Georgia Personal Injury Blog

GHSA Summer Safety Tips for Parents with Teen Drivers

By Grant Law Office on June 29, 2011

Summertime brings many more teen drivers on Georgia roads, and with more teen drivers comes a higher risk of traffic accidents. According to the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), the deadliest time of year for teen drivers ages 15 to 20-years-old is the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The GHSA encourages parents to take charge in keeping their teen drivers safe this summer and have provided some useful tips to promote teen driving safety:

1. Remind your teen of the importance of properly fastening their seat belt. According to statistics, teenagers are the least likely to wear their seat belt, even though doing so has been proven effective in preventing car crash fatalities in Georgia.
2. Even if your teen knows the law, make sure they understand that they should never drink and drive, or get into a vehicle with someone who has been drinking.Read more…

CPSC Holds Annual Fireworks Safety Press Conference in Preparation for 4th of July

By Grant Law Office on June 27, 2011

As the much anticipated 4th of July weekend of family barbecues, parties and fireworks approaches, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reminds everyone of the potential dangers fireworks pose and encourages celebrating safely with some important fireworks safety tips.

According to the CPSC 2010 Fireworks Annual Report, approximately 8,600 fireworks-related injuries were treated in hospital emergency departments last year. Approximately 6,300 of those were treated between June 18 and July 18, 2010. More than half of these injuries were burns, though others included eye lacerations, foreign bodies in the eyes, and eye contusions. An estimated 40 percent of all fireworks-related injuries involved children 14 years old and younger. There were also three reported fireworks fatalities as well, which were caused by unsafe detonation, illegal home-made fireworks, and mischievous Roman candle use.Read more…

The Dangers of Delayed Cancer Diagnosis in Georgia

By Grant Law Office on June 24, 2011

According to the United States Cancer Statistics (USCS), provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1,455,611 new cancer cases were diagnosed nationwide in 2007. In the same year, there were 562,867 cancer deaths nationwide. In Georgia, there were 40,336 new cancer diagnoses, and 14,983 cancer deaths, in 2007.

Though there are various types of cancers, all have the potential to cause death. Breast cancer, colon cancer, gynecologic cancers, blood cancers, lung cancer, prostate cancer, and the most common type, skin cancer, cause thousands of deaths yearly. Even with the various standard and alternative treatment options for cancer, a person’s survival is dependent on a timely and correct diagnosis. But, unfortunately, misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis of cancer is one of the most common types of medical malpractice in Georgia and across the nation. If diagnosis and treatment comes too late, the cancer victim may endure much pain and suffering before they, inevitably, are killed by the disease.Read more…

Child Entrapment Death Prompts CPSC Recall of Big Lots Metal Futon Bunk Beds

By Grant Law Office on June 20, 2011

The Ohio-based company, Big Lots, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) have announced the recall of around 30,000 metal futon bunk beds as a result of entrapment hazards. The death of one child has already been reported.

Potential entrapment may occur if a child is behind the futon or in the ladder area when the futon and its metal frame lowered into the flat position. This, in fact, happened to a 3-year-old boy in Burlington, Iowa, in March of 2010. The heavy metal frame prevented the boy, who was entrapped at the head and neck, from escaping or breathing. Although CPR was performed, the boy died in the hospital of compression asphyxiation.Read more…

U. S. DOT Shuts Down Georgia Bus Company Twice

By Grant Law Office on June 15, 2011

The recent incidents of injury and fatal bus accidents across the nation prompted the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) and its Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to implement stricter safety standards and more aggressive enforcement for buses and motor-coaches. However, according to MSNBC, a Georgia charter bus service apparently did not get the message.

In 2009, the metro Atlanta charter bus service, JT’s Travel and Charter, was ordered to shut down by federal regulators due to multiple citations for four safety violations. Many of the citations stated that the bus company failed to require drug testing for its drivers. To avoid penalties, and shutting down, the company simply changed their name to JCT Motor Coach Inc. and resumed doing business.Read more…

What to Know about Georgia Truck Underride Collisions

By Grant Law Office on June 10, 2011

Whether called a large truck, semi truck, tractor trailer, big rig, or 18-wheeler, these large and heavy trucks pose many dangers to the occupants of smaller vehicles. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were 296,000 large truck accidents nationwide in 2009. Included in this total were 3,215 fatal crashes, and 53,000 injury crashes. The extra length, heavy weight, high center of gravity and tall chassis height increases the risk of a deadly Georgia large truck crash, but especially underride accidents, which are the third leading cause of truck crash fatalities across the nation.

A large truck underride collision occurs when a smaller passenger vehicle hits a straight truck or combination tractor trailer and travels under the truck, oftentimes sheering the passenger vehicle roof clean off in the process. There are two types of underride collisions:Read more…

What to Do When Insurance Companies Act in “Bad Faith” in Georgia

By Grant Law Office on June 6, 2011

Insurance companies tend to hold one thing above all else: Profit. People buy insurance to financially protect themselves against injury, illness, loss or damaging events and they put their trust in the insurance company to provide fair compensation in the case of any of the aforementioned situations. Unfortunately, many insurance companies look for ways to deny claims, even if they are legitimate, in order to make more money. This has become known as insurance bad faith.

Insurance companies, under law, owe a duty of dealing in “good faith,” or dealing fairly, with their policy holders. If an insurance company violates that duty by denying a valid claim to avoid paying a policy holder the money owed to them, they are operating under “bad faith.” The majority of insurance bad faith cases in Georgia relate to motor-vehicle accidents. Most often, an insurance company acting in bad faith will deny your claim, however, in some cases, the insurance company will deny the full benefits of coverage. For example, if your medical costs after an Atlanta auto accident total $20,000 and your insurance company only allows you $5,000, despite the fact that your claim is justified and your full coverage amount is $40,000, the insurance company is acting in bad faith by not paying full benefits.Read more…

Insurance Company’s Bad Faith Refusal to Pay Disability Benefits

By Grant Law Office on June 3, 2011

In an effort to protect themselves and their families from financial hardship in the event of disability, many Americans decide to obtain long-term disability insurance. The person who obtains the policy is referred to as the “insured” and the insurance company that issues the policy is referred to as the “insurer.” This type of insurance policy is designed to pay the insured the salary, or a portion of it, that the insured would have earned if the insured had not become disabled. Insurance Company’s have an incentive to deny the largest claims. Thus, physicians (including surgeons), business executives, and other individuals with high income are subjected to bad faith practices with some frequency.

Sometimes when the insured becomes disabled the insurance company will refuse to honor its obligations under the insurance contract. Generally, the insurance company will claim that the insured is not actually disabled. If the insured proves that the insurance company is wrong, the insurance company will be liable for breach of contract. What does this mean? It simply means that the insurance company will be obligated to pay the insured the benefits it promised under the long-term disability insurance contract.Read more…

CDC Study Finds Trends in Traumatic Brain Injury Related Fatalities

By Grant Law Office on June 1, 2011

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is defined as trauma to the brain caused by an external force that alters brain function. Though TBI can range from mild to severe, it is a major cause of death and disability in the U.S.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), an average of 53,014 deaths per year were related to traumatic brain injuries from 1997-2007. This resulted in a total of approximately 580,000 total deaths for that decade.

Various trends were discovered throughout this study. Concerning gender, males suffered TBI-related deaths 3 times more than females. If we add ethnicity to the male trend, non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Natives experienced the highest rate of fatal TBI incidents and Hispanic males experienced the lowest. Age also played a factor in fatal TBI conditions. In order of highest to lowest TBI fatality rate are young children aged 5 years or younger, older adults aged 75 years or older and teenagers between the ages 15 and 19. The leading causes of TBI-related deaths, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or age, involved firearms, motor-vehicle accidents and falls.Read more…

The Risks of Defective Products in Georgia

By Grant Law Office on May 23, 2011

Georgia consumers are at risk of being injured by defective products every day. Although it is the duty of product manufacturers and distributors to provide safe products for public use, many defective products stock Georgia’s retail stores, car dealerships, and pharmacies. These products can be children’s toys, kitchenware, furniture, tools, drugs or even motor-vehicles. When a product is determined to be defective or dangerous, a recall is often issued to remove that product. Unfortunately, many dangerous products are not recalled in time to prevent injury, and some are never recalled at all.

Defective products often result from poor manufacturing or design and can cause a wide array of injuries, both minor and severe. The injuries associated with dangerous products, however, depend on the type of product as well as its defect or malfunction. A poorly attached component to a children’s toy may cause a piece to fall off as the child holds the toy over their head; this may cause simple bruising, cuts to the skin, or even a head injury. In another situation, a defective auto component or auto component malfunction can cause a serious injury or even fatal Georgia auto accident.Read more…