Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue just signed Georgia Senate Bill 360 into law this week. This law bans drivers in Georgia from texting while driving. A recent report on Fox 5 news on June 26, 2010, reported that texting while driving has lead to approximately 6000 deaths in motor vehcile accidents in Georgia last year alone. There have been many studies which found that driving while talking on your cell phone causes a driver to be as dangerous and as impaired as a DUI driver. As you can amagine, a driver looking down and entering letters to text would be even more dangerous because they often travel distances on the road without having their eyes on the road. If drivers are not watching or are distracted, then they often are unable to react to the actions of other drivers around them. This clearly is a good law which is needed to discourage this dangerous practice of driving while texting.

The Georgia law banning texting while driving [Senate Bill 360] places the fine for this traffic offense at up to $150. Further, if any teenager is guilty of this offense twice in one year, then that teenage driver could have his or her driver's license suspended for one year per Fox 5 news.

Attorney Richard Griffin of the personal injury firm The Griffin Law Firm stated that personal injury victims of negligent drivers guilty of texting while driving may be entitled to punitive damages. Punitive damages are allowed under Georgia law when a negligent driver's conduct is not merely negligent, but also, conduct that shows a reckless disregard for human life. These damages are intended to discourage this type of conduct by offering these additional punitive damages to punish this conduct. Personal injury claims have a much higher value when there are punitive damages in addition to the compensatory damages which include medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Traditionally punitive damages in Georgia have involved DUI driving, racing, wreckless driving, and hit and run (leaving the scene of an accident).

Car wreck victims should always consult with experienced personal injury attorneys and wrongful death attorneys whenever they are seriously injuried in a car accident, truck accident, motorcycle accident, bicycle accident, or pedestrian accident. The personal injury lawyers and wrongful death lawyers at www.injuryatlanta.com have had experienc handling thousands of claims every year.