Atlanta Injury Lawyers Blog

Despite Atlanta drivers spending more and more time in their cars, the number of highway deaths in Georgia has decreased to the lowest rate since 1949. According to the Federal Transportation Department, 32,788 occupants of cars were killed in highway accidents during 2010. This is a 3% decrease from 2009 levels. Georgia and the Southeast trends follow closely the national statistics.

While the trend downward is promising, when you think about it, over 30,000 Americans died in car accidents last year alone--a sobering number, to say the least. As an Atlanta car accident lawyer, I am fully aware of the different types of auto accidents that lead to serious personal injury and death. We all must be vigilant in our attempts to continue this trend of better safety for the well-being of all who travel our roads.

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" »

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.

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Investigations into a fatal car accident in Atlanta last week that killed a 24-year-old man are determining whether the club the drunk driver worked at, could have done anything to prevent the accident.

Last week, Christa Scott who worked as a waitress at the Midtown Bar was allegedly driving a car under the influence when her vehicle rammed into a car being driven by 24-year-old Jordan Griner. Griner took the full impact of the accident, and was declared dead on arrival at the hospital. It would take emergency rescue personnel more than 30 minutes to extricate him from the mangled wreckage. Griner was an intern at Gov. Sonny Purdue’s office.

Continue reading "Could Club Have Prevented Fatal Atlanta Car Accident?" »

MARTA v. Maloof decided yesterday by the Georgia Court of Appeals holds that a wrongful death claim is not stayed by Georgia Code Section 9-3-92 (Tolling time for Unrepresented Estates). This holding affects the time in which an estate may bring a wrongful death claim. The reasoning is odd and this case is not helpful to plaintiffs who are pursuing a wrongful death claim on behalf of the estate.

The Supreme Court of Georgia recently clarified and re-affirmed a surviving spouse's legal right to obtain copies of the deceased spouse's medical records. Alvista Healthcare Center v. Miller, 2009 Ga. LEXIS 679 (2009).

The Court made it clear that when one's spouse dies, a copy of the deceased's medical records may be legally obtained by the estate executor or administrator (if the estate is represented) or by the surviving spouse.

Continue reading "Surviving Spouse Entitled to Deceased Medical Records in Georgia" »

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" »