Articles Posted in Motor Vehicle Accidents

This Friday, April 30, is National No Phone Zone Day, thanks to Oprah. Oprah will be doing her show live on Friday here in Atlanta at the Ferst Center of Georgia Tech, in Downtown Atlanta. Oprah has created a nationwide phenomenon of awareness of just how dangerous distracted driving is. Texting While Driving (TWD) is just one familiar form of distracted driving. Our community has seen way too many teen deaths thanks to texting while driving. My regular readers know that as an Atlanta plaintiff’s personal injury lawyer, I am taking on the crusade by blogging about the dangers of TWD and trying to help get legislation passed this session of the Georgia General Assembly making it illegal to TWD. Blessings to Oprah, who has a platform like no one else, for taking on this cause.

Save a life today by taking Oprah’s No Phone Zone pledge. The life you save may be your own, or your child’s.

I am both surprised and delighted to report that the Georgia Senate has passed a bill making it illegal to text while driving! This bill would impose a $150.00 fine for violation of the law. The bill now goes to the Georgia House for consideration and, hopefully, passage. The $150.00 fine is, obviously, too low, but at least it’s a start.
I believe there is no question that public awareness about the hazards associated with texting while driving is now heightened. That is a good thing. Every media outlet seems to be emphasizing it, from Oprah to 11 Alive. Now is the time for the Georgia House to act to make it illegal. This will, no doubt, save lives. What better public policy is there than to save the lives of Georgia citizens?

If I were a Toyota owner (I am NOT), I would still be a little apprehensive about whether Toyota really has fixed the problem with millions of their cars. The latest scare, yesterday in California, involved a runaway PRIUS, with the driver having no brakes and the accelerator stuck at speeds of up to 94 m.p.h. The 911 call is harrowing.

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The PRIUS owner had taken his car to a Toyota Dealership for repairs and was incorrectly told his car was not on the recall list…but, you guessed it, it was. The investigating police officer reported that the floor mats were all secure and not involved in the runaway acceleration, which brings to mind whether Toyota has been telling the truth about this problem from the get go. I

For my regular readers, you know how long I have been writing about the need to make texting while driving (TWD) illegal in the State of Georgia. I am glad to report the rest of America seems to be catching on. First, Oprah introduced her “No Phone Zone” pledge. This is a pledge that you can print out and sign which says you swear not to text while you are driving. Tens of thousands of people have taken the pledge. If you have a teenage driver I urge you to visit this No Phone Zone page with your teen to watch numerous videos on the dangers of driving while texting. It is extremely informative and scary.

Now even automobile insurance companies are jumping on the bandwagon and urging their insureds and the motoring public in general not to text while driving. Progressive Insurance is supporting Oprah in her no texting pledge. I noticed Melbourne Insurance out of Florida is emphasizing not to text while driving.

One neat potential solution is a smartphone app called Drive Safely that apparently will read your text voices outloud to you while you are driving. Unfortunately, although it will convert a text to voice, it does not yet convert voice to text, so it will not eliminate the oh-so-uncontrollable urge to respond ASAP to that text you just got! That will take some self-discipline!

Two Georgia lawmakers are proposing a ban on texting behind the wheel that could make the practice illegal for all drivers.

State Reps. Allen Peake and Amos Anderson have introduced bills to prohibit the practice and come with a fine and driver’s license penalties. If the law passes, it would go into effect on July 1 and make Georgia the 20th state to outlaw texting while driving. Colorado, Louisiana, New York, Virginia and Washington are among the 19 states that ban text messages for all drivers. Nine states ban text messaging for teen drivers.

Peake says the bill is a step in the right direction for Georgia. He stopped short of a total ban on cell phone use and says the legislation addresses the “more dangerous” practice of texting.

My consistent readers know I have been on a crusade to eliminate Texting
While Driving (TWD) here in Georgia. I will be offering my assistance to Georgia Legislators interested in passing that bill this session. Seems lots of folks are getting on the TWD bandwagon now, including Oprah. This is wonderful news because Oprah seems to have the Midas Touch…she makes things happen. Please watch Monday’s Oprah at 4:00 p.m. on WSBTV (Channel 2) entitled “This Show Could Save Your Life: America’s New Deadly Obsession.” As I was traveling down I-85 South coming home from my daughter’s basketball game this morning, I saw a woman in a red Chrysler Sebring hard-top convertible going about 75 m.p.h., texting with her arms outstretched stuck through her steering wheel. Scary!! I hope she will be on watching Monday.

Tomorrow night is New Year’s Eve, a night when those who have had too much to drink from celebrating the New Year will, undoubtedly, be out on the road. This is known to be such a dangerous night to drive that a funeral home in Rome, Georgia is actually offering a free burial to anyone who dies from driving drunk tomorrow night. No joke! I can assure you the Georgia State Patrol is preparing for tomorrow night. They will have various random road blocks to check for possible DUI’s and they will arrest plenty of intoxicated drivers.

December is “Drunk and Drugged Driver Awareness Month” in Georgia as holiday parties can increase the number of impaired drivers on the state’s roads. Leading into the Christmas and New Year’s weekends, Georgia State Troopers and officers with the Motor Carrier Compliance Division will concentrate on intercepting impaired drivers on the roads before they can cause a traffic crash. In what is one of the more morbid activities performed by the Georgia State Patrol, the GSP predicts during Holiday driving periods how many Georgia drivers are likely to be killed in motor vehicle accidents. For example, The State Patrol predicted 16 people would die

during the Christmas holiday weekend, which turned out to be safer than expected on Georgia roads. Twelve people were killed during the 78 hour period. Likewise, The Georgia State Patrol predicts that 16 people will be killed in wrecks over the 78 hour New Year’s holiday period, which begins at 6 PM Thursday. Many of those traffic fatalities will involve drinking. Roughly one-third of the traffic deaths each year in Georgia involve an alcohol or drug impaired driver. The Georgia State Patrol has “Nighthawks” division, the Nighthawk DUI Task Force, which was recognized by the International Association of Chiefs of Police as the outstanding DUI team in the nation in 2005. The Nighthawks patrol the roads of Georgia looking to find DUI drivers and get them off our roads.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Top Safety Picks for 2010 came out today and for the first time ever, roof strength was tested and included in the ratings. This means the Institute is seriously acknowledging the likelihood of rollover accidents and the survivability of them depending on what type of car you are in. Automobile manufacturers have traditionally tried to ignore roof crush standards, but they really can’t now. Especially given the high center of gravity of an SUV, that more and more Americans (including Georgians) are driving SUV’s now and, consequently, more rollovers are occurring. The starting premise of the crashworthiness of your vehicle is that your own vehicle should not kill you. This means that if you are in a wreck and the wreck is survivable, your car should not cause your death. In a rollover accident, if the roof is not strong, it will flatten like a pancake, leaving very little room for the occupants of the cab. Sometimes, the roof will crush and hit an occupant’s head and cause severe and even catastrophic neck injuries, e.g., paralysis. I am glad to see the Institute including roof crush standards in its report. Suburu, Ford, Volvo and Volkswagon all fared well in the safety report. Certainly something to consider before buying your next car. Speaking of which, you may also find at this link a brochure about buying safer cars. Consult this when you are next in the market for a new car.

5,000 Deaths a Year Can Be Stopped

By Tom Hodgson

Congress should be commended for its work on the Airline Safety and Pilot Training Improvement Act of 2009 in the U.S. House, and the Federal Aviation Administration Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act in the Senate.

Georgians who may be planning to rent a U-Haul truck should be aware of potential problems in the U-Haul truck fleet with maintenance of their trucks that may present a safety hazard for the driver of the truck or anyone around the truck. This safety issue came to light in a trial in Texas in 2008 in which a 74-year-old man was seriously injured after a parked U-Haul truck he rented rolled over him.

In 2006, Talmidge Waldrip, a Texas resident, parked a rented U-Haul truck in front of a warehouse, set the parking brake and turned off the ignition.When he stepped out of the cab, he fell. The truck rolled, running over Waldrip, crushing his pelvis and lumbar spine, rupturing his bladder and causing a number of other serious injuries. As a result, he has had a numerous surgeries and is now partially paralyzed.

Waldrip sued the truck company, alleging negligence and gross negligence. The key to the case was evidence that the company failed to maintain the brake and transmission systems of its truck fleet properly, including the 18-year-old, 234,000-mile driven truck that caused Waldrip’s injuries. The six jurors returned an $84.25 million verdict in favor of the plaintiff, Talmadge Waldrip, including a $63 million in punitive damages against U-Haul International for failing to maintain its rental trucks in safe working order. U-Haul has appealed the verdict.