A third teenager has succumbed to his injuries after a deadly pedestrian accident in Clayton County.Two other teenage pedestrians were also killed in the car accident last Thursday. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has confirmed the death of the third teenager, a seventeen-year-old boy.The boy had suffered a serious brain injury in the accident.The boy and his two friends, aged sixteen and seventeen years old, were walking along GA 158, when they were struck by a car being driven by forty-eight-year-old Priscilla Diane Johnson.The impact left the boys with serious injuries.One of them died at the scene of the accident, while the other was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital, and succumbed to his injuries there.The third victim died on Saturday morning.
According to police, Johnson had been talking on a cell phone at the time of the accident.She had also taken antidepressant medications just before the accident.She now faces a number of charges, including vehicular homicide, driving under the influence, and hit and run.Police also believe that she was driving under a suspended license.Additionally, she faces charges of reckless driving as well charges related to cell phone use while driving and lack of insurance. Personal injury attorneys have repeatedly warned about the dangers of distracted driving as well as driving under the influence of medications. Unfortunately, these tragedies will continue to occur until we toughen our laws in these areas.
According to one of her friends, at the time of the accident, she was on the cell phone having a quarrel with her husband.The friend has confirmed that she had taken antidepressants before she started driving, and had been impaired at the time of the accident.
It’ll take more than a single blog post to enumerate the risks that Atlanta’s pedestrians face on a daily basis.However, one of the biggest challenges is the one posed by impaired drivers.Most people assume that impairment is the result of driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotic drugs.However, a motorist can be impaired when he is driving under the influence of prescription drugs.Such dangers are especially high in older drivers, who may be on more than one medication for a number of health ailments.Antidepressants, for instance, can leave a person suffering from insomnia, anxiety, restlessness, and dizziness.A person might suffer from severe hand tremors.All of these symptoms can severely impact a person’s ability to drive safely.
Driving under the influence of prescription drugs can, in some ways, be more dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.There is a lot that we know about how alcohol influences a person’s ability to drive. However, when it comes to prescription drugs, there are side effects that even health professional may not be aware of.Additionally, if the person is on more than one prescription drug, there is a possibility that drug interactions will impact the person’s driving abilities.A person may suffer from fatigue, dizziness and confusion, affecting his ability to focus on driving.
The Atlanta pedestrian accident lawyers at the Katz Personal Injury Lawyers represent pedestrians injured in accidents in the metro Atlanta region and across Georgia.