Georgia Injury Law Blog

Published on: April 17, 2024

Focus on Preventing Distracted Driving Auto Accidents in April

The month of April is designated as Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and national as well as Georgia transportation agencies will pay special attention to raising awareness about the dangers of driving while not focusing on the road, in the weeks ahead. Distracted driving is a significant cause of car accidents, personal injuries and wrongful deaths.

Distractions while driving can include a number of activities that take your attention away from the task of driving. These activities can include commonly known ones involving the use of electronic devices while driving, such as cell phones, tablets and other electronic equipment in your vehicle. The kind of distractions that you experience as you are using your cell phone to make or receive phone calls or text messages while driving can really impact your ability to drive safely and increase your risks of being involved in a car accident.

However, electronic distractions are not the only ones that plague Atlanta motorists. Everyday, thousands of American drivers are distracted because they are applying makeup, snacking, drinking, interacting with passengers in the car, and doing a number of other activities that take their focus and concentration away from the task of driving.

Published on: April 15, 2024

Partial Automated Driving Systems May not help Prevent Distracted Driving Car Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that partially automated driving systems in several vehicles are not very effective in helping prevent distracted driving. In fact, automated driving systems are likely to increase distracted driving auto accidents.

Partial automated driving systems are present in several automobiles these days. These are not technically self -driven cars, although manufacturers sometimes do position these as self -driven vehicles. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, its researchers analyzed a number of vehicles manufactured by major automakers, including BMW, and found that many of these systems fail at protecting motorists against distractions or helping them focus on the road.

Many motorists prefer partial autonomous systems because they believe these make driving easier. These systems have a few safety features that are automated, but drivers are responsible for tackling many of the routine tasks involved in driving. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety analyzed vehicles manufactured by BMW, Mercedes Benz, Ford and General Motors, and found specific challenges with the way the partial automated systems in these vehicles failed to address problems involving driver distraction. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study found that while many of the systems do have some safeguards in place to protect drivers, these safeguards are not robust enough to help prevent car accidents.

Published on: April 12, 2024

Spinal Injury Linked to Greater Risk of Heart Disease

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Persons who have suffered a spinal injury in car accidents or motorcycle accidents are at a much higher risk of suffering heart disease down the line.

That information comes from a study conducted in Korea where researchers analyzed data on more than 5,000 patients who had suffered lumbar, cervical or thoracic spinal injury. They were looking at how many of these spinal injury survivors developed heart conditions including myocardial infarction, heart failure and atrial fibrillation. They found that persons who had suffered lumbar and cervical spinal injury had a greater risk of myocardial infarctions and heart failure. The rates were slightly higher among those persons who had suffered severe disability as a result of their spinal injury.

The researchers believe that one of the reasons for this is the fact that spinal injury survivors have very limited mobility and ability to exercise. This causes the heart muscles to become weak due to the lack of exercise. The researchers also believe that it is important for doctors treating a person with spinal injury to factor in the increased risk of cardiac disease, including myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation and heart failure. It is important for spinal cord injury survivors and their families and caretakers to understand the higher risk of these specific heart conditions as a result of the injury. More education and awareness is needed, and greater efforts must be put into patient counselling.

Published on: April 9, 2024

Female Car Accident Victims More Likely to Go into Shock After Crash

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

New research provides yet more evidence that the bodies of women and men react differently to car accidents. According to a new study, women who have been involved in a car accident are more likely to suffer from shock after the crash.

Several studies in the past have established the different ways in which male and female bodies respond to the trauma of a car accident. Overall, while men are more likely to be involved in auto accidents, women are much more likely to suffer personal injuries in a car accident, with the rate being approximately 73% higher than for males. They are also much more likely to suffer fatal injuries in an accident. Women are much more likely to suffer certain types of injuries compared to men in auto accidents. For instance, they are much more likely to suffer from lower body injuries or leg injuries compared to men.

A new study finds that women are also much more likely to go into shock after a car accident even when their personal injuries are not as severe compared to men. The study focused on 56,000 victims of car accidents, approximately 50% of whom were women. The researchers found that even when their injuries were less severe or fewer than that of males in an accident, women were more likely to suffer symptoms of shock. While healthy adults have a shock index of between 0.5 and 0.7, the women injured in car accidents in the study displayed a shock index of greater than 1.0. A person with a shock index of 1.0 is at risk of symptoms of hemorrhagic shock including a drastic and rapid fall in blood pressure, body temperature and heartbeat, often resulting in death.

Published on: April 8, 2024

Total Eclipse Could Mean Increase in Auto Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

An analysis of traffic data from the last total solar eclipse in 2017 predicts an increase in auto accident rates during the next eclipse expected on April 8.

Astronomers have predicted a total solar eclipse on April 8. This eclipse is likely to be similar to the Great American Eclipse of 2017. According to a new study, the 2017 total solar eclipse was accompanied by an increase in the number of car accidents during the eclipse. The researchers warn that a similar surge in car accident numbers is to be expected during this eclipse as well.

Eclipses are typically more likely to be associated with eye injuries than with car accidents. However, the researchers stress that it is not the reduced visibility during the eclipse that causes an increase in car accidents. Rather, it is in the hours soon after the eclipse when people are traveling back home from the site of observation when accidents are more likely to occur.

Published on: April 4, 2024

Feds and States Swap Notes on Car Accident Prevention

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Federal transportation officials as well as state officials met in the nation’s capital recently to discuss ways to reduce car accident wrongful deaths.

Most states were represented at the gathering with 17 states declining to participate, and out of these, 10 of those states had traffic accident death rates that were higher than the national average in 2021. For most transportation officials, the past couple of years have been frustrating to say the least. After several decades of declining traffic accident deaths, the years since the pandemic have actually seen traffic accident deaths inching upwards once again. There have been increases reported in almost every category of accidents, from pedestrian accidents to speed – related accidents and distracted driving – related accidents. Clearly, new challenges have emerged since the pandemic and fresh strategies are required to deal with these.

Some states reported at the conference that they have successfully limited the impact of poor driving on accident numbers through very simple steps. These steps have involved the use of simple techniques, like rumble strips on highways as well as reflective tape on stop signs in order to help motorists pay stronger attention to the task of driving. Some states are investing in corridors for pedestrians. Others have increased fines on speeding while some states have focused on construction work zone safety with a specific focus on protecting construction workers in these dangerous zones. Many of these initiatives have met with great success, and provide a blueprint for other states to follow these efforts.

Published on: April 1, 2024

Nation Crosses Four Million Car Accident Death Toll

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The United States recently crossed a painful milestone as it recorded 4 million car accident wrongful deaths since the first fatality was recorded in 1899.

The milestone is especially poignant because it comes as transportation authorities are grappling with the problem of increasing car accident deaths across the country, especially since the pandemic. While there has been a slight progress in helping reverse that trend, car accident deaths, especially those related to distracted driving and speeding have simply skyrocketed over the past 2 years, undoing much of the progress that has been made in this field over the past decade.

The Governor’s Highway Safety Association is calling for better implementation of the National Roadways Safety Strategy , safer infrastructure, better protection for pedestrians and bicyclists, and stronger laws against distracted driving and drunk driving, as well as efficient after – accident care as the key to helping reduce the number of people being killed in these very preventable car accidents every year.

Published on: March 28, 2024

Distracted Driving Increased During the Pandemic

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Several studies have confirmed that speeding rates increased during the pandemic, but disturbing new data from a mobile analytics company finds that American motorists have also been engaging in other types of dangerous behaviors at higher rates since the pandemic.

New data by Cambridge Mobile Telematics, a company that offers apps that can be downloaded to lower motorist insurance rates finds that the rates of distracted driving actually increased during the pandemic. What is worse is that those distracted driving rates have actually continued even after the pandemic. The Cambridge apps that can be downloaded by drivers measure a number of parameters, including the actions involved in holding a phone and interacting with an unlocked screen while driving.

The analysis found that there was an increase in the rates of both interaction with an unlocked screen, as well as phone motion by as much as 20% between 2020 and 2022. For instance, the company states that in 2022, drivers used their phones for these activities on close to 60% of all their trips. These are alarming figures, and should be worrying to any traffic safety expert. Far from cutting down on distracted driving behaviors like using cell phones while driving, American motorists are actually engaging with their phones even more than ever before, placing them at risk of being involved in car accidents. Most distracted driving behaviors occur when the car is at 50 miles per hour.

Published on: March 25, 2024

Brain Injury After a Car Accident Could Increase Risk of Cancer

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Persons who have suffered a brain injury in an auto accident may be at a higher risk of developing brain cancer later in life. This the shocking finding of a new study which could have a significant impact on personal injury claims.

A new study that was conducted on military vets finds that a brain injury significantly increases the risk of brain cancer. The study focused on more than 1.9 million vets, and the results are disturbing. Brain cancer is a relatively rare cancer, and only one percent of the general population has the risk of suffering from this disease. However, among veterans who have suffered a brain injury, the risk of developing malignant cancer is as much as 90% higher than in the general population. Additionally, in those cases in which the injury has resulted in penetration of the skull, victims were found to have a three times higher risk of suffering brain cancer.

The researchers take pains to point out that while the study has been conducted on veterans, and that while the exact same results may not be seen in the civilian population, more severe or penetrative brain injury is likely to lead to a higher risk of brain cancer among civilians as well.

Published on: March 23, 2024

Georgia Study will Probe Seat Belt Use, Distracted Driving Rates

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Emory University will kick off a study later this year that will focus on the rates of seatbelt use as well as distracted driving rates among motorists in Georgia. The study is extremely important because the failure use a seatbelt and distracted driving account for a significant number of the personal injuries and wrongful deaths suffered in car accidents.

The study is courtesy state funding for the Injury Prevention Research Center at Emory. The Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety has announced a grant of more than $296,000 for the division. The money will be used to better understand the kind of factors that affect driving behaviors among motorists in Georgia. The Injury Prevention Research Center plans to send trained observers to more than 400 sites across the state, and study factors like gender and age group that affect rash driving behaviors.

The Emory researchers will specifically focus on seatbelt usage rates across Georgia. This is a particular area of concern for Georgia transportation authorities. Seatbelt usage rates across the state have been on a steady decline over the last couple of years. Georgia transportation authorities recorded seatbelt usage rates of 89.3% in 2022, and these rates had dropped to 87.6% last year.