Georgia Injury Law Blog

It’s a fact that young adults and teenagers are at a much higher risk of accidents and injuries. Studies also indicate that this group of drivers is more likely to be injured severely in accidents.

A new study finds that young adults and teenagers are much more likely to suffer critical injuries that require them to be rushed to hospital emergency rooms after being involved in a motor vehicle accident. Those findings came from a study of data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study found that there were 4 million emergency room visits after accidents in 2010-2011. In fact, auto accidents accounted for approximately 10% of all emergency room visits across the country.

Age was a common factor in most of the persons who were rushed to ERs after being involved in an accident. For every 10,000 persons rushed to ERs for treatment after an accident, 286 persons were between the age of 16 and 24. Among persons above 65, the rate was just 65 for 10,000 persons, and in the case of persons below the age of 18, the rate was 70 for every 10,000 persons.

Highway accident fatalities in Georgia have been on the decline over the past few years, but the state could make more progress towards keeping more motorists safer on its roads. That is the opinion of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, an organization that rates all 50 states each year on their highway safety performance.

The report ranks states in three color-coded categories – green, yellow and red. Green signifies the best performance and indicates that the state has complied with most of the group’s recommended highway safety laws, and yellow signifies that while the state has made some progress in complying with these laws, there still remains a lot more work to be done. Red is the worst rating on the scale and is only given to those states that have failed to enact important safety laws.

This year, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety gave Georgia a Yellow rating for its performance in complying with critical safety laws that help prevent accidents.The group ranked states based on the state’s compliance with laws related to child restraint use, seat belt use, drunk driving prevention, distracted driving prevention, graduated driver licensing laws, motorcycle helmet laws and others.

Pediatricians and child safety advocates have long known of the dangers involving children and adult all-terrain vehicles (ATV). However, according to a new study, children who ride adult-sized ATVs may have the highest risk of suffering fatal injuries in an accident.

According to the study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, fatal accidents were most likely to involve children riding adult-sized ATVs, or not wearing a helmet while riding. In 95% of the fatal ATV accidents analyzed in the study, the victims were riding large vehicles at the time. In spite of all the media attention on the dangers of these vehicles, far too many parents allow their children to drive adult-sized ATVs. Your child should not ride in an adult-sized ATV, even as a passenger.

Here’s a fact many parents may not know; in the United States, more children die in ATV accidents than in bicycle accidents. That’s partly because the dangers of riding on such vehicles isn’t fully appreciated by parents.In addition, the great majority of children do not have the kind of physical or cognitive maturity that is needed to operate an adult-sized ATV.

When most people think of the holiday season, they imagine cookies, presents, and parties. It is a time to spend with family and friends, celebrating love and togetherness. Unfortunately, the holiday season is also a time of increased danger on the roads. With inclement weather and more drivers on the roads, traffic accidents are common at this time of year. In addition, one of the major causes of accidents during the holidays is drugged and intoxicated drivers.

The White House is observing National Impaired Driving Prevention Month this December. While the perils of drunk driving are well known, drugged driving can be just as dangerous. Even prescription drugs can impair perception, reaction time, judgment, and motor skills. In an extensive survey done by the National Highway Traffic Safety in Administration in 2007, one in eight nighttime, weekend drivers tested positive for illicit drugs. In 2012, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported that 10.3 million adolescents and adults admitted to having driven under the influence of drugs within the past year. In 2009, one in three fatally injured drivers with known drug-test results tested positive for drugs.

Seventeen states, including Georgia, have adopted zero tolerance or “per se” statutes that make it a crime to operate a vehicle while having alcohol or a drug in the body. Law enforcement officials and researchers believe that this type of statute is the most effective in dealing with drugged drivers. Georgia’s law makes it illegal for a person to operate a motor vehicle “under the influence of any drug to the extent that it is less safe for the person to drive.”