Atlanta Injury Lawyers Blog

The Georgia Senate yesterday passed a long-awaited bill that Atlanta car accident lawyers have been pushing for. The bill will require pickup truck occupants to buckle up. Right now, Georgia's seatbelt laws only apply to occupants of cars, SUVs and vans. With the passage of this bill, mandatory seatbelt laws would also apply to occupants of pickup trucks.

With this, Georgia will be in a better position to save hundreds of lives in pickup truck accidents every year. About two thirds of pickup-related fatalities every year can be traced to failure to wear seatbelts. Now that mandatory seat belts laws here, those lives can be saved.

Continue reading " Senate Passes Bill That Will Require Pickup Truck Drivers in Atlanta to Wear Seat Belts " »

The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously set aside a Georgia law that limited the amount of money a jury could award to victims of medical malpractice. No longer will those injured by medical negligence in Georgia be subjected to the $350,000 cap on pain and suffering set be the Georgia legislator.

The Court emphasized in its decision that the cap on non-economic damages violated the constitutional right to a jury trial which is mandated by the Georgia Constitution. This is a large victory for those injured in medical malpractice cases. Equally important, the decision seems to have sent a clear message to the Georgia legislators that attempts to pass new laws with similar limits will not be upheld by the Court since the right to a jury trial is derived from the Georgia Constitution.

Continue reading " Limit on Georgia Medical Malpractice Damages Struck Down " »

Those workers in Georgia who have recently been terminated should carefully consider whether they can continue to be covered under the employer's healthcare plan and pay only 35% of the normal COBRA premium.

As part of the Stimulus Package that recently took affect, involuntarily terminated workers who are let go by March 31, 2010, must only pay 35% of the normal COBRA payment to remain under the employer's health plan. The balance of the payment is repaid to the employer in the form of a federal tax credit.

Continue reading " Laid Off Georgia Workers Eligible for Discounted COBRA Payments " »

Under Georgia law, when a death results from a crime or negligent act, the estate of the deceased (the "Estate"), is entitled to recover two general types of damage. The first is damages from the negligent party for funeral expenses, medical expenses, and any other expenses flowing from the injury or death. This portion of the wrongful death damages is limited and precise. The second element of damages is not.

In addition to the above, the measure of wrongful death damages in Georgia includes the full value of the life of the decedent without deducting for any of the personal expenses had the decedent lived. In other words, the Estate can also recover the amount equal to what the deceased would have recovered from the negligent party had the deceased lived but rendered totally disabled.

Continue reading " Georgia Estate Law Governs Wrongful Death Damages " »

Last year, the number of deaths in highway accidents across the US dropped to approximately 9% lower than in 2008. That heartwarming news comes to us via the Department of Transportation which has just released data into highway fatalities for 2009. According to the DOT, last year, there were 33,963 deaths in highway accidents across the country.

Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood says that three factors have been responsible for the declining death rates.
1. The rates of seatbelt use have increased tremendously.
2. Automobiles today are much safer and do a far better job of keeping motorists and occupants safer.
3. Stronger law enforcement efforts have contributed to a decline in drunk driving accident rates over the past few years.

Continue reading " DOT: Highway Accident Fatalities across US Are at Lowest Levels in Decades " »

As a loving parent of two young girls, I am deeply concerned about the recent surge of Atlanta dog bite cases in 2010. As a Georgia lawyer who specializes in representing dog bite victims, I am outraged at the number of dog owners who break the law and allow these attacks to happen by failing to control their dogs. There are two things you should know up front: (1) these dog attacks (which are happening in and around Atlanta quite frequently) cause serious long-term injuries; and (2) the dog owner is responsible to the dog bite victim for all of the damages which flow from the attack.

Once a dog attack occurs, the first inquiry is: which dog control law applies? In the greater Atlanta area, there are a number of animal control laws (or leash laws) which may apply. For instance, in the Atlanta area, the applicable law which we use to establish liability on the dog owner, can be a code from one of the cities we live in such as the City of Atlanta, City of Decatur, Marietta or a county law such as the laws in place in DeKalb County, Fulton County, Gwinnett County, Clayton County or any of the other surrounding counties.

Once the applicable jurisdiction is identified, the next step is to establish the dog owner's negligence and liability for the injuries. This is done by proving that the law (or code) was violated and that the violation caused the injury. Often, this is not hard. Most codes essentially require the dog owner to either keep the dog adequately contained on the owner's property or keep control over the dog when it is off the property. Hence, with few exceptions, if the dog attacks someone (usually a defenseless child), it is impossible for the owner to argue that he complied with the law. In other words, if the dog owner had complied with the law and had the dog under control, the dog would not have been able to attack.

Unfortunately, many dog owners break the law, giving their unfriendly dogs the opportunity to attack. These attacks are often on defenseless children and result in serious injuries.

Many Atlanta children are left with permanent physical and emotional scars. For instance, as this article is being written, 8-year-old Erin Ingram lays in Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. She has undergone 3 surgeries after being attacked by two aggressive American Staffordshire terriers (Pit Bulls). You do not have to look any further than recent blogs on this site to know that this scenario is far too common. An Atlanta child being mauled by one (and often more) Pit Bulls.

These children often sustain deep and permanent scars on the face, lips, forehead, neck, arms, legs and hands. This requires extensive and painful plastic surgery to correct, if possible. Many times, it is not possible to remove he scarring and the child must walk around with these scars for life. Many young children suffer permanent psychological wounds and require long-term treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, fear of dogs, fear of going outside, and depression caused by their scarred appearance.

These injuries are severe and the negligent dog owner should be held fully liable and must fully compensate the victim's family.

Continue reading " Atlanta Dog Bites " »

Many serious accidents result in Traumatic Brain Injury ("TBI"). TBI results in abnormal cognitive behavior which affects the injured person's ability to communicate, remember, analyze, think or interact with others.

Since many serious brain injuries are NOT accompanied by outward signs of injury (these are called closed-head injuries), it is critical to recovering the appropriate damages to be able to prove the extent of the injury. This is often achieved through the use of standardized tests, employment records, IQ tests, neurology records, psychological records, CT scans, MRI's, and PET scans.

A typically large element of damages in brain injury cases is the amount of future economic damages resulting from the supportive care needed because of the injured person's loss of earning power or diminished capacity to work.

The last, but certainly not least, major element of damages in a brain injury case is pain and suffering. Is there anything worse than not being able to think clearly and "be yourself" after being injured by someone else's negligence? The tremendous agony and frustration warrants substantial compensation.

Atlanta accident lawyers often see that there's more than one way negligence can be involved in an accident. Last week, a woman was killed in an accident that did not involve two vehicles coming into direct contact with each other. According to a news report, a tire from a passenger van became loose, flew off and crashed into a Hyundai Sonata on Interstate 285.

The deceased was a woman from Virginia traveling westbound on I-285 in her Sonata, when she was struck by the rear left tire of a Georgia State University passenger van. Another car was also struck by the runaway tire, but the occupants of that car, fortunately, did not suffer any injuries.

Continue reading " Woman Killed in Atlanta Accident Involving Flying Tire " »

Atlanta joggers, walkers, and bicyclists should use extreme caution while crossing the intersection of LaVista Road, Lindbergh Drive and Chesire Bridge Road. While the City of Atlanta is aware of the safety defects at this intersection, they have not been remedied. In addition to heavy traffic, the following road defects warrant extra precautions: (1) there is NO CROSSWALK on the eastern side of the intersection; and (2) one of the crosswalk buttons is missing, while others do not work properly.

As Atlanta Injury lawyers, we see many Atlanta pedestrian accidents happen as a direct result of unsafe road conditions that result from the City of Atlanta or the State of Georgia's lack of attention to noted road defects. All Atlanta residents should use extreme caution as these types of busy intersections.

Continue reading " Dangerous Atlanta Intersection Needs Correction " »

Meteorologists are predicting more snow and rain in the metro Atlanta area on Tuesday, increasing the risk of multiple accidents.

According to weather experts, there will be some rain and light snow on Tuesday morning, which may turn to all-snow for a while. Meteorologists are predicting slowed down traffic during rush hour, which is likely to be even more congested than normal.

The metro Atlanta area has seen colder than usual conditions this year. Last month was marked by severe snowstorms and showers that were blamed for a series of accidents. Given the dry conditions of the past few days, roads are likely to be very slippery, as the fresh rains mix with accumulated grease residues on the asphalt to create a slick mix of oil and water.

Continue reading " Atlantans Brace for More Snow, and a Higher Risk of Accidents " »