Atlanta Injury Attorneys Blog

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" »

Studies show that texting while driving increases your chances of crashing by 20 times. Even using your phone in a hands-free mode is dangerous since it's a "cognitive distraction" which may decrease driving performance. In fact, texting and other distracted driving account for nearly 80% of all automobile accidents.
The effects of car accidents can be devastating. Crashes may results in death and catastrophic injuries, including brain injuries, paralysis and severe burns.

According to the Department of Transportation cell phones are involved in 1.6 million accidents a year, causing half a million injuries and 6,000 deaths.

Teens are especially hard hit. Just this past December a Georgia teenager died while texting his girlfriend. Statistics show the motor vehicle death rate of teens caused by cell phones is 21 percent and rising by 4 percent a year.

A bill aimed at Georgia teens passed the Georgia House last March, but has since stalled. Two more texting bills desgined to ban texting while driving have been introduced. Because of the extreme risks involved, It's crucial we pass these laws to ensure the safety of our Georgia roadways and drivers.

Texting accidents are not limited to automobile accidents. Driver texting has been found as a culprit in trucking accidents, bus accidents and train accidents. In order to address this growing problem, in late January the U.S. Department of Transportation announced it would ban drivers of commercial vehicles from using their cell phone to send text message, effective immediately. Truck and bus drivers who text while driving commercial vehicles may be subject to civil or criminal penalties of up to $2750.

Continue reading "Georgia Motor Vehicle Accidents - Texting While Driving Increases Risk of Serious Injury or Death" »

As a Metro Atlanta bus accident attorney, I was saddened to hear of a Sept. 15 accident in which a school bus fatally hit a five-year-old child. Atlanta NBC affiliate WXIA reported Oct. 5 on a bond hearing in the case for bus driver Sharon Dale. Dale is charged with second-degree homicide, failure to use due regard and violating procedures for school bus drivers in the incident that killed kindergartener Everett Johnson in northwest Atlanta. The hearing, which was attended by a group of Dale's colleagues, ended with Dale's release on a signature bond. She is suspended from her job with pay until the outcome of the trial.

According to the article, the accident happened shortly after Johnson and six other students got off the bus. Johnson reportedly fell behind the pack because he had dropped his book bag. When he bent over to retrieve it, Dale allegedly couldn't see him and tried to pull the bus away from the curb. Dale was reportedly so distraught that police waited a day to interview her. At the hearing, police officer Kim Jones testified that she climbed into the driver's seat and found that it would have been impossible to see a bent-over child in the position Johnson had occupied. However, Fulton County prosecutor Richard Elliott argued that Dale had a responsibility to adjust the mirrors for full visibility. Jones testified that she observed nothing wrong with the mirrors.

My heart goes out to Johnson's family. As his grandmother observed in the article, no amount of legal maneuvers can reverse this terrible accident. But as a Gwinnett County bus accident lawyer, I am very interested in what bus manufacturers and bus drivers can learn from the tragedy. Dale may be guilty of extreme carelessness if, as Elliott suggested, adjusting the mirrors correctly would have helped her see Johnson. If that's the case, Dale, and perhaps also her employer, would be liable for her negligence in any lawsuit the Johnson family chooses to file. However, if it's not possible to adjust the mirrors to remove every blind spot from the driver's view, the negligence may more properly lie with the manufacturer of the bus. In that case, it would be the manufacturer who would be liable for the wrongful death.

Continue reading "Court Considers Bond in Case of Bus Driver Charged With Running Over Kindergartener" »