Georgia Injury Law Blog

A police officer was killed, and another person suffered personal injury in a car accident that police are now blaming on a wrong way driver. The crash occurred on westbound interstate-20 early in the morning. 

According to DeKalb police, the driver of a westbound vehicle crashed into a sports utility vehicle that was traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes. The driver of the westbound car sustained fatal injuries in the crash. The wrong way driver also suffered injuries in the auto accident.

Investigations into the car accident have begun, and investigators now believe that the driver of the sport-utility vehicle was traveling in the wrong direction. These investigations are likely to also include blood-alcohol tests to determine if the driver was driving under the influence of alcohol. 

Many wrong-way driving accidents that Atlanta car accident attorneys come across involve people who have been driving under the influence of alcohol, and make a wrong turn. In fact, according to some estimates, alcohol use is a factor in between 50% and 70% of all wrong way driving accidents.

Posted By Robert Katz In Accidental Deaths , Auto Accident Claims , DUI , Wrongful Death | 0 Comments Permalink

A third teenager has succumbed to his injuries after a deadly pedestrian accident in Clayton County. Two other teenage pedestrians were also killed in the car accident last Thursday. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has confirmed the death of the third teenager, a seventeen-year-old boy. The boy had suffered a serious brain injury in the accident. The boy and his two friends, aged sixteen and seventeen years old, were walking along GA 158, when they were struck by a car being driven by forty-eight-year-old Priscilla Diane Johnson. The impact left the boys with serious injuries. One of them died at the scene of the accident, while the other was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital, and succumbed to his injuries there. The third victim died on Saturday morning.

According to police, Johnson had been talking on a cell phone at the time of the accident. She had also taken antidepressant medications just before the accident. She now faces a number of charges, including vehicular homicide, driving under the influence, and hit and run. Police also believe that she was driving under a suspended license. Additionally, she faces charges of reckless driving as well charges related to cell phone use while driving and lack of insurance. Personal injury attorneys have repeatedly warned about the dangers of distracted driving as well as driving under the influence of medications. Unfortunately, these tragedies will continue to occur until we toughen our laws in these areas.  

According to one of her friends, at the time of the accident, she was on the cell phone having a quarrel with her husband. The friend has confirmed that she had taken antidepressants before she started driving, and had been impaired at the time of the accident.

It'll take more than a single blog post to enumerate the risks that Atlanta's pedestrians face on a daily basis. However, one of the biggest challenges is the one posed by impaired drivers. Most people assume that impairment is the result of driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotic drugs. However, a motorist can be impaired when he is driving under the influence of prescription drugs. Such dangers are especially high in older drivers, who may be on more than one medication for a number of health ailments. Antidepressants, for instance, can leave a person suffering from insomnia, anxiety, restlessness, and dizziness. A person might suffer from severe hand tremors. All of these symptoms can severely impact a person's ability to drive safely.

Posted By Robert Katz In Accidental Deaths , Distracted Driving , Pedestrian accidents , Wrongful Death | 0 Comments Permalink

The United States lags behind several other countries, including those in Europe and Asia in reducing the number of auto accident related wrongful deaths. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, this country could be doing a much better job of saving more lives and reducing the number of personal injuries in accidents every year.

It may seem like there's been much progress in reducing accident numbers in the United States. After all, auto accident wrongful death numbers in this country have been on the decline over the past decade, and last year, were at their lowest levels since record keeping began. With statistics like this, it's easy for Atlanta car accident lawyers and motorists to become complacent, and believe that American drivers are much safer than anywhere else.  

That’s not true at all. A look at the safety records and accident prevention efforts in other countries indicates just how much more progress the U.S. needs to make.

The fact is that many other countries have lower accident fatality rates per vehicle mile traveled. Additionally, other countries are seeing a much more drastic drop in auto accident fatalities, compared to the United States. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety suggests that there are several factors contributing to this wide chasm between the United States and other countries. 

Posted By Robert Katz In Accidental Deaths , Auto Accident Claims , Wrongful Death | 0 Comments Permalink

The parents of a young Cobb County woman, who was killed in a car accident two weeks ago, are calling for stronger charges against the motorist involved. Cobb County police are blaming the accident on red light violations. Car accidents involving wrongful deaths often involve a red light violation. Of course, auto accidents of this type also result in significant personal injuries since persons trying to “beat” the red light are often traveling at a high rate of speed. As an Atlanta injury lawyer, I know these cases are occur far too often.

The young woman had been driving a Toyota Safari, which was struck by an Infiniti. The woman had a green light at an intersection, when the Infiniti driver ran a red light and broadsided the Toyota. The Toyota driver suffered serious injuries, and was rushed to the hospital. However, she died two days later.

The Infiniti driver now faces misdemeanor charges. However, the parents of the young woman want felony vehicular homicide charges to be brought against the man. Vehicular homicide charges can only brought in cases where the motorist was driving under the influence, was driving at excessive speeds or was on the run from police. This particular accident doesn't seem to meet any of those criteria, and therefore, it isn't very likely that felony charges will be filed here.

Every accident that ends in a death is a tragedy, especially when it is a fatality that is so preventable. Unfortunately, as Atlanta car accident attorneys, we often see that everything which could be done to prevent these accidents has not been done. Although Georgia's system of red light cameras is helpful in preventing these types of accidents, it has been the target of plenty of criticism and scrutiny. This is in spite of the fact that there are studies to indicate that red light camera systems reduce the incidence of red light violations, and prevent the devastating accidents that result from these violations. 

These accidents are devastating because they involve a car running a red light and broad siding, or crashing into the side of another car. The kind of side-impact injuries that result from these accidents are often severely injurious or fatal.

Posted By Robert Katz In Accidental Deaths , Auto Accident Claims , Traffic Fatalities , Wrongful Death | 0 Comments Permalink

New figures from the National Safety Council show that auto accident deaths in Georgia declined during the first 11 months of 2010. According to the report, there were 1,121 auto accident deaths between January and November 2010, down from 1,165 during the same period time in 2009, and 1,323 deaths during the same period of time in 2008. Overall, statistics for Georgia show a 15% decline in the number of attacks between January-November 2008 and January-November 2010.

Georgia statistics mirrored a nationwide trend. Overall, motor vehicle accidents across the country declined by approximately 4% in the first 11 months of 2010. As of November 2010, there were 31,740 accident fatalities.

This year, the National Safety Council adopted the concept of “medically consulted injuries” to define the injury impact of these accidents. According to the National Safety Council, a medically consulted injury is any injury that is deemed serious enough to require the attention of a medical professional. Between January and November 2010, there were 3, 100,000 medically consulted injuries arising from auto accidents. Further, auto accidents in 2010 lead to total costs of $216.5 billion. These include medical expenses, employer costs, lost hours and lost productivity.

Though the National Safety Council does not speculate on reasons for this decline, as Atlanta car accident lawyers, we believe the decline could be attributed to a reduction in drunk driving accident fatalities. Stronger enforcement, sobriety checkpoints and patrols have contributes to fewer intoxicated motorists on the road, and hence, fewer deaths in DUI accidents. Besides, seatbelt usage in Georgia has risen to record highs, helping prevent fatalities even in serious accidents.

Posted By Robert Katz In Accidental Deaths | 0 Comments Permalink

As Atlanta car accident attorneys, we have been very pleased at the fact that there has been a decline in the number of fatalities caused by auto accidents every year, over the past few years. The year 2009 saw the numbers of such auto accident fatalities drop to their lowest levels in decades, with over 33,000 deaths. The federal administration has, in the past, discussed a nationwide initiative to focus on getting those highway accident deaths to zero. The Federal Highway Administration is finally embarking on this ambitious initiative, and has announced its decision to launch an effort called, quite simply, Towards Zero Deaths: A National Strategy on Highway Safety.

The goal aims to create a nationwide strategic highway safety plan that can be implemented with the aim of minimizing highway accident fatalities to the maximum. Last year, a workshop in our very own Savanna, Georgia had safety participants from around the country discussing ways to develop and implement such a plan. More than 70 agencies took part in that workshop, and the discussion was so fruitful, that the Federal Highway Administration has now decided to launch this nationwide effort.

So, what will a program like this include? The plan is to slowly bring about changes to American safety culture by focusing on stronger leadership and community participation. The program aims to include better highway safety through engineering (better construction design and maintenance) enforcement of laws, education of motorists, motorcyclists and pedestrians, stronger emergency medical services to prevent deaths after an accident, stronger public health initiatives, enhanced communication services and other measures. The ultimate goal is to save lives every time there is an accident.

There's no doubt that Toward Zero Deaths is an extremely ambitious goal, but there is no reason why we need to set our sights low as far as saving lives is concerned. From a Georgia perspective, we believe that easier accessibility to emergency trauma care facilities, stronger enforcement of drunk driving and the new distracted driving laws, and stronger focus on saving motorcyclists’ lives, can go a long way in dramatically minimizing the number of people killed in accidents in Georgia every year. 

Posted By Robert Katz In Accidental Deaths | 0 Comments Permalink

Increase in Fall Accident Fatalities is Disturbing

Researchers at the John Hopkins School of Public Heath have found a sharp increase in the number of fatalities from accidental falls and poisonings, between 1995 and 2005.

These increases were part of a larger overall pattern, in which the number of people who died from unintended accidents increased by 11 percent over the study period. The study found increases in other unintended accident fatalities including drowning accidents, and deaths from burns and suffocation. However, it's the increase in mortality rates from accidental poisonings and falls, that has drawn the highest attention.

Between 1999 and 2005, there was an increase of 36 percent in fall mortalities. Further, these increases were seen most significantly in whites above the age of 45. The mortality rates for white men increased by 28 percent in the 45-64 age group, and 38 percent in the 65+ age group. Among white women, the increase was much greater - an increase of 64 percent in the 45-64 age group, and an increase of 48 percent in the 65+ age group.

Poisoning deaths have increased by 104 percent for white males, and 172 percent for white females. The rates of poisoning deaths have also increased by 100 percent in Asian and Native American men between 45 and 64 years of age.

Why Have Fall Fatality Rates Increased?

The researchers have pointed to the abuse of prescription drugs as the most important factor in the increase in poisoning deaths. During the study period, the number of prescriptions for opioid analgesics increased, and this has contributed to the abuse of these drugs, and consequently, deaths from poisoning.

However, it’s been harder to understand why there has been such a sharp increase in the number of people, especially whites, dying in fall accidents. The researchers say that there may be more research needed to study and identify the causes for the increased mortality from falls.  

The Atlanta slip and fall accident lawyers at the Katz Law Firm represent injured victims of falls on other's premises, in Atlanta and across Georgia.

Posted By Lisa Siegel In Accidental Deaths | 1 Comments Permalink