Georgia Injury Law Blog

Georgia has 151 approved highway construction projects in the pipeline, all thanks to more than $400 million in federal stimulus funds. That means that in the next few years, there will be dozens of active highway construction, preservation and repair projects across the state. That is good news for Georgians who will expect improved infrastructure to enhance connectivity, boost local economies and create jobs. It may also however, create conditions that place Georgia motorists at a higher risk of accidents.

A New York Times report shows how failure to enforce uniform and strict laws governing construction work zone safety have killed thousands of Americans and injured many more. In the past five years. 4,700 people have been killed in accidents on highway work zones, and another 200,000 people have been severely injured.

The problem with highway work zone safety is that there is no national set of laws that governs work zone safety.  As a result, you have laws that differ widely from state to state. Few states have strict systems in place to enforce work zone safety rules. These rules involve placing appropriate warning signs and barriers, correct and safe placement of unused construction equipment, the proper implementation of rolling road blocks to facilitate slow movement of traffic through a zone, and others.

Most efforts at enforcing highway work zone safety in Georgia tend to focus on speeding motorists. While people driving at high speeds through a work zone do cause several accidents, they are not the only factors in these crashes. Negligent contractors who place project speed and lowered costs at a higher priority, rogue contractors who continue to land new projects even after a record of violations, and the lack of a strict response to such violations until after an accident has occurred - all contribute equally to the thousands of work zone accidents that occur every year.

As Atlanta personal injury lawyers, we would like for increased development to be accompanied by responsible compliance with work zone safety rules, and stricter punishment for contractors who fail to comply with these rules.

Posted By Lisa Siegel In Construction Defects | 0 Comments Permalink

The family of Milena Del Valle, a passenger killed in the Big Dig Tunnel in Boston, Massachusetts, settled for 6 million dollars yesterday from one of the defendants in a wrongful death suit filed against 17 defendants.  

 
While riding as a passenger with her husband in the tunnel, Del Valle was killed when 3 3-4 ton ceiling panels gave way overhead, falling and crushing her. Her husband escaped through the window of his sedan. 

 
Investigations revealed that contractors secured the 3-ton panels with bolts and fast-drying epoxy glue manufactured by Powers Fasteners. Defendant Powers claimed that the fast-drying epoxy should not have been used to secure overhead panels that had to sustain overhead loads. Construction documents also revealed that the contractors themselves questioned the security of the bolt/epoxy system for such considerable ceiling loads.

The Big Dig project was a 14.6 billion dollar construction project that took ten years to complete and was inundated with cost overruns, project delays and poor workmanship. Then Governor and now Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney oversaw parts of the construction project. Romney fired Turnpike Authority Chairman, Matthew Amorello, after the accident that killed Del Valle.

 
The Big Dig project buried Interstate 93 under downtown Boston and linked Interstate 90 to Logan National Airport.

 
The wrongful death suit against the remaining defendants continues.   

 
Meanwhile in Atlanta, the Georgia DOT requested sign clarification from the Federal Highway Administration for its HOV exit ramp at Northside Drive and Interstate 75. This month the FAA determined the signage at the intersection failed to adequately warn drivers of the exit. 

 
This exit ramp signage is the center of controversy as a result of a March 2, 2007 bus accident that killed several members of an Ohio college baseball team. This was the third fatal crash on this ramp. 

 
Experts now say that the signage does not alert drivers that staying left in the HOV lane will result in an exit of the highway. A blind curve on the exit ramp further adds to driver confusion. Apparently, the original sign called for a two-sign display although DOT engineers left off the clarifying sign because the post could not hold both signs. 

 
Sadly, this is another example of how poor construction decisions resulted in the death of innocent drivers. Wrongful death lawsuits against construction firms, engineering firms, and state government entities can be time-consuming, costly and require significant legal skills. However, often better design and construction for other projects is the end result. If you have a construction claim, contact the law firm of Robert N. Katz for professional advice and counsel.

Posted By Lisa Siegel In Construction Defects | 0 Comments Permalink