Georgia Injury Law Blog

A new Georgia law that increases the age of children, who need to be safely restrained in booster seats from 6 to 8, went into effect on July 1. This law now increases the number of child passengers who are required to be restrained in booster seats, thereby protecting these children from fatal injuries in the event of a car accident.

Under the law, your six or seven-year-old will also be required to be strapped into a booster seat. The law will exempt any children from the booster seat rules if they measured at least 4 feet 9 inches tall. Other exemptions apply, but they are limited to vehicles without shoulder straps and for children who medically cannot be restrained in a booster seat.

Current car accident statistics from around the country underscore the need for the law. According to data by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, auto accidents are the number one cause of death for children between the age of three and fourteen. In 2009 alone, 909 children above the age of five, and ten children below the age of four were killed in Georgia accidents.

Failure to properly restrain children in safety seats or booster seats account for a high number of accident-related deaths and injuries every year. According to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, over the past four years, an overwhelming majority of the 6 to 8-year-old children who suffered injuries in accidents was not properly restrained at the time of the accident. 

Posted By Robert Katz In Children | 0 Comments Permalink

Several children barely escaped injuries when a work truck crashed into a swimming pool in Johns Creek, Fulton County this week. The accident occurred on Monday, when the work truck crashed through a fence surrounding the pool, and into the water. There were about 12 people in the water at the time, including children. At least one child escaped injuries when the truck flew right over his head and into the pool. According to witnesses at the scene, another child almost got sucked under the truck.

This accident proves to Atlanta car accident lawyers the crash risks involving motorists with chronic illnesses. However, the risks to drivers who suffer a medical condition at the wheel would soon be reduced if plans to develop a car that monitors human health come to fruition. 

It is extremely fortunate that no one was injured in this accident. Police believe that the driver had a medical condition and blacked out at the wheel, causing him to lose control of his vehicle. It was most likely a diabetic coma that caused him to black out. The driver sustained minor injuries, and was taken to the hospital for treatment. No charges have been filed against him.

Ford Motor Company recently announced that it is working together with a number of medical and health technology companies to develop human health monitoring systems for its vehicles. These technologies would be incorporated into Ford's Sync system. So far, the company has tested an allergy monitoring system that would use web-based information and the car’s GPS to display pollen levels in the road that the driver wants to take. Engineers have also tested a device that continuously monitors a diabetic driver's glucose levels, letting him know when he is in danger of his levels dropping too low. What's more, the device will even direct him to the nearest restaurant, and suggest foods that will help increase blood sugar levels.

Posted By Robert Katz In Children , Truck Accidents | 0 Comments Permalink

Several school students were injured in a bus accident involving two school buses in Gwinnett County earlier this week. The accident occurred at an intersection where two school buses were stopped. A third bus approached the scene, and rear-ended the second bus. The driver of the third school bus sustained minor injuries, and was taken to the Gwinnett Medical Center. Unfortunately, as an Atlanta injury attorney, I have seen too many bus accidents result in far more serious injures and wrongful death.

There were a total of 38 children on the third bus, and 10 of them suffered back injuries. The students on the other two buses did not suffer any injuries. The driver of the bus has been cited for following too close. The drivers of the other two buses have been suspended temporarily while an investigation into the accident continues.

Atlanta bus accident lawyers will have to wait until investigations are completed to learn why the third bus driver was not able to stop in time to avoid crashing into the other bus. However, it'll probably be worthwhile to probe the role of distractions and inattention as a factor in this crash. School bus drivers have an additional responsibility to be cautious and completely attentive while driving. These buses carry some of our most precious cargo, which makes it all the more important for drivers to be attentive at all times.

Unfortunately, distracted driving has become widespread among the commercial motor vehicle driver population too. More and more cases involving accidents caused by distracted bus and truck drivers are coming to light. It isn't only electronic communication devices like cell phones that are responsible for distractions. A motor vehicle driver could also be distracted by highway signs and billboards, dashboard computers or because he is engaged in other activities, like snacking while driving.

Posted By Robert Katz In Bus accidents , Children , Distracted Driving , Wrongful Death | 0 Comments Permalink

A six-year-old Atlanta boy who was injured in an SUV car accident in Cobb County is expected to recover from his injuries. The boy had been injured in the accident that occurred on Sunday at the intersection of Macland Road and John Ward Road.

The child was apparently traveling in an SUV that was T-boned by another vehicle at the intersection. The impact of the accident caused the SUV to flip over. The boy sustained a head injury, and had to be rushed to the hospital. Police are likely to charge the other driver with failure to yield.

Very often, Atlanta car accident attorneys notice that T-bone collisions which occur near an intersection, occur because one of the drivers ran a red light. T-bone accidents involve a car that crashes through traffic and into the side of another car. These side-impact accidents are some of the most injurious of all auto accidents. Side impact crashes can cause serious injuries and fatalities, because there is very little space protecting the occupants of the car from the full impact of the collision. This is unlike a frontal impact collision, where the front of the automobile absorbs much of the energy from the accident, cushioning the occupants from injuries.

In fact, studies have found that red light camera systems are effective in reducing the number of accidents that occur at intersections. Most of these preventable accidents are T-bone accidents. Side airbags can absorb some of the energy from the crash, thereby protecting occupants from more serious injuries. However, these safety devices cannot completely prevent injury, especially during high-speed accidents, which are often seen when a motorist runs a red light

Posted By Robert Katz In Auto Accident Claims , Children | 0 Comments Permalink

The role of car safety seats in preventing injuries to children in an auto accident is one that no Atlanta injury lawyer would deny. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, between 1988 and 1994, the use of car seats led to a 73% drop in infant wrongful deaths and a 54% drop in car accident related injuries in children between the age of one and four. However, not all car safety seats may have been tested and approved to be safe for your child.

The Washington Post warns parents against assuming that the car seat that they're using for their child will protect them from injuries in the event of an accident. The seats that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulates are only tested for protection in a front impact collision. The seats are not regulated against side-impact, rear end or rollover accidents. This is in spite of the fact that the risk of injuries and fatalities is often much higher in a rollover accident or a side-impact accident than a front impact collision.  

One of the reasons why the federal agency has failed to regulate the effectiveness of car seats in these kinds of accidents is the lack of proper-sized crash test dummies. That is also the reason why the agency has failed to regulate the safety of large-sized car seats that are used for toddlers above 65 pounds. There's a growing class of overweight children who are too heavy for infant car seats, and too young for seat belts. Car seat manufacturers have been marketing larger-sized car seats for children of this size, but the NHTSA has failed to regulate the effectiveness of these seats. One of the reasons has been the failure to develop a crash test dummy of an appropriate size.

As Atlanta car accident lawyers, we know the kind of devastating injuries that can result when children are involved in accidents. Auto accidents are the number one cause of accidental death for children between the age of 1 and 14. Many of these deaths could be prevented if the child is restrained in appropriate car seats. Unfortunately, the NHTSA's car seat testing processes do not include all car safety seats or all types of accidents thereby preventing parents from making an informed choice.

Posted By Robert Katz In Auto Accident Claims , Children , Rollover Accidents , Seatbelts , Wrongful Death | 0 Comments Permalink

A 21-month-old toddler, who sustained serious injuries when she was caught in a car power window, is recovering from injuries. The accident occurred last Friday when the child was alone in the family car with her three-year-old brother. The child’s neck became trapped in the power window when it suddenly became activated. She was initially unresponsive, and had to be rushed to the Barrow Regional Medical Center, and later to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.  She is now expected to make a full recovery.

Fortunately, this horrible incident is like to have a happy ending. Injuries from activated power windows are not exactly unheard of. According to the NHTSA, every year, approximately 6 children die from power window accidents, and close to 2,000 children are injured.

Last year, Kidsandcars.org had conducted a survey that showed that power window accidents and injuries may be far more common than the NHTSA believes. The surveyors asked participants about whether they had ever caused injuries to anyone by activating a power window. Up to 6% of the participants admitted that they had indeed injured another person by activating a power window. According to Kidsandcars.org, when you translate those statistics into the general population in the United States, it works out to approximately 13.6 million power window-related injuries every year.

Even if you don’t agree with those statistics and allow room for error and exaggeration, you have to admit that there are likely millions of such incidents every year that are going overlooked. Part of the problem with the way in which the NHTSA studies power window-related accidents, is the fact that the agency only considers those injuries that have been treated in emergency rooms. It is highly likely that the majority of power window-related accidents and injuries end in the victim being rushed not to the emergency room, but to the family doctor.

The biggest step that parents can take to prevent such injuries is to make sure that little children are never left alone in a vehicle, even for a few seconds.

The Atlanta personal injury lawyers at the Katz Law Firm represent injured victims of defective products around Georgia.

Posted By Lisa Siegel In Children | 0 Comments Permalink

New Pool Safety Guidelines Call for Swimming Lessons for Children Below 4

The general wisdom, thus far, has held that children may only begin swimming lessons after they complete the age of 4. Pediatrician groups have traditionally believed that children below 4 years of age, may not be developmentally ready for swimming lessons. That attitude is now changing. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, if children below the age of four have swimming classes, it could actually help prevent many pool drowning deaths

Drowning is the second biggest cause of unintentional death among children between the age of one and 19. The risks are dramatically higher for children between the age of one and four. Now, the American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending a series of steps to prevent drowning-related deaths in children of this age group, and swimming lessons is one of those measures.

However, the group is warning that swimming classes may not be ideal for all children below the age of four. Children suffering from a cognitive or motor disability, may not benefit from swimming lessons at all. Further, it is important for parents and caregivers to know that swimming lessons alone cannot guarantee pool safety. Just because your child has taken a few swimming lessons, does not mean that you can leave him in a pool, unsupervised.

In fact, the pediatrician group is recommending a multipronged approach to preventing swimming pool-related deaths.

·        Install fencing around the pool. Fencing should be at least 4 feet high.

·        Make sure that all caregivers know how to perform CPR on a young child.

·        Never leave a child unsupervised around a pool.

·        Make sure that all doors to the pool are latched.

·        Take special care around backyard pools, inflatable pools and hot tubs. These are linked to a significant number of drowning-related accidents involving children, every year.

With summer here, the numbers of children frolicking in backyard pools, hot tubs, inflatable pools, public pools, and pools in apartment buildings, recreational complexes, and hotels, will increase. It is extremely important these facilities also make certain that their pool design, construction and safety measures meet all standards.

The Atlanta premises liability attorneys at the Katz Law Firm represent injured victims of slip and fall accidents, swimming pool accidents, assaults and rapes, and other accidents that occur on someone else’s premises.

Posted By Lisa Siegel In Children | 0 Comments Permalink

Choking Is Still a Real Hazard for Children

In spite of concerted efforts by the Consumer Product Safety Commission to make children's toys safer and choking-hazard free, thousands of children suffer a choking injury every year. Many of these choking incidents will be serious enough to require treatment in the hospital. According to a study, death is a very real possibility for those children who are admitted to a hospital for choking on a toy part or food.

The study looked at child hospital discharge data in 2003, and specifically noted 2,800 admissions for choking. Researchers found that approximately one in about every 30 kids hospitalized for choking, actually died in the hospital. The study also had one very interesting fact for Atlanta personal injury lawyers- about 25% of all choking-related hospital admissions were caused by toys or other products that were in compliance with Consumer Product Safety Commission regulations for these products.

Most choking-related hospital admissions were linked to choking on nonfood objects with about 60% of the cases, and the remaining 40% linked to choking on food. Approximately 60% of hospital admissions were boys. Children of an average age of 2.5 or more were likely to choke on food, and children of an average age of 4.5 were more likely to choke on small detachable parts from toys.

Doctors used bronchoscopies in approximately 52% of the cases to remove the foreign object on the airways, followed by esophagoscopies and tracheotomies. However, they were much more likely to retrieve the foreign object using esophagoscopies than using bronchoscopies.

With these kinds of risks involved, prevention is the best way to avoid choking incidents in your children. Make sure that food pieces are chopped into tiny parts and only buy products that are commended for your child’s age group. Toys with detachable parts are not recommended for children below three years of age.

Posted By Lisa Siegel In Children | 0 Comments Permalink

Children More Likely to Be Injured by Routine Things During Holidays

It’s no secret that children run a much higher risk of being injured during a major holiday like Christmas, than other days. However, contrary to what many parents believe, the risks to children are not so much from performing holiday-specific tasks, as from doing routine everyday things, or so, a new study says.

Researchers compared the five-day period around eight major American holidays - Labor Day, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Halloween and New Year's. The study which used data between 1997 and 2006, revealed that most holiday injuries involve sports and recreation activities. That's not any different from the rest of the year when children hurt themselves the most while playing.

Other injuries during holidays included accidents involving structural and furnishing hazards in the home. In other words, if you're the kind of parent who believes in keeping burning candles out of reach of your five-year-old, but have no problems leaving things lying about the floor, your child is much more likely to be injured from a slip and fall accident than being burnt by the candle.

• Some other interesting facts from the study:
• Children below the age of five, and boys, were much more likely to be injured during holidays.
• Christmas accounted for the least number of holiday-linked injuries.
• Burn injuries were the most prevalent during the Fourth of July. However, burn injuries were not the number one injury that occurred during this holiday.
• The most commonly injured body part in the 10 to 14 and 15 to 19 age group was the finger. Other commonly injured body parts were the face, hand and head.
• The Fourth of July was the deadliest holiday for children with 13 deaths occurring on this holiday between 1997 and 2006.

The Atlanta personal injury lawyers at the Katz Law Firm represent injured victims of car/auto/motorcycle accidents in and around the metro Atlanta region and around Georgia.

Posted By Lisa Siegel In Children | 0 Comments Permalink