Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyers Blog

Two high profile Georgia trucking accident lawsuits were resolved recently. The first settled out of court for $8 million when three men were killed after being hit by a tractor trailer in Oglethorpe County on Oct. 15, 2009. The lawsuit was filed by the widows of two of the men and the mother of the third. According to the complaint, plaintiffs were driving in a pickup truck eastbound on Georgia Highway 10, near Athens, when defendant's owned and operated commercial tractor trailer collided with their vehicle from behind. The impact forced the pickup into oncoming traffic and plaintiffs' pickup was then struck head on by another vehicle. The $8 million dollar settlement will be paid to compensate the families for the wrongful death of their loved ones, as well as compensating the deceased for the terror, pain and suffering experienced prior to their deaths.

The other case involved a jury awarding a plaintiff $1.39 million for injuries from two tractor-trailers colliding, even though the plaintiff was cited for negligently following the lead tractor trailer too closely. The trial consisted of opposing witnesses offering different explanations for why the crash happened, as the defendant claimed that he slowed his tractor-trailer to the minimum speed limit because his engine was overheating. Both trucks were destroyed and their black boxes couldn't be recovered, so their exact speeds couldn't be determined, making the fact finding very difficult for the jury. The jury ultimately believed the plaintiff's version of the events leading up to the collision, presumably because he had significantly more truck driving experience than the defendant driver and the severity of the crash showed that the defendant must have been moving very slowly because only a huge speed differential could have done such damage.

Some may ask, how did the plaintiff win a jury verdict if he was determined to be contributorily negligent in the resulting collision? Georgia is a comparative negligence apportionment state, which means a plaintiff may recover damages as long as they are found to be less at fault than the defendant. The Laurens County jury said the plaintiff's negligence should make him responsible for 37 percent of his damages, leaving the defendant responsible for 63 percent of a $2.2 million verdict. The Nov. 18 verdict included $210,401.28 for medical expenses and $2 million for the pain and suffering of the plaintiff.

Most states, including, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia follow rules similar to Georgia. Currently, only five states, and the District of Colombia, bar recovery if the plaintiff is determined to be at all contributorily negligent in the resulting collision. Thirteen (13) states follow a pure comparative negligence system, meaning a plaintiff can recover damages even if they are found to be 99% at fault. These states include Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Washington.

Trucking accidents are different from car accidents and require specialized expertise to navigate through the specific motor carrier laws and rules, both Federal and State, that govern trucking companies and their drivers.

Continue reading "Georgia Trucking Accident Troubles" »

Wednesday night, a pedestrian's leg was severed in a west Atlanta bus accident. The 55 year-old woman was in the crosswalk at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Hamilton E. Holmes Drive near the MARTA station when a Cobb Community Transit (CCT) bus hit her, severing her leg. The woman was transported to Grady Hospital in critical condition.

Even though the bus driver was turning left on a green arrow and the pedestrian was not walking in conjunction with the light, under Georgia law she had possession of the right of way and other vehicles must stop to allow her to complete her crossing. The Atlanta Police Department is handling the extensive investigation of the pedestrian accident, gathering evidence and facts from witnesses.

Continue reading "Pedestrian's Leg Severed in Atlanta Bus Accident" »

In a tragic case in Carrollton, Georgia, a jury returned a verdict of $670,000 against an employee and the HVAC company that employed him. A gas leak in the home of an elderly couple was improperly handled by two employees. The main issue in the case was the fact that when the homeowner called to say there was a strong gas smell in the house she should have been instructed to vacate the premises and call 911. Instead, the employee she spoke with sent someone out to check on it and the homeowner remained in the house. That employee and the homeowner died in an explosion as the repairman was attempting to fix the gas line.

This is a classic employee/agency case where the actions of an employee caused injury and in this case wrongful death. Employers have a duty to properly train their employees especially when they are dealing with dangerous commodities such as natural gas. Any negligence of the employee is imputed to the employer in a personal injury case where the employee's negligence was the proximate cause of the injury.

The handling of certain products carries a higher duty of an employer to protect innocent clients from the danger which is inherent in the product, such as the explosive quality of natural gas. When this duty is breached causing an injury the company will be held liable by the courts such as in this case.

After a week and a half of trial, a Clayton County jury returned a wrongful death verdict for $753,000 today in favor of our client. While at a local Atlanta restaurant last year, our client's husband died after being served the wrong meal. He had a severe shellfish allergy and, although he ordered a dish without shellfish, the meal that was served to him contained crab meat. Within, minutes of eating the meal he went into anaphylactic shock and died.

The restaurant claimed the husband ordered the meal that killed him. They relied on the order ticket filled out by the waitress. However, through the use of a forensic handwriting witness, we were able to show the waitress had created the order ticket after the fact. Additional medical expert testimony was used to educate the jury on food allergies and anaphylactic shock.

While the restaurant countered they had no responsiblity for whether our client received the proper order or not, we tried the case on general negligence grounds which allowed the jury to find that the restaurant owed a duty to our client and her husband to accurately take their order and deliver the meals as ordered.

Shellfish allergies are one of the most common allergies ranging from mild to severe. While anaphylaxis is rare, it interferes with breathing, causes a severe drop in blood pressure, a rapid pulse and loss of consciousness. In the most severe instances, it causes death.

A California jury yesterday awarded $16,577.118 in a wrongful death action to the family of a woman who died of acute water intoxication after participating in a radio station contest to see who could drink and hold the most water in 2007. Tragically, Jennifer Strange lost her life for the grand prize of a Nintendo Wii, while the radio DJs joked about the possibility of contestants dying from drinking too much water.

Her family sued the radio station for wrongful death alleging the station was negligent in running the contest. The defense argued that the death was unforeseeable and if the jury found liability they must also find contributory negligence on the part of Ms. Strange.

If you have ever scanned the radio stations available in the metro Atlanta area, you have come across channels where the DJ's seem to be allowed to say and do just about anything to create a reaction. In the California case, they went too far through reckless conduct and abandonment of common sense adding up to negligence and liability. And although there is usually an argument to be made for contributory negligence, the majority of the liability will almost always rest with the purveyor of the contest.

More on the story:
Jury Awards $16.57 Million in Girl's Water Intoxication Death