Georgia Personal Injury Blog

School Bus Crash Leaves Over 50 People Injured

By Grant Law Office on May 28, 2012

A chain-reaction school bus crash involving six buses and a car left one driver trapped in the wreckage and required over 50 people to seek medical attention, according to a recent article in the Greenfield Reporter.

The students were on their way to a school trip in Six Flags outside Atlanta when their buses were involved in an accident. Traffic had slowed to navigate a construction site, and one of the buses rear-ended another bus, setting off a chain reaction that involved six school buses in total and one passenger car. The accident shut down traffic on westbound Highway 20 for several hours while rescue crews worked to extract everyone from the damaged vehicles and clear the roadway.

One bus driver was pinned inside the damaged bus and had to be cut free, according to investigators. She was airlifted to a local hospital where she is currently listed in stable condition. About fifty students were examined for injuries at the scene and in local emergency rooms, but all were released to their parents with only minor scrapes and bruises, according to the school district.Read more…

Keep an Eye on Children in Hot Cars This Summer

By Grant Law Office on May 23, 2012

Each summer, as temperatures climb, so do reports about children losing their lives after being left in a closed vehicle baking in the sun. With this year’s unseasonably warm spring weather, two deaths have already been reported in two separate states. Infants in both Missouri and Texas have lost their lives after accidentally being left in the family vehicle as the sun shone and outdoor temps climbed into the 80s.

About 38 children lose their lives nationwide each year after becoming locked inside a hot vehicle, according to research from San Francisco State University. The majority of them are young children riding in safety seats who are simply overlooked. Often, the caregiver is on a different schedule than usual or gets distracted and doesn’t realize a child has been left in the car.Read more…

Understanding Long-Term Consequences of Spinal Cord Injuries

By Grant Law Office on May 21, 2012

Spinal cord injuries can occur in nearly any type of severe accident. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), motor vehicle accidents cause 46 percent of all spinal cord injuries each year. Falls, including accidental falls in the workplace or other venues, account for another 22 percent, while intentional or negligent injuries suffered during sports add another 12 percent.

The long-term effects of even a mild spinal cord injury can be severe. They include partial or total paralysis, numbness, or nerve pain in the areas of the body below the site of the injury. They may also include malfunctions or difficulty controlling organs or body functions, like difficulty breathing or controlling bathroom functions. If the injury is severe or includes injury to the brain, difficulty with thinking, communication, and memory can also occur.Read more…

Georgia Seat Belt Use Statistics Holding Steady, but Average for the Nation

By Grant Law Office on May 14, 2012

The rate of seat belt use in Georgia has held steady for the past several years, and its rates are about average for seat belt use throughout the United States, according to a recent report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The report examined seat belt use from 2003 to 2010 in all fifty states. Fifteen states, not including Georgia, had an average seat belt use rate over 90 percent during this period. Georgia’s own seat belt use rate hovers just below the 90 percent mark, with an 89.6% use rate in 2010 – a 0.7% increase over 2003.Read more…

Protect Motorcyclists by Sharing the Road

By Grant Law Office on May 9, 2012

Motorcycle accidents can cause serious injury or even death. Often, the person who suffers the most damage in a motorcycle crash is the motorcyclist, who doesn’t have the protection that a motor vehicle affords.

Motor vehicle drivers have a responsibility to share the road with all other vehicles, including motorcycles. Here are some ways you can share the road safely with motorcyclists and help prevent serious motorcycle accidents in Georgia:Read more…

Traumatic Brain Injuries Can Cause Lifelong Struggles

By Grant Law Office on May 7, 2012

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) occur when the brain is damaged in some way. A blow to the head frequently causes a traumatic brain injury known as a concussion, while an object penetrating the skull causes a different but also dangerous type of traumatic brain injury. Even a mild traumatic brain injury can cause lingering TBI symptoms, such as difficulties with memory, concentration, mood, sleep, balance, and head pain. Severe traumatic brain injuries can cause permanent disabilities or even death.

Approximately 1.4 million U.S. residents suffer a traumatic brain injury each year, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Common causes of traumatic brain injury include auto accidents, falls, blows to the head, and sports injuries. Explosions can also cause traumatic brain injuries, although these are less common among civilians than among members of the armed forces.Read more…

Norcross, Georgia High School Mourns Classmate Killed in Car Crash

By Grant Law Office on May 3, 2012

Students at a Norcross high school gathered together recently to mourn the loss of one of their own, a 16-year-old girl who lost her life in a car crash on the school’s prom night, according to an article in the Gwinnett Daily Post.

The 16-year-old was riding with the car’s driver, and both were going to a post-prom party after the end of their prom. The car was traveling north on Steve Reynolds Boulevard in Norcross when it crossed the center line and skidded into the southbound lane, where it was hit head-on by a car coming in the opposite direction.Read more…

Automakers Re-Tool Hands-Free Gadgets to Decrease Distracted Driving Risks

By Grant Law Office on April 30, 2012

Many vehicles now come with hands-free tools intended to decrease distracted driving in Georgia and across the U.S. and allow drivers to operate their vehicles more safely, according to a recent article in the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette. However, as research indicates that merely keeping the driver’s hands on the wheel isn’t enough, many automakers are re-designing these systems so that they further decrease distractions, improving safety.

Some vehicles can currently be purchased with built-in features like voice commands and hands-free cell phone connections. The driver merely pushes a button or speaks a command to do things like turn on the radio, get GPS directions, or call home. While these keep the driver’s hands on the steering wheel, they don’t do anything about distractions that take the driver’s eyes off the road, such as having to read a GPS or other screen readout.Read more…

Lake Lanier Boating Crash Leaves One Dead, One Injured

By Grant Law Office on April 26, 2012

One boater lost his life and another was severely injured when their boat was struck by another boat on Lake Lanier near Buford, Georgia recently, according to a news report from 11 Alive.

The boat damaged in the crash and those who had been aboard were found during the night on Lake Lanier when another boat occupied by a young couple ran into the damaged boat in the water. The couple’s own boat was damaged during the discovery, so the pair swam to shore and flagged down a passing driver, who called 9-1-1. Rescue workers arrived at the scene to find the boat’s driver, a man, had lost his life in the crash and the boat’s passenger, a woman, was severely injured.Read more…

Study Finds Youth Injuries on Farms is Declining

By Grant Law Office on April 19, 2012

A recent study by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has found that the rate of injuries young workers suffer while doing farm labor has declined in recent years.

For young workers on farms that aren’t also their homes, the injury rate has dropped from 13.5 injuries per 1,000 workers in 2001 to 7.2 injuries per 1,000 workers in 2009 – a decrease of nearly half. The study defined “young workers” as those under age 20, and an “injury” as one that sidelined the worker for at least four hours or that required medical attention. The group examined included both young people who were hired to work on a farm and young people who were volunteering or merely visiting the farm.Read more…