Personal Injury

Published on: June 13, 2021

Increase in Deliveries, Canine Aggression Led to Rise in Dog Bites Last Year

In 2020, when the majority of people were staying at home, there was a record increase in dog adoptions and online shopping. Normally, these two event would seem unrelated, however a significant increase in the number of mail deliveries across the country last year led to a significant increase in the number of dog bite attacks recorded across the country in 2020. The US Postal Service recently released a statement which defined the most dangerous states for postal workers last year as well as the cities that recorded the highest number of dog bites involving mail carriers.

Fortunately, Georgia does not figure in the list of states with the highest number of recorded attacks against mail carriers in 2020. No Georgia city featured in the list of cities that saw the highest number of attacks involving postal workers. For purposes of the list, the Postal Service considered any dog bite-related injury to the mail worker, or any incident resulting in a complaint to a supervisor.

Mail workers are some of the most frequent victims of dog bites in the metro Atlanta region. With summer here, it’s time not just for families but also dog owners to be mindful of the increased risk of dog bites. Most Americans last year relied on online deliveries of their basic needs, and online shopping rates soared, leading to increased exposure of all mail carriers to dog bites. Long periods of being locked up at home without exercise and walks also led to an increase in canine aggression levels. Exercise is crucial in maintaining canine health and dog experts believe that lack of exercise led to an increase in dog bites last year, especially those involving children.

Published on: May 5, 2021

GOHS Marks Bicycle Safety Awareness Month in Georgia

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety kickstarted its nationwide bicycle safety awareness program by making a number of stops across the state of Georgia. Several cities played host to the new public awareness campaign that is focusing especially on bicycle safety in the month of May.

The Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety is commemorating the month of May as National Bicycle Safety Month. As part of the campaign, the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety conducted a “Capital to Coast 2021” program across the state. This program involved an educational tour that covered 5 cities in Georgia- Atlanta, Athens, Macon, Savannah and Brunswick.

The campaign focused on important bicycle safety issues, including enhancing bicycle helmet usage. The risk of many injuries, especially head injuries in bicycle accidents, can be reduced with the proper usage of bicycle helmets. The Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety has been focusing on increasing awareness of the need for helmet usage and the safe ways of wearing helmets.

Published on: February 23, 2021

The Real Reason Why Women are More Likely to be Severely Injured in Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Women have a higher risk of being severely injured and suffering certain types of injuries in in car accidents compared to men. The prevalent theory is that this is the result of physiological differences between men and women. A new study spotlights other more likely factors for this disparity.

The study was conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and the results were released recently. Men are overall much more likely to be involved in fatal accidents than women. However, women are more likely to suffer fatal injuries. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, women are between 20 and 28% more likely to sustain fatal injuries in accidents compared to men. They are also approximately 37 to 73% more likely to suffer serious injuries in an accident compared to male drivers, even after adjusting for factors like speed.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, women are more likely to suffer certain types of injuries in accidents because of the types of vehicles that they are likely to drive. The circumstances surrounding the accident could also have a lot to do with the kind of injuries that females suffer. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety researchers found that in a front-impact accident, women had a 3 times higher risk of experiencing moderate injuries like concussions. The risk of suffering a traumatic brain injury or lung injuries was twice as high as for males.

Published on: December 4, 2020

Why Winter Poses a Serious Risk of Dog Bites in Atlanta

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Winter depression is a very common occurrence in human beings. But did you know that it can also affect dogs? This could possibly be why dogs become aggressive, making them much more likely to be involved in bites or attacks, during the winter time.

Seasonal affective disorder is a fairly common winter-related condition that occurs in human beings. This is a type of depression, that is caused due to the fact that human beings spend less time outdoors during winter. The lack of exposure to sunlight and the dark and gloomy conditions causes symptoms that are very similar to those in depression.

There is evidence that something very similar also occurs in our canine friends. The long, dark days, and the lack of their usual physical activity outdoors could possibly cause dogs to experience some of the same type of symptoms, including irritability and aggressiveness. These types of weather conditions could cause dogs to exhibit behaviors that are not similar to their normal behaviors.

Published on: October 20, 2020

Lack of Infrastructure Blamed for E-scooter Injuries

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A new report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety blames a combination of lack of infrastructure and inexperience for a large number of e-scooter injuries.

Micro-mobility, or the use of e-scooters and bicycles for work as well as recreational travel, is a massive trend in Georgia and across the United States. The number of people who choose to use e- scooters and bicycles has increased exponentially, and this number is only likely to increase further as the pandemic continues. More numbers of people are likely to avoid mass transit to avoid coming into close contact with large numbers of people, and choose modes of transportation like e-scooters and bicycles that prevent them from the risk of infection.

However, just like bicyclists, e-scooter riders also face the risks of injuries, as they travel. According to the report released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, many scooter riders may remain safe as long as they use bicycle lanes. However, the report states that many scooter riders choose to ride their vehicles on sidewalks. This practice is especially common in those areas where bike lanes are not available.

Published on: September 8, 2020

Increase in Dog bites Involving Children during Pandemic

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The pandemic and shelter-in-place restrictions across Georgia and the country have resulted in an increase in the number of children suffering dog bites.

A new study has found that there was an increase in the number of dog bites involving children between spring and summer this year. The researchers involved in the study are directly attributing this increase in dog bite attacks involving children to the shelter-in-place restrictions, as well as the increased stress brought on by the pandemic.

The research was conducted by a pediatric emergency department which reported a startling increase in the number of children reporting to the emergency department with injuries suffered in dog bites during spring and summer this year. The increase was as much as 3 times higher, compared to the same period of time last year. The results of the study were published in the Journal of Pediatrics recently.

Published on: August 25, 2020

More Female Truck Drivers Could mean Fewer Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Truck drivers are more likely to be male than female. However, female truck drivers are much less likely to be involved in accidents, compared to male drivers. That information comes from a new study conducted in the United Kingdom, which found that eliminating gender inequalities in the trucking profession could go a long way in helping keep our roads safer.

The researchers analysed accident data for 6 different types of vehicles, and found that in at least 5 of those types of vehicles, the risk posed by male drivers was greater than those presented by females.

In the case of cars and vans, the risk posed by male drivers was double the risk posed by female drivers, and in the case of commercial tractor trailers, the risk posed by male drivers was as much as 4 times higher than the risk posed by female drivers. The risks are staggeringly higher when it is a female behind the wheel of a truck. The risks are also dramatically higher when a male rides a motorcycle, with the risk shooting up by ten times compared to a female.

Published on: August 18, 2020

Auto Technology Alone may not be Sufficient to Prevent Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Self-driving cars are being held up as the way of the future, but may not be able to prevent all types of accidents, especially the majority of accidents that can be linked to driver error. Those findings came from a recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

According to the researchers, auto safety design and advancements in technology will help self-driving vehicles identify and avoid many of the hazards that drivers are susceptible to, but this ability, by itself, would not be sufficient to prevent the majority of accidents that occur on American roads.

The data for the study came from the National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey. The researchers identified accident factors that were specifically linked to driver error, and categorised these accidents into 5 types.

Published on: August 11, 2020

Technology Key to Preventing Trucking Accidents in the Future

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The use of safety technologies has helped reduce the number of people being killed in auto accidents across the country. Federal transportation safety officials believe that the same goals can be achieved in the field of trucking safety as well.

Officials representing various federal transportation safety agencies are of the opinion that advanced driver assistance systems that have been so useful in helping reduce the number of accidents killing motorists in the United States, can be of great help if these are applied to heavy vehicles as well.

During a recent virtual trucking safety summit, representatives of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Highway Administration as well as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration voiced their belief that the use of improved safety technologies in commercial trucks could help bring about the same kind of safety results as has been seen in automobiles.

Published on: August 4, 2020

Lower Ranked Nursing Homes have had More Covid-19 Deaths

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Nursing homes that have lower rankings by federal agencies have been much more likely to have resident deaths related to Covid-19.

According to the director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, nursing homes ranked low by the agency’s nursing home ranking tool have seen higher numbers of Covid-19 deaths, compared to nursing homes that were ranked higher by the ranking tool.

This information provides valuable inputs for families who are now looking for nursing homes for their loved ones in a post -pandemic world. By now, it’s clear that many nursing homes were ill-equipped to handle the patient care challenges resulting from the pandemic. Understaffing is a chronic problem in nursing homes across the country, and has already been blamed for the explosion of cases in nursing homes.