Georgia Personal Injury Blog
School Children Injured in Atlanta Bus Accident
Several children aged 10 to 16 were injured in an Atlanta bus accident that may have resulted from debris on the roadway. According to a WSBTV news report, the bus accident occurred along Interstate 85 south of Steve Reynolds Boulevard in Gwinnett County. Officials say the church bus vehicles were traveling in a caravan when the pickup truck that was leading the caravan swerved to avoid hitting debris on the roadway. One of the buses hit the truck and the other swerved to avoid the collision. The Associated Press reports that the injuries suffered by 18 of the school children were not life threatening. Victims reportedly suffered scrapes and cuts along with injuries resulting in neck and back pain.
According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, road debris is responsible for approximately 25,000 accidents and nearly 100 deaths each year. When an accident results from a dangerous roadway condition, it must be determined who caused the hazard.Read more…
Stepson of Recording Artist Usher Critically Injured in Personal Watercraft Accident, Dies from Injuries
An 11-year-old boy, the stepson of musical artist Usher, suffered serious injuries in a Georgia child injury accident involving a rented personal watercraft. According to a news report in The Peachtree Corners Patch, the personal watercraft accident occurred on Lake Lanier. Officials say the 11-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl were being towed on an inner tube by a boat when a man ran them over in his rented watercraft. The boy is in critical condition and has been declared brain dead. After 21 days of the young boy being unconscious, the parents made the difficult decision to take him off life support. The girl suffered a cut on her head and a broken arm. No charges have been filed in connection with this incident.
Under current Georgia law, people renting watercrafts are not required to complete a safety course. It is unclear if additional training or renting restrictions could have prevented this tragic accident.Read more…
Who is Liable for Workplace Accidents Caused by Defective Products in Georgia?
Under Georgia law, you cannot sue your employer for pain and suffering following a workplace accident. Instead, employees must pursue compensation for their medical bills and lost wages through workers’ compensation insurance. In such cases, the victim will not have to prove that negligence or wrongdoing were contributing factors in the accident. Victims will simply have to show that their injuries resulted from work-related activities.
Unfortunately, workers’ compensation benefits do not always adequately cover losses suffered in serious injury cases. There are opportunities, however, for additional support if the incident involved a defective product. For example, a construction worker who suffers an injury because of a defective power tool can pursue support through workers’ compensation benefits as well as through a third-party claim against the manufacturer of the tool.Read more…
The Cost of Treating Spinal Cord Injuries
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 200,000 people are currently living in the United States with a spinal cord injury (SCI). For every one million people, between 15 and 40 people will suffer a SCI this year. Tragically, many of these victims will be devastated not only by their physical disabilities, but also by the significant medical expenses they will face as a result of their catastrophic injuries.
The University of Alabama’s National Spinal Cord Injury Statistics Center reported that the average victim of a spinal cord injury in the year 2002 required 15 days of initial hospitalization in acute care. Victims then needed an average of 44 days in a rehabilitation unit. The initial hospitalization fee for just the first few days totaled to $140,000 during that year. Those costs are likely to have increased substantially now.Read more…
Man Killed in Gainesville Car Accident
A 77-year-old man was killed in a Georgia car accident involving a collision with a truck. According to a news report in Access North Georgia, the fatal truck accident occurred on Thompson Bridge Road north of Mount Vernon Road in Gainesville. Officials say an oncoming truck struck the victim’s vehicle as it pulled out of a shopping center. He succumbed to his injuries two days later. The driver of the truck suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the crash. It is unclear which motorist was responsible for the collision.
It is common for car accidents to result from a failure to yield the right of way when entering traffic from a private drive. Under Georgia Statute 40-6-73: “The driver of a vehicle about to enter or cross a roadway from any place other than another roadway shall yield the right of way to all vehicles approaching on the roadway to be entered or crossed.” Drivers who fail to yield the right of way when entering traffic may be held accountable for the damages they cause.Read more…
Construction Worker Killed at Atlanta High School
A male sub-contractor was killed in a fatal GA construction accident after falling from a hydraulic lift at an Atlanta high school. According to a news report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the fatal falling accident occurred at Benjamin E. Mays High School in southwest Atlanta. Officials say the victim was a sub-contractor involved in the expansion of the school. He fell approximately 20 feet from the hydraulic lift and suffered fatal injuries. It is unclear how or why the accident occurred. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating the incident.
There are many types of lifts that are used at Atlanta construction sites. Construction contractors often have to work from elevation by using elevating work platforms, boom-supported elevating work platforms, hydraulic lifts, and scissor lifts. These machines can be extremely useful, but they are also very dangerous.Read more…
Drivers Cited Following Atlanta School Bus Accident
Citations have been officially given out to four drivers following the Atlanta school bus accident that resulted in multiple injuries. According to a news report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the injury accident involving six school buses occurred on the I-20 in Atlanta on May 19. Officials say the first bus carrying students and chaperones from Burke County Middle School began braking for slowed traffic near a construction zone when the second bus rear-ended it. That started a chain-reaction collision involving all six buses and a 2011 Chevrolet HHR. One of the bus drivers suffered the most serious injuries, but 60 others were also injured. Three of the bus drivers and the driver of the passenger vehicle were charged with following too closely.
According to Georgia Code 40-6-49: “The driver of a motor vehicle shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard for the speed of such vehicles and the traffic upon and the condition of the highway.” Drivers who fail to leave enough space between vehicles will have difficulty avoiding a collision if traffic slows or if there is the need to take sudden evasive action. It is particularly important for drivers of large vehicles, such as buses and trucks, to leave enough space because heavy vehicles are a lot more difficult to stop.Read more…
Georgia Boating and Alcohol Laws Less Strict than DUI Laws
Georgia’s laws against boating while under the influence of alcohol (BUI) are looser than the state’s laws against driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) and also looser than the BUI laws of many other states, prompting some to call for a change.
Currently, Georgia law prohibits driving a boat if one’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is higher than 0.10 percent. However, Georgia law sets the cutoff BAC for legal driving at 0.08 percent. Many other states set their boating limit at 0.08 percent as well, but Georgia does not.Read more…
Fingertip Amputation Reports Lead to Recall of Kolcraft Contours Options Strollers
Three reports of children suffering amputation of their fingertips after their fingers were caught in a pinch point on a Kolcraft Contours Options stroller have prompted Kolcraft Enterprises, Inc., Health Canada, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to recall approximately 36,000 strollers.
The recall covers three- and four-wheeled models of the Kolcraft Contours Options stroller with model numbers ZL002, ZL005, ZL008, ZL015, and ZL018. The handlebar adjustment mechanism can create a gap when it is being locked or unlocked. An adult or child can be injured if his or her fingers become lodged or trapped in the gap. The reports of injury the CPSC has received so far include reports of amputations and of crush injuries suffered when fingers got stuck in the gap.Read more…
Understanding Georgia Motor Vehicle Crash Statistics
Car accidents are an all-too-common event on Georgia roads. The Georgia Department of Transportation estimates that over 2,300 Georgia residents and visitors are involved in a motor vehicle accident each day, including bicyclists, motorcyclists, and pedestrians, as well as those in cars or trucks. On average, 31 people lose their lives each day in Georgia car accidents, totaling about 11,315 people each year.
Rural roads and roads without a separation barrier between traffic going in opposite directions were the most dangerous spots in Georgia for accidents, according to a 2006 Department of Transportation study. Nearly twice as many fatal car accidents happen on rural roads as happen in major metropolitan areas like Atlanta or Savannah.Read more…
Contact us today for a free and comprehensive case evaluation.
We require no legal retainer or upfront fees,
and you pay nothing unless we prevail.
Phone: (404) 995-3955
Categories
- ATV Accident
- Auto Accidents
- Bicycle Accident
- Birth Injury
- Burn Injury
- Bus Accident
- Child Injury
- Construction Accidents
- Distracted Driving Accidents
- Firm News
- Hit-and-Run Accident
- Holiday Events
- Insurance Bad Faith
- Legal Updates
- Medical Malpractice
- Mesothelioma
- Motorcycle Accidents
- Nursing Home Abuse
- Pedestrian Accidents
- Personal Injury
- Premises Liability
- Product Liability
- Spinal Cord Injury
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Truck Accidents
- Wayne Grant Education
- Workplace Injury
- Wrongful Death
