Atlanta Injury Lawyer Blog

Tomorrow night is New Year's Eve, a night when those who have had too much to drink from celebrating the New Year will, undoubtedly, be out on the road. This is known to be such a dangerous night to drive that a funeral home in Rome, Georgia is actually offering a free burial to anyone who dies from driving drunk tomorrow night. No joke! I can assure you the Georgia State Patrol is preparing for tomorrow night. They will have various random road blocks to check for possible DUI's and they will arrest plenty of intoxicated drivers.

December is “Drunk and Drugged Driver Awareness Month” in Georgia as holiday parties can increase the number of impaired drivers on the state’s roads. Leading into the Christmas and New Year’s weekends, Georgia State Troopers and officers with the Motor Carrier Compliance Division will concentrate on intercepting impaired drivers on the roads before they can cause a traffic crash. In what is one of the more morbid activities performed by the Georgia State Patrol, the GSP predicts during Holiday driving periods how many Georgia drivers are likely to be killed in motor vehicle accidents. For example, The State Patrol predicted 16 people would die
during the Christmas holiday weekend, which turned out to be safer than expected on Georgia roads. Twelve people were killed during the 78 hour period. Likewise, The Georgia State Patrol predicts that 16 people will be killed in wrecks over the 78 hour New Year's holiday period, which begins at 6 PM Thursday. Many of those traffic fatalities will involve drinking. Roughly one-third of the traffic deaths each year in Georgia involve an alcohol or drug impaired driver. The Georgia State Patrol has "Nighthawks" division, the Nighthawk DUI Task Force, which was recognized by the International Association of Chiefs of Police as the outstanding DUI team in the nation in 2005. The Nighthawks patrol the roads of Georgia looking to find DUI drivers and get them off our roads.

Do your part in keeping our roads safe. If you are out drinking, take a cab home. This is made easier if you have the name and telephone number of a local cab company already programmed into your cellphone. Do this before you go out tomorrow night. Another option is to call Safe Ride America. Safe Ride America is a non-profit driver for hire company. Visit them at http://saferideamerica.org/ Safe ride will drive you and your car to your home or hotel, so no worries about leaving your car in some parking lot overnight in Buckhead. A third option: stay home and celebrate with your family. Who better to bring in the New Year with than your family?

Enjoy New Year's Eve, be safe and Happy New Year to you and your family.

Posted by Robin Frazer Clark | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Motor Vehicle Accidents

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The Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled over 50 Million window blinds due to the potential for choking small children. Parents and grandparents who have blinds in their homes, in my opinion, should immediately remove them. If you want to be certain that the brand of blind you have in your home has been recalled (and there is a good chance it has) you may check the Consumer Product Safety Commission's website to confirm this.

That window blinds pose a threat of strangulation to small children has been widely known for years. Just ask the group Parents For Window Blind Safety. There are other potential strangulation hazards in every home you must be concerned with. You may remember that the young daughter of the former professional boxer, Mike Tyson, recently was killed by strangulation by a looped cord on a treadmill, in a similar manner that these window blinds strangle children.

I think the bottom line is that we cannot wait for the CPSC to act on dangers to our children. That commission simply waits too long to act. Check your home for dangerous blinds now and remove them.

Posted by Robin Frazer Clark | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Products Safety

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I am proud to announce my candidacy for the office of Secretary of the State Bar of Georgia. This is an important election because it will determine the direction the State Bar takes in the next few years. I believe my experience working with the Georgia General Assembly as President of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, and in the years since then, will greatly help the State Bar's effectiveness with the Legislature, which I believe will be crucial in the coming years.

Below is my letter announcing that I am running for Secretary that I sent to the Executive Committee of the State Bar and to the Board of Governors:

Dear Friends:

After considerable thought and prayer, I have decided to run for Secretary of this great State Bar in 2010. I am running because I believe at this critical time when the State's budget is being drastically cut and threats are constantly being made against the Judicial Branch and our profession, the State Bar needs known and respected leadership representing it at the General Assembly. The gravity of the situation confronting us has caused me to cast comfort and comity aside and answer the call to service that many of our fellow Board of Governors members have asked me to answer.

Among the most essential attributes of a leader of the State Bar is the ability to put forward a “face of the Bar” that is both respected and trusted by the leadership of the Judiciary and the Legislature. This is especially true when some among the Legislature are anything but interested in meeting the needs of the Judiciary, of the legal profession or of those Georgians who are so dependent upon the ability of the judicial system to meet their needs. Simply put, as officers of the court, we owe it to our fellow members of the Bar, and to our respective clients, to elect in each of our leadership positions only those persons who have spent years building bridges with the Legislature and developing productive relationships with those among that branch of government who hold in their hands the fate of our profession and that of our fellow Georgians whom we are privileged to represent. I believe the State Bar needs and deserves a leader who is respected by members of the Legislature, who has a proven track record of working successfully with members from both sides of the aisle to find win-win solutions to very difficult problems. I believe the State Bar of Georgia deserves a leader who knows and understands when it is time to negotiate and when it is time to stand your ground. I believe the State Bar deserves a leader who knows the problems Everyday Georgians are facing daily. I am that person.

I humbly submit that I have the attributes and skills necessary to lead this Bar during this difficult time. I have developed over the years strong relationships with numerous State Senators and State Representatives that help me work from a position of trust and respect with them. This trust and respect will be crucial for the State Bar in the coming years as it must necessarily work with the Georgia General Assembly to protect funding for the Judicial Branch and for all of the programs promoted by the State Bar.

I ask for your support. I ask for your thoughts and suggestions. Also, I ask for your prayers as we go forward together through this election process. I expect this to be a contested race and I welcome a robust and frank discussion of the issues that our State Bar faces and of who should lead our State Bar. Finally, in May I will proudly ask for your vote and the vote of your colleagues for Secretary of the State Bar of Georgia.

Blessings,
Robin Frazer Clark

Posted by Robin Frazer Clark | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: State Bar of Georgia

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