Georgia Injury Lawyers Blog

Our Atlanta law firm has handled many defective design personal injury and crashworthiness lawsuits against the major auto manufacturers. The danger of explosion and fire caused by defective vehicle design has a long history. It began with the Pinto in the 1970's where a bolt was aimed directly toward the gas tank and caused many deadly fires from even relatively minor rear end collisions. The passage of time apparently has not stopped this deadly design danger.

The New York Times reported on June 19, 2011 that crash tests on the Jeep Grand Cherokee have shown that fuel fed fires remain a danger. The Jeep fuel tank was positioned next to the bumper in models built from 1993 to 2004. In 2005 Chrysler moved the tank forward of the rear axle where most competitors placed the tank.

The Center for Auto Safety has called on NHTSA to initiate a recall of these vechiles which can constitute a catastrophe waiting to happen.

Our Georgia product liability injury law firm monitors vehicle defect announcements. These recalls are important to prove defects leading to injuries or death. The period between the announcement and consumers receiving a notice in the mail is also a dangerous time if you have one of these vehicles.

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. issued a press release this week adding over 800,000 additional cars to a recall list for airbag inflator defects. The defect could result in injury or fatality according to the Honda statement. 2001 and 2002 Accord and Civic, 2002 Odyssey; 2002 and 2003 CR-V, selected 2002 and 2003 Acura 3.2 TL and 2003 Acura 3.2 CL vehicles are included.

Honda knows of several serious incidents related to the recall. Notices will not be mailed until late May. If you own one of these vehicles take the car to a dealer immediately for an inspection.

Honda owners can also contact www.recalls.honda.com or call (800) 999-1009 and select option 4; Acura owners go to the web at www.recalls.acura.com or call (800) 382-2238 and select option 4. Do not delay. We would much rather have you healthy that as a client.

Nissan has recalled almost 200,000 Pathfinder and Infiniti vehicles that could experience a loss of control while being driven. The recall of these vehicles has been announced due to concerns that road salt and water may cause corrosion leading to loss of steering.

Model years 1996 through 2004 Pathfinders and 1997 to 2003 QX4s are subject to the recall. Customers will be notified in May and the vehicles will be inspected and repaired at dealerships at no cost to owners. At our Atlanta product liability law firm we have seen too many people injured by defective vehicles before warnings ever arrived in the mail. If you have one of these cars do not wait for the recall letter. Go to the dealer and insist that the vehicle be inspected immediately.

When someone is injured by a driver who is impaired by alcohol the injured party often has a separate claim for punitive damages to punish the driver for their reckless conduct. Driving under the influence is one of the very few acts that expose an individual or company to unlimited or "uncapped" punitive damages under Georgia law. We know since our Atlanta injury law partners have recovered record verdicts and settlements under these laws.

What may be just as important are the financial, personal and professional costs that may result from a DUI conviction. Beyond a substantial fine there are attorney fees, surcharges for court authorized programs and probation fees. A 24 hour minimum jail stay is mandatory for even a first conviction. Community service, DUI School and license suspension are always imposed as part of the sentencing.

Professionally, law and medical students careers can be threatened. Military officers can lose their commissions and soldiers can be barred from reenlistment. Future employers may decide not to employ an applicant with a DUI conviction as a matter of policy.

If you think that you can handle a first DUI charge without serious consequences then think again.

In Georgia the law sets time limits for filing a law suit for claims that can be asserted for money damages. Different types of claims are governed by different time limits.These are called Statutes Of Limitations. For example, in most personal injury claims, the statute of limitations is two (2) years from the date of the incident. This means the case must either be settled or a lawsuit filed within two years of the cause of action which resulted in injury. If the case is not settled or a lawsuit filed by this deadline then all claims arising out of the incident are barred forever.
There are several exceptions to the two year time limitation. As one example, in most wrongful death cases the two year time period begins on the date of death rather than the date the incident occurred which ultimately resulted in death.
At our Atlanta, Georgia law firm we evaluate each incident to determine what claims exist and which statute of limitations applies to each claim. Keep in mind that if the case is settled with the insurance company , the time limit concerns no longer applies since the case will have been concluded.

The U.S. Supreme Court held yesterday that a car company can be responsible for a dangerous design even if federal regulations permit the unsafe practice. Williamson v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc. involves a woman who died from a jackknife injury caused by a lap belt in the middle rear seat of a minivan during a collision. Lap belts have been known to cause death and serious spinal injuries while three point belts protect rear seat passengers. Sadly, the rear seat passengers are often children.

Our Atlanta Georgia law firm has successfully handled these auto defect cases involving the use of lap belts against Toyota, General Motors, Chrysler and other auto manufacturers. Hiding behind the federal regulations is now a thing of the past. It is a simple thing to put three point belts across the rear seats. There has never been an excuse for the dead and injured and the Supreme Court made the right ruling.

A worker in a manufacturing plant has been operating a machine for 10 years. He's never had a problem, never been hurt. On this day a delivery driver comes into the plant and doesn't follow his company procedures. The result - The machine operator loses an arm.
When our Atlanta Georgia Personal Injury law firm investigates the case against the delivery driver and his employer an important area we focus on is the safety procedures which are part of the driver's responsibilities. Examples: Is he allowed in the plant? Are there areas that are off limits to him? Must he not interfere with unloading when he makes deliveries?
The safety procedures are almost always set out in booklets, brochures, on the company website, etc. This can lead to critical evidence to establish negligence that makes out the case and results in a successful outcome.

We often have people say to us when Atlanta has a snow storm - "boy, I bet that's great for your business!" The truth is every vehicle collision, whether a car, truck, tractor trailer....etc, must be evaluated on its own set of facts.
If a driver causes injuries or even death by NEGLIGENT driving,whether in the snow or on a dry roadway there is a case. The negligence could be driving too fast for the icy conditions or making some other error. However, sometimes an accident in snow or ice is considered by Georgia law to be "an act of God". This means the accident occurred due to the dangerous driving conditions, even though the drivers were not negligent. In such circumstances, no claim exists. In other words, the cause of the accident was the ice or snow, and not the negligence of a driver.
To sum things up, if you have been injured during this difficult winter and you believe it was another driver's fault, contact our Georgia Auto and Truck Accident law firm to get a complete evaluation of the accident and to learn what your rights are.

Most people in Georgia assume that every driver in the State must wear a seatbelt. That assumption was incorrect. The seatbelt law did not apply to pickup trucks. Why was that so? The answer is that lobbyists looking out for special interests as diverse as farming & construction had pushed over the years to exempt pickup trucks from this obviously good law. Whether the intentions were well meant by those who wanted the exemption, the fact is that everyone driving needs to wear a seatbelt. We have seen too many cases come into our Atlanta, Georgia personal injury lawfirm where injuries were much worse because the occupant of the vehicle did not use a seatbelt. We applaud the Georgia legislature for doing something about this issue.

The evidence is overwhelming that the distractions of texting or talking on a cellphone while driving are extremely dangerous. Tragic stories are happening every day. This problem is now as much an issue on our roads as drunk drivers. Finally, the Georgia legislature has passed a bill that would ban texting while driving and prevent young drivers from talking on their cellphones. In our Georgia auto accident injury lawfirm we have handled numerous cases in the last few years where serious injuries or death has occurred because of cellphone distractions. These cases give rise to a claim for substantial punitive damages in addition to the compensatory damages which are recoverable for injury or death.There are & will be plenty of these cases pursued by our lawfirm. We hope for the sake of all drivers that this bill will make these stories less common.

Georgia law does not require that adult pickup truck drivers and passengers wear seat belts. Our Georgia personal injury law firm has seen scores of cases of death and serious injury that could have been prevented by use of seat belts in pickup collisions.

A bill by state Sen. Don Thomas, R-Dalton, a practicing physician, is being presented in Georgia to require pickup drivers and passengers to wear safety belts. "It will pass if it gets to the floor of the House," said Rep. John Meadows, R-Calhoun. We applaud and support Senator Thomas.

Even if you do not support seat belt laws it makes no sense to treat passenger cars and pickup trucks differently. We have never met a family member against seat belt laws after suffering from the death or serious injury to a loved one.

Our Atlanta personal injury firm sees the horror of truck and bus accidents on our highways all the time. It is hard to imagine that commercial drivers need to be told not to text while driving.

The U.S. Transportation Department has banned texting by drivers of interstate buses and trucks over 10,000 pounds effective immediately.

The fine is only $2750 dollars and it will be difficult to enforce unless the damage has already been done. Still, for any commercial drivers who thought they were free to choose to text and drive the law now says STOP TEXTING NOW.

Our Atlanta personal injury law firm has gone to court against all the major auto manufacturers. Vehicle design and manufacturing defects often lead to catastrophic injuries on the highways.

Still, it is shocking when a car manufacturer knows of a defect and delays recalls and warnings . USA Today (1/25, Healey) reports, "Toyota says it knew there were problems with accelerator-pedal assemblies from supplier CTS late last year, but not enough to warrant a recall." Toyota announced last Thursday a planned recall of 2.3 million vehicles, back to 2005 models, because the defect trend had picked up." If a defect is known then warnings or recalls should be mandatory.

Georgia and Atlanta cases against Toyota for sudden acceleration issues will be increasing now that the company has admitted the problem. Unfortunately, that will not help the people who were unnecessarily injured or killed.

The driver of a pickup truck lost control, left the highway and went down a ravine while driving during one of Georgia's tricky winter storms. What is also tricky for our Georgia personal injury & vehicle accident law firm is how to make out a good case against a negligent driver and their insurance company when the roads are slick with ice or snow..Sometimes the driver negligence is clear: such as driving too fast for conditions, failing to yield the right of way, following too close, etc. But in these icy conditions, an accident can happen even where someone drives carefully. Sometimes the icy conditions are really the sole cause. When we investigate these winter road traffic collisions we look at the police investigation, weather reports, D.O.T. road reports, interview witnesses & the police officer, as just some of the factors to determine if it is a valid case. We want to be sure that we can be successful in handling every case for our clients.
The Dahlonega Nugget- January 13, 2010

Our Atlanta Injury Law Firm has created the DRIVE PARANOID FOUNDATION to promote defensive driving education and awareness. The nonprofit foundation mission is to empower drivers to take charge of their own safety on the highway.

We will be partnering with other concerned state and federal agencies, private safety, medical and injury organizations and media outlets. Our goal is to save one life or prevent one crippling injury at a time. Progress updates will follow and be posted periodically.