Georgia Injury Law Blog

Published on: December 3, 2007

Wrongful Death Lawsuit Gets Family Crosswise

December 3, 2007

Last week the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s front-page article examined the complex legal issues that arise when two family members are involved in a single car collision.Sisters Yvonne Woods and Janice Carroll were traveling cross-country in Janice’s SUV.While driving her sister’s vehicle, Yvonne fell asleep.The SUV left the road and crashed.Yvonne was killed in the accident and Janice was injured.

The AJC article focused on the outrage from Yvonne’s family when Yvonne’ eldest daughter (probably the executor of the estate) was served with a personal injury lawsuit filed by Aunt Janice.Apparently, the family had no idea that Aunt Janice was suing the estate for her injuries.Further, the family was shocked that Aunt Janice would sue when her sister had been doing her a favor (helping her drive cross-country) when she was killed.

Published on: November 26, 2007

Medical Reimbursement by Wal-Mart Leaves Employee Destitute

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

November 26, 2007

Last week, the Wall Street Journal’s (subscription required) front-page story explained insurance subrogation through its personal effect on Wal-mart employee, Deborah Shank.Fifty-two year old Shank worked as a night clerk at Wal-mart for years in order to care for her three sons during the day.Seven years ago while shopping at a yard sale, Shank was hit by a semi tractor-trailer, leaving her paralyzed and brain damaged for life.

Shank’s family sought legal help and eventually obtained a one million dollar settlement, which were the limits of the defendant’s liability insurance policy.With the settlement, the Shanks paid their attorneys, paid off some debts and purchased a wheelchair accessible home for Mrs. Shank.They placed the remaining $417,000.00 in a special trust to care for her at home long term.

Published on: November 20, 2007

Stand Your Ground Laws Allowed In Georgia

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

November 20, 2007

ABC News recently reported on an incident in Pasadena, Texas last week and captured on a 911 tape where zealous gun owner, Joe Horn, noticed his neighbor’s home was being burglarized.Relying on the Texas “Stand Your Ground” law, the neighbor ran next door, shot and killed the two burglars despite pleas for patience from the 911 operator.

In 2006, the Georgia legislature with Senate Bill 396 enacted a “Stand Your Ground” law similar to the one in Texas. O.C.G.A. sections 16-3-2 and 51-11-1 provide that a person has the right to meet force with force, including deadly force, in defense of one’s self, one’s home or other property.These laws provide immunity from both prosecution and civil tort actions.Sixteen other states have enacted similar legislation, expanding the legal boundaries of self-defense that previously required a duty to retreat.

Published on: November 12, 2007

Sleeping Truck Drivers Cause Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

November 11, 2007

Last week the Center for Disease Control (CDC) celebrated Drowsy Driver Prevention Week.Interestingly, in a poll conducted as part of their education campaign, 47 percent of commercial truck drivers admitted to having fallen asleep while driving a truck during some point in their career.

In a study conducted of the sleep patterns of long haul truck drivers and printed in the New England Journal of Medicine, drivers obtained between 4 and 5 hours of verifiable sleep during the course of driving ten-hour days in a five-day period.Most people need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night.Thus, fatigue and sleep deprivation constitute significant safety issues for long haul truck drivers.

Published on: October 29, 2007

Cell Phone Use Causes Auto Accident

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

October 29, 2007

Recently, the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed a grant of summary judgment to the defendant in an interesting case involving the use of a cell phone by an employee enroute to work.In Hunter vs. Modern Continental Construction Company, the employee shift supervisor was enroute to work when he was involved in a car accident with the plaintiff.Plaintiff sought to bring her lawsuit against not only the driver/supervisor, but his employer as well.

The employer moved for summary judgment (a dismissal of the case before it gets to trial) on the basis of established case law that driving to and from work is an act for the employee’s own purposes and not in pursuit of the employer’s business.

Published on: October 16, 2007

Punitive Damages

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

October 16, 2007

When a drunk driver causes an accident and someone is injured, the drunk driver may be liable for more than just the plaintiff’s injuries and property damage. Georgia juries are allowed to “fine” the defendant by awarding punitive damages. Punitive damages not only punish the defendant for his or her egregious conduct, but they are also intended to discourage this type of behavior in the future.

Last year in Georgia over four hundred automobile accident fatalites were the result of drunk drivers. Drunk driving fatalities accounted for over twenty-seven percent of all the accident fatalities. Moreover, last year drunk driving fatalities increased over seven percent from the year 2005. In Georgia, a driver is considered to be driving under the influence of alcohol if his blood alcohol content (BAC) registers .08 or above.

Published on: October 8, 2007

Bicycle Safety

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

In Atlanta and other major cities, an innovative group known as "Critical Mass" has organized to promote riding bicycles among city streets used primarily by motor vehicles. Critical Mass riders seek to promote enthusiasm for bike riding in what has become a “car culture.” Critical Mass hosts monthly Friday rides.

The Atlanta Bicycle Campaign, another bicycle activist group, hosts an annual Share the Road event that promotes safe riding by cyclists on the Atlanta streets. The event hosts an annual ride and raises money to promotes cycling safety on Atlanta streets.

However, cycling in Atlanta is not a smooth ride. In 2001 Bicycling Magazine named Atlanta as the worst city for riding a bike. While Atlanta has the right weather and plenty of bike advocacy groups, the local roads have very few bike lanes. Plus urban sprawl and excessive traffic make riding in Atlanta less than hospitable.

Published on: October 4, 2007

Faulty Seatbelts and Air Bags

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

In Georgia there is a doctrine known as Res Ipsa Loquitur, which translated means “the thing speaks for itself.” Some things are so manifestly the result of someone’s negligence that a jury can infer negligence on the part of the defendant. In other words, the evidence proves the point. For example, a scalpel left in the stomach of a surgery patient infers the negligence of the doctor. Also, a barrel of flour falling out a second story window infers the shopkeeper’s negligence.When applied, this doctrine creates an inference of negligence that the defendant must affirmatively disprove.

To apply this doctrine in a negligence case, the plaintiff must usually show:

That harm would not have occurred without someone’s negligence;

Published on: October 2, 2007

Sovereign Immunity

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

This week the Georgia Court of Appeals threw out a 5.1 million dollar jury verdict against DeKalb County for the wrongful death of a twenty-one year old probationer when he fell off the back of a county garbage truck which he was assigned as part of his community service work. The reason the county prevailed as a matter of law is because of a doctrine known as “Sovereign Immunity” or as we used to call it in law school – “It’s Good to be the King.”

Sovereign immunity originated from English common law which ruled that since the King made the law, he could not be subject to the law. The practical reality that resulted from this was that the government cannot not be sued for negligence. This is not to say that the government was never negligent, but rather if you happened to be injured while struck by a passing fire truck, you could not sue the county that owned the fire truck.

Government lawyers often contend that the government provides services that no one else would risk doing – such as locking up prisoners, chasing criminals, putting out house fires, and stopping traffic. In exchange for these valuable civic duties, the government should not be subsequently liable if things go awry will carrying out these duties. Also, governments argue that they must protect limited government dollars that are collected from taxpayers.

Published on: September 19, 2007

Uninsured Motorist Coverage for Car Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The state of Georgia requires all motor vehicle owners to secure minimum liability insurance coverage for their vehicles.This insurance provides for payment for damages in the event the other driver suffers a personal injury in the car accident.However, there is no requirement that motor vehicle owners secure uninsured motorist coverage to pay for their damages if the other driver is at fault and they have suffered a severe personal injury in the auto accident.See Jenkins & Miller Georgia Automobile Insurance Law (2007 ed.) 29:3.

Uninsured motorist coverage has aptly been called “insurance against lack of insurance”.See Jenkins & Miller Georgia Automobile Insurance Law (2007 ed.) 29:1.It is available and recoverable only when the fault causing the car accident is found to be that of the uninsured or underinsured vehicle’s driver.Id.It is an important form of insurance since it allows the injured person to recover their damages.

The purpose of UM coverage “is to place the injured insured in the same position as if the offending uninsured motorist were covered with general liability insurance.”Another way of explaining the purpose of UM coverage is that coverage is available to protect innocent injured drivers against irresponsible drivers who fail to secure coverage for auto accidents.The coverage is not available for the benefit of the irresponsible, but for those injured or caused to incur damages by the uninsured’s negligence.