As an Atlanta car accident lawyer, I find it surprising that so many people are unaware of the symptoms of brain injuries, considering the seriousness of these. A brain injury does not have to involve a person blacked out for hours, or bleeding from the head and nose. In fact, symptoms of brain injury can vary, depending on whether it’s a mild, moderate or severe TBI.
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The driver of the truck that was involved in a fatal Atlanta accident last week, has been arrested and charged. The driver of the truck, Joseph Gordon was driving his tractor-trailer on Interstate 285, when his vehicle crossed the fog line, and hit a minivan parked in the emergency lane. In the minivan was a 44-year-old woman, who had stopped her car in the emergency lane to make a call. She sustained fatal injuries. Golden has now been arrested and charged in her death.
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This summer, thousands of parents across Atlanta will be faced with the all-important question -what kind of car to buy their teenager who has just got a driving license. New Jersey personal injury attorney Scott Grossman has a few tips on buying a first car for your child.
In April this year, Consumer Reports brought out its list of the best cars for teen motorists. If you’re a parent looking for a choice of car for your child, this list would be a good place to start. While a car, no matter how safe, cannot insulate you from a catastrophic accident, a well-equipped car with safety features can certainly reduce the chances of you being severely injured if you are in a wreck.
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Neck injuries are some of the most common injuries that occur in accidents in Atlanta. Cervical sprain and strain, for instance, is one of the most common neck injuries in an accident. These typically occur during car wrecks when someone is rear-ended in the collision. As a result of impact, the person’s head snaps backward and then forward again, with great force. This can cause muscle and ligament tears or, even worse, a cervical disc injury.
Neck pain can also be caused by a spinal injury in an accident. The intervertebral disc can herniate, and this can lead to constant neck pain which can radiate through the shoulders, arms and down the back. Such neck pain can be treated through a cervical fusion surgery.
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Investigations into a fatal car accident in Atlanta last week that killed a 24-year-old man are determining whether the club that the drunk driver worked at, could have done anything to prevent the accident.
Last week, Christa Scott who worked as a waitress at the Midtown Bar was allegedly driving a car under the influence when her vehicle rammed into a car being driven by 24-year-old Jordan Griner. Griner took the full impact of the accident, and was declared dead on arrival at the hospital. It would take emergency rescue personnel more than 30 minutes to extricate him from the mangled wreckage. Griner was an intern at Gov. Sonny Purdue’s office.
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Patients in Georgia with a Traumatic Brain Injury (“TBI”) often suffer symptoms of vertical heterophoria or visual misalignment. This kind of misalignment can increase stress and pressure on the eye muscles, which have to adjust to correct the alignment. The stress on the eye muscles contributes to symptoms like headaches, dizziness, anxiety, neck pain and difficulty in reading. These are known as postconcussive symptoms, and in approximately 10 % to 25% of patients who suffer from a brain injury, can be seen even years after the injury has occurred.
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One of the many bases for awarding punitive damages in Georgia is a conscience indifference to the welfare of others. I am hard-pressed to think of a more apt example than a hit-and-run driver leaving the scene of a serious accident. Yet, many Georgia lawyers mistakenly believe that hit-and-run conduct does not warrant the imposition of punitive damages.
Georgia law on punitive damages can be found at O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1:
(a) As used in this Code section, the term “punitive damages” is synonymous with the terms “vindictive damages,” “exemplary damages,” and other descriptions of additional damages awarded because of aggravating circumstances in order to penalize, punish, or deter a defendant.
(b) Punitive damages may be awarded only in such tort actions in which it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant’s actions showed willful misconduct, malice, fraud, wantonness, oppression, or that entire want of care which would raise the presumption of conscious indifference to consequences.
(c) Punitive damages shall be awarded not as compensation to a plaintiff but solely to punish, penalize, or deter a defendant.
(d) (1) An award of punitive damages must be specifically prayed for in a complaint. In any case in which punitive damages are claimed, the trier of fact shall first resolve from the evidence produced at trial whether an award of punitive damages shall be made. This finding shall be made specially through an appropriate form of verdict, along with the other required findings.
(2) If it is found that punitive damages are to be awarded, the trial shall immediately be recommenced in order to receive such evidence as is relevant to a decision regarding what amount of damages will be sufficient to deter, penalize, or punish the defendant in light of the circumstances of the case. It shall then be the duty of the trier of fact to set the amount to be awarded according to subsection (e), (f), or (g) of this Code section, as applicable.
(e) (1) In a tort case in which the cause of action arises from product liability, there shall be no limitation regarding the amount which may be awarded as punitive damages. Only one award of punitive damages may be recovered in a court in this state from a defendant for any act or omission if the cause of action arises from product liability, regardless of the number of causes of action which may arise from such act or omission.
(2) Seventy-five percent of any amounts awarded under this subsection as punitive damages, less a proportionate part of the costs of litigation, including reasonable attorney’s fees, all as determined by the trial judge, shall be paid into the treasury of the state through the Office of the State Treasurer. Upon issuance of judgment in such a case, the state shall have all rights due a judgment creditor until such judgment is satisfied and shall stand on equal footing with the plaintiff of the original case in securing a recovery after payment to the plaintiff of damages awarded other than as punitive damages. A judgment debtor may remit the state’s proportional share of punitive damages to the clerk of the court in which the judgment was rendered. It shall be the duty of the clerk to pay over such amounts to the Office of the State Treasurer within 60 days of receipt from the judgment debtor. This paragraph shall not be construed as making the state a party at interest and the sole right of the state is to the proceeds as provided in this paragraph.
(f) In a tort case in which the cause of action does not arise from product liability, if it is found that the defendant acted, or failed to act, with the specific intent to cause harm, or that the defendant acted or failed to act while under the influence of alcohol, drugs other than lawfully prescribed drugs administered in accordance with prescription, or any intentionally consumed glue, aerosol, or other toxic vapor to that degree that his or her judgment is substantially impaired, there shall be no limitation regarding the amount which may be awarded as punitive damages against an active tort-feasor but such damages shall not be the liability of any defendant other than an active tort-feasor.
(g) For any tort action not provided for by subsection (e) or (f) of this Code section in which the trier of fact has determined that punitive damages are to be awarded, the amount which may be awarded in the case shall be limited to a maximum of $250,000.00.
(h) This Code section shall apply only to causes of action arising on or after April 14, 1997.
A number of well-settled Georgia cases prove that leaving the scene of an accident is conduct that allows the judge or jury to award punitive damages in the right case. Battle v. Kilcrease, 54 Ga.App. 808, 189 S.E. 573 (1936), is a case decided over 70 years ago by the Georgia Court of Appeals. The Battle case essentially stands for the proposition that:
The conduct of a hit and run driver in failing to stop and give his name and render assistance to the person injured, when taken in connection with all the circumstances, may authorize a finding that the driver in causing the injury exhibited an entire want of care and conscious indifference to consequences, and therefore, such “aggravating circumstances in the act” as would authorize a recovery of punitive damages.
More recently in Langlois v. Woldford, 246 Ga. App. 209 (2000), the Georgia Court of Appeals has ruled that: where a person driving along a public highway and overtaking and passing another automobile, attempts to turn in front of the latter automobile and hits the front portion of the latter automobile and turns it over causing a wreck and does not stop to render assistance, the jury may consider the conduct as such aggravating circumstances as would authorize the award of punitive damages to the person injured.
Leaving the scene of an accident was criminalized in Georgia because “the public policy of this state mandates that a party to an accident must stop and render aid to those involved in the collision, no matter who caused the collision, and not leave them in a possibly disabled state without aid.”
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The Georgia Senate yesterday passed a long-awaited bill that Atlanta car accident lawyers have been pushing for. The bill will require pickup truck occupants to buckle up. Right now, Georgia’s seatbelt laws only apply to occupants of cars, SUVs and vans. With the passage of this bill, mandatory seatbelt laws would also apply to occupants of pickup trucks.
With this, Georgia will be in a better position to save hundreds of lives in pickup truck accidents every year. About two thirds of pickup-related fatalities every year can be traced to failure to wear seatbelts. Now that mandatory seat belts laws here, those lives can be saved.
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Last year, the number of deaths in highway accidents across the Georgia and the U.S. dropped to approximately 9% lower than in 2008. That heartwarming news comes to us via the Department of Transportation which has just released data into highway fatalities for 2009. According to the D.O.T., last year, there were 33,963 deaths in highway accidents across the country.
Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood says that three factors have been responsible for the declining death rates.
1. The rates of seatbelt use have increased tremendously.
2. Automobiles today are much safer and do a far better job of keeping motorists and occupants safer.
3. Stronger law enforcement efforts have contributed to a decline in drunk driving accident rates over the past few years.
While these factors certainly have contributed to a decrease of car accidents nation-wide, a lot of car accidents continue to happen in the Atlanta, Georgia area due to driver error, inattentive driving, faulty or improperly maintained equipment on the cars such as brakes and steering, unsafe road conditions, falling objects that are being transported on the interstate by truckers, and many others.
Many serious accidents result in Traumatic Brain Injury (“TBI”). TBI results in abnormal cognitive behavior which affects the injured person’s ability to communicate, remember, analyze, think or interact with others. While most people focus on the physical injures that are suffered in a wreck, the mental and emotional injuries can sometimes be more severe than the physical injuries. Since the TBI injury is not as apparent (in other words, a physical injury such as a gash on the head or a broken leg can be seen, but TBI cannot), it often goes undetected.
Many serious brain injuries are not accompanied by outward signs of injury (these are called closed-head injuries), it is critical to recovering the appropriate damages to be able to prove the extent of the injury. This is often achieved through the use of standardized tests, employment records, IQ tests, neurology records, psychological records, CT scans, MRI’s, and PET scans.
According to the Mayo Clinic, one helpful test for TBI is called the Glasgow Coma Scale. This 15-point test helps a doctor or other emergency medical personnel assess the initial severity of a brain injury by checking a person’s ability to follow directions and move their eyes and limbs. The coherence of speech also provides important clues. Abilities are scored numerically in the Glasgow Coma Scale. Higher scores mean less severe injuries.
Atlanta Injury Lawyers Blog