DUI Accidents & Dram Shop

Published on: December 6, 2013

Georgia State Agencies Urge Safe Travel over Holidays

The year’s busiest travel season has begun, and a number of Georgia state agencies are joining hands to educate motorists about the need to drive safely during the holidays. The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and the Georgia State Patrol are encouraging motorists to avoid speeding and distractions, and concentrate on getting to their destination safely.

Just before Thanksgiving and New Year’s day, we see the heaviest amount of traffic on GA roadways.Not surprisingly, the accident, injury and fatality rate is also very high during these weeks. Every year, the Georgia State Patrol calls attention to the need to reduce speed, eliminate distractions at the wheel, and avoid driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. These three factors account for a majority of all traffic accident fatalities that occur during the holiday season.

It is important to remember that many motorists over the holiday season are in a hurry to finish their shopping, meet up with friends, and take part in other activities. Many of these motorists will be driving at excessive speeds, and even if you don’t plan to drive at high speeds, know that there will be many speeding motorists on the road this holiday season. While you can’t do anything to change other motorists’ driving habits, you can increase your chances of being safe and reduce the risk of a fatal accident by making sure that you and everybody else in your car is safely buckled-up.

Published on: January 22, 2013

National Safety Organization Ranks Georgia Highways

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

National safety organization, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, recently released its 2013 Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws, which rates states on how they performed on the enactment of 15 basic traffic safety laws.The laws include everything from text messaging bans, to graduated driver’s licensing programs for teen drivers.While these types of reports don’t do much to help accident victims, our Atlanta car accident attorneys believe there is value in reviewing the results and how our state’s legislature is performing.

AHAS ranked all 50 states and the District of Colombia.The bad news seems to be that many states have regressed as far as passing important and effective highway safety laws are concerned.In 2011, 16 safety laws were passed by states, while 22 laws were passed in 2010.However, in 2012, states passed just 10 highway safety laws.

The report was based on whether states had enacted important traffic safety laws, including those related to seatbelts, booster seats, motorcycle helmets, driving requirements for teenage drivers, driving while impaired, and laws that ban texting while driving for all motorists.States were given 3 color-based ratings – green, yellow or red.Green denoted the best performance, and indicated that the state has significantly advanced towards adoption of all recommended highway safety laws.Yellow indicates a state that is working towards enacting many of these laws, but still has a lot of work to do.However, a classification of red indicates that a state is dangerously behind in the adoption of key traffic safety laws that can keep motorists safe.

Published on: November 6, 2012

Depression, Anxiety Drugs Can Increase Potential for Car Accident

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A recent study found that certain common prescription drugs used to treat conditions like depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders can actually increase the risk of car accidents.

According to the study, which was published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, an individual’s risk of a car accident may increase if he takes medications that are used to treat these conditions.In fact, the links between these medications and an increased risk of car accidents is strong enough for researchers to warn doctors that they should alert patients who are taking these medications not to drive after taking them.

The researchers specifically focused on on psychotropic drugs that are often used to treat depression and anxiety.These drugs can alter the way the brain functions.Ultimately, the side effects of the drug can impair the person’s ability to control a vehicle.

Published on: February 5, 2012

GOHS App to Help Prevent Drunk Driving Car Accidents in Georgia

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Getting home safe when you are under the influence of alcohol should be much easier for Atlanta motorists.The Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety has released a smartphone app that is meant to help drivers find a sober ride home after their New Year’s celebrations. Some of the worst auto accidents seen in the office of a personal injury lawyer involve drunk drivers. Inevitably, these car accidents result in the most serious types of personal injury and very often involve a wrongful death.

The New Year’s Eve holidays typically see large numbers of serious and fatal accidents involving intoxicated motorists.The alcohol flows freely over New Year’s, and according to some statistics, more drunk driving take place during this holiday than any other holiday of the year.This year, the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety issued technology to reach out to motorists, and help them get a safe ride home.

The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety collaborated with a number of safety partners to compile a list of sober ride programs that intoxicated motorists were able to access to make sure that they reach home safe on New Year’s.The list of programs was compiled and made available as a smartphone application.The application is called Drive Sober Georgia.You can still download the application on your iPhone or Android phones.

Published on: January 17, 2012

Even As Car Accident Wrongful Deaths Drop, Increase in Pedestrian Wrongful Deaths

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

In 2010, there was a record drop in auto accident deaths from the previous year.However, the number of people dying in pedestrian accidents actually increased.

Last year, 32,885 people died in auto accidents across the United States.That was a drop of 2.9% from 2009.These were the lowest traffic accident death numbers on record since 1949.These accident fatality numbers have declined even as the number of miles being driven by American motorists increased in 2010.In fact, there was a drop in almost all categories of car accident deaths last year, including drunk driving accidents.

However, pedestrians were not safer in 2010.Pedestrian accident deaths actually increased last year by about 4.2% from 2009.Further, the number of persons who suffered a personal injury in pedestrian accidents in the United States increased by a staggering 19 %.Overall, more than 70,000 pedestrians were injured in accidents last year.That increase is puzzling considering that it comes after 4 straight years of declining pedestrian accident death numbers in the US.

Published on: December 27, 2011

School Bus DUI Incident Underscores Bus Safety Challenges

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A school bus driver who was caught driving under the influence in another state underscores to Atlanta bus accident lawyers the challenges involved in keeping children safe on school buses. Importantly, school districts must be extremely diligent in hiring bus qualified drivers or they risk serious injuries to children and claims for negligent hiring and retention. A New Jersey school bus driver was arrested on charges of driving under the influence. That on its own may not have been a media- worthy event, except for the fact that it was the children on the school bus who called and informed their parents about the driver’s intoxicated behavior.

Parents received calls from their children on the bus, who noted that their driver was driving erratically and was dozing off at the wheel. The frantic parents called the school, and school authorities got in touch with the police. The driver, Carole Crockett was later arrested. She has been charged with DUI with a minor, endangering the welfare of a child, disorderly conduct and a number of other charges.

Police conducted breath tests, and found that Crockett registered at a startling .25% on the test. She is a commercial bus driver, and therefore, her maximum allowed BAC level is .04%, compared to the .08% that is allowed for other motorists. On a side note, this is one instance where Atlanta car accident lawyersare really glad that the children on the school bus happened to have their cell phones with them and used them. With a BAC concentration of .25%, it’s highly likely that this driver would have caused an accident.

Published on: December 16, 2011

Wrongful Death of Police Officer in DeKalb County Wrong Way Driving Car Accident

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

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.

Published on: December 5, 2011

Police Suspect Drunk Driving in Metro Atlanta Wrong Way Car Accident

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A driver alleged to have been driving in the wrong direction has been critically injured in an auto accident northeast of Atlanta. The car accident occurred on Interstate-85 when a motorist driving a Ford Explorer began driving south in the northbound lanes of interstate-85.At some point, the female motorist struck a tractor-trailer, and then hit another commercial truck and a van.The impact caused the motorist to be ejected from the Ford Explorer, and she sustained critical injuries.No other people were injured in this accident.Police believe that alcohol was a factor here, and that the woman was driving under the influence. As all personal injury attorneys know, if a car accident involves a serious personal injury, alcohol is very likely involved.

According to azcentral.com, in the year 2009, 1,772 people died in accidents involving the wrong way driver.In all these accidents, a driver drove on the wrong side of the road, or towards oncoming traffic.2009 had the highest number of wrong way driving deaths in five years.

The national focus on wrong way driving and its lethal impact spiked after a New York accident blamed on a wrong way driver killed eight people.In July 2009, a Long Island resident was driving her SUV in the opposite direction, when her vehicle crashed into an oncoming car.The woman and four children in her car died in the accident.The three occupants of the car also died.It was later found that the woman had been driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs.She had a large number of drinks and had used marijuana before she began driving that day.

Published on: November 17, 2011

High Risk of Georgia Drunk Driving Accidents over Halloween

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Vampires and ghouls were not the only scary beings on the streets this past Halloween.Both pedestrian trick-or-treaters and motorists were at a high risk of car accidents involving intoxicated drivers on Halloween.The Governors Highway Safety Association warned of an increase in accidents involving drunk drivers in Atlanta over the holiday.

The Governors Highway Safety Association joined state and local highway safety agencies to crack down on drunk drivers.Local law enforcement officers ran an intensified campaign aimed at pulling drunk drivers off the streets before they caused an accident, and injure or kill someone. Drunk driving accidents result in a significant number of serious personal injuries and wrongful deaths.

According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2009, close to 50% of auto accident fatalities that occurred on Halloween night involved a drunk motorist.In these cases, the motorist had a blood-alcohol concentration of .08% or higher. Every year, the period between 6 PM on October 31 and 5:59 AM on November 1 is a highly dangerous time for pedestrians, motorcyclists and drivers in Atlanta.

Published on: October 28, 2011

Court Holds Georgia Club Liable for Deadly Drunk Driving Accident

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A Georgia strip club has been ordered to pay $1.75 million in damages to the family of a mother who was killed in a wrong-way crash in 2008. This past Thursday, a jury found that the club negligently over-served the drunk driver alcohol shortly before the accident. Liability of this nature falls under Georgia’s dram shop law. It was an accident that claimed his life and the lives of two others, including a young mother, Fatima Bird. While it was never determined exactly how many drinks the club patron had, reports show his blood alcohol level was nearly five times the legal limit. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution quotes attorney Trent Speckhals, of Speckhals Law, who goes so far as to say, “It’s not like someone would be unnoticeable in that condition.” Other experienced Atlanta car accident attorneys are likely to agree. With a BAC of nearly .4, there had to have been a notable loss of control over both cognitive and physical functions, which would have been obvious to the average passerby, much less to a waitress or staff members who had contact with the driver throughout the duration of his club visit.

This case again brings attention to the debate of whether “dram shops” should be held liable for failing to “take the keys” from patrons who appear to be intoxicated or have consumed one too many alcoholic beverages. And again, the jury’s response to this question seems to be a resounding yes. Originally, the term “dram shop” referred to colonial times when taverns used units of liquid measurement called drams to serve alcohol. Today, dram shop liability in Georgia means that that bars, taverns, liquor stores, and other businesses (including grocery and convenience stores) that purvey alcoholic beverages may be held liable for the damages caused by their patrons.

The Dram Shop Act and similar laws are meant to curb instances of selling alcohol to minors and to individuals who are visibly intoxicated. It appears to be a broad and far-reaching theory that reaches even into the recesses of private homes as even owners or social hosts who serve alcohol to guests at a private party, have a responsibility to avoid serving alcoholic beverages to a person who is visibly intoxicated.