Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyers Blog

Last week a Cobb County Georgia jury found in favor of Kia Motors Corporation rejecting the argument that the 1999 Kia Sportage air bag caused a 69-year-old woman's death. The case revolved around a low speed car accident where a driver turned left in front of the Kia Sportage causing the airbag to deploy. Although there was only minimal damage to the cars and both drivers appeared to have only minor injuries, the driver of the Kia died soon after the accident from a lacerated aorta where the air bag hit her chest. The case centered on whether the woman was properly positioned in the car. The State of Georgia offers the CarFit program to teach senior adults how to properly position themselves safely in cars.

The woman's family sued for her wrongful death alleging the air bag was too powerful for a small SUV. Arguing that Kia knew this type of accident was possible and chose not to spend any money to "depower" the airbag to make it safer, the plaintiff's attorney told the jury she would not have died in the car accident if there had been no air bag in the car.

Wrongful death cases, particularly products liability cases such as this one, require expert testimony from both sides to explain to the jury how the death was caused. Kia relied on an expert engineer in occupant restraint systems - seat belts and air bags - who testified the woman was not seated properly for the air bag to work correctly. He gave evidence that she was leaning forward and right as if reaching for something. According to the expert, her position in the seat skewed the impact of the air bag and it struck her in an area that would have been protected if she had been seated upright and against the back of her seat. Click here for how to properly position children and adults for air bag safety.

Air bag safety is often overlooked by drivers and passengers in cars. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration continue to look for ways to educate the public regarding seatbelt and air bag safety. Drivers and passengers must have their seat belt properly buckled and avoid positioning their seat too close to the air bag. Short adults, such as the woman in this case, must position themselves 10-12 inches from the air bag that is in the steering wheel to be protected properly.

Continue reading "Cobb County Jury Finds Death Not Caused by Air Bag" »

A motorist involved in a trucking accident in DeKalb County, Georgia suffered severe injuries to his arm and can no longer work. Under a law that had been created to close a loophole that could allow out-of-state trucking companies to escape liability, the jury was allowed to consider the direct liability of the South Carolina trucking company.

Generally Georgia law protects insurers from being named in lawsuits with those they insure because disclosure of insurance coverage can be highly prejudicial. However, the Direct Action Statute at O.C.G.A. 46-7-12 does permit such lawsuits. The statute requires in-state trucking companies to file certificates of insurance with the Public Service Commission. Because there is no such governance for out-of-state companies the legislature allowed direct action against trucking companies in the law.

Continue reading "$1.29 Million Awarded to Injured Motorist in DeKalb County" »

The Atlanta Journal and Constitution recently reported on a series of wrong way crashes that resulted in fatalities including two on I-20 and one on State Bridge Road in Johns Creek. While the final reporting numbers are not in, the Georgia State Department of Transportation says about 22 people have been killed since 2004 by a wrong way driver just in the metro Atlanta area. The DOT believes most of the drivers in wrong way car crashes are impaired due to alcohol, drugs or prescription medications.

The DOT has looked at other possible barriers to cars gaining access to the wrong way ramps. They cannot use the traffic spikes that lay flat when going the right way, but puncture tires when going the wrong way because emergency vehicles often have to go the wrong way on ramps.

Each year motor vehicle crashes in Georgia affect thousands of citizens. According to the most recent data provided by the Georgia DOT, car accidents are the leading cause of death for persons ages 1-35. Our state's population growth (which did slow in the past 18 months due to the sluggish economy) and the reliance on personal passenger vehicles versus mass transit have contributed to the high numbers of deaths caused by car crashes. I read in the AJC the other day that our population has begun to grow again, I hope the state will give serious thought to increasing our mass transit availability at least in the metro area as one apporach to reducing traffic injuries and fatalities.

For the second time in less than two months a wrong way driver was involved in fatal accident on I-85 . Both accidents occurred between Shallowford Road and Chamblee Tucker Road. If you are familiar with the area you know that some of the ramps in the area can be confusing, especially when alcohol is involved. Apparently, the wrong-way driver was also DUI and as he travelled north in the southbound lane he struck another car killing the driver.

Not only will the wrong-way driver face criminal charges he will also probably face a personal injury lawsuit for wrongful death. Most car owners look to their insurance policy to cover them in the event of a car accident, but most owners don't have enough liability insurance to cover a fatal accident. When you cause the death of another person, you are liable for the "full value" of their life which includes future earnings and the enjoyment of life plus pain and suffering.

How is the value determined? The courts will look at the age and life expectancy of the person in addition to their earning capability. For example, a college student working on his masters will have a higher earning capability than someone with only a high school degree who works as a landscaper.

There are many issues involved in wrongful death actions. If you have any burning questions related to wrongful death that you would like answered, post a comment on our website.

In 2008, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported a total of 320 fatalities due to car crashes involving police pursuit. Of that number, Georgia was responsible for ten percent with 32 reported fatalities due to the police chase of a suspect, second only to California which had 34. This is an increase from 2007 where Georgia had 24 reported fatalities related to police pursuit. However, the lack of a mandatory reporting system has made it difficult to collect accurate data on dangerous police chases and we don't know exactly how many other deaths and injuries in Georgia were a result of police chases.

In Georgia, most law enforcement departments give wide discretion to the officer to determine the need to apprehend a suspect. Hence, Georgia is at the top of the list for the number of reported fatalities linked to high speed chases. Most police agencies have guidelines in place for officers to follow in weighing the need to apprehend the suspect versus the danger involved to themselves and others. Generally, most guidelines do not allow for the high speed chase of someone who has committed a minor traffic infraction such as running a red light or speeding 30 miles over the limit.

In addition to the deaths, there are hundreds more injuries. Unfortunately, innocent third parties are often the victims of high speed chases. These individuals are in the wrong place at the wrong time through no fault of their own. Each year the call for an end to high speed pursuit becomes stronger.

The debate centers on which crimes call for an unbridled police chase. Most people believe only the most violent of crimes deserve the risk that is placed upon anyone in or near the roadway of a police chase. Many others believe no pursuit of any type of criminal suspect is worth the risk to innocent victims. Personally, I can think of very few instances when a high speed chase is warranted. I have read too often of families who have lost a loved one because a police officer decided to risk innocent lives in the name of apprehending a suspect.

Even with the number of wrongful death lawsuits against Georgia, its counties and municipalities, there does not seem to be a reduction in the number of high speed chases. How many other agencies allow practices that so definitively result in a bad outcome at such a frequent rate?

Due to statutory notice provisions, families must act quickly to preserve their rights to sue a state or local government entity and its police department. In Georgia, within a year of the event the county or state must be given notice of the potential claim. It is even shorter if it is a municipal agency which requires notice within six months. This type of notice is often called the ante litem notice. The ante litem provisions are strictly construed and there is virtually no way to extend the period for providing notice. Therefore, it is very important that anyone with a potential claim against a state, county, or municipality confer with an experienced trial attorney as soon as possible after an injury.

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.

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently released statistics showing a continuation of the downward trend in traffic fatalities. The overall number of 33,963 car accident deaths in 2009 is the lowest since 1954. The fatality rate is calculated by the number of deaths per the number of vehicle miles traveled. The 2009 fatality rate declined 8.9% from the 2008 fatality rate.

All of this is very good news for the travelling public. David Strickland of the National Highway and Safety Administration noted, "Our work is far from over. We must continue our efforts to ensure seatbelts are always used and stay focused on reducing distracted and impaired driving."

I believe distracted driving will be the pivotal issue in car accident wrongful death cases at least through the rest of this decade as the public becomes more aware of the danger of using mobile devices while driving. Texting and talking on cell phones has already become a normal fact-finding mission in personal injury cases involving car and truck accidents. A thorough personal injury lawsuit will include a search of mobile records to determine if the at-fault driver was using his mobile device during or just prior to the accident. Everyone must take responsibility for educating themselves and their family members as to the dangers of distracted driving.

This week the Georgia Supreme Court defined the term "accident" in an auto insurance policy so as to possibly limit the recovery where there are multiple injuries. While insurance companies are obviously pleased with the verdict, what happens to you if you are involved in an accident where several people in different vehicles are killed or injured by the actions of the same at-fault driver? If your policy already defines the term, then the case may not affect you, but if it doesn't define the term, then this case may limit your coverage in a car accident where more than one person is injured.

The insurance policy at issue provided coverage of "$100,000 each accident," but did not define the term. The policy also indicated this was the most the insurance company would pay for any one auto accident regardless of the number of claims. In the 2008 multi-million dollar wrongful death case before the court, a teenage driver in Harris County veered onto the shoulder of the road and struck two bicycle club members. The car struck the first bicycle rider and, then within 1-2 seconds, struck the second bicyclist. The first bicyclist died and the second was seriously injured. The families each sued for the $100,000 limits of the policy and the driver supported their claim as being two accidents under the policy.

The auto insurance company filed a declaratory action in federal court in Columbus, Georgia, asking the court to rule the incident was one accident under the terms of the policy limiting the total amount available for the two claims to $100,000. The federal court certified the question to the Georgia Supreme Court which, instead of applying contract rules of construction to the policy, ruled on the definition of "accident."

This is significant, because Georgia law is clear that an insurance policy is a contract and any ambiguity in its terms is determined in favor of the insured. The Supreme Court went outside this well-established legal precedent and adopted the "cause" theory where the number of causes determine the number of accidents.

Importantly, the Supreme Court left the application of the law to the lower court whereby the lower court must apply the definition to the facts of the case and determine if based on the timing of the events or whether the driver regained control between the two events there were in fact two separate accidents. In the meantime, the $3.4 million judgment against the driver hangs in the balance.

Thursday morning, a 23 year old man from the Atlanta metro area caused a fatal accident after running a red light. Police believe he may have been texting which distracted him from watching for the traffic signal. The car accident happened near Athens, Alabama at about 7:00 am. The 59 year old victim was on her way to work and died at the scene. Although both drivers were wearing seatbelts, the Georgia man was driving a 350 Chevrolet truck and the woman was driving an Acura. The State Highway Patrol is still investigating the wrongful death and has not yet determined charges.

This car accident will only add fuel to the debate in many state legislatures as to a ban on texting whiled driving. As recently reported, the Federal Motor Carrier Administration banned texting for all commercial bus and truck drivers on January 26, 2010. Georgia and Alabama both have proposals before their legislatures related to banning text messaging while driving.

There are many issues involved in the debate such as enforcement. How does the state enforce that type of law? They really can't until there is an accident and they subpoena the cell phone records - it isn't much different than enforcement of DUI laws.

Opponents of the law suggest that there may be better alternatives than putting additional laws on the books - we do have laws that cover wrongful deaths in traffic accidents. They are proponents of education in safety and driver "distractability." Just as the number of DUI's has declined over the past 20 years with high profile ads, education in the schools, and safety campaigns by states and the Federal government, we could reduce the number of accidents caused by distractions (i.e., cell phone use, texting, eating, reading the newspaper) with well-planned education and safety campaigns. For example, simple tests like the one posted previously in this blog are eye-opening as to the impact of texting while driving. Maybe it should be tied to getting a drivers license?

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.

Your Atlanta accident lawyers want to share some good news: The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration announced that between January and June 2009 motor vehicle acccident deaths on our highways declined by 7% when compared to the same period of 2008, following a downward trend. The second quarter of 2009 is the thirteenth consecutive quarter of declining traffic fatalities since peaking in 2005 with 43,510 deaths.

So what has caused this historic decline in auto accident deaths? The data gathered so far indicates people are traveling less - about 6.1 billion miles less in the first half of 2009 which is about a .4% decline. This is probably attributable to the economy. Other factors may include record high seatbelt use and safer vehicles. Just think about the differences in safety features in cars today and ten years ago. Air bags are generally standard as are anti-lock brakes. Stability control, better signal lights, automatic headlights - all of these increase your chances of maintaining control and being seen by other vehicles.

Continue reading "Traffic Accident Deaths Reach Record Low" »

Today kicks off the national "Over the limit, Under Arrest" crackdown on drunk driving during the holidays, which runs from December 16 to January 3. Releasing new data on drunk driving fatalities, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood commented, "Drinking and driving is dangerous and unacceptable, and I'm asking law enforcement to stay vigilant during this busy holiday season. According to the new data, the rate of Georgia motor vehicle accident fatalities related to impaired driving has continued to decrease since 2004.

Driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher is illegal in all 50 states. Georgia uses traffic enforcement networks throughout the state to build the enforcement community into one team. This method has been effective and we continue to see declining death rates due to drunk driving car accidents.

However, the interesting issue in Georgia law is that the DUI laws are based on blood alcohol level not on impairment. Historically, DUI arrests were related to impairment due to alcohol or drugs. Over the past twenty years or so, the political impact of organizations such as MADD has changed the law such that an individual is violating DUI law by having a drink and driving whether he/she is impaired or not. Therefore, to avoid a DUI arrest in Georgia, the days of having a glass of wine with dinner and driving home are over.

Interestingly, this skewed DUI law has broadened the liability of business establishments who serve alcohol to patrons who then drive "drunk" (impaired or not) and are involved in an accident. At that point, the Georgia Dram shop laws come into play and the business may be held liable for the injuries suffered by the victims of the car accident.

Our firm has successfully represented victims of drunk driving accidents and recovered against bars under the Dram Shop Act. If you or a loved one are a victim of a drunk driver, we would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration released a new report last week that identifies traffic fatalities by their geographic location. Based on past data, generally 44% percent of traffic fatalities occur in urban areas. But what the researchers have found by plugging in the geographic location of fatalities is that urban areas often have significant commuter traffic coming from rural areas. Fatalities in these areas appear as rural fatality statistics. The information gathered is important for areas such as Atlanta, where many people commute up to an hour or more for their jobs. While much has been done to increase safety within the perimeter, typically, less funding has been appropriated to areas that are seen as suburban/rural.

When the data was compiled, the overall percentage of fatalities tied to urban areas increased to about 73% when including the area within five miles of the urban boundaries - a significant increase. Further, about 35% of the fatalities involving tractor trailer trucks occur in urban areas. Likewise, a high percentage of deaths on interstate highways occurred in urban areas. In fact, 57% of fatalities due to car accidents on interstates in Georgia occurred in urban areas - higher than the national average. That number increased to a whopping 83% when including the area within five miles of the urban boundaries. It is expected that law enforcement and highway safety planners will use this information to help increase safety in suburban/rural areas.

The report certainly makes you think twice before you get in your car to drive to work. Remember - it is better to be a safe driver, than a fast driver.

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

Innocent bystanders, injured when police give chase, now have a better chance of getting their claims for personal injury and wrongful death to the courthouse. The Georgia Court of Appeals in Rahmann v. DeKalb County, Case No. A09A1533, ruled that a woman caught in the middle of a police chase in Atlanta's West End neighborhood can take her case to a jury. The Georgia Constitution provides for the legislature to waive sovereign immunity. Under the Tort Act of 2004, which became effective in 2005, the legislature provided for the waiver of immunity for injuries caused by covered governmental motor vehicles including police cars. However, at issue before the Georgia Court of Appeals was whether the officer was acting with "reckless abandonment" in his pursuit or following law enforcement procedure.

In this case, a woman was stopped at a red light when the police officer's car struck the fleeing suspect, causing the suspect's car to hit the woman's car. The Court determined that conflicting testimony between the woman and the police officer as to whether the police officer intentionally struck the suspect's vehicle to stop it or whether he was simply positioning his car to block the intersection is a jury question.

Under the Tort Act, for injuries occurring after January 1, 2008, the liability of the government for a covered motor vehicle accident is limited to $500,000 per bodily injury or death with a maximum cap of $700,000 for two or more persons' injuries or death. However, there are very specific timelines and filings that must be made to protect your rights against a government entity. If you are injured in a motor vehicle accident with a government entity, make sure you act quickly to protect your rights and discuss your case with an experienced trial attorney.