. In other words, nighttime fatal crashes went up significantly, even as all other fatal crashes went down.

Continue reading " Teenage Drivers' Death Rate Soars, Especially in Nighttime Accidents" »

April 30 marked the official beginning of a movement that is
sweeping the country: National No Phone Zone Day. While not technically a national holiday, it might as well be, having gained a massive following since Oprah Winfrey began the campaign in January on her top-rated daytime show. The movement, which has received support from corporate heavyweights like Sprint and government officials like Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, formally kicked off with a live broadcast on The Oprah Winfrey Show that centered around live testimonials both from those who had lost loved ones to cell-phone related automobile accidents and those who had personally survived them.

In addition to Oprah's main live broadcast in Chicago, five satellite cities participated in the discussion with live audiences and celebrity moderators. Atlanta was one of those cities, which was especially appropriate considering that Georgia had passed two bills related to the use of mobile phones while driving just the day before.

Continue reading ""National No Phone Zone Day" Goes Live from Atlanta as Anti-Cell Phone Driving Laws Pass in Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin" »

If the past month has had one consistent theme, it's that change is coming to our roads. And not just here in Gwinnett County, or Greater Atlanta, or even in the entire state of Georgia. Certainly we've had our fair share of debate about legislation recently approved in Georgia. For example, the law the State Senate recently passed that bans texting while driving. Or the one that requires pickup truck drivers to wear seatbelts, just like regular automobile drivers (incidentally, Georgia is one of the few U.S. states that still have not adopted this law).

As a dedicated Georgia motor vehicle accident lawyer, by the way, I wholeheartedly approve of both of these laws. These represent great leaps and bounds in Georgia's commitment to the safety of its motorists, passengers and pedestrians, and I am optimistic that they will help to significantly reduce the incidence of traffic fatalities in our state. But there is an even bigger change coming up, one that affects not only Georgia but also the entire United States. Not only local municipalities or metropolitan urban areas, but potentially every highway in the country. I speak, of course, of the Obama Administration's new bicycle policy, championed by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

The Associated Press sums up the controversy in this article. LaHood and the Department of Transportation have strongly asserted that individual states and the country as a whole need to treat "walking and bicycling as equals with other transportation modes." That means more bike lanes and more pedestrian access on bridges, highways and other thoroughfares.

Continue reading "New Traffic Policies for Georgia and the Entire U.S." »

It's heartbreaking stories like this one that truly strengthen my resolve as a Georgia auto accident attorney. Easter should be a time for families to celebrate rebirth--but this year, for one Gwinnett County family, it was a time of unspeakable grief.

On Friday night, a family van was on its way from Lawrenceville to Jacksonville to celebrate a close relative's release from prison. Riding in the van were 57-year-old Brenda Mitchell Edwards, her 39-year-old daughter Melissa L. Mitchell, and her four grandchildren: 16-year-old Dhanja Mitchell, 11-year-old Miya Mitchell, and twin 4-year-olds Christian and Keyshawn Perry. Suddenly, a speeding car swiped the van, which careened into the median and was then struck by a pickup truck. All of the van's occupants were killed.

Continue reading "Repeat Reckless Driver Deals Death to Family on Easter Weekend" »