Personal Injury | Grant Law Office - Part 4

Bicycle and Truck Accident Fatalities in U.S. on the Rise

By Grant Law Office on December 28, 2012

The number of traffic accident fatalities in the United States is at its lowest since 1949. According to a news report in The Associated Press, deaths of bicyclists and occupants of large trucks increased significantly despite the overall reduction in the rate of traffic fatalities. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that traffic fatalities dropped 1.9 percent to 32,367 in the year 2011. That is the lowest fatality rate ever recorded with 1.10 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. However, you wouldn’t know it from reviewing the number of fatal bicycle accident and truck occupant fatalities.

Bicycle fatalities jumped up 8.7 percent in the year 2011. The Associated Press report says that this increase may be a reflection of the increase in the number of bicyclists on the roadway. In cities such as Washington, D.C., which has recently added bike lanes, the number of bike riders has increased by 175 percent since 2004.Read more…

Natural Gas Explosion Causes Injuries

By Grant Law Office on December 21, 2012

More than 20 people were injured and 42 buildings were damaged in a natural gas explosion that was initially blamed on a utility worker. According to a news report in The Associated Press, the worker was following the correct procedures when he damaged the underground pipe. A flood of gas built up in a Springfield building and a spark set off the blast. In the explosion, 42 buildings housing 115 residential units were damaged and three of the buildings were condemned. Many of the injured victims were gas company workers, firefighters, and police officers.

According to the American Gas Association (AGA), the leading cause of natural gas explosions is damage caused by digging near existing pipelines. Accidents are particularly common when unapproved excavating occurs near pipelines. Excavation damages accounted for nearly 60 percent of all pipeline incidents between 1995 and 2004. In the year 2004, 95 of the 288 total incidents along the natural gas system involved excavation damage. Many of these accidents resulted in serious injuries and damaged homes.Read more…

Students Hospitalized after Covington, GA Bus Accident

By Grant Law Office on November 26, 2012

Several people were injured in a Covington traffic accident involving a Newton County school bus that was transporting 34 students at the time of the collision. According to a news report in The Newton Citizen, the school bus accident occurred on Georgia Highway 212 near Oak hill Elementary School as the bus was traveling to Alcovy High School. Officials say a parent who had dropped off a student at the school pulled out in front of the school bus. The bus hit the vehicle before going into the other lane where it struck a second vehicle.

The 22-year-old female driver of the first vehicle has been charged with failing to yield while turning left. She was transported to the hospital after being ejected from her vehicle. A mother and child in the second vehicle, as well as three students on the bus, were hospitalized in with non-life-threatening injuries.Read more…

Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer Offers Pedestrian Safety Tips for Halloween Night

By Grant Law Office on October 29, 2012

Personal injury lawyer Wayne Grant and the legal team at The Law Offices of Wayne Grant, P.C. know that there are a number of steps that you can take to help keep this Halloween a safe and fun experience for your family. It is critical that parents know where their children are at all times. Children 12 and under should be accompanied by a responsible adult while trick-or-treating, and teenagers should be given a cell phone so they can contact their parents in case of an emergency. All children should be repeatedly taught how to be safe while trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.

The best way to prevent a serious injury pedestrian accident in Georgia is to make sure that children are visible. Children and parents should carry flashlights. Additionally, it is a good idea to use reflective tape on costumes and treat bags to enhance visibility. It is also important to choose the right costume as well. Wearing makeup is much safer than wearing a mask that may restricts your child’s vision. You may also consider suggesting a costume that is bright and easier to see in the dark. A dark cloak or gown will be difficult to see from a distance, while something as simple as a glow stick or light-up jewelry can help make children more visible to drivers.Read more…

Compensation for Georgia Bus Crash Injuries

By Grant Law Office on August 14, 2012

Riding a bus is typically a safe way to travel in Georgia. The size and weight of buses, however, makes them more prone to causing serious damage to other vehicles and very often when a bus crash occurs, we find that many passengers are seriously injured or even killed as a result of the traumatic injuries they suffer. Buses do not have airbags for passengers, and they rarely even have seatbelts. Therefore, bus passengers can be thrown about in the event of a collision resulting in severe injuries.

Under Georgia law, an act of negligence is sufficient to establish liability. This means that a bus driver who negligently causes an accident, and the bus company that hired the driver, are legally responsible for the injuries suffered by bus passengers. In fact, common carriers in Georgia have a statutory duty to exercise extraordinary diligence in caring for and protecting the people they transport.Read more…

School Children Injured in Atlanta Bus Accident

By Grant Law Office on July 30, 2012

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…

Drivers Cited Following Atlanta School Bus Accident

By Grant Law Office on July 3, 2012

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

By Grant Law Office on June 29, 2012

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…

Dog Bite Injuries Often Result in Hospital Bills

By Grant Law Office on June 20, 2012

Dog bite injuries are rarely fatal in the United States. The estimated number of deaths per year is between 4 and 16, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, dog bites do cause about 800,000 injuries each year, and of these, about 330,000 people need hospital emergency room care and about 6,000 people must be admitted to the hospital for treatment.

Children under age 14 are the age group most often affected by dog bites, according to the CDC. About 42 percent of dog bite injuries each year are suffered by children under age 14, with children ages five- to nine suffering the most bites of any age group under 14.Read more…

Chattahoochee Boating Accident Takes Two Lives

By Grant Law Office on June 15, 2012

A boating accident on the Chattahoochee River in Stewart County recently cost two men their lives, according to a recent news report from WRBL.

The two men were riding in a fishing boat on the river, along with a third passenger. The driver of the boat lost control at a bend in the river and the boat rammed into a tree and into the bank. All three passengers were pitched into the river’s waters.

One of the passengers was able to swim to shore and call for help; he survived the accident and is expected to make a full recovery from his injuries. The bodies of the other two passengers, a 60-year-old and a 72-year-old, were pulled from the river by rescue workers a few hours after the accident. Both appeared to have suffered a combination of traumatic brain injuries and drowning, which proved fatal.Read more…