If you are injured in a Georgia car accident, you may have significant medical bills. While you may have insurance that pays your medical bills, your health insurance carrier may seek reimbursement after you have received a settlement or judgment. This type of reimbursement claim is called subrogation.

When people suffer serious injury in motor vehicle collisions, they may be entitled to a range of types of compensation that are referred to as "damages." Generally, there are two types of damages: (1) pecuniary damages; and (2) non-pecuniary damages. "Pecuniary damages" essentially include actual out-of-pocket or future economic losses, such as the costs associated with medical treatment/rehabilitation, lost wages, vehicle repair or replacement costs and future lost income based on partial or total permanent disability. By contrast, "non-pecuniary" loss refers to intangible but sometimes more devastating forms of loss like pain and suffering, impact on one's quality of life, emotional distress and similar forms of damages.

The moment that kids receive acceptance letters from a university where they aspire to enroll, parents may be filled with pride and excitement, but also apprehension regarding the pending transition. Many new college students participate in "rush week" and pledge fraternities, which can provide housing, a social network and extracurricular activities. Unfortunately, hazing and alcohol are also part of the college experience in many fraternities and other student organizations. While most universities have anti-hazing policies and the practice of hazing is a criminal offense in many states, the practice of hazing new members of student organizations continues at colleges throughout the U.S.

As summer approaches, your kids may be making plans for summer recreation which include riding an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) or dirt bike. While most Georgia businesses that operate tracks or off-road courses for motocross bikes or ATV's require a waiver be signed prior to using the facility, this does not necessarily insulate the company from liability when they act recklessly in maintaining the premises. Because dirt bike accidents and ATV crashes can result in serious and even permanent injuries like crushed bones, spinal cord or disc injuries, head trauma, perforation of internal organs and other debilitating injuries, it is imperative that property owners who provide facilities for such activities take reasonable steps to prevent increasing the probability of a serious accident.

The focus on alcohol-impaired driving has led to many changes in recent decades, which include the reduction in national blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels from .10 to .08, increased law enforcement use of saturation patrols, and sobriety checkpoints and stiffer penalties including mandatory minimum jail terms. Despite the many changes to discourage DUI accidents, intoxicated drivers still claim the lives of 10,000 people per year and cause injury to many more. In an effort to further reduce the number of alcohol-related collisions, the National Transportation Safety Board announced a recommendation this week that all states lower the threshold at which a driver is considered impaired from .08 to .05 percent BAC.

Despite the rising price of gas, sports utility vehicles (SUVs) remain extremely popular for families in Atlanta and throughout Georgia. Many new SUVs offer improved safety, such as improved roof strength to prevent roof crush injuries and electronic stabilization systems that assist drivers in maintaining control of their vehicles when taking sudden evasive action. While these safety improvements have made SUV occupants safer, the risk of rollovers involving these vehicles with a high center of gravity still makes seatbelts indispensable.

Most motorists in Atlanta and throughout Georgia are well aware of the hazard posed to those navigating our roads and highways by those who are driving too fast. However, Florida has now shifted its focus to pokey drivers who obstruct the flow of traffic by driving significantly below the speed limit, but do not travel in the slow lane. The impetus for the legislation is to reduce a common cause of road rage incidents.

Suffering through the loss of a child or dealing with a child who has suffered serious injuries due to an accident is emotionally devastating.

We try to keep our children safe from harm but that is not always possible. When accidents happen, children can be more vulnerable to injury than adults. Children can be injured in a variety of circumstances and accidents, including:

In the wake of the 25th anniversary of the nation's most deadly crash, it is appropriate to express condolences to the families that lost loved ones in the fatal crash and recognize the impact of the tragic disaster on driver safety. During he fatal collision, which occurred on May 14, 1988, an intoxicated driver slammed head-on into a school bus that was transporting 67 people returning from a church outing to an amusement park.

Many drivers and passengers that are the victims of drunken drivers presume that they have a "slam dunk" legal claim. These same victims are appalled when they are turned away from personal injury law firms that indicate they cannot take the case. When someone suffers significant injuries during a collision with an intoxicated driver, it can be extremely difficult to understand why a law firm would be hesitant to take such a case. While the negligence of the other driver may be clear and the victim's injuries significant, the problem might lie not in obtaining a judgment but in enforcing the judgment.