The Life-Changing Impact of Text Messaging in Fulton County Motorcycle Accidents
While our Fulton County motorcycle accident attorneys see the havoc and life-changing effects created by texting drivers, sometimes it is hard for those who do not face these tragedies on a daily basis to see them as more than a statistic. However, we regularly meet with heartbroken families and injury victims that have had their lives permanently altered by drivers using cell phones to talk and text. Motorcyclists face an increased risk of being involved in a motorcycle collision as well as a heightened risk of experiencing more permanent and debilitating injuries because more limited manueverability and they have essentially no protection from injury.
We know that these victims are real people with tragic stories rather than impersonal statistics so we have provided some recent real world examples from around the country:
Text Messaging by Teen Driver: A teen was texting and driving when she failed to notice that the car in front of her had stopped for traffic. Because she was looking down at the screen of her cell phone, she slammed into the vehicle in front of her pushing the vehicle into cross traffic. A motorcycle officer was hit in the chain-reaction accident when the second car was pushed into his motorcycle, causing him to be thrown into the windshield of the vehicle. The officer had to be hospitalized and the teenager may be charged with criminal homicide. The teen driver was operating her vehicle with a provisional license in a state where cell phone use by inexperienced teen drivers is universally banned.
Liability of Person Who Sends a Text which Results in a Motorcycle Accident: In a landmark case that is currently on appeal, a young married couple is suing a teenage girl who was engaged in text messaging her boyfriend when he crashed into a motorcycle. Both the husband and wife each lost a leg. While the lower court has ruled that the party sending texts cannot be sued, the case is on appeal. This issue of the liability of the party who sends a text knowing that someone is driving is an issue that has garnered a lot of attention. While some might wonder why the person sending the text is being sued, sometimes the negligent motorists who cause life-altering injuries like the loss of a limb do not have insurance or adequate coverage to pay for a victim's injuries. If the negligent driver is not insured, then these motorcycle accident victims might have a difficult time being compensated for their tragic injuries. That is why it is so important to have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage with sufficient policy limits.
Mixing Alcohol and Text Messaging: A college student left a party where she had been drinking and engaged in sending and receiving text messages. She drifted into oncoming traffic and struck a woman who suffered multiple broken bones and amputation of part of her leg.
These are just a few recent examples of people whose lives were changed by a text message. The victims may never walk again or engage in other ordinary activities that the rest of us take for granted. Those who caused the crashes may spend the rest of their lives coming to terms with the fact they caused horrific injuries to the accident victim. The negligent driver may also find that they are sentenced to state prison and endure the challenge of a criminal record. The bottom line is that no text message is worth these types of devastating outcomes. Our Fulton County motorcycle accident attorneys urge all drivers to put down their cell phones because the next text message is not a matter of life and death unlike the decision to read or reply to the text.
The experienced Georgia motorcycle accident law firm of Montlick and Associates, aggresively represents automobile accident victims and their families throughout the enitre state of Georgia and all over the Southeast. The firm is well recognized not only for its legal work, but also for its extensive and unprecedented public service programs that fall under two main umbrellas: their initiatives to help families prevent injuries and their extensive efforts to support our troops.
The firm was recently honored by the Georgia House of Representatives for its 30 years of service with the passing of House Resolution 394 recognizing Montlick & Associates for "the outstanding accomplishments of this distinguished firm," and “for providing efficient, effective and dedicated services to the citizens of Georgia."
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