Georgia Injury Law Blog

Published on: July 22, 2013

New Federal Rule Governing Trucker Hours of Service Goes into Effect

On July 1, a new federal law that modifies current hours-of-service rules went into effect, affecting thousands of truckers on U.S. highways.The law is meant to help keep our highways safer, and reduce the number of truck accidents caused by drivers who are driving while fatigued or drowsy.

Under the law, truck drivers will be required to take a break of at least a half hour in the first eight hours after they begin driving.The rule also sets a maximum work week of 70 hours, a reduction from the earlier 82-hour limit.

These are significant changes, and have come as a result of concern over the dangers from drowsy truckers on U.S. highways.There have been a number of serious accidents involving truck drivers who were fatigued and sleepy while driving.Drowsy driving is a major safety concern, and it affects not just commercial truckers and bus drivers, but also motorists.In fact, drowsy driving is believed to be one of the most neglected and underestimated safety issues impacting our roads.

Published on: July 12, 2013

Significant Drop in Georgia Workplace Fatalities

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Last year, there was a significant drop in the number of workers killed in accidents and worksites across Georgia.In 2012, there was a 23% drop in workplace deaths compared to the previous year.

The data was released by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.In 2012, there were a total of 33 workplace fatalities across the state.Just two weeks ago, the Georgia Department of Labor had estimated the number of fatalities at Georgia worksites at 30, and new figures by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration now peg the final number at 33.That number is still significantly lower than the 43 fatalities that were recorded in 2011.This is good news to all Georgians, and also our Atlanta workers comp attorneys.

Out of the workplace fatalities that occurred in Georgia last year, 13 occurred in the construction sector, which invariably contributes to the highest number of workplace fatalities every year.The remaining fatalities included 16 deaths in the general industry, one in the maritime trade industry, and three in the agricultural sector.

Published on: June 28, 2013

Helmets Greatly Reduce the Risk of Serious Bicycle Accident Injuries

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

As many as 75% of all fatal bicycle accidents are believed to involve a head injury.There is no doubt that a traumatic brain injury is the single biggest safety risk for a bicyclist involved in a crash.A new analysis finds that sports-related bicycling injuries account for more head injuries every year than football or baseball.

In many states around the country, including Georgia, wearing a helmet is not mandatory.The reasons for this vary, but generally the safety aspect of this bicycling has been largely neglected because it is such a popular activity and a favorite pastime for so many Atlantans.This is in spite of the fact that there is enough research to suggest that wearing a bicycle helmet may be the only thing protecting a bicyclist from serious injuries in an accident.

In fact, recent Australian research focused on the kind of injuries suffered by bicyclist who were not helmeted at the time of an accident, and found that wearing a helmet can help protect bicyclists from all but the most severe impacts.

Published on: June 18, 2013

Three People Killed in Truck-Ambulance Accident in Georgia

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

An out-of-control truck is being blamed for a deadly accident in Irwin County in South Georgia recently that killed three people.The accident killed two paramedics and a patient who was being transported to the hospital.

According to reports, the accident occurred on GA 32 in Irwin County when the tractor-trailer and the ambulance were traveling on the highway.The tractor-trailer jackknifed and the trailer collided with the ambulance in a deadly head-on collision that proved devastating for the occupants of the ambulance.

The Georgia State Patrol’s Special Crash Reconstruction Team has begun investigating the accident.No charges have been filed yet, and charges will be filed only after the completion of the investigation.

Published on: June 3, 2013

Fatigued Driving Causes More Fatal Car Accidents Than Earlier Believed

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Drowsy driving is one of the most underestimated causes of accidents, especially since it’s difficult to determine exactly how many motorists dozed off at the wheel just before the car wreck.However, one fact is clear.These accidents are much more widespread and common than believed, and the number of people being killed in these crashes is much higher than the official estimates.A new study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute seems to confirm that fact.

The naturalistic study which focused on 100 cars involved in accidents, found that driving under the influence of fatigue contributed to as many as 20% of all accidents.Earlier estimates had pegged that number at just 2-3% of all accidents.

The naturalistic study is believed to be one of the first times that this major accident factor has been studied in depth, and in a naturalistic environment.The study found that drivers 18- 20 years of age had some of the highest risks of being involved in drowsy driving accidents, accounting for more accidents than any other age group.

Published on: May 20, 2013

More Effort Needed to Reduce Georgia Bicycle Accidents and Fatalities

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Bicyclists in the metro Atlanta region continue to remain at high risk for injuries and fatalities.New data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that there were 14 “pedalcyclist” accident fatalities reported in Georgia in the year 2011.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration puts bicycles, unicycles, and other non-motorized vehicles in a single group called “pedalcycles.”

Those figures account for approximately 1.1% of the 1,223 traffic accident fatalities reported in 2011.Overall, Georgia had a bicyclist fatality rate of approximately 1.43 fatalities for every 1 million population.

Statistics were not much better across the rest of the country.In fact, there was actually an increase of 9% in the national bicycle accident fatality total for 2011.Overall, there were 677 pedalcyclist fatalities in the United States in 2011.These accidents also contributed to more than 48,000 injuries.

Published on: April 24, 2013

High-Risk of Car Accidents with Hands-Free Communication Too

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

For some time now, supporters of hands-free texting and voice-activated texting technologies have insisted that these technologies help reduce the risk of accidents because they do not require the use of hands and fingers to type text messages.However, a new study debunks that fact.The study shows that persons who use hands-free tools are just as much at risk of being involved in a car accident as persons who manually type text messages.

The research was conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University recently.According to researchers, it does not matter whether you use a hands-free texting technology or voice-activated system to dictate text messages, or manually type a text the old-fashioned way using your fingers.The risk of distraction is just as strong in the former method as in the latter one.

It’s estimated that Americans exchange as many as 6.1 billion text messages every day.Our Atlanta car accident lawyers also believe that many millions of those texts are exchanged by people while driving.With those kinds of staggering numbers, it is very important that motorists not be lulled into the false assumption that they’re protected from accidents if they’re using a voice-activated texting system.That may not be true at all.

Published on: April 8, 2013

Summer Means Increased Risk of Dog Bites Involving Georgia Children

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Warm Georgia weather brings more children out to play in parks and playgrounds, as well as an increased number of dog owners walking their pets.Unfortunately, this combination always increases the number of dog bites involving children.

In addition, the issue of dog bites and children is likely to be more prominent in our state after a recent incident involving a pet store altercation where a small child was bitten by a dog.The child and his mother were at the store when the child reached out to pet a little dog.The animal attacked him, leaving the child with serious injuries, including 9 stitches on his nose.

When a witness tried to stop the two men who owned the dog from leaving the store, one of them allegedly brandished a weapon, and threatened him before they drove away.

Published on: March 26, 2013

Research Recommends Drastic Measures to Prevent Distracted Driving Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The distracted driving problem in Georgia and across the country has resulted in federal and state transportation agencies, safety advocates, and Atlanta car accident lawyers pooling in their efforts to come up with ways to reduce the numbers of distracted motorists on the roads.A number of strategies are currently being used to reduce the effect of distracted driving on highway safety.However, a new report released by researchers at West Virginia University recommends some dramatic new ways to reduce the impact of distracted driving.

The report was released by scientists at West Virginia University, and is titled Keeping an Eye on Distracted Driving.The report has been published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

According to the report, there is no doubt that distracted driving is one of the key threats to motorist safety in the United States.Every year, distracted driving causes more than 300,000 injuries on our roads, and as many as 2,600 fatalities.According to the report, the numbers of injuries and fatalities linked to distracted driving increased significantly between 2005 and 2009.

Published on: March 18, 2013

Truck Underride Guards May Not Protect Against Accident Injuries

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The angle of a passenger vehicle that is involved in a rear ender accident with a tractor-trailer could mean the difference between life and death for the occupants of the vehicle.This is because the underride guards that are located at the back of the tractor-trailer to protect the occupants of the passenger vehicle from serious injuries when it hits a truck don’t perform so well in many situations.

The study was conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which found that the underride guards located on the back of tractor-trailers, don’t always perform as well as expected in reducing the risk to passenger car occupants.

In some situations, these underride guards did a fairly good job.In the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study, the researchers found that when the full width of the car hit the center of the trailer, the underride guards in all trucks prevented the front portion of the passenger vehicle from sliding under the tractor-trailer.A situation like this can mean almost instantaneous death for the occupants of a passenger vehicle, who may suffer serious head or neck injuries, or even decapitation.