Blog Archive - June, 2014

Most drivers have confronted a stray cat or dog in the road and been forced to engage in evasive maneuvers to avoid hitting the animal. However, the 11 Alive Atlanta news recently reported on a Canadian woman convicted of criminal charges following her fatal decision to park in the road to rescue ducklings. She was convicted of criminal negligence causing fatalities for the deaths of a motorcyclist and his passenger daughter when the bike slammed into the woman's parked car. The media report of the story indicates that she was convicted of multiple charges, including a charge that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

While air bags constitute one of the most valuable forms of vehicle safety equipment, they sometimes fail to offer protection to vehicle occupants when they do not deploy properly. In some situations, vehicle occupants are placed at greater risk by a defective air bag than the impact of a collision. Although the GM recall of faulty ignition switches is dominating the news, the recall of potentially explosive airbags manufactured by Takata Corp. has become the fifth largest recall in the history of the auto industry according to a recent New York Times report. The report indicates that faulty air bags have accounted for one-third of all vehicle recalls so far this year.

When a woman receives news that she is pregnant, it can be one of the most exciting times in her life. Most expectant moms are vigilant about curbing bad habits and avoiding behavior that could put their unborn child at risk. If you are pregnant, you might stop smoking and drinking alcohol. However, a new study suggests a risk to pregnant moms that is almost never discussed – driving.

When motorists drink and drive or use their cell phone behind the wheel, they might only recognize the potential consequences in abstract impersonal terms. This is a far cry from the profound grief experienced by victims of drunk, distracted or otherwise unsafe drivers who lose a parent, child or spouse. A recent Georgia tragic accident that claimed the life of an expectant mother and her baby provide a grim reminder of the fundamental way that irresponsible drivers impact the lives of others.

When people are injured in a traffic accident, the financial costs of such injuries can be enormous. The economic impact of personal injuries caused by the careless or inattentive conduct of others can drive a family to the brink of bankruptcy. The financial impact of a debilitating injury means that your interests will be best protected by retaining a top Atlanta personal injury attorney to represent your interest. The National Safety Council has provided some helpful estimates in terms of the cost of motor vehicle accident related injuries in the United States.

When people go to the local pharmacy to get a prescription filled, there is a natural tendency to presume that the medication provided is identical with what is indicated on the packaging and labeling. However, sometimes pharmacist make mistakes that can have devastating consequences. For example, if you are allergic to penicillin but given the drug in error, the mistake could be fatal. Tragically, these sorts of serious errors by pharmacists are not just theoretical. A USA Today story discussing a lawsuit filed against CVS for a prescription error that allegedly caused a man to go blind in his left eye provides a recent example.

Most parents would not transport children in a car when under the influence of drugs or alcohol, but a recent study suggests that parents do not have the same attitude toward distracted driving with children in a vehicle. The alarming results of this study indicate that the majority of parents are unaware that texting and driving and other forms of distracted driving can be just as dangerous as DUI/DWI. Further, parents engage in a range of unsafe driving practices even when young children are in the vehicle.

This is the second part of our two installment blog post providing an overview of burn injuries from fires and explosions in Georgia. While the first installment focused on the types and causes of fire and burn-related injuries, this second installment focuses on the type and severity of injuries from such fires. While this blog post is designed to provide basic information about accidents that may cause burn injuries, the best way to acquire more specific information about your situation is to contact our Atlanta Burn Injury Attorneys to schedule a free consultation after reviewing the information below.

This is the conclusion of our two-installment blog post discussing neck and back injuries suffered in Georgia car accidents. While the first installment of this blog post focused on whiplash and neck or back sprain injuries, this post discusses some of the factors that determine recovery time from these debilitating types of injuries. We also discuss the more severe consequences of suffering a spinal disc injury in this blog post. If you have other questions about your legal rights and remedies for neck and back injuries suffered in an auto accident, you are welcome to contact us to schedule your free consultation with one of our Atlanta Car Accident Attorneys at Montlick & Associates.

A severe burn injury can cause overwhelming pain and disfigurement requiring a long difficult course of medical treatment, including surgeries and rehabilitation. There are many types of personal injury accidents that can result in devastating burn injuries. This two-part blog article provides information related to personal injury accidents that result in catastrophic burn injuries. The life-altering physical injuries caused by an accident that causes catastrophic burns may be equaled by the extreme psychological challenges of coping with these painful debilitating injuries. More than two and a half million individuals suffer a burn injury each year. Over 600,000 of those burn victims suffer injuries serious enough to need medical treatment and over 70,000 must be hospitalized.

Neck and back injuries typically are among the most painful injuries suffered by those injured in motor vehicle accidents of all types. Serious back and spinal injuries also are among the most devastating injuries suffered by those involved in Georgia car accidents. Severe injuries to the neck and back can involve extensive rehabilitative therapy and pose a substantial economic drain on a family's resources. Such injuries also can inhibit the ability of injury victims to continue working in their chosen occupation or result in permanent total disability in extreme cases.

This is the continuation of our blog post discussing the special dangers posed by big-rigs that are transporting excessive loads or inadequately secured loads. Improper loads and weight violations contribute to many crashes involving tractor-trailers because they compromise the handling of the vehicle. Further, the weight of a semi-truck can have a dramatic impact on the severity of a big-rig crash. If you have more specific questions about tractor-trailer crashes in Georgia after reading this blog, we invite you to contact Montlick & Associates to schedule a free consultation with one of our experienced Atlanta truck accident lawyers.

Those who live in Georgia confront the possibility of being involved in a motor vehicle collision that causes serious injury, especially every time they travel the busy freeways of our metropolitan areas. However, this risk increases significantly when an overloaded tractor-trailer is involved in a collision. Fully loaded tractor-trailer can weigh up to forty tons in gross vehicle weight (GVW). When a truck is loaded to its maximum capacity, the big-rig will require more time to maneuver or stop. A tractor-trailer will cause more devastating injuries in an accident because of the force generated by the extremely heavy vehicle. Despite these dangers, truck drivers often overload tractor-trailers with the approval of trucking companies, increasing this risk of harm in an accident exponentially.

While commuter trains, freight trains, cross-country passenger trains, and other rail lines may collide with motor vehicles or jump the track at any speed, the push for high speed trains that move at speeds in excess of 220 mph could potentially increase the frequency and severity of train accidents. Although there are many benefits to having high-speed trains as an alternative to motor vehicle and air travel, it is important to understand that the infrastructure must be in place and safety tested before this becomes a popular mode of transportation.

Now that summer has arrived and temperatures are rising, many people are preparing for boating excursions to fish, ski, wakeboard or otherwise enjoy the waterways of Georgia. Although boating is a fun source of recreation, a boat can pose a serious risk of injury when not operated safely. There were approximately 112 boating incidents in Georgia in 2013 that cause 27 drownings, 16 other fatalities and 59 additional injuries according to the most recent data from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Drivers who engage in text messaging while traveling down the freeway at 65 mph or more present a serious danger to everyone else on the road. The act of reading or composing a text diverts a motorist's hands, mind and eyes from the task of driving. While texting and driving is never a safe practice, the danger is particularly acute when the driver is behind the wheel of an 80,000 pound fully loaded tractor-trailer.

This blog recently addressed the tragic semi-truck accident that caused severe injuries to comedian Tracy Morgan and the death of at least one other person. New developments reported by the media merit revisiting this story to address the difference in the burden of proof in criminal versus civil cases. The lower evidentiary burden in civil cases often means that a personal injury or wrongful death claim or lawsuit provides the best opportunity for an injury victim to obtain justice.

Our Atlanta personal injury attorneys at Montlick and Associates are committed to promoting public safety. Our law firm participates in many programs designed to prevent injury to children and teenagers, such as our Child Passenger Safety Program, our Positively Georgia Family Safety Program and our Don't Drink and Drive Campaign among many other programs.

A Louisiana jury has returned a verdict requiring Japanese drug manufacturer Takeda Pharmaceutical and its American partner Eli Lilly to pay $9 billion in punitive damages. The jury's verdict was based on the finding that Takeda intentionally hid the cancer risk associated with Actos®, a Type 2 diabetes drug manufactured by the pharmaceutical company. The jury verdict constitutes the seventh-largest punitive damage award in U.S. history according to Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond in Virginia.

While there are many inconveniences posed by scorching summer weather, Georgia drivers may not realize that the high temperatures of July and August may also increase the risk of serious motor vehicle collisions.  The hazard posed by blazing roadway surfaces is so significant that it has resulted in a safety advisory being released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).  The federal traffic safety agency issued the alert to apprise motorists of the risk of a tire blowout when under-inflated tires are exposed to the superheated surface of roadways.  The agency warning indicates that extreme temperatures and hot asphalt can accelerate the deterioration of tires and result in an increased risk of a dangerous tire blowout when traveling at high speeds on the freeway.

The deadly tractor-trailer crash that seriously injured comedian Tracy Morgan and claimed the life of the comedian's mentor serves as a tragic reminder that we have not eradicated the problem of truck driver fatigue. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) imposes strict limits on hours of service and mandates minimum rest periods to mitigate the risk of driver fatigue.

While drivers that fail to drive prudently or to obey traffic safety laws pose a danger to everyone with whom they share the road, pedestrians are particularly vulnerable to careless drivers. Many pedestrian accidents are the product of drivers who are under the influence of alcohol or distracted behind the wheel. However, the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta area has again made the National Complete Streets Coalition list for the ten deadliest metro areas in the U.S. for pedestrians. The continued presence of the Atlanta metro area on this list suggests that the danger to pedestrians in our city might also be the product of insufficient pedestrian planning and roadway safety measures.