As an Atlanta car accident lawyer practicing in north Georgia, I have written several times about the perils of stopping on a metro Atlanta highway and exiting your vehicle. I am moved to do so again. There are articles in local papers weekly about someone being catastrophically injured or killed because they got out of their vehicle somewhere in metro Atlanta. I just read another such article in the AJC on line.
In the AJC on line article, a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle on I-75 in Bartow County. The Driver of the vehicle stopped to check on the pedestrian, and after exiting his vehicle to do so, a tractor trailer struck the stopped vehicle, the driver and the pedestrian. The pedestrian was killed and the driver was badly injured.
Folks, if you are involved in a motor vehicle accident or if your vehicle becomes inoperable for any reason when you are on a busy highway (in Atlanta or not), only leave your vehicle if it is safe to do so and you can quickly and safely get to an area where you are completely out of harms way. If you leave your vehicle under any other conditions, there is a very good chance you will be struck by on coming motorists.
If you are, it may not be your fault and the driver of the vehicle that hits you may be responsible for your injuries or your death. But that will be of little consequence because of the severity of injuries that typically occur when pedestrians are struck by vehicles moving highway speeds. Driver inattention may very well be the likely cause if you are hit. Drivers operate their vehicles daily on the highways while talking on the phone, texting, surfing the web, eating, drinking, grooming, reading, etc. So, even if you are extremely careful in exiting your car, when drivers are not paying attention, horrible results can occur.
If you or someone you know has been injured or killed after exiting a vehicle on a major highway (or any roadway for that matter), please contact me to discuss what happened and whether the driver of the vehicle may have some or all of the responsibility for the collision. Because the injuries may very well be catastrophic and or someone will have been killed, you will need to speak to an experienced attorney about your case. Accordingly, if you don't call me, please call another experienced attorney.
