Georgia Truck Accident Lawyers Blog

Van accidents continue to be a major cause of death and injury on the nation’s roadways. Our Atlanta injury lawyers are keenly aware of these dangers. Fifteen-passenger vans typically have seating positions for a driver and 14 passengers. They are widely used by community organizations to take members on short trips and outings. Colleges use them to drive sports teams to intercollegiate games and vanpools use them for commuters.

Recent research conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has found that the risk of a rollover crash is greatly increased when 10 or more people ride in a 15-passenger van. This occurs because the passenger weight raises the vehicle’s center of gravity and causes it to shift rearward. The van then has less resistance to rollover and is more difficult to control in an emergency situation. Placing any load on the roof also raises the center of gravity and increases the chance of a rollover.

A rollover crash is a complex event. In studies of single-vehicle crashes, NHTSA discovered that more than 90 percent of rollovers occur after a driver has lost control of the vehicle and has run off the road. NHTSA identified three major situations which led to rollover accidents in 15-passenger vans.

1. The van goes off a rural road. In this case, the van is likely to overturn when it strikes a ditch or embankment or travels onto soft soil.

2. The driver is fatigued or driving too fast for conditions. A tired driver is more likely to fall asleep at the wheel and lose control. High speeds can cause the van to slide sideways off the road causing the tires to dig into dirt.

3. The driver overcorrects the steering as a panic reaction to an emergency or to a wheel dropping off the pavement.

In the last ten years over 80 percent of people killed in rollover crashes in 15-passenger vans were unbelted.Seat belt use is especially critical because large numbers of people die in rollover crashes when they are partially or completely thrown from the vehicle. The risk of death or serious injury can be greatly reduced in a rollover crash by the use of seat belts.

Since most rollover crashes involve single vehicles they are often preventable.
NHTSA offers the following tips for drivers to minimize the risk of a rollover crash and serious injury or death:

1. Avoid conditions that lead to a loss of control. Never drive while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. Make sure you are well rested and attentive, and always slow down if the roads are wet or icy.

2. Drive cautiously on rural roads. Be particularly cautious on curved rural roads and maintain a safe speed to avoid running off the road.

3.Know what to do if your wheels drop off the roadway. If your wheels drop off the roadway, or pavement, gradually reduce speed and steer back onto the roadway when it is safe to do so.

4. Properly maintain your tires. Make sure your tires are properly inflated and the tread is not worn down. Worn tires can cause your van to slide sideways on wet or slippery pavement. Improper inflation can cause handling problems and can lead to catastrophic tire failures, such as blowouts. Therefore, check tire pressure and treadwear once a month.

5. When a 15-passenger van is not full, passengers should sit in seats that are in front of the rear axle.

6. More than 15 people should never be allowed to ride in a 15-passenger van.

Our Georgia truck accident lawyers regularly investigate and pursue cases in which heavy truck drivers cause serious injury and death by driving while fatigued. The pressure on drivers to drive in this condition is enormous. The more miles driven the more a driver or company can earn.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration controls the limits on the hours a driver can drive in any one period.

Last Thursday, four public safety advocacy groups, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, Public Citizen, the Truck Safety Coalition and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters filed a petition for reconsideration with the administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), requesting that the federal government reconsider a seriously flawed regulation that can compel professional truck drivers to work and drive in dangerously fatigued condition.

In the final rule published on Nov. 19, FMCSA ignored two court decisions that have been issued since 2003. The first decision found that the agency had not adequately taken driver health into consideration. The second decision vacated the two provisions of FMCSA’s revised 2005 final rule that raised the limits for daily and weekly driving and on-duty hours. Although courts have twice ordered the agency to reconsider the rule, FMCSA has re-issued virtually the same rule after each court order.

The new rule, which will take effect on Jan. 19, the last day the current administration is in office, allows truckers to drive up to 11 hours in a single shift, while driving 88 hours or working 98 hours over eight consecutive days.

FMCSA disregarded scores of studies conducted over more than 30 years showing that this increased working and driving schedule will lead to exhausted truck drivers who literally can fall asleep while driving. This new rule threatens the safety of everyone traveling on the roadways of the United States.

The petition asks FMCSA to reconsider the regulation based on numerous errors and misrepresentations of research findings clearly showing that much longer working and driving hours will inevitably produce severely fatigued drivers who also can suffer serious health problems from excessively long working hours.

Continue reading " Citizens of Georgia Endangered By New Trucking Regulations " »

As attorneys representing injury victims of automobile accidents, tractor tailor truck accidents and medical malpractice claims we have had many occasions where the insurance company lawyer contacts our client’s own doctor to talk about the case without our knowledge. Fortunately that conduct is now a violation of law.

The Georgia Supreme Court recently heard a case where the plaintiff sued her husband’s doctor for malpractice. After she produced his medical records from three of his previous doctors, the insurance defense lawyer contacted them informally and asked about the man’s medical condition.
Under state law, once a plaintiff puts his or her medical condition at issue, the defense attorney can informally contact the treating physicians about the plaintiff’s medical condition. But the plaintiff argued that these ex parte conversations violated HIPAA’s provisions requiring notice and consent from the patient before the disclosure medical records. The Supreme Court of Georgia Court agreed and has now held that the insurance defense lawyer’s ex parte communications with the plaintiff’s prior to treating physician violated the privacy rules of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). In it’s decision the court said:

“We find that HIPPA preempts [state ] law with regard to ex parte communications between defense counsel and plaintiff’s prior treating physicians because HIPAA affords patients more control over their medical records when it comes to informal contacts between litigants and physicians...

“HIPAA... prevents a medical provider from disseminating a patient’s medical information, whether orally or in writing, without obtaining a court order or the patient’s express consent. In other words, HIPAA requires a physician to protect a patient’s health information, unless the patient is given reasonable notice and an opportunity to object...

“Thus, in order for defense counsel to informally interview plaintiff’s treating physicians, they must first obtain a valid authorization, or a protective order, or ensure that the patient has been given notice and an opportunity to object to the ex parte contact, all in compliance with the requirements of HIPAA”.