Serious personal injuries can happen in the blink of an eye and can happen anywhere including at home, work, the grocery store or driving in your car.

Anyone can be involved in a car accident, and statistics indicate the chance of a driver being involved in a car crash is not only possible but very likely at some point during one's lifetime. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that there are over six million car accidents in the U.S. annually. Car accidents result in over 33,000 deaths and another 2.9 million people being injured. The estimated societal costs of motor vehicle accidents are $2OO billion per year.

When someone suffers serious injuries in a Georgia car crash, slip and fall accident or is injured by a defective product, it is understandably a time of great anxiety. You may be recovering from serious injuries and struggling to deal with the financial pressure of being off work. The last thing most accident victims want to deal with is legal and insurance hassles. When it comes to preserving your legal rights to fair compensation after a serious accident, however, he who hesitates can lose his rights to make a claim.

Distracted driving has become a leading cause of auto accident related injuries and fatalities, causing an estimated 448,000 injuries and almost 5,550 traffic related fatalities annually. Distracted driving reportedly caused approximately 29 percent of all auto accidents in the U.S in 2009. Distracted driving statistics are getting worse, not better, with the growing influence of smart phones, iPads, Kindles and other handheld electronic devices.

Many people are involved in auto accidents while they are working for their employer. These auto accidents can result in serious injuries including head and neck injuries, spinal cord injuries and even fatalities. If an employee is injured while driving a company vehicle, the employee in Georgia in most circumstances must seek compensation for his or her injuries against their employer under the State's workers' compensation system.

Many Georgia drivers find themselves in a quandry when they are involved in a motor vehicle collision and suffer serious injuries, only to receive a traffic citation from the police officer at the scene. If you or someone you love is involved in a serious motor vehicle accident involving a car, pickup truck, tractor-trailer, SUV or pedestrian resulting in serious injuries or even death, a traffic citation is not necessarily a bar to recovering damages for injuries.

Each year many employees suffer serious injuries on the job that result in the employee needing medical treatment, rehabilitative therapy, and compensation for their lost wages and permanent disability. Under Georgia Workers' Compensation Law, employees must report the accident to their employer, and are sent by the employer to an approved physician on the employer’s panel. Since the employer determines which doctors are included on the panel, the physician has a potential conflict of interest between the interests of the employee, and interests of the employer who made the referral to the physician. As a result, an employee who is unaware of his or her legal rights may receive much less in the way of medical care and disability benefits, and ultimately a settlement, than someone who consults an attorney. Sometimes, there is even a denial of the claim, resulting in the unfortunate situation where the employee gets no compensation whatsoever.

Many people seriously injured in car crashes are surprised when an adjuster for the other driver's insurance company calls almost immediately and offers to send a check including damages to cover injuries suffered in the auto accident. Anyone finding oneself in this situation should consider the adage, "If it seems too good to be true . . . it probably is!" Thousands upon thousands of car accident victims each year make the mistake of accepting and cashing a quick settlement check from an at-fault driver's insurance company only to realize later that there is 'fine print'.

Even if we are very cautious in our daily activities, there is an inherent risk that we may be injured by the careless or intentional conduct of another. When this occurs, the legal system allows the injury victim to seek compensation for his or her injuries. The injury victim must establish that the careless or intentional conduct of another was the cause of one's injuries and that someone suffered damages in the form of physical or mental harm and/or property damage.

Auto accidents are a very real and unfortunate reality; they can impact any of us. More than 6 million automobiles are involved in car accidents each year. These accidents result in the tragic death of 40,000 people and injuries to another 3 million people. Of those injured, many unfortunately suffer permanent injuries. If you or someone you love is involved in a Georgia auto accident, the emotional, physical and financial consequences can be overwhelming.