Montlick and Associates Wishes Our Community a Happy and Safe Holiday Season!

With Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve only days away, many people are excitedly packing for trips around Georgia or even out of state to spend the holidays with family. While this is a wonderful time of year for spending time with family, it is also a dangerous time to be on the roads. There are more vehicles on the road, an increased number of intoxicated drivers and far too many fatigued drivers.

These manmade driving hazards are combined with inclement weather as rain is being predicted for Christmas day. The attorneys and staff at Montlick and Associates would like to wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season and urge you to drive extra carefully during this joyful time of year. Traffic accidents continue to cause an unacceptably high number of serious injuries and wrongful deaths. Accident rates spike during holiday periods so we have provided a few suggestions that we hope will lead to a safe and happy holiday for you and your family.

• Inspect Your Vehicle: If you will be taking a long road trip, vehicle safety experts suggest that you carefully inspect your vehicle, including tires, as well as oil, brakes and transmission fluid levels and other routine maintenance. Bald or improperly inflated tires are the cause of a fair number of accidents.
• Do Not Drink and Drive: While every motorist knows this is incredibly dangerous, a tragic number of life-altering injuries and wrongful deaths are still caused by drunken drivers. We urge you to pass the keys to a sober relative or friend if you have been drinking.
• Pre-plan Your Route: A growing number of auto accidents are caused by distracted drivers that are trying to study GPS devices or maps which means that a driver’s eyes are not on the road. If you pre-plan your trip so that you generally know the route, this will reduce the need to take your eyes of the road when driving.
• Adjust Driving to Weather Conditions: Rain is predicted off and on during the next week or so with temperatures expected to drop below freezing. Wet roads require drivers to slow down and to be extremely alert. The combination of rain and freezing temperatures could also mean black ice which can be extremely dangerous. Drivers should be careful to adjust their driving for decreased traction and visibility.
• Be Cautious in Stowing of Cargo: If you store cargo on top of the vehicle, excessive weight can make the vehicle increasingly top heavy and contribute to rollover accidents, particularly in an SUV. If your cargo is not secured properly, it may also fly off your vehicle and endanger vehicles traveling behind you.

Our team of Atlanta personal injury attorneys and staff live in your communities, so you are our friends and neighbors. We urge you to exercise caution and avoid drinking and driving during the holidays. We wish for each of our family, friends, neighbors and fellow Georgians a happy and safe holiday season! We hope you will not need our help, but if you do our Georgia auto accident attorneys are available to assist clients throughout all of Georgia and the Southeast, including but not limited to Albany, Athens, Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Gainesville, Macon, Marietta, Rome, Roswell, Savannah, Smyrna, Valdosta, Warner Robins and all smaller cities and rural areas in the state. No matter where you are located our attorneys are just a phone call away, and we will even come to you. Call us 24 hours a day/7 days a week for your Free Consultation at 1-800-LAW-NEED (1-800-529-6333). You can also visit us online at www.montlick.com and use our Free Case Evaluation Form or 24-hour Live Online Chat.