Atlanta Injury Lawyer Blog

A new study by the American Association for Justice shows that 28,000 motor carrier companies, operating more the 200,000 trucks on American roadways, have violated federal safety regulations. Literally hundreds of Georgia trucking companies were listed as having safety violations. That's mind-boggling, isn't it? And scary.

There is no question that the motoring Georgia public takes the brunt of these intentional violations. If you have the misfortune of being involved in a collision with a tractor-trailer or other large commercial truck, you are likely to sustain some pretty serious bodily injuries. Another thing that disturbs me about Georgia law is that currently those tractor-trailers that travel only within the state limits of Georgia are required to carry only $100,000.00 in liability insurance, compared to interstate tractor-trailers, which are required to carry $750,000.00. Georgia is way behind on this issue. The reality is that a tractor-trailer that is intrastate (traveling only inside Georgia) is just as likely to kill or maim you in a collision as is an interstate (traveling from state to state) tractor-trailer. I hope I will be able to make some progress with the Georgia General Assembly next session on this issue.

Meanwhile, do your best to stay away from tractor-trailers while driving. Keep a lane in between your car and the truck. I once an an accident reconstructionist tell me never to drive side by side with a tractor-trailer and just let them go on down the road and stay clear of them. Wise advise from someone who, like me, had seen the end results of too many tractor-trailer accidents.

I saw this new PSA on the hazards of texting while driving on The Today Show this morning. As a mother of a teenager about to get his driver's permit, I intend to make him watch it. You can watch it, too, but, WARNING: it is extremely graphic. It graphically shows the wreck caused by a teenage driver who was texting while driving three of her friends. A terrible collision occurs and although she survives, she has killed her three best friends. Unfortunately, I have seen this scenario all too often in my plaintiff's personal injury practice in Atlanta.

For my regular readers, you'll know it has been somewhat of a crusade for me to advocate the passing of laws against driving while texting. The newest studies are startling. Recent studies show that texting while driving may be as dangerous and lethal as drunken driving. Up to a quarter of the estimated 40,000 vehicle fatalities in the U.S. annually may be traced back to distracted drivers texting. A recent Virginia Tech study found that texting drivers are 23 times more likely to be involved in a collision than nontexters. And although the AAA reports 95 percent of drivers polled acknowledge texting while driving is dangerous, 21 percent of them have done it recently anyway.

Will the Georgia Legislature take the next available opportunity in January 2010 to outlaw texting while driving? Such a law could save thousands of lives. I don't know what the Georgia General Assembly will do, but for now, concerned parents should have their teen drivers watch this video and think twice about texting while driving.

My heart is heavy and sad this morning after hearing the news that the little six year old girl who was struck by an SUV driver as she was exiting a MARTA bus died yesterday due to internal injuries suffered in this horrible collision. The driver of the SUV has now turned himself in this morning to police and faces vehicular homicide charges. The SUV driver violated the Georgia Rules of the Road by crossing a double yellow line when he struck the little girl. A Clarkston police officer who was parked on the corner of Ponce de Leon Avenue saw the wreck. He had just written tickets to six other drivers for passing on the double yellow line and was just about to go after this particular SUV driver when the driver hit the little girl.

This is a tragedy beyond all proportions. The family had been in Atlanta only for a few days having immigrated here from Nepal. She died on what would have been her first day of school at Indian Creek Elementary School. The Clarkston police chief said the driver who hit the little girl had a lengthy history of disobeying the rules of the road and that he "has no regard for the law."

So what is wrong with Atlanta drivers? Many obviously ignore the rules of the road, as evidenced not only by this horrible collision but also by the fact that the police officer there had already written six tickets for the same violation just moments earlier. Atlanta is particularly dangerous for pedestrians. My law office is at the corner of Peachtree Street and 15th Street in Midtown, and I personally see numerous drivers run the red light at the intersection every day, and yet nothing is ever done about it. One day someone is going to get killed at that intersection, and I wonder then whether anything will be done about it. Should there be stiffer penalities? Should drivers be required to take driving tests periodically? For now, Atlanta drivers should just take a collective deep breath, calm down and drive more slowly. Maybe if everyone is not in such a big hurry, they will be able to think about what the Georgia Rules of the Road require of them and maybe they'll actually follow them. Until then, Georgia families are going to face more tragedies like this one.