Georgia Injury Law Blog

Published on: August 7, 2011

Georgia’s New Booster Seat Laws Will Protect Children from Injuries in Car Accidents

A new Georgia law that increases the age of children, who need to be safely restrained in booster seats from 6 to 8, went into effect on July 1.This law now increases the number of child passengers who are required to be restrained in booster seats, thereby protecting these children from fatal injuries in the event of a car accident.

Under the law, your six or seven-year-old will also be required to be strapped into a booster seat.The law will exempt any children from the booster seat rules if they measured at least 4 feet 9 inches tall.Other exemptions apply, but they are limited to vehicles without shoulder straps and for children who medically cannot be restrained in a booster seat.

Current car accident statistics from around the country underscore the need for the law.According to data by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, auto accidents are the number one cause of death for children between the age of three and fourteen.In 2009 alone, 909 children above the age of five, and ten children below the age of four were killed in Georgia accidents.

Published on: August 6, 2011

Workplace Safety Concern at Tyson Foods Plant Addresses Continued Viability of Workers’ Compensation

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

In May, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued 10 safety citations against Tyson Foods at one of its plants. Nine of the violations cited conditions that posed a "substantial probability" of wrongful death or serious personal injury from a hazard the employer knew, or should have known, about. The third was a repeat violation that the company had been asked to fix once before. So serious were the violations that OSHA fined the food processor $71,500, which was $30,000 more than the original estimate. It is these types of plants that often result in significant workers’ compensation claims.

The hefty price tag that accompanied the violations is understandable in light of the offenses. Says reporter Rick Romellof the Journal Sentinel, among the violations are: an inadequate guardrail; battery cables hanging outside the running lines of two forklifts; failure to ensure that refrigeration mechanics wear tight-fitting, annually tested respirators; and a lack of clear instructions in operating procedures for handling emergencies with equipment. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) requires that employers provide their employees with work and a workplace that is free from recognized, serious hazards.Some duties under the act include:

Making sure employees are aware of all safety procedures and drills.

Published on: August 3, 2011

Father of Man Accused of Slaying his Mother may be Prohibited from Bringing Medical Malpractice Suit on behalf of His Son Pending Decision by the Georgia Supreme Court

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

When an individual is the victim of medical negligence or medical malpractice, that person is normally afforded the opportunity to prove his case at trial. As a Georgia medical malpractice attorney, I believe this should be the case. However, Victor Bruscato and his father Vito, depending on what ruling the Georgia Supreme Court makes, may not be afforded this opportunity because of a long adhered to legal principle. On Monday, July 18, 2011, the Supreme Court of Georgia heard arguments regarding whether to allow a medical malpractice case, brought by the father of a Georgia man accused of killing his mother, go to trial.

The story began in 2001 when Victor Bruscato began seeing Dr. Derek Johnson O’Brien at O’Brien’s community health Center in Gwinnett, Georgia. At that time, Victor was taking anti-psychotic drugs to help him manage violent and sexual urges. However, in May of 2002, Dr. O’Brien took Victor off of tow of these powerful drugs. Dr. O’Brien’s reason for this was to determine if Victor was developing a dangerous syndrome possibly related to these drugs.

After being taken off of these medications, Victor complained of nightmares, and he also claimed that the devil was directing him to do bad things. Three months after being taken off of these two medications by Dr. O’Brien, Victor was suspected of violently slaying his mother, Lillian Lynn Bruscato. According to police, Victor smashed Mrs. Bruscato’s head in with a battery charger and stabbed her 72 times. Victor was eventually charged with the slaying, but he was found not competent to stand trial and was committed to a state mental institution.

Published on: July 29, 2011

Distracted Driving: Part 2, Efforts to End Needless Car Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. April 2010 kicked off a huge effort to enforce the texting and cellphone use laws in two cities. The pilot program called “Phone in one Hand, Ticket in the Other” was launched through law enforcement and public-education media campaigns. The results are in and, apparently, the program was extremely successful in Hartford, CT and Syracuse, NY. Police in both cities issued over 900,000 tickets to drivers for using their cellphones while driving. Driving with cellphones decreased 32% in Syracuse and 57% in Hartford. Texting while driving in Hartford declined by 72%. USA Today reports the National Highway Traffic Administration plans to continue the pilot program in undisclosed states. As a Georgia auto accident attorney, I think Atlanta would be a good place to test.

As discussed in our Distracted.

A study by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety found the frequency of insurance claims increased in the studied states after texting bans were enacted. In the report, Adrian Lund, President of IIHS and HLDI, states the findings may indicate, “that texting bans might even increase the risk associated with texting for drivers who continue to do so despite the laws.”

Published on: July 29, 2011

Distracted Driving: Part 1, Texting Laws and Stats You Will Not Believe

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

An estimated 20% of the over 1.5 million car accidents resulting in minor to severe injury were reported to have involved distracted driving in 2009. If you think of all the things you do while driving down the road daily, it is no wonder that distracted driving is the leading cause of auto accidents each year, from fender- bender to fatal injury.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has made it his mission to reduce these needless accidents. A USA Today article quotes LaHood as saying, "It is crystal clear that those who try to minimize this dangerous behavior are making a serious error in judgment, especially when half a million people are injured and thousands more are killed in distracted-driving accidents." As an Atlanta auto accident attorney, I always try to find out whether a driver involved was using a cellphone at the time of the accident.

LaHood’s focusis on drivers texting and cellphone use while behind the wheel. And, it isn’t just the kids anymore. Statistics from Distraction.org show the number of distracted drivers involved in fatal crashes increased from 7% in 2005 to 11% in 2009. Of those drivers, 30-to-39-year-old group had the highest proportion distracted by cellphone use. Those are not the numbers I expected to see!

Published on: July 27, 2011

Georgia Mother at Trial after Son Killed by Drunk Driver

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Auto accident attorneys in know car accidents often have far-reaching effects that extend far beyond the reach of initial injuries. Sometimes, the dust never really settles. This will never end for me,” said a recent auto accident victim. The 30-year-old Georgia woman had been convicted of second degree vehicular homicide, reckless conduct and failure to use a crosswalk one year after her four-year-old son was struck and killed by a motorist as he crossed the street. The kicker? She could have actually served a longer sentence than the hit-and-run driver.

The family had been using public transportation to shop all day and the bus had just dropped the family off at the bus stop. The nearest crosswalk was half a mile away, it was getting dark, and the mother made a decision that would forever alter her life. She and her three children were hurrying across the four-lane highway, when a driver plowed through the family in his van.

The driver, who had previously been convicted of two separate hit-and-run incidents, was also blind in one eye and confessed to consuming alcohol and painkillers on the day of the April 2010 incident. He has already completed his six month sentence and is now serving five years probation, reports the New York Daily News. The mother, who has not yet had a chance to grieve her loss or heal from her own wounds, faced up to three years in prison and the additional loss of her two surviving daughters, prior to a July 26 sentencing that assigned her one year’s probation or gave her the option of a new trial. She chose a new trial.

Published on: July 25, 2011

New Traffic Signal Implemented in Response to Increased Car Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

More streets across the country will soon be privy to a new style of traffic signal. Drivers in Michigan, Nevada, and various parts of California and Ohio are already flooding Internet search engines with variations of one question, “What does new flashing yellow arrow mean?” The new variation on the left turn signal, which originated in Reno, Nevada, means that left turns are permitted as long as drivers yield to oncoming traffic and pedestrians. The hope, and apparently the impact, is to decrease the number of auto accidents at intersections thereby greatly reducing the number of injuries.

The traditional steady yellow arrow and the green arrow retain their original meanings. The yellow continues to indicate that motorists should be prepared to stop or complete their turns if already in the intersection. The green arrow, of course, gives turning motorists the right of way.

The change comes as regulators explored methods to promote safety and efficiency – and decrease the number of car accidents that happen as a result of the current signal system. USA Today reports that in Kentucky there has already been about a 30% reduction in left-turn collisions, although some deem it’s early to thoroughly evaluate success. Undoubtedly, the new signal may help address what some call the “yellow trap condition.” Personal injury lawyers have known about this trap for years. The trap occurs whenthe driver waiting to turn left is lead into the intersection when it may actually be unsafe to do so. During the signal change from "permissive" movements in both directions to a "protected" movement in one direction, a yellow trap occurs when the left-turning driver’s permissive left-turn is ending. It is said that the flashing yellow arrow eliminates the yellow trap without requiring louvers (slats over the light that prevent it from being seen until the driver is close to the first signal in the set) or other visibility-limiting devices.

Published on: July 22, 2011

Sharon Stone Ordered to Pay Compensation to Worker Injured in Slip and Fall Accident

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Slip and fall accidents are some of the most common ways in which persons may be injured on someone else’s property.A jury in California has decided that actress Sharon Stone must pay compensation to a worker, who was seriously injured in a slip and fall accident on her premises in 2006.

The accident allegedly occurred when the worker was performing some work in the star’s California home.He was doing some wiring work in the yard, and at some point, he slipped and fell down a 12-foot slope.Just before he fell, he tried to hold on to a lattice nearby, but the screen collapsed under his weight, and he fell straight down.He suffered serious knee injuries, and as a result of these injuries, was unable to return to his former job and income levels.

Two years later, he filed a premises liability lawsuit alleging negligence against Sharon Stone.The lawsuit alleged that there had been only a lattice to break his fall, and that he had not been warned about the drop off.Stone denied those allegations, claiming that there never has been lattice on the property, and that she had always had a chain-link fence going around her yard.The actress even testified in a courtroom, and presented pictures of the chain-link fence as evidence.

Published on: July 19, 2011

Slip and Fall on Rain-Slicked Hotel Floor Gets Million Dollar Verdict

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Described by her attorney as a “young, attractive executive,” Christine Garland was attending a sales conference that was interrupted by her slip and fall on the rain-clicked marble floor of the hosting hotel. She’s endured excruciating pain in the four years since, undergone numerous surgeries and was eventually forced to give up her lucrative job.

The hotel’s insurer had an opportunity to settle for $750,000. Now the chain may have to shell out $3.6million in damages, after a diverse Fulton County jury voted in the plaintiff’s favor.

In his closing statement, says the Daily Report, the plaintiff’s attorney honed in on the conflicting testimony of hotel staff. Some employees testified that prior to opening the doors of the conference room wet floor signs and safety mats had been posted as warning– other employees directly rebutted this testimony as did the plaintiff, Garland, and her boss. The other clincher for this case was the taped depositions of Garland’s treating physicians – graphic testimony that went unchallenged by the defending attorney. As a result, Garland received upwards of $800,000 more than requested in pain and suffering, and a great deal more than the $210,000 settlement initially put on the table by the chain.

Published on: July 18, 2011

Frequent Occurrences of Wrong-Site Surgery have Implications for the Medical Field

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

It’s every patient’s nightmare – being admitted to a hospital for routine surgery and wading through a drug-induced fog hours later only to find that doctor’s have operated on the wrong site.Patients, who only wanted a good outcome, are left to figure out how to deal with their unexpected injuries and with a medical malpractice claim they never expected to have to pursue. Apparently, wrong-site surgeries have become a reality for some patients, occurring more often than previously thought. According to the Joint Commission, "National rates of wrong-site surgeries-which include wrong procedure, wrong side and wrong patient-can reach as high as 40 incidences a week." Medical malpractice attorneys agree that the culprit, as is usually the case in institutional settings, is a lack of communication.

The operating room becomes a hum of noise; from the incessant sound of machines to the voices of nurses and doctors battling time and sometimes even each other. The Las Vegas Review-Journal cites issues with pre-operation prep (such as unapproved abbreviations on charts and illegible handwriting) and scheduling processes as added distractions. In light of this, it’s easy to see how some details, such as the purpose of the operation, could get lost in translation. When this occurs, patient safety is put at risk and hospitals, doctors and nurses expose themselves to significant liability for medical malpractice.

Hospitals are exploring various ways to combat wrong-site surgeries, however, and one of the most popular tactics seems to be the institution of a “time out” of sorts – calling for all key participants in the OR to take a step back and assess their plan. This program, designed by the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Health Care and instituted in 2003, works by essentially creating a script for staff to follow, says the Review-Journal. Throughout the course of this “Universal Protocol” script, doctors are required to 1.) Complete a pre-operative verification. 2.) Marking of the operative site and 3.) A time out immediately before starting the procedure.