Articles Posted in Car Accidents

Every Atlanta car accident lawyer knows that a motorist’s risk of being involved in auto accidents spikes in winter driving conditions.However, a new study finds that those risks affect male and female drivers differently.The study by researchers at Purdue University finds that men are much more likely to be involved in accidents in icy or snowy weather conditions.

The study finds that men over the age of 45 are much more likely to be involved in an accident when the road is covered with ice or snow.Further, those accident risks involving men seem to increase when the men are older and are driving pickup trucks.According to the researchers, this could be due to a false sense of security that pickup trucks provide.People driving pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles or other larger vehicles are likely to feel safer and protected, and therefore, may be more likely to drive aggressively on snowy roads.They may not realize that a larger size vehicle does not necessary protect you more on icy roads when a vehicle is at a high risk of a rollover.

The study also finds that men below the age of 45 are more likely to be involved in serious accidents on dry roads.That would again be an indicator of overconfidence in young men.Female drivers were found to be much more likely to be involved in accidents on rain-covered roads.This susceptibility to accidents on roads made wet by rain affected female motorists of all age groups.According to the researchers, this could be because female drivers fail to sense lower friction on a wet road.Younger men had a 21% higher risk of being involved in a serious accident on a dry road than on a wet road.These men were 72% more likely to be involved in an accident on dry roads than on snowy roads.

Georgia State Troopers have kicked off their annual seatbelt enforcement campaign during the holiday season, aimed at making sure that motorists and children are safely restrained in their vehicles to prevent a personal injury in auto accidents.The campaign coincided with the start of the year’s biggest and most accident-prone holiday season.

One of the most frequent questions asked of personal injury lawyers is whether there is an increase in car accidents at any particular time of year. Well, the calls for help to attorneys certainly increase at holiday time. Over the holidays, more Americans travel than at any other time of the year.Largenumbers of motorists drove across Georgia to spend Thanksgiving with their families.Over the following few weeks, holiday traffic increased as people rush to stores to buy gifts, leading to a culmination of holiday travel plans between Christmas and New Years’.

Not only were there more motorists on the roads over the holiday season than during any other time, but many of them were in less than perfect condition for driving.The numbers of intoxicated motorists spikes around Christmas, reaching a peak during New Year’s.Additionally, most holiday drivers are less patient, and in a hurry.Besides, holiday shoppers are less focused on safety, and more focused on finding a parking spot.All of these factors severely increase the risk of car accidents.

According to data from 2009, the city of Atlanta ranks at number four in the number of auto accidents.It also ranks at number six in the number of accident-related wrongful deaths that same year.

The data which comes from the American Auto Association has no surprises for Atlanta car accident lawyers who are familiar with the auto safety culture in the city.In 2009, 498 people died in accidents in Atlanta.More than 62,000 people suffered a personal injury in car accidents in the city.

These accidents took not only a devastating personal toll, but also wreaked substantial economic damage.The metro Atlanta region suffered losses to the tune of more than $11 million in 2009 because of auto accident-related costs.Only Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York fared worse than Atlanta.The overall accident-related costs in the US totaled $299.5 billion.That’s more than three times the $97.7 billion cost of congestion.

A Marietta motorist, who was involved in a multi-vehicle auto accident, insists that the car accident was the result of a seizure that he suffered while driving.Police have already filed charges against him. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the auto accident occurred when the driver’s Ford F-250 struck another pickup truck on the same street.The motorist drove off after the accident and struck two more vehicles, before finally veering off the road and crashing into a tree.

Fortunately, the car accident did not result in life-threatening injuries for other drivers involved.The motorist has been charged with hit-and-run, driving too fast for conditions, failure to maintain lane and driving under a suspended license. Car accident attorneys regularly see cases in which a defendant driver claims a medical condition caused the accident. In order for this defense to be successful in a civil case, they must establish not only that the medical condition caused the accident, but that the medical condition was not known or it was not known that the medical condition would result in the issue which occurred.

Police say that he was fleeing the accident scene when he crashed, but the motorist claims that he has a history of epilepsy.According to him, he suffered a seizure at the time of the accident.The motorist says that he suffered petit mal seizures in his childhood, and was placed on medication.However, he stopped taking the medications after the seizures ended.The last time he had a grand mal seizure was three years ago.He does not know what caused this latest seizure that he suffered during the accident.According to him, he has no recollection of any of the events leading up to the accident.

Atlanta car accident lawyers strongly believe that parents have a big role to play in setting a good traffic safety example for their teenage children.That’s why the results of a new survey came as a disappointment.The survey claims that many parents are distracted while driving, even while they’re teaching their children how to drive. Distracted driving results in an enormous number of auto accidents involving serious personal injury and wrongful death. Therefore, it is extremely important that new drivers are taught about he dangers of distracted driving by their parents. In order to convey this lesson, the parents must teach by example.

The survey was conducted by insurance company State Farm.According to the survey, 53% of parents admitted that they had been distracted by a cell phone or other device at least once while they were teaching their children how to drive.However, when the surveyors asked teen motorists, they found slightly higher numbers.According to the teen drivers, at least 61% of them had seen their parents being distracted while teaching them how to drive.

The survey also found that parents may not be so aware of the fact that they are displaying undesirable driving practices to their children.The survey found that parents used their electronic devices while driving with their children much more often than they think.About 52% of the teenagers in the survey said that they had seen their parent using a cell phone while driving.However, only 43% of the parents admitted that they used the cell phone when their teenage driver was in the vehicle with them.

MSN Money has a few tips for persons involved in car accidents in Georgia.None of these tips are a surprise to Atlanta car accident lawyers, but many motorists fail to understand how doing the wrong things soon after an accident can damage their claim. Insurance companies have extremely experienced insurance adjusters who handle claims for personal injury and wrongful death. Unfortunately, a great deal of what impacts a claim for personal injury often occurs before the victim has counsel. It is during this timeframe that insurance adjusters have their greatest impact on the outcome of injury claims.

One of the first people that you will meet after an auto accident is the claims adjuster from the other driver’s insurance company or from your insurer.A claims adjuster’s job is to identify fraud in an auto accident claim.As Atlanta car accident lawyers, we often find claims adjusters trying to confuse an accident victim, by trying to get accident victims to settle as quickly as possible.Unfortunately, when a driver says or does the wrong thing after an accident, it can negatively impact the claim. In one recent case, an insurance adjuster was able to get a person with a serious spine injury to settle for an extremely small amount of money thereby eliminating his claim for future damages.

A claims adjuster may also try to fool you into comprising your claim by encouraging you to visit a “preferred repair shop. “ Often, these repair shops will underestimate the damage to your car or fail to have the vehicle properly repaired because they are endeavoring to lower the cost to the insurer. Each person who has been in an accident has a right to go to the repair shop of his or her choice.