Atlanta Injury Lawyers Blog

As a dog lover myself, I always love it when I see motorists driving around with their dog in the car. I don't like it as much when I see that some of these dogs are not restrained, are moving about the cabin, or trying to jump out the window. Not only are these dogs at a serious risk of injury when they are engaged in such behavior, but they are also creating a serious distraction for the driver. A new survey by the American Automobile Association finds that one in three drivers who drives with their pets in the car, is distracted by the animal.

In fact, experts say that the kind of distractions caused by Buddy in the car, are almost the same as the distractions caused by texting while driving. However, while texting while driving has received nationwide attention, not too many people pay attention to the distraction caused by pets.

Continue reading "Safe Driving with Pets" »

In April 2009, the Georgia Legislature passed a new law that will allow courts to more easily enforce agreements between employers and employees such as non-competition agreements, non-disclosure agreements, and non-solicitation agreements.

It is currently very difficult to enforce these types of agreements in Georgia, but the proposed new law (which was signed by Governor Sonny Perdue but will not become law unless the voters ratify a constitutional amendment in November 2010 election) would change that drastically.

Continue reading "Georgia Restrictive Covenants to be Voted On in November 2010 " »

It is a common scenario in Atlanta. An Atlanta area resident is seriously injured in a car accident caused by and out-of-state driver, usually driving a rental car and in Atlanta for a convention or business function. After the accident, the out-of-state driver returns to his home state (many times thousands of miles from Atlanta.

Continue reading "Georgia Law Allows You To Sue Out-of -State Parties" »

Many insurance companies improperly seek reimbursement for medical payments they have made to the insured when the main case settles for the limits of the uninsured motorist coverage ("UM") portion of our client's policy. The Georgia Court of Appeals has held that a non-duplication of benefits clause is only enforceable when the insured's damages are equal to or below the UM coverage limits of the policy. Johnson v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 216 Ga. App. 541, 544, 455 S.E.2d 91 (1995); Jenkins & Miller, Georgia Automobile Insurance Law (2008-09 ed. 2008) pp. 499-500.

Continue reading "Georgia Insurance Law Does Not Allow Setoff For Medical Payments" »

The family of a woman, who was killed during an auto accident on I-85, will receive $600,000 from the Georgia Department of Transportation for their losses. The DOT has also delivered an apology to the family of the victim, Patricia Heller.

In January 2003, healthcare consultant Heller was on her way to her employer's office when her taxi spun out of control on a rain slicked highway, and crashed into a tree. She died from injuries sustained in the accident. Her husband filed a wrongful death lawsuit that named the Georgia Department of Transportation, city inspectors and others.

The claim against city inspectors was based on the fact that the accident was traced to a bald tire on the taxi, which had cleared inspection just the previous day. The claim against the Georgia Department of Transportation was based on the premise that the highway design of the section where the accident occurred was defective, and that a tree should not have been allowed to grow so close to the road.

Continue reading "Georgia DOT Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit for $600,000" »

Considering how effective Electronic Stability Control systems have been in minimizing the numbers of rollover accidents occurring in the United States every year, it's not so surprising that these systems have been able to do the same for tractor-trailer rigs. A new study conducted by researchers at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that if every commercial truck was equipped with an ESC system, we could prevent approximately 3,600 truck rollover accidents every year. We could save about 106 lives, and prevent more than 4,400 injuries every year.

However, the trucking industry has still not moved to make the systems mandatory on all 18 wheelers. This is in spite of the fact that these massive big rigs that can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, are at a major risk of flipping over. A truck rollover can occur when a tractor-trailer is traveling at high speeds, and the driver slams on the brakes suddenly. Rollovers can occur when a truck is traveling in slippery road conditions. Even what seems like a normal turn at an intersection can prove catastrophic if the weight of the cargo shifts, contributing to a rollover.

Continue reading "Stability Control Can Prevent Thousands of Truck Rollovers: Will the Trucking Industry Respond?" »

Over the weekend, about 9,000 veterinarians from the country will assemble at the Georgia World Congress Center for the annual convention of the American Veterinarian Medical Association. The event kicked off on July 31st, and is expected to run through August 3rd. Atlanta will play host to thousands of animal experts from around the world, who will discuss animal welfare issues, including food safety, behavior modification, and advances in veterinary medicine. They're also expected to focus on dog bite prevention.

Earlier this month, an Atlanta woman suffered serious injuries in a dog bite attack involving pit bulls. She was merely walking down the street when the dogs jumped at her. The owner of the dogs has been cited for about 20 violations, including improper restraint, canine on public property, canine on private property, failure to display rabies and vaccination tags, and failure to provide adequate water and shelter. The owner of the dog had been out of town, and a friend had been caring for the animals.

Continue reading "Dog Bite Prevention Major Focus at Georgia Veterinarian Meet" »

Brain injuries are some of the most catastrophic injuries, and usually occur in traffic accidents, or as a result of falls. There may be other causes like violence and workplace accidents. These injuries are, unfortunately, also some of the most difficult to diagnose.

Typically, a brain injury is diagnosed by checking the patient's vitals, and testing his thinking and memory. With such symptomatic testing, doctors often tend to misdiagnose a brain injury, or don't diagnose one at all. This can have serious consequences for patients, because late treatment can have a severe impact on a patient's chances of recovery.

Continue reading "New Test for Easier Diagnosis of Brain Injury" »

An Atlanta area bar has agreed to pay the surviving widow of a man killed by a drunken driver $1M to settle her claims. The bar's liability stems from the bar's staff over-serving the drunken patron, when they should have known that he was highly intoxicated and likely to drive home from the bar.

The vast majority of the Georgia Dental Malpractice cases that we litigate involve damage to the Lingual Nerve or the Inferior Alveolar Nerve (or both). Recent studies have identified factors that contribute to the incident of nerve damage. Most are secondary to a dental procedure such as installing dental implants (when the nerve is crushed due to the implant being installed too deep) or oral surgery (when the nerve is ripped or severed during wisdom tooth extraction).

Continue reading "What Causes Dental Nerve Damage?" »

As an Atlanta car accident lawyer, I find it surprising that so many people are unaware of the symptoms of brain injuries, considering the seriousness of these. A brain injury does not have to involve a person blacked out for hours, or bleeding from the head and nose. In fact, symptoms of brain injury can vary, depending on whether it's a mild, moderate or severe TBI.

Continue reading "Understand the Symptoms of Traumatic Brain Injury ("TBI")" »

The driver of the truck that was involved in a fatal Atlanta accident last week, has been arrested and charged. The driver of the truck, Joseph Gordon was driving his tractor trailer on Interstate 285, when his vehicle crossed the fog line, and hit a minivan parked in the emergency lane. In the minivan was a 44-year-old woman, who had stopped her car in the emergency lane to make a call. She sustained fatal injuries. Golden has now been arrested and charged in her death.

Continue reading "Truck Driver Arrested In Accident That Killed Atlanta Woman" »