Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyers Blog

As a Trucking lawyer representing injured clients in Atlanta and central and north Georgia, I was sadden to read in an article in the Savannah Morning News on line about a truck driver who was killed when his tractor trailer left the road and collided into trees in Wentworth, Georgia. The article indicated that authorities do not know why the vehicle left the roadway. It was a straight road and the weather was good. There were no skid marks or any other indications that the driver took any evasive action to avoid the crash.

My thoughts are that the driver either fell asleep or had an emergency medical condition like a heart attack that led to the collision and death. Many tractor trailer accidents are caused by driver fatigue leading to drivers falling asleep. These accidents often lead to catastrophic injuries and death. Accordingly, Federal regulations prohibit trucking companies/drivers to operate commercial vehicles when the driver is impaired by fatigue, illness, or any other cause which makes it unsafe for the driver to operate his or her vehicle.

These regulations also set a maximum number of hours a driver can drive per day and week. The purpose of the regulations is, of course, to prevent accidents and injuries and deaths caused by driver fatigue. Violations for these regulations can lead to sanctions against the driver and the company, and evidence of the violations can be used to prove negligence in civil suit arising from the accidents.

Considering the number of trucks on America's highways, it is not surprising that there are also a number of accidents that are caused by driver health issues. Federal regulations prohibit drivers from operating tractor trailers for many health reasons, including, but not limited to, if they have diabetes requiring insulin to control, a serious heart condition, a history of respiratory problems, high blood pressure or joint or muscular problems that affect the driver's ability to drive, have epilepsy or any other condition that can cause a loss of consciousness, or have bad eyesight or hearing.
Drivers are required to have physical exams every 2 years or earlier if a physical or mental injury or disease impairs the driver's ability to drive a truck.

Lawsuits against trucking companies can be difficult and complex. The use of experts is often needed to prove your case. For example, when issues involving driver fatigue appear to be a play, hiring a qualified expert to examine the trucking company's system of monitoring its drivers' hours of service may be necessary to prove or bolster liability against the trucking company. Likewise, medical experts may be needed to determine if a driver and the company are violating the federal regulations regarding the driver's health.

It is very important if you hire an attorney to handle your claims against a trucking company, that your attorney has the experience and knowledge to understand all the complex issues arising in trucking claims. This includes knowing when and how to retain expert testimony from a properly qualified expert. The attorneys in our office have this experience and knowledge. Please contact our firm to discuss your possible case with one of our attorneys. There is no obligation, and we welcome the opportunity to discuss your case with you.

According to an article I read this morning on the AJC online, dozens of accidents have been caused by icy roads in the metro Atlanta area in the last 24 hours. As an Atlanta car accident lawyer who practices in all over north Georgia, I have wanted to write a blog on the issues of car and tractor trailer accidents caused by icy roads. Because of the snow we had yesterday, I am finally getting around to it.

As we all know, driving on icy roads is very difficult and dangerous. Because we all know this, it is not an excuse that an accident is not your fault because you lost complete control of your vehicle and there was nothing you could do to avoid the accident. The fact that you decided to drive when there are icy conditions can be negligence in and of itself.

In such situations, it is likely that if you are the one who ran the stop sign or red light or traveled out of your lane and caused an accident, you will be liable for the accident and liable for the damages arising from the accident. These damages can include, but are not limited to, the property damages to the other vehicle or vehicles and the injuries (or deaths) of anyone in the accident, including their medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering.

All things being equal, if there is ice on the roads, it is best not to operate a car or truck. I understand that unfortunately, because we live in the real world, sometimes we feel we have to drive when there are icy conditions - we have to go to work, for instance. If you have to drive, drive very slowly. You should drive so slowly and anticipate stops as far as possible in advance so that you can avoid using your brakes as much as possible. Braking is one of the main causes of accidents when the roads are icy.

Rapid acceleration is also a main cause of accidents. When starting from a complete stop or increasing your speed when traveling slowly, accelerate very gradually. This allows you to keep your vehicle in control. Braking and quick accelerations cause the tires of your vehicle to loose grip on the road, which is very difficult to regain on ice.

If you do loose control of your vehicle, do not panic. If your car is sliding to one side, although it is counterintuitive, steer in the same direction to regain control of your vehicle. Apply your brakes as gently as you can or not at all. Be very alert, and if you do get in a collision, keep cool headed and call 911. Hopefully, you will have been travelling slowly enough that neither you and nor anyone else will be injured.

The attorneys in our office regularly represent clients injured by drivers on icy roads. It you have been injured or a loved one has been injured or killed in an accident caused by icy roadway conditions, please contact our firm and talk to one of our experienced car accident lawyers about your rights and claims.

As a big part of my practice as an Atlanta personal injury lawyer in north Georgia, I handle many cases involving neck and back injuries. Many of these injuries are caused by motor vehicle accidents - involving cars, motor cycles and tractor trailers. Oftentimes surgery is required to treat these injuries. Unfortunately, insurance companies insuring the at-fault parties causing the accidents argue that such surgeries are not necessary to treat accident related injuries, but are needed to treat pre-existing conditions. The insurance companies do this to avoid paying the full value of a claim.

Typically, after an accident, my clients will feel pain and discomfort in their necks and/or backs and seek conservative treatment to treat these conditions. If conservative treatment is unsuccessful in resolving the problems, they will often have epidural steroid injections directly into the effected part of the spine. If these shots provide no relief, surgery becomes the last option.

The surgical procedures performed in these situations can include a diskectomy and fusion of the cervical (neck) or lumbar (back) spine; a decompression lamenectomy of the cervical or lumbar spine; a facetectomy of the cervical or lumbar spine, or some combination all of these procedures. These procedures are complicated, painful and proper recovery takes a lot of time.

The insurance companies, in an effort to justify not compensating for these procedures, will claim there is pre-existing arthritis and degenerative disc disease, including, spinal stenosis, osteophites, disc desication, spondilosis, and spondiolythesis, that are the cause of the surgery. The truth is, it is likely these conditions are present in the spine and do pre-exist the accident. That fact, however, does not mean the surgery was not required because of the accident and that the at-fault party/insurance company is not responsible for the related medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

An experienced Atlanta car and trucking accident attorney will know the complicated medicine related to spinal injuries and how to convince insurance companies - or the juries, if need be - that the surgery was required by the injuries caused in the collision and needs to be compensated. Arthritis and degenerative disc disease are often asymptomatic (they do not cause any pain, discomfort, numbness, tingling, etc.), and the trauma to the body in even low impact collisions can cause the otherwise painless conditions to become very painful and life changing. Don't let an insurance company determine whether your injuries and surgery are the result on their insured negligent actions. Please contact our firm if you or a loved one has suffered spinal injuries in a car or trucking accident to ensure this does not happen.

As an Atlanta car accident attorney, I was saddened to read in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on line that a 45 year old man was killed when he was thrown from the back of a pickup truck on I-285. The pickup truck rolled over after colliding with another vehicle and there was nothing the man in the back of the truck could do to protect himself. The driver and two passengers inside the truck suffered minor or no injuries.

In Georgia, it is illegal to carry passengers in the bed of a pickup truck on the interstate. Although no charges have yet been filed, on the facts set out in the newspaper article, it appears the driver of the pickup truck was violating Georgia law which contributed to the man's death. Even if no charges are filed, the driver may very well be liable to the family of the deceased man for his wrongful death.

Generally speaking, the estate and survivors of a deceased wrongfully killed in Georgia may recover damages for the medical bills, funeral expenses, conscious pain and suffering, and full economic and non-economic value of the life of the deceased. Wrongful death claims in Georgia can have signnificant value, oftentimes in the millons of dollars. Because of the significant values, insurance companies often fight hard to find ways to deny liability and pay little or nothing when these claims are made.

Accordingly, these cases need to be handled by experienced car accident lawyers familiar with the complicated issues involved in litigating wrongful death cases in Georgia. Hopefully, the family of the deceased in the article will be fortunate to have such competent counsel.

As an Atlanta personal injury lawyer practicing in north Georgia, I have written on this blog more than once about the dangers of texting while driving both cars and trucks. It seems that such behavior is condemned by many, and on Monday of this week, Oprah Winfrey discussed the dangers of texting and driving and the catastrophic consequences of such behavior.

It now appears that the Georgia General Assembly is seeking to pass a bill banning testing while driving and imposing stiff fines as punishment for such behavior. According to a recent article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on line, two members of the Georgia House of Representatives have introduced bills that would ban the practice. Under what will most likely be a bill merged out of the two original bills, "anyone found guilty of writing, sending or reading a text message while driving" would be subject to a fine most likely between $100 and $300 and have points added to their license.

The authors of the bills believe the legislation will save lives. The article gives the example of the grandson of a constituent of one of the bill's authors who recently died in a head-on collision. After the tragedy, the police investigation revealed that the young driver had sent six texts from the time he got in the car and the accident. It is likely that the last of those texts distracted the driver causing the vehicle to drift into the head-on collision. Texting and driving is becoming a very big problem with not only young people, but also adults. It distracts drivers and is a leading cause of accidents causing serous injury and deaths.

According to the newspaper article, a ban on testing and driving is the AAA's top legislative priority. If a bill passes in Georgia, our state will join 19 other states in banning the practice. If the bill passes in Georgia, it may also raise the stakes of civil penalties when suits are brought for damages for causing serious injuries and death while texting and driving. Punitive damages will now most certainly be available to punish and deter this behavior. It will be difficult for an offender to argue that they did not know how dangerous texting and driving is once it is banned.

As a personal injury lawyer in Atlanta and north Georgia, I am always interested in articles written in magazines and newspapers that are related to my practice. Today, I read two such articles in the New York Times on line. Both articles dealt with texting and driving and the catastrophic consequences of doing so.

The first article was entitled "Driven to Distraction: When Texting Kills, Britain Offers Path to Prison." This article discussed at length the tragic death of a 24 for year old university trained fashion designer caused by a 22 year old woman that plowed her car into the rear of the deceased's vehicle while texting. She had exchanged nearly two dozen texts with five different friends the hour before the fatal collision, and a last incoming message that was never opened came in seconds before the accident.

A jury convicted the 22 year old and a judge sentenced her to 21 months in a high security prison. The article discussed the case at length but also discussed British attitudes toward texting and driving and the criminal laws against the practice. The case has driven home to Britains the serious consequences of texting and driving, and a prison sentence from 4 to 7 years is now recommended if I person is killed when a driver is texting and causes an accident.

In a related article, "Many in the U.S. Want Texting at the Wheel to be Illegal," the author discusses the findings of a recent New York Times/CBS News poll finding that nearly all Americans say texting while driving should be punished as harshly as drunken driving. The article discusses other poll findings including that 80 percent of those polled felt using a hand-held cell phone while driving should be also illegal.

Several Blogs ago I wrote about the perils of texting and driving. As the articles discussed above indicate, the consequences of texting and driving can be catastrophic injuries including death, and we can expect more States to make doing so illegal. If you have been injured in an accident by a distracted motorist texting while driving, please call me to discuss your claims and damages and the possibility of pursuing punitive damages to help deter this behavior.

Our Georgia personal injury lawyers are representing two pedestrians run down by an Atlanta driver distracted by using her cell phone and not paying attention to her driving. This car accident was caused by the driver cutting across the wrong lanes of traffic while pulling out of a driveway. Because she was on the phone, she never saw our clients who were lawfully crossing the roadway. Our clients were plowed over and seriously injured and their lives will be changed forever.

If you drive anywhere in metro Atlanta and are paying attention, it seems more drivers than not are on the phone - and most do not have hands free devices. Studies show that drivers using cell phones (whether held by hand or using hands free devices) are significantly more distracted than drivers not on phones. Indeed, we expect the number of accidents in Atlanta and Georgia caused by drivers talking on cell phones will continues to climb because cell phone use has exploded and will continue to rise.

The injury lawyers of our firm have handled many of these types of cases. Numerous cases have involved large SUVs and truckers. Death and catastrophic injuries are often the result when large passenger vehicles and semi trucks are involved. This is especially true when the driver is distracted to the extent that often times he or she is unaware the accident is going to occur until it actually happens.

If you have been injured or a family member has been injured or killed in an accident caused by a driver of a car or truck using a cell phone, please call our offices to talk to one of our injury lawyers about your rights.

I have received numerous telephone calls recently from individuals who already have hired a lawyer, but who want to get a new lawyer because their lawyer will not return their phone calls. While as an Atlanta personal injury lawyer I am always happy to get calls from potential clients in a personal injury or wrongful death case, these calls disappoint me because it means fellow members of my profession are treating their clients unprofessionally.

If you have hired a lawyer to represent you in a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit (this actually applies to anyone who has hired an attorney to represent them for any reason), you have the right to be treated with respect throughout the representation and to have your phone calls and emails returned in a timely manner. You also have the right to have your questions answered and to be updated on the status of your case at regular intervals.

If you are not getting the kind of service you expect from your lawyer, schedule an appointment to meet with him or her in person to discuss your expectations. By meeting with your lawyer and bringing your concerns to their attention, it is likely he or she will be more responsive to your future needs. You definitely want to give them a chance to make things right before finding another lawyer.

Providing superior legal services to the residents of central and north Georgia is my business. If I receive a telephone message or email from a client, if the call or email is not related to an emergency - which I attend to immediately - I try to return the call or email by the end of the same business day. If for some reason I cannot respond by the end of the same day, I respond no later than 24 hours after receiving the message. I understand that being seriously injured or having a family member killed by the negligent acts of others and pursuing a lawsuit to recover damages related to such losses can be stressful and oftentimes very confusing. That is why it is important to have skilled and competent lawyers handling your case and giving you the attention you deserve.

The Georgia Supreme Court issued an opinion today having a tremendous impact on personal injury cases, especially automobile accident, trucking and other road wreck cases. Until today, with very few exceptions, negligently injured individuals and the families of loved ones wrongfully killed on the roads of Georgia had 2 years to the day of the wreck to file a lawsuit. In Beneke v. Parker, S08G2078 S08G2082 (9/28/09), the Supreme Court held that in situations where the at-fault driver receives a citation for violating the rules of the road, the two-year statute of limitations is tolled (does not begin to run), until the citation is disposed of. This is a huge.

The facts of the case are straightforward. Ms. Parker was injured in a car accident on April 27, 2005, when she was a passenger in a vehicle which was struck from the rear by Mr. Beneke. Beneke was cited for following too closely. Parker filed a lawsuit against Beneke on May 11, 2007. On motion by Beneke, the trial court first dismissed the lawsuit because it was not filed within the two-year statute of limitations. On reconsideration, however, the trial court vacated it previous order and allowed the case to move forward. The case was appealed to the Georgia Court of Appeals and ultimately to the Supreme Court. Construing Georgia law, the Supreme Court agreed with the trial court and found the complaint was timely filed because the statute of limitations did not begin to run until the traffic citation was disposed of on May 19, 2005.

The Court recognized that its holding would have significant impact on personal injury lawsuits arising out of vehicle accidents by tolling the statute of limitations, but the Court felt that it had no choice but to reach the result it did because of the way the relevant statute (OCGA § 9-3-99) was written. The Court noted that if the legislature did not want the statute to be construed in this way, it certainly could have written it differently. Because it did not, the court reasoned that any undesirable result was a matter properly addressed by the General Assembly rather than the courts. My guess is that when the General Assembly meets next year, it will change the language of the statute to undo the ruling in this case. Until that happens, however, the statute of limitations should be extended in most road wreck cases, giving additional time for the filing of a complaint, because the at-fault party is almost always given a citation for causing the accident by violating the rules of the road.