Personal Injury

Published on: March 27, 2011

Atlanta Boy Injured in SUV Car Accident

A six-year-old Atlanta boy who was injured in an SUV car accident in Cobb County is expected to recover from his injuries.The boy had been injured in the accident that occurred on Sunday at the intersection of Macland Road and John Ward Road.

The child was apparently traveling in an SUV that was T-boned by another vehicle at the intersection.The impact of the accident caused the SUV to flip over.The boy sustained a head injury, and had to be rushed to the hospital.Police are likely to charge the other driver with failure to yield.

Very often, Atlanta car accident attorneys notice that T-bone collisions which occur near an intersection, occur because one of the drivers ran a red light.T-bone accidents involve a car that crashes through traffic and into the side of another car.These side-impact accidents are some of the most injurious of all auto accidents.Side impact crashes can cause serious injuries and fatalities, because there is very little space protecting the occupants of the car from the full impact of the collision.This is unlike a frontal impact collision, where the front of the automobile absorbs much of the energy from the accident, cushioning the occupants from injuries.

Published on: March 25, 2011

Georgia Needs More Trauma Centers to Treat Injuries of Auto Accident Victims

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The Atlanta car accident lawyers at our firm have been blogging regularly about the need for more trauma care centers in Georgia to treat auto accident victims and others.Rural areas in Georgia have a severe shortage of trauma care centers to treat individuals who have suffered serious personal injuries. This has resulted in a significant number of unnecessary deaths. Unfortunately, a recent vote to provide a limited tax to increase the number of trauma centers was defeated.

According to estimates, approximately 700 people in Georgia are killed every year because they lacked immediate access to emergency trauma care.Many of these people were injured in catastrophic accidents, and sustained serious injuries that could not be treated without the facilities available at a trauma center.The first hour after a person suffers serious injuries is the “golden hour,” and if the person receives emergency care during this time, his chances of surviving the accident or injuries increase substantially.Unfortunately, many people who are involved in auto accidents in Georgia cannot be taken to an emergency trauma care center in time because there is not one close enough to them.

According to estimates, there should be at least 30 trauma centers in Georgia for trauma care access for all.Currently, we need at least 12 more centers to ensure that all Georgia residents live within 50 miles of a trauma center.Georgia’s trauma care network leaves much to be desired, and the average trauma death rate in our state is much worse than the national average.To make matters worse, recent budget cuts have slashed approximately $10 million of funding for the existing trauma care centers in Georgia.

Published on: March 20, 2011

Untested Car Safety Seats Could Cause Injuries in Atlanta Car Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The role of car safety seats in preventing injuries to children in an auto accident is one that no Atlanta injury lawyer would deny.According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, between 1988 and 1994, the use of car seats led to a 73% drop in infant wrongful deaths and a 54% drop in car accident related injuries in children between the age of one and four.However, not all car safety seats may have been tested and approved to be safe for your child.

The Washington Post warns parents against assuming that the car seat that they’re using for their child will protect them from injuries in the event of an accident.The seats that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulates are only tested for protection in a front impact collision.The seats are not regulated against side-impact, rear end or rollover accidents.This is in spite of the fact that the risk of injuries and fatalities is often much higher in a rollover accident or a side-impact accident than a front impact collision.

One of the reasons why the federal agency has failed to regulate the effectiveness of car seats in these kinds of accidents is the lack of proper-sized crash test dummies.That is also the reason why the agency has failed to regulate the safety of large-sized car seats that are used for toddlers above 65 pounds.There’s a growing class of overweight children who are too heavy for infant car seats, and too young for seat belts.Car seat manufacturers have been marketing larger-sized car seats for children of this size, but the NHTSA has failed to regulate the effectiveness of these seats.One of the reasons has been the failure to develop a crash test dummy of an appropriate size.

Published on: March 10, 2011

Spotlight on Burn Injury Risks from Defective Car Seat Heaters

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

During some of the freezing winter days that Atlanta personal injury lawyers and residents suffered over the past few months, cars with seat heaters seemed akin to a blessing from above.However, there are serious burn injury risks linked to the car seat heaters found in many popular auto models.The burn injury risk is especially significant for the disabled and physically challenged persons. Car accidents may happen, but this is a preventable injury.

In fact, just about every other auto manufacturer has, at some point, recalled car seat heaters for malfunctioning.However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has never found the need to act on incidents where the car seat heaters have heated to levels beyond human tolerance.Now, a group of safety advocates has asked the federal administration to look closer at defective and malfunctioning car seat heaters that have caused serious burn injuries.

The risk of burn injuries from defective car seat heaters is the highest among the disabled and physically challenged.These people may have limited or no sensation in their lower limbs, which means that when a car seat heater heats up to dangerously high levels, the person only finds out that he’s being burnt when it is too late.Some of these people have ended up with third-degree burns.Currently, there are no federal standards in place for car seat heaters, and that has meant consumers are using seat heaters that are not required to meet any safety standards.Very often, car seat heaters do not come with a switch on/off mechanism that allows a person to switch off the heater when it is warming up to intolerable levels.

Published on: March 5, 2011

Proposed Law Would Prevent Serious Georgia Bicycle Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Motorists whizzing close by to bicyclists are responsible for approximately 1.2% of all bicycle accidents every year, but about 22% of those accidents result in catastrophic injuries or death.A new piece of legislation in Georgia would require that motorists passing by a bicyclist maintain a space of at least 3 feet between the vehicle and the bicycle.As an Atlanta injury lawyer, I strongly support the legislation. The legislation would help prevent accidents in Atlanta and throughout Georgia.

House Bill 180 requires motorists to pass at a safe distance from a bicycle.The term “safe distance” is defined as 3 feet.Across Georgia, bicyclists have been exposed to accident and injury risks from motorists “buzzing” past them.These risks would be avoided if the bill is passed.Although the risks that come when motorists pass too close to bicycles are common knowledge, few states have laws in place that prevent motorists from such behavior.In fact, only 16 states in the US have laws that establish a specific distance that motorists must maintain from a bicycle.Georgia, if it approves the law, would become one of the states that prioritize bicyclist safety.

This piece of legislation is one of several bicycle safety bills that are currently pending in the Georgia Assembly.Another bill, House Bill 101 defines bicycle lanes and establishes the installation of bicycle lanes to national guidelines.The bill would also require motorists to yield to bicyclists.Yet another bill, House Bill 71 would allow Georgia residents to petition their local administrations to allow them to bicycle on sidewalks.Under current laws, only children below the age of 12 can ride bicycles on sidewalks.Riding on the sidewalk may help prevent serious bicycle accidents.

Published on: February 19, 2011

What Atlanta Accident Victims Can Expect after a Burn Injury

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Last week, the American Burn Association commemorated National Burn Awareness Week, to highlight the dangers to children and adults from fire and burn hazards. Although the focus of the American Burn Association tends to be towards household burn hazards, Atlanta injury attorneys often come across victims who have suffered serious burn injuries in car accidents, truck accidents, and workplace accidents.

Burn injuries are easily some of the most traumatic injuries that a person can suffer. A burn injury victim can expect severe pain over the short-term, and scarring, paralysis and impaired nerve function over the long-term. The hours and days after a serious burn injury can be critical for a patient. In such cases, the skin may have been severely burned down to the deeper layers, and the patient may be at a high risk of infections.

Once the patient is discharged from the hospital, he or she could be looking at a long period of taking care of the injury and the wound site. The patient will have to be on medication for a few weeks, and will be asked to be on plenty of fluids. The injury site will be cleaned periodically, and, patients will have to take care to avoid contamination of the wound.

Published on: February 4, 2011

Difference in Perception May Increase Accident Risks among Elderly Drivers in Atlanta

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Elderly drivers in Atlanta may be plagued by a variety of health issues, like failing vision that can increase their risk of an auto accident. However, new research suggests that vision problems among the elderly may be much more complicated than simply failing eyesight. The study seems to suggest that the elderly have trouble seeing objects in the foreground, which increases the risk of an accident with pedestrians and bicyclists. Of course, pedestrian accidents and bicycle accidents generally result in extremely serious injuries.

The study was conducted at the University of Rochester, and found that older people have impaired activity in the medial temporal visual area of the brain. This part of the brain suppresses movement in the background, so that the person can focus clearly on objects in the foreground. In elderly people, this section of the brain may be impaired. They may find it easy to perceive movement in the background, but not so easy to see objects that are in the foreground. That is why Atlanta car accident attorneys so often find elderly motorists involved in accidents with pedestrians and bicyclists.

The researchers used a technique called Transcranial Magnetics Stimulation, which involved attaching a magnetic card to the subject’s head, and measuring the activity of the MT area of the brain. The MT area was stimulated using electrical signals, and the researchers analyzed how well the subjects in the study identified the movement of objects. They found that when the MT area of the brain was impaired, the person could readily and easily identify objects in the background.

Published on: January 18, 2011

Employers Move to Minimize Risk of Distracted Driver Auto Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

As Atlanta car accident attorneys, we believe minimizing texting or talking on the cell phone while driving requires cooperation not just from individual motorists, but also from society at large. To avoid as many car accidents as possible, employers have a big role to play in ensuring that their employees refrain from using a cell phone while driving. A new survey by the National Safety Council finds that one out of every five Fortune 500 companies has a policy in place that prevents employees from using cell phones while driving. These policies have a significant impact in decreasing the number of distracted driving auto accidents.

There have been increasing signs that more and more employers are taking the need for such workplace policies seriously. Out of the companies that responded to the survey, more than 50% had implemented such safety policies since 2008.

It was the federal administration which kick started the initiative to encourage employers to implement anti-distracted driving policies in the workplace. In 2009, the Obama administration announced a ban on cell phone use while driving for federal employees while driving government-issued vehicles, and using government-issued cell phones. Since then, private employers have followed suit, encouraging employees to switch off their cell phones while driving. Encouraging employers to implement such policies has become more important since the economy began sinking. Employees now are under more pressure than ever to stay constantly in touch with the office, even while driving.

Published on: December 22, 2010

Icy Weather Blamed for More Than 600 Auto Accidents in Gwinnett County, Georgia

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Close to 600 auto accidents in Gwinnett County, Georgia, last week were blamed on hazardous road conditions caused by icy roads. These accidents included a 15-car pileup on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. Fortunately, none of these auto accidents ended in fatalities.

However, according to police, at least nine accidents resulted in occupants becoming trapped in their vehicles. They were 27 hit-and-run accidents reported. There was also at least one pedestrian accident that ended with injuries. In Cherokee County alone, police handled more than 300 accident cases. Meanwhile, in the metro Atlanta area, roadways were shut down, and schools were closed as a precautionary measure.

The hazardous road conditions were created after a mass of Arctic air collided with the moist air, creating a thin coating of ice on the roadways. Emergency rescue departments in Gwinnett County found themselves overwhelmed with thousands of calls for rescue, not just from accident victims, but also calls related to structure and wood fires.

Published on: December 13, 2010

Auto Accident Victims with Spinal Cord Injuries Find hope in Stem Cell Trial

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Spinal cord injuries, which frequently occur during auto accidents, truck accidents and motorcycle accidents, are one of the most life-altering injuries. There is no complete cure for spinal cord injuries, but there have been very encouraging developments in possible therapies for spinal cord injury, all of them involving the use of stem cells. A California-based company has announced that it has received approval to begin nerve stem cell trials into the treatment of spinal cord injury. This study provides a reason for hope for auto accident victims who suffered this injury.

The trials will be conducted in Switzerland. Researchers believe that the country offers greater patient referral networks and a higher expertise of professionals. However, that isn’t only how these stem cell trials will differ from others. These are believed to be the first trials that will focus on treatment of older or chronic spinal cord injuries.

Earlier this year, another company, Geron Corporation announced the world’s first embryonic stem cell clinical trials into the treatment of spinal cord injuries. Those trials are partly being conducted in Atlanta. However, those trials will only focus on new spinal cord injuries. These Swiss trials will focus on injuries that are between three and 12 months older, and if these treatments are successful, it will offer hope to the more than 2 million spinal cord injury patients in the US, who currently live with these injuries. The Swiss trial researchers believe that older spinal cord injuries have been ignored, and too much of the research is focused on fresh injuries.