Georgia Injury Law Blog

Published on: May 18, 2020

Georgia Rolls Back “No Driving Test” Concession for Teen Drivers

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has rolled back his decision allowing new drivers to receive their driver’s licenses without a road test.

The order allowing drivers to skip road tests was issued on April 23^rd after the state had implemented massive social distancing measures and shelter-in-place orders in the face of the expanding COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, Governor Brian Kemp’s office released an order that immediately suspended driving tests for teen drivers. The order made no mention of rescheduling the road tests.

However, criticism from parents as well as traffic safety advocates seems to have pressured the Governor to reconsider his decision, and thankfully better sense has prevailed. Governor Kemp has now signed a new order which makes it clear that all new drivers who have received their licenses since the April order must take the road exam. After the April order suspending driving tests, as many as 20,000 Georgia teens had obtained their driver’s licenses without appearing for road tests. These teens must now take their road tests in order to retain their licenses. The new order gives drivers until September 30^th to fulfill this requirement and take their tests. The order also provides for individuals to take the test either remotely or with a supervisor in the vehicle.

Published on: May 11, 2020

Half of Georgia’s Covid-19 Deaths Occurred in Nursing Homes

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

All throughout the country, nursing home residents have been one of the hardest hit groups of the Covid-19 pandemic. The same deadly results have been seen in Georgia as well. According to estimates, as many as 50 percent of the fatalities in the state have involved residents of nursing homes.

The Georgia Department of Community Health recently released Covid-19 fatality numbers and the results are frightening. The data suggests that more than 6,000 residents and staff members of nursing homes in Georgia are currently infected with the virus. About 350 facilities in the state are currently grappling with the outbreak. About 20 percent of all Covid-19 cases in Georgia have occurred in nursing homes and 659 deaths have been linked to nursing homes.

The picture is even bleaker in the rural parts of Georgia. The virus, which was earlier believed to be confined to urban areas, has spread with staggering speed in rural areas. These counties, with predominantly poor or African American populations have been affected disproportionately by the outbreak, and nursing homes in these regions have seen an alarming spike in death tolls.

Published on: May 4, 2020

Bigger SUV’s Also Mean Bigger Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Gas prices have been falling all over the country in the past few weeks. In most places around the metro Atlanta area, a gallon of gas in now less than $2.00.

The last time gas prices were this low, there was a boom in the sport utility vehicle market. And while sales of SUV’s dropped somewhat when gas prices were at a peak several years ago, these large vehicles have never lost their popularity among drivers. In fact, SUV sales have risen consistently since the 2009. In 2019, sales of SUVs made up 70% of all new vehicle sales.

Many buyers of sport utility vehicles often cite a perception of increased safety as one of the reasons for driving an SUV. In other words, a driver behind the wheel of an SUV feels relatively safer in their larger vehicle as opposed to a regular sedan. This may be because a driver of an SUV is seated higher than in a regular passenger vehicle and feels as though they have a greater line of sight.

Published on: April 27, 2020

NTSB Calls on States to Act to Prevent Bicycle Accident Deaths

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The National Transportation Safety Board is calling on Georgia and other states to take stringent action to reduce the number of bicyclists killed in accidents every year.

The National Transportation Board recently released its first report on bicycle safety since 1972. The Board makes note of the fact that there has been a spike in bicycle accident deaths, specifically the 857 bicycle accident deaths that occurred in 2018. There was an increase in bicycle accident deaths in 2018, even as there was an overall drop in auto accidents that year. Those numbers were an increase of 6.3 percent from the previous year. In fact, the bicycle accident death toll in 2018 was the highest number on record since 1990.

The record fatality numbers in 2018 is likely the reason why the National Transportation Safety Board has decided to address the issue of bicycle safety for the first time since 1972. The Board makes note of the poor infrastructure that is often the cause of bicycle accidents. Too many cities in Georgia have seen an increase in their bicycle population, but oftentimes there is no safe infrastructure in place to support it. This situation has resulted in a staggering increase in bicycle accident deaths in urban areas. Since 2009, the number of bicycle accident deaths in urban areas has increased by a whopping 48 percent.

Published on: April 21, 2020

Empty Streets Lately Mean More Super-Speeders on the Roads

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Lately, there have been quite a few news stories of people driving on the roads with excessive speed. While most people are currently under shelter-in-place orders, this means that there are fewer cars on the road and less traffic to navigate. In fact, pictures have been circulating widely of empty roadways in the usually most traffic congested cities. This has resulted in some drivers taking advantage of the empty streets and pushing the envelope on speed limits.

In the metro-Atlanta area, this behavior has been seen both on the local streets in town as well as the area’s highways. Some drivers are not only engaging in excessive speeding, but there are others that are actually racing on the streets.

This driving at excessive speeds has caused deadly accidents with devastating results. Most recently in Atlanta, an 11 year-old child was struck and killed by a speeding driver, and a police officer was also killed in a deadly high speed accident.

Published on: April 17, 2020

Doctors Warn of “Skull Breaker” Brain Injury Risks

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A Tik Tok stunt that has recently gone viral places teens at a high risk of brain injury and spinal injury.

The “Skull Breaker” challenge on the popular platform Tik Tok involves two teens pulling the legs out from under a third person who is essentially the victim. The resulting fall can cause a serious spine injury or brain injury. In fact, hospitals around the US have reported serious neck, spine and brain injuries linked to the stunt gone horribly wrong. And now that more children and teens are home due to schools being cancelled, the incidence of these injuries is rising.

Basically, the stunt involves tricking a third person into jumping, and sweeping their legs out from under them as they jump. When the victim falls, he is likely to sustain a severe impact to his skull, resulting in a head or brain injury. Other possible injuries include a spinal injury as the back sustains the maximum impact of the fall. These injuries have led to several hospitalizations.

Published on: April 12, 2020

Uber, Lyft Linked to Higher Rates of Pedestrian Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft became very popular very quickly over the past few years. Although people are not using these services as much recently due to the COVID-19 crisis, ride-sharing will most likely make a comeback once the current shelter-in-place restrictions are lifted.

Uber and Lyft have been around since 2010, and the rise of these ride-sharing services has proved very useful in helping reduce the incidence of drunk driving accidents. However, the rate of other accidents, including pedestrian accidents involving these cars, has actually increased.

Uber and Lyft became very popular among people wanting safe rides back home. These ride-sharing services have been found to be especially useful in helping curb the number of drunk drivers on our streets. Uber allows riders to hail rides if they are too drunk to drive themselves home. That translates into safer options for a person to get home and a reduced chance of being involved in a drunk driving accident. The rates of alcohol-related accidents in several cities have dropped as a direct result of intoxicated persons being encouraged to use Uber rides that are so easily available.

Published on: April 5, 2020

Bill to Expand Safe Commercial Parking for Trucks

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A group of lawmakers has introduced a bill that addresses a pressing need of commercial truckers. The bill, which includes funding for expansion of parking areas, has been welcomed by the trucking industry in Georgia and drivers, especially during the recent times.

Access to safe parking areas is a serious safety issue in the trucking industry. According to federal trucking safety regulations, truck drivers are required to stop driving after a certain number of hours and rest. During these periods of rest, they must park their trucks in safe spaces and get the required minimum rest time before they can begin driving again.

Unfortunately, lack of access to safe parking has been a serious safety issue in the trucking sector. When a driver cannot find a safe and convenient place for him to park his truck, he is more likely to continue driving even beyond the maximum number of hours set by the federal administration. This can have serious consequences because a truck driver who is tired and fatigued, is much more likely to fall asleep at the wheel of the truck. Accidents involving drowsy or tired truckers are not uncommon. In fact, trucker fatigue is a major factor in truck accidents in Georgia and around the country.

Published on: March 31, 2020

Increased number of workers could be an increase in accident claims.

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

In the past few weeks while the country, and globe, has been dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of workers in a variety of fields have been laid-off, furloughed, or told to work from home.

However, there are still several industries and businesses that remain open during these times. The businesses that do remain open are usually ones that have seen a surge in demand, such as grocery or other essential retain, and delivery providers. With the sudden increase in the need for additional workers, many employers have had to forego the usual interview requirements, safety screening or training in order to meet new demands. While having people still be able to participate in the workforce is essential during these times, will these short-cut hiring practices result on more problems, and more specifically accidents, down the road?

One of the potential problems that may result is more on-the-job injuries by employees who were not adequately trained or protected to perform their jobs. States have laws that require most employers to have workers compensation insurance in case their employees become injured on the job. In many states, including Georgia, filing a workers compensation claim is the exclusive remedy that an employee has against an if he or she sustains an injury at work. The more employees are performing tasks that are unfamiliar to them, the more likelihood there is of any injury.

Published on: March 24, 2020

Cruises after COVID-19. Should passengers be able to get compensated?

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

There is no debate the events surrounding COVID-19 are unlike any that this country, and the globe for that matter, has experienced. The impacts of this disease on our communities will include a once unthinkable number of illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths.

Although efforts have been made to trace the source of the disease in local areas in order to notify others that may have come in contact with or been exposed to someone with the disease, many of these efforts that not been entirely successful, hence the widespread contagiousness of the disease.

One source that has been known early on in the COVID-19 outbreak are the cruise ships that had passengers with confirmed cases on board. Recent numbers have indicated that as many as 700 people became infected with COVID-19 on cruise ships. A number of these passengers went on to die from the illness. As news of the outbreaks and quarantined passengers broke, some of the cruise lines, including Princess Cruises, took preemptive measures and cancelled any future cruises.