From childhood onward, people skin knees, acquire bruises and twist ankles from slips and falls. Accidents happen, and life goes on. Some slips and falls, however accidental, may lead to false beliefs about the right to recover compensation for pain, suffering, loss of employment and mental distress leading to life-long anxiety.
Myth #1. Painless slips and falls are not worth mentioning
Georgia residents may have heard that a 29-year-old man has been charged with driving under the influence after a multi-car crash in South Carolina. South Carolina Highway Patrol officers detained the man following the accident. The early morning crash left two people injured and one person dead.
The man was reportedly driving a 2014 Chevrolet SUV while traveling south on Boiling Springs Road. Two other vehicles, a 2002 Toyota SUV and a 2016 Kia, were both turning left onto Boiling Springs Road from Birds Eye View. The Chevrolet hit the Kia on the passenger side of the vehicle, which caused it to overturn and hit the Toyota. A juvenile passenger and an adult passenger in the Kia were injured and taken to Spartanburg Medical Center. The juvenile, an 11-year-old boy, died three days later due to injuries received in the car accident. The man driving the Chevrolet was also injured and taken to Spartanburg Regional Hospital. Both the driver and the passenger in the Toyota were not injured and were released following the crash.
Georgia residents may have heard that collision between two tractor-trailers on Interstate 35 in Harrison County resulted in injuries. A Minnesota man had been driving a Freightliner southbound on the interstate when the truck jackknifed.
While most of the southbound lanes were blocked by the semi and towed unit, a Peterbilt truck driven by a Georgia man struck the passenger side of the towed unit while attempting to bypass the accident. After the impact, the Georgia driver's truck came to a stop in the lane while Minnesota driver's truck came to a rest off the west side of the road.
A 16-year-old driver told state patrol troopers that he fell asleep before crossing the center line on Georgia Highway 14 in LaGrange and causing a head-on collision. A state patrol corporal reported that two people died in the accident, and another remains hospitalized in Columbus with serious injuries. The names of the deceased could not be immediately released to the public.
The teen driver had been southbound on the highway near Teaver Road just before the accident. Five people occupied his car, and law enforcement determined that the three people in the backseat had not been wearing restraints at the time of the crash. One person died immediately at the scene, and the other victim perished later after being flown to a hospital in Atlanta.
Most Georgia drivers fear getting hit by a drunk driver. Getting into a vehicle that has an inebriated person behind the wheel can be just as dangerous. For example, a woman is facing felony DUI charges after she allegedly caused a deadly drunk driving crash in South Carolina on Jan. 27. The wreck killed three passengers riding in her vehicle.
According to media reports, the 27-year-old defendant was driving on U.S. 521 in Indian Land at approximately 1 a.m. when she crashed her car. According to the Lancaster County Coroner's Office, three people riding in the vehicle, a 31-year-old woman, a 40-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man, were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Two other passengers in the car were not injured.
Speeding is a persistent factor in traffic accidents, causing nearly one in three automobile-related fatalities every year. This is according to a report from the Governors Highway Safety Association entitled "Speeding Away from Zero: Rethinking a Forgotten Traffic Safety Challenge." The highway safety non-profit is serious about reducing roadway fatalities to zero in Georgia and the rest of the U.S.
The report states that the lack of a safety-minded culture is one reason why speeding continues to pose a challenge. Many even think that it is acceptable since no cultural stigma is attached to it like other serious traffic offenses. Lax law enforcement may be to blame as well.
A 55-year-old South Carolina man was killed in an automobile accident in the early morning hours of Jan. 20 in Greenville County. The man was a passenger in a 1994 Ford pickup truck driven by a 29-year old man. Both men were from Travelers Rest.
According to the South Carolina Highway Patrol, the car crash occurred at about 1 a.m. The pickup truck was traveling eastbound near Warehouse Drive on Bates Bridge Road when the truck left the road on the right side, hitting an embankment and utility pole, and then overturned. According to the coroner, the older passenger died from his injuries at the scene of the accident at about 1:30 a.m. Although neither man was wearing seat belts, the driver of the truck was not injured.
On Jan. 18, a man pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor vehicular homicide in connection with a fatal bus crash that occurred in Georgia in 2017. The accident took the life a teenage missionary from Huntsville, Alabama.
According to Fulton County authorities, the defendant was driving a bus on Camp Creek Parkway when he improperly changed lanes and struck another vehicle. After the impact, he overcorrected and lost control of the bus, smashing into a median and striking a second car. The bus ended up on its side.
Georgia drivers who are involved in accidents in which distracted driving is a factor may not always report the cause accurately. This is one of the challenges faced in gathering information about the relationship between distracted driving, including cellphone use, and motor vehicle accidents. Usually, attributing accidents to distracted driving involves either getting permission to examine drivers' phones or self-reporting from people involved in the accident.
Some research has shown that drivers using phones are 66 percent more likely to be involved in a fatal motor vehicle accident. Using this figure, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety estimates that more than 800 traffic fatalities in 2017 may have occurred because of drivers emailing, texting or using phones in other ways besides talking.
Fatal crashes involving commercial and passenger vehicles continue to rise. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has just examined crash data for 2017, the latest year for which complete data is available, and found that there was a total of 5,005 commercial motor vehicle crash fatalities. This is up from 3,193 in 2009. Another interesting fact is that Georgia saw a 19.7 percent rise in fatal CMV crashes.
Other states that saw a jump in fatal CMV crashes were Florida (27 percent), California (18.6 percent) and Texas (12 percent). On the other hand, New York saw a decrease of 12.2 percent. Those states with the highest jumps could apply for FMCSA High Priority grants in their efforts to address this trend.
Bold labels are required.
Greenville Office
33 Market Point Drive
Greenville,
SC
29607
Phone:
864-326-3073
Map & Directions
Cartersville Office
807 N. Tennessee Street
Suite 104
Cartersville,
GA
30120
Phone:
770-800-1520
Fax:
770-234-4112
Map & Directions
Dallas Office
234 Parkmont Way
Dallas,
GA
30132
Phone:
770-800-1520
Fax:
770-234-4112
Map & Directions
