Georgia Truck Accident Lawyers Blog

Voters have rejected an amendment that would have funded new and improved trauma centers through a $10 tax added to vehicle registrations, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

As our Georgia accident attorneys reported recently on our Georgia Truck Accident Lawyers Blog, the lack of trauma centers is a serious issue for anyone involved in an accident, but particularly for those who are injured in a crash with a semi or other large commercial truck.

Victims of Atlanta tractor-trailer accidents may have immediate access to high-quality trauma centers, but those in other parts of the state -- particularly the long southern stretch to the Florida border, may be a half hour or more away from a quality trauma center capable of dealing with the type of life-threatening injuries that frequently accompany a Georgia trucking accident.

Many people live 50 miles or more from the nearest trauma center. And the measure's failure means new construction and/or upgrades to the state's trauma centers are unlikely to occur anytime soon.

"We're headed into an era of uncertainty as far as the trauma system goes," Kevin Bloye, a spokesman for the Georgia Hospital Association, told the AJC. "The state budget is in crisis and as much as we remain committed to bolstering the trauma system, we're not optimistic."

Because of their extreme weight (typically 20 times more than a passenger car), an accident with a semi frequently leads to very serious or fatal injuries for the occupants of passenger cars.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported one out of every nine traffic fatalities involves an accident with a large truck. In 2008, a total of 4,229 motorists were killed and more than 90,000 were injured in accidents with large trucks. Three-quarters of accident victims were either occupants of passenger vehicles or were other motorists on the road, including bicyclists and pedestrians.

Seventeen of Georgia's hospitals are designated as trauma centers, far short of the 25 to 30 that health officials say are necessary. The state's death rate from trauma is 20 percent higher than the national average, costing 700 additional lives per year.