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.

Continue reading "Georgia Texting While Driving Could Impact Personal Injury Claims" »

Attorney Richard Griffin specializes in personal injury and wrongful death claims. As a part of his practice, he routinely monitors Georgia jury verdicts in order to better serve his clients and to inform the public on the potential value of their personal injury, wrongful death, worker’s compensation, and social security claims. Jury verdict research helps in two important ways. First, it allows the personal injury and wrongful death attorney to educate the client regarding the likely value of his or her claim. Second, it allows the experienced personal injury lawyer and wrongful death lawyer to negotiate higher settlements from the adjuster and defense attorneys by providing evidence of how much a jury verdict would likely be for a specific case.

One source of jury verdict research is The Georgia Trial Reporter. According to The Georgia Trial Reporter, Vol. 21, Issue(s) 8, 11, for June and September 2009, several civil juries returned high dollar verdicts in several Georgia counties for cases involving personal injury claims and wrongful death claims. Some of these cases involved truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, and car-wrecks which involved head-on collisions, t-bone collisions, and rear-end collisions. Some of these cases also involved drivers who were distracted by cell phone use or even DUI (driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs).

Some of the recent large settlements published in The Georgia Trial Reporter include:

(1) In Bulloch County Superior Court, a jury awarded a Plaintiff $1,160,000.00 for pain and suffering and $75,000.00 for loss of consortium damages in a trucking accident.

(2) In Chatham County State Court, a jury awarded a Plaintiff $90,000.00 for damages suffered in an auto-accident when the Defendant rear-ended the Plaintiff’s vehicle, while picking up a cell phone.

(3) In Clayton County State Court, a jury awarded a Plaintiff 17,716,401.00 in compensatory damages for an auto-accident involving a head-on collision and a design defect.

(4) In DeKalb County State Court, a jury awarded a Plaintiff $6,100,000.00 for damages suffered when the Defendant negligently inserted a needle into the Plaintiff’s neck causing pain and limited paralysis.

(5) In DeKalb County State Court, a jury awarded a Plaintiff $1,300,000.00 in wrongful death damages resulting from an interstate auto-accident.

(6) In Fulton County State Court, a jury awarded a Plaintiff $5,835,000.00 in wrongful death and pain and suffering damages in a auto-accident involving a drunk driver.

Great jury verdicts usually involve plaintiffs who are like-able and believable, as well as, injuries that are serious. The pain and suffering damages are determined by the jury and often include permanent restrictions on the injured victim's personal or work activities. Jurors are often extremely motivated by the testimony of before and after witnesses who describe how the plaintiff's life was disrupted by the injures. Before and after witnesses that can describe the negative impact on the plaintiff from different view points and with specific details work best. For example a neighbor who explains how they no longer can job or exercise with the plaintiff is much more effective than someone who just says the plaintiff was generally less active. Good before and after witnesses can include family members, friends, co-workers, and any one else that has had significant contact with the plaintiff.

Continue reading "Recent Big Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Verdicts In Georgia" »

Wrongful Deaths caused from car wrecks, motorcycle accidents, truck accidents , pedestrian accidents, and bike accidents often could have been avoided. There is nothing more tragic than the loss of a life. No amount of money can replace having your loved ones in your life. The sad facts are that many of these wrongful deaths could have been prevented if people had safer driving habits.

As motor vehicles become more powerful, quieter, loaded with safety devices (anti-lock brakes, traction control, air bags, etc.), it seems that people's confidence in their driving ability increases. Safety features are good, but they should not cause drivers to drive more aggressively and at higher speeds. A study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety concluded that "72% of drivers regarded themselves more skilled than everyone else." This over confidence can lead to dangerous driving habits.

Car Wrecks, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, bike accidents, and pedestrian accidents lead to thousands of serious injures every year. In some instances wrongful deaths can even occur. Personal injury claims allow injured victims to recover for their medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Wrongful death claims allow the families of those killed in motor vehicle accidents to recover for the medical expenses, pain and suffering, burial expenses, and for the value of a life. Experienced Georgia personal injury and wrongful death attorneys are able to make sure all available insurance policies are located. Then the experienced personal injury lawyer and wrongful death lawyer attempts to negotiate a settlement that fully compensates the client for their personal injury claim or wrongful death claim. In the event a fair settlement cannot be reached with the insurance adjuster or their defense attorneys, then the Georgia personal injury lawyer can litigate the claim in front a jury to resolve the claim.

Continue reading "Bad Driving Habits Lead To Wrongful Death Tragedies" »

Ford will put a safety feature on many of their new cars called "MyKey". Since Attorney Richard Griffin has spent his entire professional legal career handling personal injury, wrongful death, worker’s compensation, and social security disability claims, he is always interested in any new safety features on automobiles. Since Attorney Richard Griffin is proud father of four daughters, he understands that there is nothing more important than protecting your loved ones from being injured or killed.

It is astonishing to think about how many car wrecks occur each year in Georgia and throughout the U.S. Some of the mind boggling statistics about car accidents are:

(1) In 2006 there were 500,000 DUI related car wrecks in the U.S.
(2) In 2006, 17,000 innocent drivers died in those 500,000 DUI related car wrecks.
(3) In 2006 there were 392 deaths caused by DUI related car wrecks in Georgia.
(4) In 2007 there were 2,575,000 car wrecks that occurred in the U.S.
(5) In 2007 42,000 people lost their lives in those 2,575,000 car wrecks.
(6) Over 55% of the fatalities involved drivers or passengers not wearing seat belts.
(7) Tragicly, DUI related accidents increased in 2007 to 17,600 throughout the U.S.

Clearing driving in Atlanta, Georgia or throughout Georgia, can be dangerous even for drivers who are alert and safety minded. However, when you think about inexperienced teenage drivers behind the wheel, the risk of car wrecks increases even more. This is why Attorney Richard Griffin is very excited about the new “MyKey” feature that Ford will feature on many of Ford's new cars being released. “MyKey” is a new technology designed to help parents control some of their teen drivers’ behaviors in an attempt to keep them safe.

Andrew Sarkisian, the safety manager at Ford, was recently quoted in a USA Today article as saying, “We wanted to find a way for parents to virtually be in the car with their teens, like they’re sitting in the passenger seat coaching them along.” Attorney Richard Griffin whole hearedly agrees that parents need more tools to help them make sure their teenage drivers are driving safely. Attorney Richard Griffin stated that “teenagers often do not fully appreciate the risk of dangerous behavior which can sometimes lead to tragedies when they are behind the wheel of an automobile. Teenagers often feel invinsible which can result in driving too fast or driving while distracted by cell phones, Ipods, GPS systems, or even just their radios.” The worst worst nightmare for parents would be being informed that their daughter or son involved in a serious car accident, motorcycle accident, or truck accident. Attorney Richard Griffin knows that no amount of money from a personal injury or wrongful death claims can replace the value of having your loved ones safe and healthy.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration did a recent study which concluded that
(1) 4,497 young drivers ages 16 to 20 died in car accidents” in 2008.
(2) The leading cause of death for drivers who are ages 16 to 20 is car wrecks.
(3) Teenagers make up 10% of the total drivers, but they account for 12% of car fatalities.

So what does MyKey do to help parents protect their teenage drivers?

(1) Parents can limit the maximum speed their teenage drivers can drive to 80 mph.
(2) Parents can set chimes to warn their teenagers when the speed increases to 45 mph, 55 mph and 65 mph.
(3) Parents can set a chime if their teenage driver has not buckled their seatbelt
(4) Parents can have the audio system disabled until the teenage driver buckles their seat belt.
(5) Parents can limit the maximum volume on the radio.
(6) Parents can keep track of their teen driver's mileage
(7) Parents can set the low fuel warnings to warn at an earlier fuel level.

The driving statistics clearly show that teenage drivers are at the greatest risk of having a car wreck the first year of they are driving. Since nothing is more important than keeping our children safe, Attorney Richard Griffin believes that many parents may choose Ford cars with MyKey over other cars just for this safety feature alone.

The Griffin Law Firm, P.C. (Attorney Richard Griffin's law firm) has handled thousands of personal injury and wrongful death claims with incredible results. To read more about how happy our personal injury, wrongful death, worker's compensation, and social security clients have been with our legal representation click on the following link: [Client Testimonials].

If someone else's negligent driving has caused you to be injured in a car wreck, truck accident, motorcycle accident, bicycle accident, or pedestrial accident, then call our experienced attorneys at The Griffin Law Firm, P.C. today for a free consultation.

Call our personal injury lawyers and wrongful death lawyers for for a free settlement evaluation at 866-847-6545.

You can also click the following link to submit your personal injury, wrongful death, worker’s compensation, or social security disability questions to our experienced personal injury and wrongful death attorney’s at the following link: FREE SETTLEMENT EVALUATION.

Our firm's mission statement is "To protect the rights of injured victims and to maximize the personal injury, wrongful death, worker’s compensation, and social security disability recoveries for all of our clients."

When you are looking for a lawyer for your personal injury, worker's compensation, wrongful death, or social security disability claim you need someone you can trust. You need a law firm that will work hard for you, that will keep you informed, that are honest, and that will get you great results. You need a law firm that will treat you like family while fighting to make sure you recover all that you deserve.

I have good news for you! The Griffin Law Firm, P.C. is the law firm that you are looking for and need. Our firm can get the full settlement that you are entitled to while providing the customer service deserve. We can prove that our client's love our representation by the client testimonials that they provide. I have listed some of our client's testimonials below:

(1) "The Griffin Law Firm was honest, hard working, and treated me like a trusted friend. We had our day in court and justice was done. I was very pleased with the outcome."
-Leon King, former client 08/21/08

(5) The way they handled every detail in the case and never once did I have to do any foot work myself. All details were taken care of by the Firm."
* Would you recommend The Griffin Law Firm to a friend who needed an attorney?
"Yes". C. Dunlap, 08/31/07

The Griffin Law Firm, P.C. has Atlanta personal injury lawyers, Atlanta worker's compensation lawyers, Atlanta social security disability lawyers, and Atlanta wrongful death lawyers.

For even more Client Testimonials visit our website at www.griffinlawfirmpc.com.

We also encourage you to utilize our legal videos that can be found at our Media Center on our website.

Call us today at 866-847-6545 or visit our website at www.injuryatlanta.com to have your legal questions answered and to have a free settlement evaluation. We are honest, reliable, hard working, and the law firm that will treat you like you are family.

What do you do it you are in a car wreck in Atlanta or anywhere in Georgia? As an Atlanta personal injury attorney for The Griffin Law Firm, P.C., Richard Griffin is asked this question almost every daily. How you conduct yourself at the accident scene can play a vital role in the outcome of your case.

First Step - Get Contact Information From All Witnesses: Immediately get all of the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of any witnesses at the car accident scene. Since witnesses are often busy or in a hurry, they often do not want to wait for the police to come. Therefore, your only opportunity to get the witness information is immediately after the car wreck. If you do not have a witness than many accidents become a swearing contest where each driver claims the other driver was at fault. This is especially true for lane changing cases or for car wrecks at intersections. Witnesses for these type of cases can mean the difference between all of your property damage and personal injury damages being paid by the negligent driver's car insurance, or you being stuck without an insurance company paying for your damages. Without a witness the insurance companies that represent the negligent driver will often take there insured’s word for it and deny the claim. The burden of proof is on the injured party so getting the witness contact information may make all of the difference.

Second Step - Write Down the Tag Number Of The Negligent Driver: If you are involved in a car wreck that was caused by another driver's negligence, you should immediately write down the tag number for the negligent driver, a description of the negligent driver's car, and a description of the negligent driver. This information could be very important in allowing the police to locate the owner of the negligent driver in their investigation of the accident if the negligent driver leaves the scene of the accident. Unfortunately hit and run car accidents occur quite often in Atlanta and throughout Georgia, so having this information is critical. Our personal injury attorneys at The Griffin Law Firm, P.C. are even able to use the tag information to find out which insurance company insures the vehicle that caused the accident.

Third Step - Call The Police: No matter how trust worthy or apologetic the negligent driver is always call the police. The police report will document the accident occurred and will have the officer’s opinion of who was at fault. Without it you are very vulnerable. A dishonest negligent driver could deny the collision even occurred or deny that he or she was at fault in the accident unless there is a police report. If the negligent driver denies the car wreck occurred or states he or she was not to blame for the accident, then insurance adjusters will often deny liability. Without a police report or witnesses it may be difficult to prove that you are entitled to recover for your personal injury medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and property damage.

Fourth Step - Take Photographs At the Scene: I strongly recommend that you take photographs of all cars involved immediately after the collision. This can be done by using your cell phone's camera or by carrying a camera in your car at all times. These photographs preserve the evidence that could be needed to prove you were not at fault. Many times the vehicles are moved to clear the roadway so these photographs could help with officer know what happened and our firm help prove your case. These photographs also are very valuable in showing the position of the vehicles when the wreck occurred, documenting the property damage to all vehicles involved, and can be a way to capture a picture of the negligent driver and tag number. Photographs which show substantial property damage can greatly increase the value of your claim. Jurors are very motivated when they see wrecked cars which show a lot of damage. Their nature thought when they see a demolished car is “how could anyone have survived that!” This is a great weapon for our firm to use in settlement negotiations and / or if the case is tried.

Fifth Step - Calmly Tell The Policy What Happened: Make sure you keep your cool when speaking to the police officer. If you are injured, then let the police officer know it. He will typically note if you were injured in the police report. If ask for an ambulance, then the police will usually note that your were injured. If you do not want an ambulance, then unless you make it clear to the police that you were injured, but would drive yourself to the doctor, the police will usually note "no injuries" on the police report. Adjusters will often use "no injury" notes from the police report against you by arguing you must not have been injured in the car wreck since you did not tell the police officer you were injured at the scene.

If you had to move your car, then show the police officer your photographs so he can see where the cars were. If you have witness information of witnesses that did not stay, give it to the police officer.

Seveth Step - Get Medical Treatment you Need: If you are injured, then you should get medical treatment as soon as possible. Delays in seeking medical treatment are often used by adjusters to argue you were not really hurt do to a gap in treatment. The longer the gap in treatment the stronger the adjuster will argue this. If you have serious injures, then you should seek treatment at the emergency room. If you do not wish to go to the emergency room, then seek treatment from your family doctor or a medical doctor or chiropractor. If our clients need help finding a doctor, then our firm can help you find a good doctor in your area. If you have health insurance or med pay coverage, then use it. This usually means that you will net more money in your settlement. If our clients need a doctor to treat you on a lien (no payment needed until the case settles), then our firm can help arrange this as well.

SEVENTH STEP - CALL THE GRIFFIN LAW FIRM ASAP SO WE CAN ADVISE YOU AND PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS IMMEDIATELY: The most important step is to call our firm [866-847-6545 or http://www.griffinlawfirmpc.com/] as soon as possible. We can make sure your property damage issues are resolved. We can help you get the treatment you need. We can do everything possible to maximize your recovery to make sure you are fairly compensated for your past and future medical expenses, past and future lost wages, and past and future pain and suffering.

Written by Richard S. Griffin, Attorney at Law. http://www.griffinlawfirmpc.com/ or call us at 866-847-6545.

My name is Attorney Richard S. Griffin http://www.griffinlawfirmpc.com/lawyer-attorney-1282309.html. My Atanta personal injury law firm, The Griffin Law Firm, P.C, specialize in handling personal injury, wrongful death, worker’s compensationhttp://www.griffinlawfirmpc.com/lawyer-attorney-1282786.html, and social security disability claimshttp://www.griffinlawfirmpc.com/lawyer-attorney-1282782.html. My firm has successfully handled thousands of injury claims and have recovered millions of dollars for our clients. Every case is different, but our commitment remains the same to make sure you have the best possible legal representation. Please visit our website at www.griffinlawfirmpc.com.

In this blog I will evaluate legal issues of interest to me. I am also always willing to provide a free legal consultation about potential injury claims that you may have. I can be reached at 404-303-8400 or at www.griffinlawfirmpc.com or email to richard@griffinlawfirmpc.com.
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