Atlanta motorists

Published on: August 3, 2021

Back to School Safety Tips For Atlanta Motorists

With many school districts across Georgia, including in the metro Atlanta region, beginning in-person learning over the next few weeks, it is important for schools, students and parents to keep essential safety tips in mind.

Most school districts across Georgia have announced that they will begin in-person learning soon, and some school districts have actually already begun welcoming students back to school.

If you are a parent, you should be aware of some essential safety precautions. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is asking parents to take extra care while picking up and dropping their children to school. Look out for child pedestrians around the school. Look out school buses that may be very busy in the school zone. Avoid speeding within a school zone. Stick to safe speed limits in these areas and be mindful of the reduced speed limits during school hours. Be additionally careful when you are around a crosswalk. Do not block pedestrians near a crosswalk or force them to walk around your car. Look out for crossing guards or school patrol officers waiting for you to stop.

Published on: November 12, 2020

Requiring Seat Belts for All will Reduce Traffic Accident Deaths in Atlanta

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is kick-starting its annual seat belt enforcement campaign, even as a bill that would require all occupants of a car in Georgia to be buckled in remains pending.

The current bill pending in the Senate would require that all occupants of a vehicle, including any adults in the back seat, remain buckled while the car is in motion. This bill was introduced in 2019, and has a lot of support from lawmakers who believe that it is important for all occupants in a car to receive equal protection against injuries and the possible risk of death in an accident. If this bill is ultimately be passed and becomes law, Georgia will join the list of states that now require all motorists and passengers to be buckled in while driving, without exception.

Currently, the law in Georgia requires only front seat passengers to wear seat belts. The law applies only to minor back seat passengers below the age of 17. Adult passengers in the back seat are exempt from the law.

Published on: October 27, 2020

Pedestrian Safety Concerns on Atlanta Highway

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The Governor’s Highway Safety Association marked October as National Pedestrian Safety Month, even as pedestrian safety concerns loom in Atlanta.

Atlanta residents who frequently use Hollowell Parkway, a stretch of state highway that expands from Northside Drive to I-185 have been raising concerns about several pedestrian accidents in the area. There are no pedestrian crossings on this approximately one-mile stretch of Hollowell Parkway. This means that pedestrians are put to great risk when they have to cross the street. As a result, there have been a number of accidents in the area.

Hollowell Parkway is a very busy highway, that is used very often by trucks. The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition calls this stretch one of the most dangerous roads in Atlanta. According to law enforcement, since 2016 alone, there have been as many as 7 pedestrian accidents on the stretch of road. During the same time, there have been 40 pedestrian injuries occurring on Hollowell Parkway.

Published on: August 21, 2014

Atlanta Is One of the Most Dangerous Areas for Pedestrians

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Atlanta has once again received the dubious distinction of being one of the most dangerous and risky cities for pedestrians in the United States. This recent designation came via the Dangerous by Design report, which spotlights cities that pose the highest risk of injuries and accidents to pedestrians.

The report is compiled by Smart Growth America, which formulated a Pedestrian Danger Index measure for all major cities in the country. When cities and states were compared, Florida was found to be the most dangerous state, while Orlando was found to be the most dangerous city for pedestrians in the country.

The Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta region comes in at number eight on the list, with 839 fatalities occurring between 2003 and 2012. The region had a Pedestrian Danger Index of 119.4. Atlanta fared quite well, however, when compared to Orlando’s 244.3 Pedestrian Danger Index. But the rating clearly indicates that there are a lot of changes needed to help keep pedestrians safer in our city.

Published on: July 27, 2014

Atlanta Bike Share Program Needs to Consider the Helmet Factor

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Atlanta is set to soon launch its very first bike share program following cities across the country, including New York City, that already have their own bike share programs in place. These are exciting times for bicyclists, and there is a lot of support for the bike sharing program because it will help reduce some of the congestion on Atlanta’s notoriously busy streets. However, Atlanta should take the results of a new study seriously, which finds that cities that have implemented bike share programs are actually seeing an increase in the number of head injuries.

In May of 2014, the Atlanta City Council announced that it had approved a resolution for the establishment of the bicycle share program. The vendor has already presented the proposal to launch the city’s first bike share program, and once the program is fully underway, Atlanta residents will be able to rent bicycles 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

However, the study found that the proportion of head injuries that was relative to all bicycle accident-related injuries actually spiked significantly in cities that have implemented similar programs. The occurrence of head injuries in those cities actually increased by 14%, while there was no corresponding head injury rate increase in cities that had no bike share program in place.Researchers say that the findings confirm their worst fears; cities are implementing these programs without giving proper consideration to the role of helmets in preventing injuries. It has to be noted here that the study focused on head injuries, and not brain injuries. Every head injury does not automatically lead to a brain injury, which is much more serious.

Published on: September 11, 2012

Series of Wrong Way Driving Accidents In and Around Atlanta

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The month of August saw a disturbing series of accidents caused by motorists driving the wrong way on highways and freeways in and around the metro Atlanta region.These accidents ended with catastrophic injuries and multiple fatalities.

The first accident that occurred earlier in the month involved a motorist who was driving the wrong way on Georgia 400, and crashed her car into another vehicle.The driver of the other car died in the accident.

Just a few days later, there was another wrong-way driving related accident, this one occurring in Gwinnett County.In this accident, the wrong-way driver crashed his vehicle head-on into another car on Georgia Highway 316 near Dacula.At least 2 people were critically injured in this accident, and victims had to be cut out of the damaged vehicle.

Published on: November 28, 2011

Atlanta Ranks at Number Four in Auto Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

According to data from 2009, the city of Atlanta ranks at number four in the number of auto accidents.It also ranks at number six in the number of accident-related wrongful deaths that same year.

The data which comes from the American Auto Association has no surprises for Atlanta car accident lawyers who are familiar with the auto safety culture in the city.In 2009, 498 people died in accidents in Atlanta.More than 62,000 people suffered a personal injury in car accidents in the city.

These accidents took not only a devastating personal toll, but also wreaked substantial economic damage.The metro Atlanta region suffered losses to the tune of more than $11 million in 2009 because of auto accident-related costs.Only Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York fared worse than Atlanta.The overall accident-related costs in the US totaled $299.5 billion.That’s more than three times the $97.7 billion cost of congestion.

Published on: May 31, 2011

How You Can Prevent Motorcycle Accidents in Atlanta

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Much of motorcycle safety depends on the ability of motorists to respect motorcyclists’ right.This alone would prevent many of the motorcycle accidents we see which often involve serious personal injuries or a wrongful death. The most important thing that drivers could do to prevent accidents involving motorcyclists is to acknowledge that motorcycle riders in Georgia have the very same rights that motorists do.In other words, that a motorcyclist sharing the highway with your SUV is not an outsider with no rights, but a legitimate highway user with the same rights as you.

Many accidents that Atlanta motorcycle accident lawyers come across occur because drivers fail to look out for motorcyclists, especially when they are making lane changes or entering thoroughfares.Look especially closely for motorcyclists in your mirrors during these times. Here are some basic tips for motorists.

When you are sharing the road with a motorcycle, do not try to pass the motorcycle in the same lane.

Published on: April 21, 2011

Atlanta Bicycle Accident Shows Need for Greater Motorist Awareness

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

As an Atlanta injury lawyer, a recent bicycle accident in Cobb County is once again confirming that drivers in Atlanta need to be more vigilant about watching out for bicyclists over the spring and summer. Bicycle accidents often result in the most serious types of personal injury compared to most types of accidents.

The year’s peak cycling season is here, and many Atlantans are out on their bicycles.By law, Atlanta bicyclists must bike on the road, and not on a sidewalk.That means they share the roads with motorists who must, accommodate these bikers.

Last week, an elementary school teacher was left with injuries after her bicycle was struck by a car.The impact was serious enough to break the car’s side view mirror, but the driver drove off from the scene of the accident.Fortunately, the woman did not suffered life altering injuries.What makes this accident even more ironic was that the woman had recently been elected to the Board of Directors at Bike Cobb, a bicycle safety advocacy group that lobbies for better bicycling roads and safety.On the day of the accident, in fact, the victim was on her way to her first meeting as a board director.

Published on: April 20, 2011

Rising Car Accident Wrongful Death Rates among Atlanta Baby Boomers

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Has all the focus on teen and elder drivers affected traffic safety for other groups of motorists?That’s the question that Atlanta car accident attorneys are asking this week after Edmunds.com released its analysis of car accident data.Even as the numbers of people dying in auto accidents across the country has been declining over the past decade, there has been an actual increase in the numbers of male car accident deaths in the 51 to 65 age group.

The data comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.According to the analysis, the number of male and female car accident deaths in other age groups has been steadily declining over the past few years.Even drunk driving accident deaths have declined over the past five years, helped by a lowered tolerance to intoxicated driving, and stronger enforcement.However according to the data, the number of adult males aged between 51 and 65 years killed in auto accidents, increased by almost 25% between 2000 and 2009.In comparison, car accident deaths for all male drivers during the same period of time declined by more than 20%.Even auto accident deaths for female drivers declined by about 20% during the study period.

According to the analysts, it’s not just the increase in male car accident deaths in this age group that is concerning, but also the fact that much of this increase is related to drunk driving accidents.In fact, when it comes to drunk driving accident deaths, there has been an increase in fatalities among both men and women in this age group.The number of annual DUI deaths among baby boomers increased by 37% between 2000 and 2009.During the same period of time, rates of drunk driving accident fatalities across the country dropped by almost 7%.