Atlanta Injury Attorneys Blog

Earlier this week, we learned of a tragic situation in Kentucky. A five-year old boy accidentally shot and killed his two-year old sister with his own rifle. The gun had been a birthday gift and although it had a safety lock, somehow the boy was able to shoot his sister in the chest. As a Fulton County accident lawyer, I know that fatal injuries and accidents can be extremely difficult for families to overcome.

The Kentucky family has expressed their grief publicly. They are struggling with the loss of their toddler's life and are left wondering how they possibly could have left this rifle in the boy's reach while it was still loaded. This tragedy reminds us that we cannot take safety too seriously or be too mindful about what our kids are doing. There are so many distractions these days and parents are busier than ever. We must remain vigilant in protecting our kids.

But what happens when we let our driving-age kids drive their siblings and an accident occurs? This too can lead to difficult circumstances as one south Fulton County family deals with just such a situation.

Three sisters were apparently being taken to school recently by their 20-year old brother when for some reason he ran the car he was driving off the road, hit a mailbox and then struck a tree. The sisters (ages 5, 7 and 13) were taken to Children's Heathcare of Atlanta at Egleston and underwent surgeries, but according to reports, they do not have life-threatening injuries. The driver was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, but apparently is not seriously injured either.

This crash occurred in good weather in the morning hours when visibility is not an issue. The older brother has been cited for failure to maintain his lane of traffic and two counts of child restraint violations. The child restraint counts would indicate that the children were not properly restrained in the car.

The Official Code of Georgia Annotated section 40-8-76 mandates the use of safety belts and children's safety restraints. Passenger cars are required to have safety belts and drivers are required to restrain kids under the age of eight when driving them in any passenger vehicle such as a car, pick up truck, van or other vehicle as stated in this provision: "[w]hile such motor vehicle is in motion and operated on a public road, street, or highway of this state, [the driver must] provide for the proper restraint of such child in a child passenger restraining system appropriate for such child's height and weight and approved by the United States Department of Transportation under provisions of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 213 in effect on January 1, 1983, or at the time of manufacture." In general, kids must sit in the rear seat of the vehicle.

Before you send your kids out with an older sibling, make sure that sibling knows how to place younger children in a restraint, such as a safety belt or car seat. Also make sure that your driving age teens or young adults do NOT use cell phones or text while driving. We are all aware that this sort of distracted driving can lead to an accident and that teens and young adults are most vulnerable to using these devices while driving.

We are all stunned and grieving with the recent events in Boston. Before going on I want to express my grief for those who have lost life and limb and for the city of Boston. Life goes on in our country even as law enforcement continues to work to keep us safe right here in Georgia, there are some who, in failing to comply with the rules and laws, defy them and end up harming themselves and others.

That is what happened earlier this week in Cobb County. As a Cobb County car accident lawyer, I find it particularly tragic that two people were killed in an early morning head-on collision -- requiring local authorities to shut down a road prior to the morning commute earlier this week.

The preliminary investigation as reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is that this tragic accident began with a simple traffic stop that should have ended far differently than it did. When an officer attempted to make a traffic stop, the driver fled in the wrong lane of traffic on Maxham Road. The driver was a woman from Roswell. She drove head-on into the car of an oncoming driver who was from Marietta. Both of these drivers died at the scene of the tragic accident.

A witness who lives near where the collision occurred was quoted as saying that
" ' It sounded like an explosion.' " Although the road was shut down for some time, it reopened just before the commute hours. It is not clear why the deceased woman failed to stop when the police signaled to her to stop. But an innocent driver has lost his life along with her due to her failure to do so.

When law enforcement signals drivers to pull over, Georgia law requires that we do so. The Official Code of Georgia Annotated section 40-6-395 states that it is "unlawful for any driver of a vehicle willfully to fail or refuse to bring his or her vehicle to a stop or otherwise to flee or attempt to elude a pursuing police vehicle or police officer when given a visual or an audible signal to bring the vehicle to a stop. The signal given by the police officer may be by hand, voice, emergency light, or siren." The provision also states that violating this provision can result in " a high and aggravated misdemeanor."

The fact that the woman's failure to stop resulted in the death of another driver makes this a more serious situation. Although we do not know why she failed to stop and whether she might have had a medical condition that confused her or some other reason that would mitigate her actions which resulted in the death of another driver and herself. Undoubtedly, had the woman driving the vehicle survived, she could have been charged with some very serious crimes given that the other driver passed away as well.

Late last week, a Gwinnett County driver lost his life after a seven-mile wrong way drive on I-85. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that early on Saturday morning reports began coming in on 911 that a vehicle was driving fast in the wrong direction on I-85. Just as the police were working on intercepting the vehicle, it moved to Ga 316 again going in the wrong way, east in the westbound lanes. Sadly, the driver was killed when his car hit two guardrails, split in half and ending the driver's life. As a Gwinnett County injury lawyer, I can say that the only positive part of this story in my view is that no one else was injured or killed.

Several studies have been done in recent years on the way guardrails function in single vehicle accidents. Virginia Tech researchers have found that "from 2000-2005, the number of car occupants who were fatally injured in guardrail collisions declined by 31% from 251 to 171 deaths." Although guardrail are intended to help keep drivers safe and fatalities have decreased, they can still be very dangerous in situations such as that in Gwinnett County.

And just yesterday, another guardrail incident occurred in downtown Atlanta. An SUV (Jeep Liberty) that was traveling on the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive bridge, crashed through the guardrail in the early evening and fell 50 feet. Miraculously the three people in the vehicle only suffered minor injuries. The accident apparently occurred after the driver experienced a medical emergency. The vehicle was damaged very badly, which is precisely the way it should be, because the people inside were protected and the vehicle took the impact and energy of the fall.

When vehicles are involved in an accident, there are kinetic forces that vary depending on the speed and mass of the vehicle and the speed and mass of the object or vehicle that the vehicle strikes. Crumple zones work because they are intended to take the forces involved and actually redistribute them before those forces reach the people in the vehicle. They essentially create a "buffer zone" around the vehicle and it takes the force while the people are better protected against these forces. The very first vehicle to have a crumple zone was the 1959 Mercedes Benz W111 Fintail. The engineer who invented the crumple zone has more than 2500 patents to his name and worked for most of his professional career at Daimler-Benz.

Sometimes after an accident, experts must piece together how the accident occurred and how the vehicle or vehicles responded, their speed, deceleration and other factors in the seconds involved in a crash situation. These experts can be very important in making sure that the accident is accurately reconstructed for the purposes of determining the facts and responsibility for the accident.

Sometimes police or other first responders are involved in accidents as they travel to the emergency to which they are called. But rarely are two responders separately involved in accidents or other collisions that keep them from getting to their emergency destination. Recently, two police officers from Roswell ended up in accidents themselves. They were responding to a third crash on Georgia 400. It appears that one driver failed to yield and helped cause at least some of the crash chaos. As a Atlanta car accident lawyer, I am aware of other accidents that were at least caused in part by a failure of a driver to yield to emergency vehicles.

In this situation, the officers were responding to the accident on Georgia 400 and were traveling on Holcomb Bridge Road. According to reports, the initial accident involved a female driver whose vehicle struck the median wall. Her injuries were not serious. But it was the failure of a vehicle on Holcomb Bridge Road to yield to the police car whose sirens and lights were on, that caused the second wreck on that road. Thankfully, there were no injuries in that accident.

When a second police officer responded to the original crash, that officer's vehicle hit a pedestrian also on Holcomb Bridge Road. The man who was hit by the emergency responder's car was said to be in stable condition and perhaps sustained a knee injury. The pedestrian accident is under investigation by a neighboring department, which is standard policy in such situations.

It is unfortunate that some drivers need to be reminded that emergency vehicles and responders have the right of way when they are indicating an emergency and failing to yield is in violation of Georgia law. I want to remind readers of some of the stringent rules that apply to emergency vehicles in Georgia.

Under Official Code of Georgia Annotated section 40-6-74 drivers must yield the right of way to emergency vehicles as follows: "(a) Upon the immediate approach of an authorized emergency vehicle or a vehicle belonging to a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency making use of an audible signal and visual signals meeting the requirements of Code Section 40-6-6, the driver of every other vehicle shall yield the right of way and shall immediately drive to a position parallel to, and as close as possible to, the right-hand edge or curb of the roadway clear of any intersection and shall stop and remain in such position until the authorized emergency vehicle or law enforcement vehicle has passed, except when otherwise directed by a police officer." This provision does not "relieve the driver of any authorized emergency vehicle from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons using the highway."

In addition, Georgia's move-over law requires that drivers move-over for emergency vehicles stopped on the side of the highway. This law was the result of the increase in injuries and death to emergency responders, DOT workers and citizens involved in the accident or other emergency. The FBI has reported that traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for police across the country. And many law enforcement officers are injured or killed as they perform their duties on the roadside as cars pass. The move-over law requires vehicles to move-over one lane if they can do so safely or slow down if they cannot.

The Official Code of Georgia Annotated section 40-6-16, states that motor vehicle drivers "approaching a stationary authorized emergency vehicle or highway maintenance vehicle that is displaying flashing yellow, amber, white, red, or blue lights shall approach the authorized emergency vehicle with due caution and shall, absent any other direction by a peace officer, proceed as follows: 1. Make a lane change into a lane not adjacent to the authorized emergency vehicle if possible in the existing safety and traffic conditions; or 2. If a lane change under paragraph (1) of this subsection would be impossible, prohibited by law, or unsafe, reduce the speed of the motor vehicle to a reasonable and proper speed for the existing road and traffic conditions, which speed shall be less than the posted speed limit, and be prepared to stop.

As an Atlanta motor vehicle accident lawyer, I often check the Georgia Governors Office of Highway Safety website for important and interesting information. For example, today I read a fascinating article on a study regarding billboard highway distractions. Most often we think of driving distractions as those inside our vehicles, such as the illegal use of PDA's to text while driving, especially dangerous for teen drivers. But there are other distractions outside our vehicles that can be dangerous too.

Most likely you have seen the large digital flashing billboards along America's highways. These are very bright and draw our attention as drivers and passengers. A Swedish study has now confirmed that these billboards take our attention away from the road for about two seconds. This is actually a serious risk and could lead to accident and injury.

Some say the results of the study only confirm " 'common sense when it comes to digital billboards,' " as noted by the president of Scenic America. Their concern is that the study confirms that these billboards are actually intended to attract our attention and keep it. The study will be presented later this month at a national transportation conference in Washington D.C..

The Federal Highway Administration has permitted the use of these signs since 2007. Their initial conclusion was that there was no significant risk to drivers and highway safety. They do regulate the distance between these signs and the time an image remains on the screen. Now that these billboards have been in use for a period of years, the risk assessment could be altered. The courts are also getting involved in the question as recently a three-judge panel ordered the removal of 100 digital billboards in the Los Angeles area. Other cities, such as Denver have banned these signs.

The Governors Highway Safety Association is not ready to reach a conclusion on the billboards. They say they will review the data as it becomes available since in their view the digital messaging that provides Amber Alerts, for example are very important to public safety. Given that the use of these billboards has greatly increased in the past five years, it is likely the controversy over them will continue both locally and nationally.

A report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes that Georgia could lose millions in federal highway funds due to issues with driver record keeping practices. A state audit has determined that errors and omissions in the records could result not only in public safety issues, but a loss of about $30 million from the federal government. As an Atlanta auto accident lawyer, these records could also be important in the cases we litigate on behalf of our clients.

The report also states that the issues with accuracy in driver records could stem from the failure of some courts to report or to timely report issues such as convictions in cases involving traffic violations, drug or stolen vehicles. This information is supposed to go to the Georgia Department of Driver Services and without accurate reporting there could be dangerous drivers on our roads.

Another area of concern for Georgia to receive full federal funding is that in our state, license suspensions for DUI offenses can be removed from a driver's record when the charge does not lead to a conviction. Federal law differs in that such license suspension deletions from the record are considered "masking" of the driver's true records. This discrepancy between state and federal law is supposed to be corrected by 2015 for Georgia to receive all its funding.

As a result of the audit, a concern was also raised that the Georgia Department of Driver Services must put in place policies regarding the manner in which DDS personnel deals with these records. The AJC report on the audit indicates a concern that some data is inaccurate, missing or could be " 'vulnerable to unauthorized changes ' " such as deletion of information from the records. The auditors have suggested that state employees activities within the record keeping data be periodically reviewed to ensure it is not being altered.

The DDS has stated that over the past several years many improvements have been made in their record keeping. Undoubtedly, the Georgia courts, their administrators and the DDS will be working on these issues to continue to improve them.

The recent report of single vehicle accident in Cobb County is very sad indeed. Three children are left without their parents due to an accident that is still under investigation. What we do know is that two people -- the parents of the children -- lost their lives in this crash. As a Cobb County car accident lawyer, I want to advise readers that the police would like any information that is known about this accident. They are asking the public for help. Our prayers go out to the family of this couple and especially for their children.

According to reports, the police currently know that the vehicle was driven by a Cobb County man and his wife was a passenger. The 2012 Ford F-150, a pick up truck, was traveling in a westbound direction on Paper Mill Road. The posted speed limit at this location is 35 mph. It is believed that the vehicle was traveling in excess of this speed when it departed from the road at a curve. The vehicle reportedly hit a large tree and after that, a second tree and overturned and finally hit a third tree. The couple lived close to the scene of the accident.

We have often cautioned drivers about road departure accidents and the dangers involved in striking objects such as guard rails and trees as happened in this crash. Speed is often a factor in this type of accident, although we are not certain that it was here.

When you are driving a larger vehicle with a center of gravity that is not low, such as a pick up truck, it is even more important to maintain proper and posted speeds. There is a reason that speed limits are set for certain circumstances. You might think you know your vehicle or what it is capable of doing, but it is unwise to risk that by exceeding the posted speed.

In the past several years, studies have been performed to develop technologies that would warn drivers when they are about to travel off the road. In a collaboration between the University of Michigan Transportation Institute and the United States Department of Transportation, a road departure crash warning system has been studied and evaluated. Road departure crashes cause about 15,000 fatalities every year in America. The "project developed, validated, and field-tested a set of technologies intended to warn drivers in real time when the driver was drifting from their lane, and a curve-speed warning system designed to provide alerts to help driver slow down when approaching a curve too fast to safely negotiate the curve."

We hope these technologies will soon be available to save lives and help avoid the type of tragic accident that just occurred in Cobb County.

We hoped for a happy and safe holiday weekend for all Georgians this Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, the statistics are out now and 19 people were killed, with over 260 injured in holiday weekend accidents. Georgia's Thanksgiving weekend last year saw 18 fatalities. All Georgians should take heed and be aware of the causes as we approach Christmas and New Year's Eve next month. As a Gwinnett County injury lawyer, it saddens me to learn of these new reports on what happened in our area over the weekend.

The travel period for Thanksgiving is considered to be from the evening before Thanksgiving through the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The Georgia State Patrol was responsible for investigating over half of the fatal accidents. According to reports and a statement by the GSP, the main reasons for these accidents are alcohol, failure to wear seat belts and speed. One accident involved a single vehicle in Forsyth County and another involved a family in Norcross County. There is something remarkably common among these -- all of them can be avoided.

Apparently, in four of the fatal accidents, alcohol is considered to be a factor that contributed to the crash. In seven of these fatal crashes, the victims failed to wear their safety belts. One of these accidents also involved a pedestrian.

As the holiday weekend began, a pedestrian accident was reported in Gwinnett County. Two pedestrians were found by a Gwinnett County police officer, having been seriously injured in what officials believe was a hit-and-run at Rockbridge Road and Stone Drive.

The hit and run is under investigation now. Official Code of Georgia Annotated section 40-6-270 provides that the driver of any vehicle that is involved in an accident resulting in injury to or the death of any person or in damage to a vehicle which is driven or attended by any person shall immediately stop such vehicle at the scene of the accident or shall stop as close thereto as possible and forthwith return to the scene of the accident..." This provision also states that: "If such accident is the proximate cause of death or a serious injury, any person knowingly failing to stop and comply with the requirements of subsection (a) of this Code section shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years."

It is a felony to hit and run when death or serious injury are involved. Hit and run vehicles often have damage to them and officials are often able to connect the damage to the accident through family members or auto body shops that are on the look out for damage that would correlate to the injuries sustained. Very often, the vehicle tells the story.

Distracted driving has quickly become a national hazard. All over the country, and right here in Georgia, we are seeing more and more dangerous driving that leads to motor vehicle injuries and death. In my work as an Atlanta car accident lawyer, I have followed the legal developments in distracted driving.

The courts are working through the many issues that have arisen in the use of cell phones and other devices while driving. One area in which the law is developing relates to the employer's liability for their employee's texting while driving which results in injury or death. Often the companies that employ the drivers involved in these accidents are sued along with the driver.

According to a recent report in The Washington Post, the jury awards against these companies can be in the millions. For example, in Alabama a trucking company was ordered to pay $18 million when a driver reached for a cell phone and caused a serious accident. Another company paid more than $16 million. Some of these cases are settling out of court so that the company does not have to face a jury trial with their employee as the defendant driver.

Accident reconstruction experts now have tools available to them to use in determining the driver's texting or cell phone activity at the time of the accident. The detection technologies are becoming more and more precise. It is possible to look at the data and determine the precise moment of impact as it relates to an active phone call or text that could have distracted the driver and possibly have avoided the accident altogether.

Some courts are looking at how far the liability goes in a distracted driver case. A recent New Jersey case illustrates the point. In that case, motorcyclists suffered severe injuries when a texting driver hit them. The person who had sent the text was found not to have aided and abetted the driver who was directly liable for the injuries. In that case, the judge did not see the imposition of liability on the sender as reasonable.

A recent decision by a Florida judge expanded liability caused by texting while driving in that he granted the plaintiff's motion to allow punitive damages in a civil negligence suit. This is likely in part because eye witnesses contradicted the driver's account of the accident and when she says she stopped texting while driving. The witnesses' car was almost hit before the accident occurred.

A recent rash of wrong-way crashes has many wondering just what can be done to avoid these deadly collisions. Last week, Gwinnett County saw a deadly crash on Georgia State Route 316 which resulted in the loss of an innocent driver. This is the fourth in a series of head-on collision crashes. In my work as a wrongful death lawyer, who has helped many families deal with the tragedy of fatal accidents, I am saddened that this crash, along with the others, has resulted in serious injury or death due to wrong way drivers in the Atlanta area.

In this most recent crash, the driver alleged to have caused the crash was apparently under the influence of drugs when the accident occurred. Police statements regarding the accident were reported in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution and revealed that the offending driver is believed to have stolen a sedative from the Gwinnett Medical Center prior to the wreck. She is employed by an anesthesia services company.

The evidence for the drug use prior to the accident were needles and an IV bag found on the front seat of the woman's car. Additional drugs found in her purse after she was hospitalized. It is believed that she drove several miles in the wrong direction prior to the crash and that many 911 calls were made by other drivers trying to alert authorities about the situation.

This impaired driver ended up colliding with a passenger car, causing serious or critical injury to occupants of the vehicle, including the driver. The offending driver also sustained injury and was taken to the hospital. After her release, she was taken to jail and "charged with five counts of causing serious injury by vehicle and one count each of driving on the wrong side of the road, reckless driving and improper/erratic lane change..."

Among the violations alleged against the driver is reckless driving found in Official Code of Georgia Annotated section 40-6-390 which provides in part that: "(a) Any person who drives any vehicle in reckless disregard for the safety of persons or property commits the offense of reckless driving. (b) Every person convicted of reckless driving shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $1,000.00 or imprisonment not to exceed 12 months, or by both such fine and imprisonment ..." The cumulative charges against the driver for other violations may well result in jail time if she is convicted.

Is the wrong-way driver becoming a trend? We certainly hope not, because these collisions are often deadly.

Last month, several other crashes ended in tragedy including one that occurred in the northbound lanes of Interstate 85. In that crash two pickup trucks collided head-on in Fulton County. Sadly, the wrong way driver who reportedly caused the crash did not survive it and a passenger in the other truck also died.

Another wrong-way crash occurred last month on Georgia State Route 400 in Sandy Springs. The driver responsible for that crash also lost her life when she struck the vehicle driven by local radio show co-host Kelly Stevens. Finally, also last month two were killed on Georgia 400 in Buckhead in a head-on collision caused by a wrong-way driver.

During my nearly two decades in law practice as an Atlanta wrongful death and personal injury lawyer, I have often represented victims of accidents that clearly could have been avoided. Today, the Atlanta area has seen another example of such an accident. Although we do not yet know the precise cause of an early morning Buckhead crash that has ended the lives of two motorists in our area, we do know that authorities are considering alcohol as a factor.

Georgia State Highway 400 in Buckhead was the scene of a terrible accident in which a driving was traveling in the wrong direction near the Atlanta Financial Center tunnel. The road had to be closed for several hours.

The initial reports from the Fulton County Medical Examiner's office late Wednesday morning identified a 24-year old woman who passed away at Grady Memorial Hospital after having entered the highway in the wrong direction. A passenger in her car was critically injured. According to early reports, they were not wearing seat belts. The woman crashed into an oncoming car. The driver of that vehicle has also passed away, but has yet to be identified.

Wrong way accidents are extremely dangerous often causing death as this morning's accident reveals. Although modern cars are now built to withstand greater impact which can reduce the potential for death and injury, accidents in our country are on the rise. And alcohol is often blamed for many wrong way accidents.

Sadly, the National Traffic Highway and Safety Administration reports that 2012 has seen an increase in deaths on our highways. It is estimated that in the first quarter of 2012, about 7,630 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes. This represents a 13.5% increase as compared with the same period in 2011.

Currently there is little data on why this is the case. But it could be that driver safety issues are a major reason for the cause of this increase. It is suggested in order to bring these numbers down we will need to limit distractions, reduce impaired driving and promote a culture of safety among motorists. If the trend continues, the NHTSA statistics would mean that 2012 is the second largest year to year increase in traffic fatalities since 1975.

The only way this trend can improve is if drivers stay off the roads when they are under the influence, wear seat belts and stop driving distracted. I would suggest that all passengers get proactive. If you are traveling in a vehicle with a driver who is texting, talking on a cell phone without using a hands free device or otherwise unable to properly concentrate on the road, SPEAK UP and ask the driver to concentrate on keeping themselves and their passengers safe.

Please feel free to contact my law office at any time to discuss your accident or injury matter. There is no fee for this consultation. If you would like to read about what other clients I have represented say about my approach to them, their families and their legal matters, please feel free to click here. The Law Offices of P. Charles Scholle approaches cases differently than other law firms in that we pride ourselves on our close communication and care for our clients. We have offices throughout the Atlanta metro area and represent clients all over Georgia.

Earlier this year, we shared with readers preliminary news about a major accident on I-75 in Florida in which Cobb County residents lost their lives. Five members of a Cobb County church passed away in this tragedy. Now we are learning that several families are bringing lawsuits against Florida as a result of this crash. As I have noted in previous posts, in my work as a Georgia truck accident lawyer I follow incidents like this one, to learn what investigators determine are the causes of tragedies like this one.

Our own community was touched by this accident when the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported that among the eleven people who lost their lives in the crash and 18 injured, were a local pastor, his wife and family members and friends.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has received over 10 lawsuit notices related to the accident. Among the notices is one on behalf of injured and surviving family members of the Kennesaw, Georgia church group.

The AJC reports that as a result of the investigation, Florida's Department of Law Enforcement determined that the Florida Highway Patrol opened the highway after a fire that, along with fog, had caused terrible visibility problems. However, the oversight agency for the FHP plans to review the findings of the report and respond to its findings.

Several agencies were involved in the decision to reopen the highway after the wildfire had subsided, but the smoke and fog proved to be a major factor in the cause of the accident. There reportedly were competing concerns about the danger of keeping the road closed.

More facts will likely be discovered in any litigation involving this crash. As readers might recall this Florida interstate accident involved not only many passenger vehicles, but large trucks as well. When visibility becomes hazardous, there are rules that truckers are supposed to follow to avoid accident and injury.

Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations section 392.14 provides that under hazardous conditions, extreme caution must be taken by commercial motor vehicles. Specifically, this regulation requires that "extreme caution in the operation of a commercial motor vehicle shall be exercised when hazardous conditions, such as those caused by snow, ice, sleet, fog, mist, rain, dust, or smoke, adversely affect visibility or traction. Speed shall be reduced when such conditions exist. If conditions become sufficiently dangerous, the operation of the commercial motor vehicle shall be discontinued and shall not be resumed until the commercial motor vehicle can be safely operated." The litigation may involve whether drivers did what they should have done under the circumstances.

Motor vehicle accidents can be life changing. If you or a loved one have been involved in an accident involving a motorcycle, car, tractor-trailor, or other motor vehicle it is important to consult an experienced personal injury and accident lawyer. Please contact my law offices for a free consultation on any matter involving motor vehicle accidents or personal injury.

We are all aware that law enforcement has a tough job to do in keeping us safe. That job can be made even tougher when members of the public are at the wrong place at the wrong time. This past Sunday, the wife of an Atlanta Braves trainer died when a Georgia State Patrol cruiser was speeding to aid other law enforcement in a hot pursuit and hit the car she was in with her family. Others in the vehicle, including her husband and son, were injured as well. In my experience representing clients as a Gwinnett County injury and wrongful death lawyer, I know this tragic loss of life is devastating to loved ones. My personal condolences go out to the family involved in this terrible accident.

The scenario is one we have read about before, but it never gets easier, especially when life is lost. The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported that a witness, who saw a state trooper's cruiser speed past him - feared something might happen and it did. He told the AJC that only " '[s]econds later I heard a big blast like a train crash.' " The sound was the cruiser, its lights and siren on, hitting an SUV that was driven by the Braves trainer. The SUV was hit at the intersection of Capitol Avenue and Memorial Drive in downtown Atlanta.

The cruiser was driven by a veteran Georgia state trooper, on his way to help other law enforcement in a chase situation. The trooper's injuries did not require hospitalization, although he did get treatment at Grady Memorial. The authorities are working to reconstruct what happened in this tragedy.

Among the many scenarios that law enforcement must face, is the need to travel at high rates of speed when innocent bystanders are also present. It is possible that the trooper was not able to see the intersection or the vehicle he hit - because the witness noted it was at the crest of a hill. Authorities should be releasing more on the crash as information becomes available.

We want to remind our readers about what Georgia law requires in situations like this. Official Code of Georgia Annotated § 40-6-74 sets out how drivers must operate on the road when an emergency vehicle is approaching. It requires that "[d]rivers of every other vehicle shall yield the right of way and shall immediately drive to a position parallel to, and as close as possible to, the right-hand edge or curb of the roadway clear of any intersection and shall stop and remain in such position until the authorized emergency vehicle or law enforcement vehicle has passed, except when otherwise directed by a police officer." However, emergency vehicle drivers must also "drive with due regard for the safety of all persons using the highway."

In some situations, it is not possible to pull over to avoid an emergency vehicle. Perhaps in this situation, the emergency vehicle came along with so little warning there was no way for the driver to get out of its way. We will only know this after reconstruction occurs.

Georgia's Move-Over Law is also important to remember. This law requires that drivers "move over" one lane when possible when an emergency vehicle with flashing lights is parked on the shoulder of the highway. If traffic is too heavy to move over safely, the law says drivers must slow down to a speed below the posted speed limit and also must be prepared to stop.

My professional experience as a serious car accident lawyer, has given me the opportunity to help families deal with the legal aspects of serious accidents and injuries. My law firm, the Law Offices of P. Charles Scholle has convenient offices throughout the Atlanta area. Please contact my law firm to arrange for a free consultation with me on matters ranging from truck accidents, motorcycle crashes, personal injury, wrongful death and estate administration.

What would you do if a live wire fell on your vehicle? Do you know what safety calls for in this situation? Sometimes I get asked very good questions like this in my practice as an Atlanta truck accident lawyer. Well, if you do not know the answer to this question, a somewhat unusual car and truck accident this morning in Atlanta might be instructive.

Earlier today, the driver of a Honda said she had no recollection of hitting either a power pole or fire hydrant on West Marietta Street. The impact resulted in live wires being strewn across a semi-truck with the driver inside. She told the Atlanta-Journal Constitution that she "was at the stoplight and ... blacked out."

Atlanta Fire Rescue was called to the West Marietta Street location where traffic was shut down in the eastbound direction and local power was out for a while.

What is very important to note in this situation is that the driver of the semi-truck did not exit his vehicle because he knew to remain in his cab until he knew that the power had been cut. Had he tried to leave his vehicle, Atlanta Fire Capt. Bobby Ferrell said " 'the downed wires could have proved lethal."

He explained that those within a vehicle near a downed wire should " '[n]ever open the door and get out of your car when wires are down' " since we should "treat all downed wires as if they are live and energized." That might be easier said than done as it would be a very difficult experience to wait for the authorities. But this advice could save a life.

The driver of the vehicle was mainly concerned that her insurance will increase based on this incident. She may be responsible for the damages she caused to the fire hydrant and the power lines, but her carrier would likely pay for this. Insurance carriers can increase your insurance premiums based on your driving record. If a medical condition caused the accident, she still might be responsible for what occurred to public property.

Georgia's Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner provides an Automobile Insurance Rate Comparison calculator for consumers looking for insurance. Rates vary depending on many circumstances, but this comparison can be helpful to those seeking to find insurance.

As a Georgia accident and insurance lawyer, I am aware that many drivers do not know what their policies cover or provide and when an accident occurs they need expert help. Sometimes the language is difficult to understand and is not written in plain English -- which would make the insurance contract more accessible to the average person.

Whether or not you believe you have insurance that will cover an injury or damage after an accident, it is vital to get the help of a professional who can guide you through the process. And, as I always advise clients, do not talk with the carrier without professional support. Insurance companies often try to intimidate their policyholders after and accident hoping they can reach a quick settlement that is likely not the most fair settlement for you.

As an experienced Georgia personal injury attorney, I can guide you through your insurance concerns. Often there is not one, but several policies that can pay your claim. Insurance is often "stackable" meaning that you could obtain the policy limits of several policies, thereby increasing the total recovery.

Insurance companies are very experienced at avoiding payment of claims. 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 me at the Georgia Law Offices of P. Charles Scholle. As an Atlanta car crash and bus crash lawyer, I have the knowledge and experience to help victims get through the legal process.

By now, we all know that seat belts save lives and that "click it or ticket" are mainstays of federal and state government and law enforcement efforts to encourage families to buckle up. In my representation of many serious motor vehicle accident victims and their families, as a Gwinnett County catastrophic injury lawyer, in my view, anything that can reduce deaths and injuries is vitally important.

But for some reason, drivers and passengers are still yet to have learned to buckle up every time they get into a motor vehicle. It is never easy to reconcile human behavior with safety measures that are available to us, but that we do not use. So when it comes to seat belt use, the failure to use a seatbelt even when the dashboard in a modern vehicle is telling us to buckle up, is puzzling and sometimes tragic.

The National Highway Safety Administration touts its "Click It or Ticket (CIOT)" campaign as the most successful seat belt enforcement campaign in the history of our country and says it has helped to create the "highest national seat belt usage rate of 85 percent." The State of Georgia has had its own successful Click It or Ticket campaign and continues to encourage us to buckle up.

The risk of injury or death are greatly reduced when using a seat belt. These simple devices save lives and make otherwise might be deadly crashes, survivable. Although the Click It or Ticket campaigns have created a very compliant public, teens, pick up truck drivers and men between 18 and 34 years of age are less likely to use their seat belts.

The death of a Norcross High School student last month has left many of us saddened and stunned. In the tragic accident, a Gwinnett County resident and high school basketball player, who was enrolled in honors and Advanced Placement classes, and three of his family members were killed in a single vehicle car wreck in Florida last month.

The young man's dad who was driver of the Chevrolet Tahoe tragically crashed in a single vehicle accident on I-75 near Ocala, Florida, the SUV traveled across several southbound lanes, overturned a number of times and ended up on its roof. Reports say that during this crash, six of the eight people inside the SUV were ejected in the crash. Only one person was wearing a seat belt -- the driver who was the young man's father. Speed was apparently not a factor so it is not clear what caused the vehicle to leave its lane.

Could some or all of the people who died in this crash be alive now had they been wearing their seat belts? We will never know the answer to this question. But this accident is important for all of us to pause and pay attention -- make sure that you do not drive or ride in a vehicle without a seat belt.

The Norcross High School community has suffered an enormous loss and it is impossible to imagine the sorrow that this family is experiencing. In addition to those killed in the accident, others were injured. Our hearts go out to the family and the school community.

Please buckle up every time you get into your car or other motor vehicle. You could save your life or the life of someone you love.

If you have been injured in an automobile or other accident, please contact my law firm to arrange for a free consultation with me on matters ranging from truck accidents, motorcycle crashes, personal injury, wrongful death and estate administration. We have offices throughout the Atlanta area in Duluth, Buckhead, the Perimeter and Decatur. for your convenience.