A week of frosty weather in Georgia left a trail of auto accidents, killing several people and injuring more.Now that the worst is over, it’s time to estimate the damage.Insurers are estimating a price tag of $25 million in snow and ice-related insurance claims in Georgia.
Two of the dead were killed in an accident blamed on icy weather in Lumpkin County last week. The two victims were in a Chevy when the driver lost control and crashed the car into a Ford truck. The 18-year-old passenger in the vehicle was declared dead at the scene, while the driver had to be airlifted to Atlanta Medical Center where he later died.
The accident was just one in a series of snow and ice-related auto crashes last week.Georgia troopers were left overworked and overstressed by the sheer volume of accidents. Emergency services officers were stretched to the limit, and often found their route to an emergency blocked by yet another accident. In Atlanta alone, there were 229 accidents between last Thursday night and Friday morning alone, with dozens more accidents occurring as the snow began to melt, leaving a layer of black ice on the road surface.
Unconditioned to driving in icy weather conditions, many Georgians found it impossible to avoid the slipping and sliding that results in serious crashes.One of the larger wrecks involved 29 cars near the Hartsfield Jackson International Airport.
Survivors of auto accidents, and those who have seen property damage from the bad weather, now have to file claims. Unfortunately, many of them could find that surviving the treacherous weather was a cakewalk, compared to dealing with insurance companies who are looking at millions of dollars in claims over the next few weeks.
The Atlanta insurance litigation attorneys at the Katz Personal Injury Lawyers represent policyholders in cases where claims have been delayed, denied, or where insurance companies are trying to pay out a lower amount than promised, and other insurance litigation matters.