Georgia Truck Accident Lawyers Blog

As a Georgia injury lawyer who drives into Atlanta every morning, I see numerous people everyday on the highway who are either talking away on a cell phone or, worse yet, texting on some handheld device. Many of the ones on a cellphone can barely turn their head enough to make sure that there is nothing in the lane next to them before changing lanes. I have personally witnessed many “near-misses” from people who are hunting for keys on a texting device rather than looking where they are going. Unfortunately some of these people are tractor trailer and commercial truck drivers. Although it is not yet against the law to drive with these devices, it is negligent to do so and if you cause an automobile accident or a tractor trailer truck accident while using such a device, you may pay for it. Your cellphone records can be subpoenaed from your carrier to determine when you were utilizing the device and to whom you were communicating. Many automobile accidents leave victims with serious, life-altering injuries, including brain injuries. Sadly many negligent drivers who are pre-occupied with cellphone conversations and texting cause the wrongful death of innocent victims.

The New York Times published an article last week about this issue. They reported that in 2003 researchers at a federal agency proposed a long-term study of 10,000 drivers to assess the safety risk posed by cellphone use behind the wheel. Unfortunately the study or data from the study was never made public because the researcher’s agency, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration apparently didn’t want to anger Congress.

If you or a loved one have been injured as a result of an automobile accident or tractor trailer truck accident, call the Georgia injury lawyers of Finch McCranie, LLP at (800) 228-9159. We have been standing up for the rights of injured people for over forty years.

The first scientific study of car and truck crashes which occur while drivers are texting has revealed surprisingly data that indicates the risks far exceed previous estimates. Furthermore the risk posed by texting drivers far surpasses the dangers of other driving distractions.

The new study, conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, involved outfitting the cabs of long-haul trucks with video cameras over 18 months. It found that when the drivers texted, their collision risk was 23 times greater than when not texting.

In the moments before a crash or near crash, drivers typically spent nearly five seconds looking at their devices. That is enough time at typical highway speeds to cover more than the length of a football field.

Even though trucks take longer to stop and are less maneuverable than cars, the findings generally applied to all drivers, who tend to exhibit the same behaviors as the more than 100 truckers studied, the researchers said. Truckers, they said, do not appear to text more or less than typical car drivers, but they said the study did not compare use patterns that way.

The trucks were equipped with video cameras and tracked for three million miles as they hauled goods across the country. Even as frightening as the results is the fact that the truck drivers knew they were being recorded and continued to text while driving.

Tom Dingus, director of the Virginia Tech institute, said the study’s message was clear. Texting should never be done while driving.

Thirty-six states do not ban texting while driving;

A Georgia truck accident has resulted in the death of four people. The truck accident occured on Saturday when the truck going the wrong way on Interstate 95 collided head on with a minivan travelling from New York to Florida. According to the Georgia State Patrol, the truck was headed north in the center southbound lane. The truck driver was killed as were three of the six occupants of the minivan. Fortunately three children in the minivan survived the crash.
Authorities believe that alcohol was involved given the fact that the truck was going the wrong way on the interstate and was found to contained bottles of alcohol.

If you have been in a Georgia automobile accident or truck accident, it is important to make sure you know your legal rights. Contact the experienced Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie.LLP for a free consultation at (800) 228-9159.

Tractor trailer accidents on Georgia highways can result in serious injury or death to innocent motorists. Yesterday, a North Carolina truck driver slammed his vehicle into the back of a pickup truck on GA-2. The tractor trailer pushed the pickup truck across the centerline into the path of another pickup truck according to the Georgia State Patrol. Two women were injured and taken to a local hospital. The driver of the tractor trailer was charged with following too closely, driving too fast for conditions and driving without a drivers license on his person. This collision could have very easily resulted in the wrongful death of the two injured women as well as other innocent victims.

If you or your loved ones have been injured in a tractor trailer truck accident, call the Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP who have represented injury victims for over forty years.

Georgia truck accident lawyers know that many times a tractor-trailer truck accident occurs as a result of defective equipment, including truck tires. Just this week, the executrix of the estate of a Tennessee man killed in a tractor-trailer accident filed a $10 million wrongful death suit against the employer of the man driving the a truck involved in the accident. It was reported that the victim was driving a southbound on Interstate 75 when a northbound tractor-trailer blew out a tire and collied with the center median wall. The collision sent the trailer flying over the median where the victim struck it head-on and was killed. The lawsuit alleges that the driver and his employer, the owner of the truck, had been negligent for not maintaining the truck and trailer, specifically inspecting and replacing the tires on the vehicle, including the tire that failed and caused the crash.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations provide that no commercial vehicle may be operated on any tire that (1) has body ply or belt material exposed through the tread or sidewall, (2) has any tread or sidewall separation, (3) is flat or has an audible leak, or (4) has a cut to the extent that the ply or belt material is exposed. Any tire on the front wheels of a bus, truck or truck tractor must have a tread groove pattern depth of at least 4/32nd of an inch at any point in a major tread groove. All other tires must have a tread groove pattern depth of at least 2/32nd of an inch when measured in a major tread groove. Motor vehicles cannot be operated with loads that exceed a weight greater than the tire’s capacity.

If you have been in a Georgia truck accident, it is important to make sure that you understand your legal rights. You may be able to recover money for medical bills, lost wages, funeral costs, as well as compensation for wrongful death or permanent disability. Contact the experienced Georgia truck accident attorneys at Finch McCranie, LLP for a free evaluation of your case at 1-800-228-9159.

Georgia injury lawyers have long since known that driver fatigue may be the number one safety problem in the trucking industry today, and is a factor in nearly 40% of all crashes nationwide. Unfortunately, it is routine practice for many trucking companies to violate the hours of service and related FMCSR safety rules. In our investigation of tractor trailer truck accident cases involving serious injuries or even death that some truck drivers keep “dual” log books. Greedy, profit-driven motives have made driver fatigue in the trucking industry a vast, largely unchecked problem resulting in the deaths of thousands of innocent men, women and children each year.

Tractor trailer accident victims often sustain very severe injuries and incur hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills, not to mention thousands in lost wages. In these cases, it important to retain legal counsel as soon as possible so that a very thorough investigation can be done to discover and document crucial evidence.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a accident or wreck involving a truck, call one of the experienced truck accident lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP.

As a Georgia injury lawyer for over 20 years, I have represented the dependants of many workers who have died as a result of on-the-job accidents. These Georgia workers compensation claims for death benefits arise from every imaginable type of industrial accident. As an example, I read that a Macon, Georgia man died in a gravel truck accident that occurred on Monday afternoon in Dodge County. The man was reportedly unloading gravel for road construction on Georgia Highway 117. According to Georgia State Patrol, the dump truck trailer was parked on a slope and apparently fell over on him. There were apparently no witnesses to the accident; however, a customer at a nearby store noticed the overturned truck which led to the discovery of the worker’s body. If the deceased worker had dependants they may be entitled to benefits which are available under the Georgia Workers Compensation Act.

Since 1966, the Georgia Injury Lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have tried and won countless worker’s compensation claims for Georgia victims of on-the-job injuries. We always offer free, no obligation consultations. To speak to a Georgia worker’s compensation lawyer at Finch McCranie, LLP, call us today at 1-800-228-9159.

A truck accident near Albany, Georgia has resulted in the wrongful death of a 17 year old Wisconsin teenager. His 16 year old sister was seriously injured and remains in critical condition in an Albany hospital. The boy died after his family's SUV was struck by a truck northeast of Albany, Georgia on Saturday afternoon. The family was returning to Wisconsin from a vacation. It is reported that the driver of the truck died in the crash.

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have been representing the survivors of automobile accidents and trucking accidents for over 40 years. If you have a loved one who has lost his or her life as a result of the negligence of another driver, consult the experienced injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP.