Georgia Truck Accident Lawyers Blog

As a Georgia injury lawyer who owns an ATV, I am always reading articles about ATV accidents around the country. A Google search will revealed that an astounding number of deaths are related to the use of these recreational vehicles.

This month Business Week reported on two new studies. Both report a high rate of amputations, spinal injuries and death, especially amoung children who ride or operate all-terrain vehicles. The findings were presented this month at the annual meeting of the Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, in New Orleans.

The first study involved the review of emergency-room records at a trauma center in California for all patients who had been involved in accidents of off-road vehicles from January 1, 2005 through the end of 2007. There were a total of 110 patients. The study found that people involved in in multi-rider ATV were 10 times as likely to require an amputation as those involving a single rider ATV. The second study found that almost 4500 children were injured in ATV accidents in 2006, with 7.4% sustaining a spinal injury. According to the study that figure represents a 140% increase in the overall number of children injured since 1997 and a 467% increase in spinal injuries.

These figures are consistent with the many articles about ATV accidents the Georgia injury lawyers have read about in the last couple of years. We have written before about the hazards of riding passengers on ATV's and the potential liability parents expose themselves to by allowing children to ride passengers.

If you or a loved one have been injuried as a result of an ATV accident, call the Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP to discuss your rights. Our injury lawyers have been representing injury victims in automobile accidents, trucking accidents, and motorcycle accidents for 45 years.

This week Fox News reported on a hit-and-run tractor trailer accident accident that occurred on Wednesday morning at about 9;00 a.m. on Interstate 85 northbound near Newnan, Georgia. The victim, Joshua Chapman, age 25, was travelling in the lane between the concrete median wall and a tractor trailer truck. As he was driving northbound, the tractor trailer swerved over and ground its tires into the side of this car. As a result, his car struck the median wall and then crashed on the other side of the highway. Chapman was transported to the hospital with back injuries. Unfortunately, the tractor trailer kept going and has yet to be identified.

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have represented injury victims of automobile accidents and truck accidents for over 45 years. Many of these crashes were caused by hit-and-run drivers who were never able to be identified. In many of those cases, we presented the claims to our client's insurance company under the "uninsured motorist" coverage of the policy. There are certain requirements for making such a claim and you are well advised to seek legal counsel to make sure that you comply with all of the requirements. If you or a loved one have been injured in a motor vehicle collision caused by a hit-and-run driver, call the Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP to learn about your rights.

Deadly bus crashes are becoming too common on the roadways of Georgia and across the United States. Our attorneys have successfully handled many of these cases, including the well-known Bluffton bus crash in Atlanta several years ago.

A recent deadly bus crash in Arizona has brought to light the illegal practice of bus companies operating without federal and state approval, thus allowing them to avoid strict safety guidelines.
The bus entered the United States from Mexico at El Paso, Texas on March 5, 2010. It was headed to Phoenix to change drivers when it hit a pickup truck, veered onto the left shoulder of the road and rolled on Interstate 10 on the Gila River Indian Reservation. The impact crushed the roof and knocked out the windows.

Six passengers were killed and more than a dozen passengers remained hospitalized over the weekend.

A federal judge has ordered the bus company involved in the Arizona crash that killed six people and injured more than a dozen others to cease interstate operations. The order was issued against the bus company Tierra Santa Inc. and its owner, Cayetano Martinez. Martinez had already signed a consent decree prohibiting him or any affiliated company from hauling passengers without U.S. Department of Transportation authority, which is required to take passengers from one state to another.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration had demanded that Tierra Santa stop operating the day of the crash and the judge's order makes the shutdown enforceable by the court.
A federal complaint is expected to be filed against the company which alleges that the motor carrier administration previously shut down Martinez, who then attempted to reestablish himself as a new carrier that unsuccessfully sought Department of Transportation operating authority.

Tierra Santa applied last April for operating authority to haul passengers across state lines. The Department of Transportation notified the company that it could not conduct interstate transportation during the review. When the agency sought more information for the application, the company never responded.

As is usually the case with truck accidents, bus accidents on Georgia roads and highways many times result in serious injury and sometimes death for passengers. The sheer size and weight of theses vehicles make them inherently more dangerous than lighter vehicles.

Just this week, the NY Daily News reported on a bus accident. They reported that the New York City Transit has been ordered by a jury to pay two women a total of $7.5 million in damages after finding that the bus ran a red light and careened into the women’s car seriously injuring both. Interestingly, the bus company could have settled the case prior to trial for $3 million dollars but chose to take their chances with the jury.

If you or a loved one have been seriously injured as a result of being involved in an automobile accident, a truck accident or a bus accident, call the Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP to discuss your rights. We have been representing clients in personal injury and wrongful death cases for over 45 years.

Georgia injury lawyers know that an innocent guest passenger can sued a host driver for serious personal injuries caused by the negligence of the host driver. Likewise, the family of a deceased guest passenger can sue a host driver for the wrongful death of their loved one if the host driver was responsible for the death.

Just last week, a Georgia truck accident involving alcohol resulted in death for one passenger and serious injuries to five others in the truck. The truck accident occurred before 3 a.m. on Friday in the northbound lanes of Interstate 75 near Macon, Georgia. Investigators say that the truck involved, left the roadway and went over a guardrail before crashing. Shannon Hendricks, 29 years old was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. According to an article in the Macon Telegraph, none of the victims were wearing seatbelts and investigators are still trying to determine which one of the individuals was operating the truck at the time of the deadly accident.

If you have been seriously injured in an automobile accident or truck accident, call the Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP to discuss your rights. We have been representing clients in personal injury and wrongful death cases for over 45 years.

Today WSBTV reported on a tragic automobile accident that occurred on Interstate 285 near Bouldercrest Rd. A white van somehow lost a tire which bounced across the concrete median wall and struck a Hyundai Sonata automobile going westbound on the interstate. The impact of the tire caused the death of the driver of the Hyundai.

From the standpoint of a Georgia injury lawyer, this is a case that needs immediate and through investigation to determine why the tire came off of the van. From the photograph of the van on the internet, it appears like the van may be a commercial vehicle. Had the van recently been serviced? Had the tires recently been rotated? Was there a catastrophic mechanical defect? Is there a product liability case? In any event, this van needs to be immediately inspected by experts to determine what happened.

I remember years ago as a high school student when I was working in a friends garage. A woman drove her car into the shop complaining about a noise. As it turned out, she had recently had her tires rotated at another garage. Unfortunately, they had finger tightened the lug nuts on one tire but had failed to tighten them with an impact/air wrench. Over the course of the day, the lug nuts began to work themselves loose. Fortunately for her and others, she had some warning about what surely could have been a terrible accident.

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have been representing victims of automobile accidents, truck accidents and defective product cases for over 45 years. If you or a loved one have been injured as a result of the negligence of someone, call us to discuss your rights. It is always in your best interest to get your lawyer involved in the case immediately.

Georgia injury lawyers are well aware that use of cell phones and other hand held devices cause a significant number of automobile accidents and truck accidents. Just this morning I witnesses a near collision because a woman changing lanes was too glued to her cell phone to turn her head to make sure the lane was clear. Worse yet are “gotta stay connected type A types” who are constantly checking emails or texting while driving. The Georgia Legislature needs to get their act together and pass legislation to try to remedy the problem.

The Associated Press reported this week that the Florida Legislature is expected to consider several bills during its upcoming session that would ban drivers from using their cell phones or texting while driving. According to the article, the National Safety Council released a report in January that claimed 28 percent of all traffic collisions (1.6 million crashes a year) are caused by drivers using cell phones or texting.

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP routinely subpoena phone records from cell phone companies when we have reason to believe that our client’s have been injured in automobile accidents or trucking accidents by drivers using cell phones or other hand held devices.

If you or a loved one have been injured as a result of being in a Georgia motor vehicle collision caused by a driver who was using one of these devices, call us to learn about your rights. We have been representing people in serious injury cases and wrongful death cases for over 45 years.