Georgia Injury Law Blog

A 12-year-old school boy, who sustained serious injuries in a Polk County school bus accident earlier this month, has died from his injuries. Seventh grader Wyatt Pilgrim was stuck by a school bus on September 9^th, as he was waiting for his bus. He was airlifted to an Atlanta hospital, and remained in a critical condition for days. On Sunday, Wyatt succumbed to his injuries.

Police investigations have revealed that the driver could not avoid the accident, and police officials have confirmed that he will not be charged in the accident. According to a Polk County school system representative, the Evergreen Lane in Cedartown where the accident occurred, has heavy traffic. There are schools in the area including the Cherokee Elementary School, and consequently, a lot of children use the area.

Very often, accidents involving pedestrians can be traced to road designs that are simply not pedestrian-friendly. These accidents occur very often when there is heavy pedestrian traffic, and not adequate safety systems to protect pedestrians.  

Often, as Atlanta pedestrian accident lawyers, we see that as areas become more populated and crowded, the roads continue to remain the same. Safety procedures and enhancements must be undertaken keeping increased populations in mind. Even something as simple as a stop light can prevent accidents in pedestrian-heavy areas, like school zones and residential areas. It’s the duty of state, county and city authorities, depending on the jurisdiction, to make sure that safety enhancements are made. Very often however, the lack of resources derails such plans, with serious consequences for pedestrians.

Posted By Lisa Siegel In School Liability | 0 Comments Permalink

Questions Remain After Child's Death in Atlanta School Bus Accident

Earlier this week, a 5-year-old boy was killed when he was run over by a school bus. The driver of the bus has now been charged with homicide by vehicle second degree.

On Tuesday afternoon, Everett Johnson had just gotten off his school bus. According to witnesses at the accident site, Everett was walking in front of the bus, and dropped his book and bag. He was bending over to pick them up when he was struck by the bus, which had begun to move forward. Everett came under the right front tire.  He was rushed to the hospital, but died later.

People outside the bus had to alert the driver, Sharon Denise Dale, that the child had been run over. Atlanta Public Schools say that they don’t know why she assumed that all was clear for her to move the bus forward.  Dale, who has been placed on administrative leave, also faces charges of failure to use due regard, and failure to use school bus drivers' safety procedure.

This was a horrific tragedy, and our hearts go out to Everett's family.  When you send your child to school, you do so with hopes and dreams for his future. You shouldn’t have to worry that he will be seriously injured or killed when he is doing something as mundane as traveling on his school bus. It seems like a little more patience on Dale’s part could easily have prevented this accident. As Atlanta pedestrian accident lawyers, we often see clients who were injured simply because a motorist failed to slow down in time near a crosswalk, or couldn’t wait long enough behind a stopped vehicle.  

Everett’s parents must seek answers to how this happened. They deserve to be able to know the truth, and hold the responsible persons accountable.

Posted By Lisa Siegel In School Liability | 1 Comments Permalink

Georgia’s school children are sharing their buses with more than just their school mates, this report reveals. The presence of several types of toxins that can not only trigger asthma and other respiratory disorders, but also cause cancer is enough reason for parents to worry. .

According to the report, newer school buses come with special particulate filters that block these toxins from entering the passenger cabins. However, an overwhelming majority of school buses in operation in the state are older and come with an antiquated exhaust system that does little to prevent particulates from entering the cabin. In the cabins, these often carcinogenic substances wear away at young, developing lungs that are more at risk for the detrimental health effects caused by these minute particles.

Some schools seem to have done a better job of protecting children from the risk of illnesses caused by these toxins than others. Atlanta Public Schools for instance, has retrofitted 373 of its school buses with newer diesel particulate filters. The school district used funds allotted to it in 2005 to carry out the retrofitting. In sharp contrast, Gwinnett County Public Schools has not made any attempts at retrofitting its buses, and has not even applied for funds to carry out the retrofitting programs. Gwinnett County is Georgia’s largest public school district, and the failure to equip existing vehicles with the new filter systems means that 120,000 students are traveling in these school buses everyday, inhaling toxic flumes that are dangerous to their health.

Across the state, just about 1,100 of existing school buses out of a total of 19,000 have been retrofitted with the filter mechanisms. That’s a shocking number of buses still plying to and from schools exposing children to dangerous diesel particulate matter. According to a study done by the             Environmental Protection Agency, a child’ s risk of cancer over his lifetime could increase by about 4% from the inhalation of diesel particulates in school buses. There is also an increased risk for respiratory disorders and serious flare-ups of asthma.

DeKalb County School District has applied for more funding to equip more of its 1097 buses with the particulate filters. About 33 of the buses have been retrofitted so far. Cob County school district has not yet begun the retrofitting due to lack of funds, but is preparing to apply for funds to begin retrofitting 150 of the district's more than 1,000 buses.

We tend to be concerned about the safety of our children on school premises, but as the report shows, parents and Georgia personal injury lawyers must also weigh in on the safety of children as they travel to and from school in a school bus. Parent groups and environmental officials must lobby to make these buses cleaner, pollution free and safer for kids.

Posted By Lisa Siegel In School Liability | 0 Comments Permalink

Twelve people were injured this week in Houston County when lightning struck at an outdoor middle school football game. One adult is in critical condition. Lightning struck while crowds were evacuating the stands.

As school has resumed, outdoor athletic events are taking place during what has been an excessive storm season. When storms threaten, school officials and coaches must not let their desire to compete in the sport override crowd and player safety. 

Each year many people are killed or injured due to misinformation and inappropriate conduct during thunderstorms. Lightning casualties have increased at sporting events and for children of school age. Most of this trend is related to outdoor sporting activities. Hence, schools and other sports organizations need to develop specific policies for lightning safety at sports events.

In 1998 the Lightning Safety Group developed guidelines for lightning safety.  These guidelines have been adopted by the National Athletic Trainers Association.

Basic Facts about Lightning Dangers:

1.      All thunderstorms produce lightning and are dangerous. Every year lightning kills more people than hurricanes or tornados.

2.      Lightning often strikes outside the area of heavy rain. Many deaths occur ahead of storms because people wait too long before seeking shelter; or people return outside too quickly after a storm passes.

3.      If you hear thunder, you are in immediate threat of being struck by lightning.

4.      Lightning strikes leave many victims with permanent disabilities.

How to Avoid Lightning Dangers:

1.                  Schools and outdoor recreation leagues should have a lightning safety plan; and the plan should be executed without exception.

2.                  If thunderstorms are forecast, consider postponing the event;

3.                  Monitor the weather for clues of impending dangers, such as darkening skies, increasing wind, thunder or flashes of lightning; 

4.                  At the sound of thunder, crowds should move inside a substantial building. Crowds should stay away from sheds, open shelters, dugouts, bleachers or stands. If no building is available, enter a hard-topped metal vehicle with the windows closed.

What to Do If You Cannot Get to a Safe Place:

1.      Avoid open areas and stay away from tall trees, utility poles and towers;

2.      Stay away from metal bleachers, backstops and fences. Lightning can pass long distances through metal;

3.      Spread out as this reduces the risk of multiple injuries.

4.      If outside, crouch down on the balls of your feet, cover your ears, and bend your head down; attempt to make yourself as small as possible while having limited contact with the ground.

How Lightning Injures People

People are injured by lightning strikes either through

1.      A direct strike to the body (3-5% of injuries)

2.      Side splash from another object struck by lightning (30% of injuries)

3.      Contact voltage from touching an object that is struck (1-2% of injuries)

4.      Ground current effect as the energy is spread out across the surface (40-50% of injuries)

5.      An upward leader that does not connect with a downward leader (20-25% of injuries)

Lightning strikes are primarily a neurological injury that affect all three components of the central nervous system: central, autonomic and peripheral. 

Take precaution when you are attending a sporting event and insist that schools and athletic leagues have a lightning safety policy in place for your child. Often the greatest dangers arise from those risks we fail to appreciate.

If your school or organization fails to have a policy or fails to provide necessary precautions for its student athletes or its crowd during a thunderstorm, then the school may have liability if someone is injured. 

Our law firm can provide excellent advice for those of you who may be facing catastrophic injuries as a result of a weather-related incident. Contact the law firm of Robert N. Katz for a free, private consultation.  

Posted By Lisa Siegel In School Liability | 0 Comments Permalink