Blog Archive - February, 2013

While many types of products can be dangerous to consumers when they are defective, motor vehicle product defects are especially hazardous. Motor vehicles that function perfectly are still involved in many motor vehicle accidents, so a defect that increases the risk of a traffic collision must be addressed promptly.

While the toll inflicted by drivers who commit DUI cannot be denied, sometimes statistics fail to communicate the very personal impact on individual families. The pain and loss caused by alcohol-impaired drivers is very personal for the friends and family of Emily Bowman, a 19-year-old college student.

A serious collision this week involving a Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) bus caused injury to six people, including a man who had to be airlifted to a local hospital. Many people throughout Atlanta ride MARTA trains and buses on a daily basis without considering the potential of being involved in a bus accident.

When you are injured in a delivery truck collision in Georgia, the result can be devastating financially, physically and emotionally. Because of the massive size of delivery trucks utilized by FedEx, United Parcel Service (UPS) and other delivery services, including tractor trailers, collisions with these large trucks can cause life-altering injuries and fatalities to other vehicle occupants, bicyclists and pedestrians.

While motorcycle helmets are a vital piece of safety equipment, Georgia motorcycle accidents that cause serious head injuries can occur even when you are using a helmet. Traumatic brain injuries are the most common form of serious injuries in motorcycle collisions because riders frequently are thrown from their motorcycle. Head trauma from a motorcycle crash can range in severity from a minor concussion to potentially fatal impact to the head. When a Georgia motorcyclist suffers head trauma in a motorcycle crash, it is important to seek prompt medical attention because the symptoms of serious traumatic brain injuries may not become evident for hours, days or even weeks.

What to Do Following a Car Accident

If you are involved in a car crash, you should seek immediate medical attention, even if you have only minor symptoms. Often minor symptoms mask serious, debilitating injuries that are not immediately apparent. Depending on the circumstances, your physician may suggest diagnostic evaluations including x-rays, MRIs or CT scans to help them fully diagnose your injuries so that they can make sure you are properly treated.

Most people have seen a fictional version of a deposition while watching a legal drama on television or the movies. These fictional accounts depicted by the entertainment industry often are very different from a real deposition.

When a plaintiff is trying to prove that a particular drug is to blame for an illness or injury, there are two different things that must be established:

A new era of vehicle safety is on the horizon in which one of the most dangerous forms of vehicle collisions–rollover accidents –may become far less common. As of September 1, 2011, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) mandate imposing a requirement that all new manufactured motor vehicles be equipped with electronic stability control (ESC) goes into effect.

A big question that comes up in law offices and courtrooms is "Does an unborn child have the right to sue a person for injuries the fetus sustains in an accident? There are pregnant women out there that sustain injuries to their fetus or even experience the wrongful death of their unborn child.

Most drivers have had the unnerving and dangerous experience of confronting road debris that obstructs the roadway. Drivers may need to exercise emergency evasive action, such as swerving, stopping suddenly or changing lanes to avoid a collision. Road debris refers to anything in the road obstructing traffic that does not belong there.

While it may be unnerving to think someone is conducting surveillance of your activities, workers' compensation insurance companies often use private investigators to monitor the actions of claimants.

A fatal speed-related car accident that claimed the life of a popular North Forsyth High School student serves as a tragic reminder of the danger of speeding, particularly as roads become wet from winter weather.

The investigation into the death of influential Latin singer Jenni Rivera and six others in a fatal airplane accident has revealed some alarming information about the factors that may have caused the crash.

While all pedestrians are susceptible to severe injuries when struck by motor vehicles, children are the most frequent victims of pedestrian accidents. A tragic DeKalb County child pedestrian accident this week serves as a tragic reminder of the danger posed to children walking home after school.

Chemical exposure burn accidents in the workplace in Georgia can leave a person severely injured or even disfigured.

Our Atlanta personal injury attorneys have previously addressed many types of the most serious motor vehicle accidents and risks, including tractor-trailers, multi-car pileups and tanker-trailers transporting hazardous materials.

There are many types of products that can cause serious injury or wrongful death, but sometimes these claims are met by many with a confused expression and considerable skepticism. The recent death of a woman attributed to Coca-Cola addiction might be one such claim.

The devastating toll drunken driving can take on families creates fundamental changes that impact victims in ways that are hardly imaginable. A recent fatal drunken driving accident in Texas provides a tragic case in point. David Barajas and his twelve-year-old son, David Jr., and eleven-year-old son, Caleb, were a mere fifty yards from their Houston area home as they pushed their broken down vehicle.

There are many types of collisions involving motorcycles that can cause life-altering injuries and wrongful death. The specific nature of the accident will determine the negligent conduct, responsible parties and the types of injuries.

When a person is injured in a car accident, there are many reasons to seek legal advice and representation. While it is best when you are injured by someone else's negligence to seek legal advice from an experienced personal injury lawyer before talking to the insurance company, our experienced Georgia auto accident lawyers frequently receive inquiries from unrepresented injury victims who have received a settlement offer from the at-fault driver’s insurance carrier.

While public awareness campaigns, anti-cell phone laws and stepped up enforcement efforts have reduced the frequency of distracted driving accidents, inattentive driving remains one of the leading causes of motor vehicle-related fatalities. While cell phones pose the most common form of driving distraction, drivers may also divide their attention between driving and eating, talking to passengers, adjusting a car stereo, reaching for objects in a vehicle and a multitude of other distractions.

The national focus on childhood obesity has generated an increasing emphasis on kids playing outside for physical aerobic activity. While our Georgia personal injury lawyers believes this is a positive trend as a strategy to improved health and physical fitness in kids, children that engage in active physical recreation can be exposed to the risk of injury.

It is a common misconception among drivers involved in single vehicle road departure accidents that they cannot recover compensation for their injuries or pursue a wrongful death claim on behalf of a deceased loved one.

While our Atlanta personal injury attorneys inform our clients that complete and full disclosure is imperative, a client occasionally will be afraid that certain facts that they believe might compromise their legal claim should be held back.

Car accidents caused by reckless drivers in Georgia are both avoidable and inexcusable, which makes the severe injuries and fatalities they cause all the more tragic. Reckless drivers, by definition, exhibit a reckless disregard for the safety and property of others.

High unemployment rates, minimal disposable income and gas prices over $4 per gallon have motivated many who reside in the areas surrounding Atlanta to use their bicycle. Although financial pressure provides one explanation for the increasing number of cyclists, the nation’s struggle with obesity and increased focus on health also has many people pedaling for recreation and transportation.

While train crashes, including derailments that result in toxic chemical spills, have declined consistently in recent years, a North Carolina train derailment last weekend serves as a reminder that train collisions or derailments cause a number of deaths each year and an average of twelve incidents per day.

Many motorists who are under a doctor’s care or taking medication for a medical condition do not realize that it is not safe to drive. Medications often come with packaging that indicates they cause drowsiness or that the drug otherwise makes it unsafe to operate a motor vehicle.

The dangers of distracted teen driving have been well documented, because inattentive driving is the leading cause of death for teens in the U.S. according to a study conducted by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in conjunction with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The NHTSA reports teen alcohol-impaired accidents have declined in recent years, but the overall fatality rate for teenage drivers has remained constant because of the increase in distracted driving by teenagers.

If you are involved in a motor vehicle accident, you may suffer a debilitating spinal cord injury. Because injuries to the spinal cord can cause paraplegia and quadriplegia, they may result in permanent impairment of one’s sensation and mobility below the injured area of the spinal cord.

The devastating toll of drunken driving can take on permutations that impact families in ways that are hardly imaginable. A recent fatal drunken driving accident in Texas provides a tragic case in point.

Motor vehicle accidents are dangerous and frightening scenarios, but car accidents that result in explosions and fires pose a particularly high risk of devastating injuries and wrongful death.

Parents in Atlanta and across Georgia entrust their children to the care of school bus drivers every day. A new report from 11 Alive suggests that the sense of security that many parents have in school bus safety is misplaced.

When a driver takes to the road with impaired vision or eye-related diseases, the result can be serious auto accidents that cause permanent debilitating injuries.

While our Atlanta car accident lawyers have previously addressed the possibility of a future where motor vehicles operate with minimal or no input from drivers, this vision of the future has changed from a science fiction fantasy to a reality. Three states – California, Florida and Nevada – have passed laws permitting self-driven vehicles.

Police officers increasingly have turned to less lethal options in enforcing the law. Although a Taser is intended to be less fatal, lawsuits arising out of serious injuries and fatalities caused by police and private security use of Tasers is on the rise across the nation.

A recent lawsuit involving a claim of medical malpractice based on multiple amputations provides a cautionary tale for patients when dealing with medical professionals.

February 6, 2013 - Montrose, GA (Laurens County, Georgia) - A fiery pileup along I-16 in Georgia involving 27 trucks, cars, pickup trucks and tractor-trailers occurred Wednesday morning.

Trucking accidents are far more likely to result in permanent debilitating injuries or fatalities than those involving motor vehicles that are not as massive in size or weight.

While any car accident can be a harrowing experience, wrong way accidents can be especially devastating because they frequently result in head-on collisions.

A Woodstock bicyclist was fatally struck by an automobile while riding along Bells Ferry Road in Cobb County, Georgia late Wednesday afternoon on February 6, 2013.

If you watch Law and Order or crime dramas at the movies, you know that a judge instructs a jury before it deliberates in a civil or criminal trial. These depictions of jury instructions in these mediums can be extremely misleading.

Motorcycles provide less protection in collisions than other motor vehicles because they lack metal frames, safety restraints and airbags. Operators and passengers of motorcycles account for 14 percent of motor vehicle accident fatalities despite accounting for less than one percent of all vehicle miles traveled, according to the CDC.

Parents who are in the process of shopping for their children or purchasing equipment like portable playpens, new child safety restraints and travel beds to facilitate travel need to be aware of a recent recall.

While most Atlanta drivers understand the risk of serious auto collisions caused by speeding drivers, a study of collisions in the UK indicates that those who drive too slowly may pose a comparable danger of causing serious traffic accidents.

If you are a motorcycle enthusiast, you are likely aware of the risk created by negligent drivers. If you are a Harley-Davidson enthusiast, you may also face the danger of being involved in motorcycle accidents that could be caused by the design or manufacturing process of your Harley-Davidson bike.

The Georgia auto accident attorneys at Montlick & Associates recently discussed the insurance implications for drivers who were injured and the family that lost a loved one when 70-year-old drunken driver Michael Snider caused 15 car crashes across two Atlanta area counties.

A jury recently awarded a $74-million verdict in California in a medical malpractice lawsuit brought by a young couple on behalf of their daughter who suffered cerebral palsy injuries at birth. This secures the funds needed for lifelong medical and personal care for the Plaintiff, Sofia Blunt, who is now three.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which is responsible for federal regulation of the trucking industry, is preparing to enact regulations that will allow it to take more aggressive measures against rogue trucking companies.

Analysis of recent teenage drunk driving statistics reveals an interesting paradox.