Atlanta Injury Lawyer Blog

Drivers Still Have Duty to Observe Walkers Who Text

August 7, 2008 | Robin Frazer Clark

Recently, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that walking while texting can be hazardous to your health. This may, in fact, be true…but I ask the question: Why is everyone so quick to blame the pedestrian? If you are behind the wheel of a 6,000 pound vehicle, shouldn’t you watch where you are going and avoid ANY pedestrian, even those who are texting while they walk? If a pedestrian is walking in a crosswalk, a vehicle must yield to that pedestrian regardless of whether the pedestrian is texting, or talking on a cell phone, or picking his nose or doing cartwheels across the street. The streets of Atlanta have become so dangerous for walkers and bicyclists mainly because our automobile drivers have taken on an attitude that they own the road and watch out, here I come! This seems especially true given the proliferation of SUV’s. Getting behind the wheel of an SUV does not give you the right to mow down someone walking on the street. Drivers need to take more care in operating their vehicles and pay attention to what is ahead of them in the road.

Georgia DOT Slammed for $1.75 Million in Georgia Wrongful Death Case

July 15, 2008 | Robin Frazer Clark

I am pleased to report a verdict last Friday, July 11, 2008 against the Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) in Taylor County in a wrongful death case. This was a death case against Georgia DOT in which the decedent motorist hydroplaned off the road into a beaver pond and drowned. The Georgia DOT was negligent for failing to maintain a guardrail at this section of road where one was required. This verdict is significant beyond the fact that it was well tried by lawyers I know to be exceptionally talented: Chris Clark, Manley Brown and Chuck Byrd. The verdict is a valuable insight into the minds of rural county juries not only about how they value life, but how they will not tolerate any longer ineptitude by the Georgia DOT.

This verdict against the DOT comes just shortly after another wrongful death verdict against it, in Meriwhether County, Georgia, in the amount of $1.3 Million, obtained by my good friend and fellow trial lawyer, Lester Tate. In that case, the DOT had allowed a stop sign, for which they had maintenance responsibility, to remain down at an intersection for several weeks. This caused a horrible wreck resulting in the death of a pregnant woman and her fetus she was carrying. One wonders how much money the DOT could have saved the citizens of Georgia had they simply been reasonable, admitted their responsibility for causing these deaths and settling the cases before a jury told them how much they should pay.

Georgia Motorists: Check the Valve Stems on Your Tires

July 15, 2008 | Robin Frazer Clark

All Georgia citizens who have replaced the tires on their cars in the last couple of years should immediately check the valve stems on the tires. They may be from a defectively manufactured lot of valve stems made by a company in China. There have been numerous instances of horrible wrecks and rollovers due to the failure of these Chinese valve stems breaking while the car is operating. Some of these wrecks have resulted in either catastrophic injuries and deaths.

The driver is completely unaware that something is wrong with his tires until it is too late. It would be a tragedy to lose a Georgia citizen to a defectively manufactured Chinese valve stem. Please check those tires today.

Good Hands or Boxing Gloves?: Allstate Insurance Company Pays $7 Million Fine

July 14, 2008 | Robin Frazer Clark

Below is a news article from the Associated Press that details Allstate Insurance Company’s finally agreeing to pay a $7 Milliion fine for failing to disclose key documents regarding the manner in which it pays (or really, doesn’t pay) claims. The Missouri Supreme Court has held Allstate’s feet to the fire and made it clear those “good hands” are less than clean. Georgia Allstate insureds should take note and understand even on a first person claim, where you may be making your own claim against your own insurance you have paid for, your insurance company will act as your adversary. They are not “like a good neighbor” and you are not “in good hands”…they will put on their boxing gloves and will do everything humanly possible to avoid paying your claim.

AP

Allstate settles in disputed records case

NHTSA’s Attempt to Sell Out Motorists on Roof Strength Thwarted

July 14, 2008 | Robin Frazer Clark

Federal roof crush rule has been delayed

By Reni Gertner

Staff writer

Lovejoy, Georgia Restaurant Denies Any Responsibility for Death Caused by Food

July 9, 2008 | Robin Frazer Clark

Once again, in typical corporate fashion, the Ruby Tuesday restaurant in Lovejoy, Georgia, has denied any responsibility for its role in serving a customer a meal that, literally, killed him. The customer, who was allergic to crab meat, ordered Chicken Fresco, but, instead, was served Chicken Oscar, which has crab meat on it. Within thirty minutes of eating his meal, this poor customer died.

Now the Ruby Tuesday restaurant denies any culpability and says they served the customer what he ordered. Now let’s stop for a moment and think about that. An adult who knows he is deadly allergic to crab meat orders a dish with crab meat on it. How likely is that to have happened? No chance! It is idiotic for the Ruby Tuesday corporation even to insinuate it, much less blame their own customer who KNEW he was allergic to crab meat.

What is wrong with corporate America today in refusing to accept responsibility for its wrongdoing? It is absurd to blame their own customer, and yet here they are doing that to avoid admitting their own tragic conduct. This is the prevailing sentiment in corporate America today. Even a death in their own restaurant after eating their own food doesn’t make them admit fault! I certainly hope this family is able to get some justice for this death with Ruby Tuesday. It, apparently, is going to take the Georgia Civil Justice System to make Ruby Tuesday take ownership of killing its customer. How absurd!

No Doubt Georgia DOT Signs Are Dangerous and Confusing

July 8, 2008 | Robin Frazer Clark

Do you remember the tragic Bluffton, Ohio baseball team bus crash that occurred here in Atlanta on I-75 last year? The Georgia DOT, in typical hard-headed fashion, denied any responsibility for their confusing road signs, which led the professional bus driver to continue to drive on what he believed to be the diamond lane for buses, when, in reality, it was an exit ramp to the LEFT of I-75. By the time the bus driver realized it, he was tumbling off the overpass. There were numerous needless deaths and injuries.

Well, the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) has finally ruled it was the faulty, confusing DOT signs that caused the horrible tragedy. I am sure this comes as a surprise to no one except the Georgia DOT. Immediately after the bus wreck, the Georgia DOT was out on I-75 changing the signs, replacing the old ones and putting more signs up, even while, all the time, the DOT denied any responsibility. Georgia citizens really deserve better accountability from the DOT. Everyone in the State of Georgia (and everyone in the State of Ohio for that matter) knows this wreck was the DOT’s fault, from confusing road signs to having an exit ramp from the left, which is counterintuitive, in the first place. The Georgia DOT has been in disarray lately with Board resignations and even a settlement for sexual harassment. It is high time the DOT gets its act together, before more innocent people die on Georgia roads.

Georgia Supreme Court Hailed as Most Productive

June 17, 2008 | Robin Frazer Clark

As a plaintiff’s personal injury trial lawyer who is genuinely concerned about maintaining the independence of the judiciary, I am proud to report the Supreme Court of Georgia is the most productive high court in the country, according to a recent study by The University of Chicago Law School. Among the 50 states’ highest courts, the Georgia Supreme Court issues 58 opinions per justice a year – more than any other state. The median is 23 opinions per judge in Kansas, and the low is 12 written opinions per judge in Oregon.

Other studies have sought to rank the nation’s high courts. But this one, entitled, “Which States Have the Best (and Worst) High Courts?” measured three areas of quality – productivity, influence and independence.

The study’s authors concluded that while no state is a clear winner in all categories, California probably has the “best high court.” But Georgia is ranked among the top five.

Gwinnett County, Georgia Jury Delivers Long-Awaited Justice in Wrongful Death Medical Malpractice Trial

May 29, 2008 | Robin Frazer Clark

A Gwinnett County, Georgia jury has awarded $5 million in damages to the family of a new mother who drowned in a bathtub at Gwinnett Medical Center. An expectant mother, hospitalized with preeclampsia, drowned in a hospital shower after being told she was OK to shower without anyone there to check on her. This was a retrial of the case. The first trial ended in a hung jury. During this second trial, however, the jury, apparently, found that the Gwinnett Hospital nurses violated hospital policies and procedures regarding assessing a patient’s condition, determining fall risk, showering unassisted, etc.

During the second trial it was discovered that the hospital had been hiding several relevant policies and procedures that had never been produced in the first trial, but should have been under Georgia discovery rules. In addition, there were surveillance cameras that would have established when or if the nurse went into the room and it was discovered that the tapes had been altered. There was a missing thirty minute section of the tape where two cameras that corresponded to the crucial time period suddenly went dark. Fortunately, this attempted subversion of the Civil Justice System did not prevail and the jury delivered a verdict that spoke the truth about the value of a 34 year old mother who, obviously, shouldn’t have died while in the hands of the very professionals who had vowed to take care of her. My thoughts are with her family today so that they may take some relief that the jury system worked for them.