Articles

Published on: December 10, 2010

Motorcycle Riders Are Virtually Invisible To Others On The Road

Reading the accident statistics involving motorcycles is depressing. Most often, bikers are killed because no one sees them.

It is hard to be invisible on the road when you are in a car, but being invisible on the road when you are on a motorcycle is all too common. The most often repeated phrase when the police arrive at a bike wreck is the driver of the car repeating over and over: “I just didn’t see him.”

Kind of makes you want to think twice about being a biker, doesn’t it? Along with the risks of being creamed by another vehicle, there is virtually zero rider protection. The physical injuries sustained in motorcycle crashes are legion, usually ugly and often life-altering or terminal. Many Atlanta personal injury lawyers see some horrific crashes in their practices. A motorcycle versus car wreck and happen any time, any place and the results aren’t going to be good.

Published on: December 9, 2010

Auto Injury Compensation Greater The Longer The Damage Lasts

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

The worse your injuries are from a car wreck, the greater your compensation happens to be. There’s a cause and effect connection involved.

No matter what way you look at it, if you are injured in a car wreck, and the injuries are severe, this is not good. One thing to remember though is that medically and legally speaking, there are various degrees of suffering. While it may sound cold to base compensation of the severity of the injury, it’s about the only way that makes sense when money is handed out to the victim.

In other words, in accident cases, if the injuries are severe, the amount of money a plaintiff may receive is higher to cover that severity. This is sometimes a difficult concept to grasp. If you are dealing with a severe injury case, have your Atlanta personal injury lawyer explain how damage awards are calculated.

Published on: December 5, 2010

Failure to Diagnose is Common in Dental Malpractice Indicates Atlanta Malpractice Lawyer

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Who would have thought dentists would fail to diagnose an oral problem. It happens.

“While many people don’t tend to think of their dentist as being someone they can sue, dental malpractice is more common than you might think. Certainly, in many instances, the dentist, if approached about a concern, will remedy the situation as soon as they can. However, if an injury is permanent, that may become another story and may also culminate in a lawsuit,” said Stephen M. Ozcomert, who handles personal injury cases, accidents, and malpractice law in Atlanta, Georgia.

One thing potential plaintiffs need to know is that that dental malpractice, also referred to as dental negligence, does not always involve an injured patient. What it means, in addition to a physical injury, is that the dentist failed to spot a disease in their patient’s mouth during the course of an oral exam.

Published on: November 20, 2010

Underriding involves one vehicle driving under a semi

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Don’t confuse underriding with underwriting. These are two different things, and one will kill you.

Just when you think you may have heard everything, you hear about a fairly graphic term that happens in certain accident cases called underriding. Underriding refers to a wreck where a vehicle or a motorcycle drives under the trailer of a big rig. These accidents are not pretty, are mostly fatal and if they aren’t, the survivors sustain catastrophic injuries such as brain injury, spinal cord injury, shattered bones and severe crush injuries.

In underriding cases, there is no question you will need a highly experienced Atlanta personal injury lawyer to help you get the proper compensation to care for you for the rest of your life. If you do not survive your injuries, then that same lawyer may help the family file a wrongful death lawsuit.

Published on: November 14, 2010

Wrongful death lawsuits are about economic security for the future

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Wrongful death lawsuits are not about revenge. These suits deal with obtaining future financial security.

While some people may think that filing a wrongful death lawsuit is all about getting even with the person or company who killed your loved one, it isn’t. Primarily, it is about getting financial compensation for the family for their future. When a loved one suddenly dies, the economic and emotional shock is truly devastating.

If you lost a loved one whose income supported the family, would you wonder where the next dollar to pay the bills would come from? You sure would. It’s for this reason that those left behind seek legal counsel and want to find out what their rights are by asking a lawyer what will happen next and what can the family do to obtain compensation.

Published on: October 21, 2010

Identifying defendants in premises liability cases

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Premises liability cases are not always clean-cut cases, as there is sometimes confusion regarding who is the named defendant. Check this with an experienced Atlanta personal injury lawyer.

If the world were as simple as it once was, things might be straightforward and easy when it comes to lawsuits. However, in this complex day and age with multiple property owners, international property owners, lessees, holding companies and other entities who own land, who to sue in a premises liability case is not always clear. It isn’t always the person who caused an accident due to negligence that is directly responsible for a victim’s injuries in a premises liability/slip and fall case.

Some lawsuits in this area may directly involve the person who caused the accident or anyone who refused to render aid, or the property owner and not the manager. The ownership of the land where the accident took place is another issue that comes with its own set of liabilities. Ultimately, that means if a landowner wasn’t around when the accident happened, it doesn’t matter. The person still owns the property and has certain standards he or she needs to adhere to that keep it safe for those who use/visit the location.

Published on: October 21, 2010

The dangers of riding and enjoying a motorcycle

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Motorcycles are unique vehicles. Nothing else can approximate the thrill of riding in the open air. Unfortunately, they are high-risk rides.

There is no question that riding a motorcycle is one of the greatest thrills on planet Earth. It is a super-charged rush to get on the open road and boot it. While you might be a very safe rider, it’s the people in other vehicles that you have to watch out for, because they often just don’t see you, no matter how big your bike happens to be.

In fact, not seeing you is the most commonly cited cause of motorcycle accidents. Unfortunately, it also means that bikers get hit more often than other vehicles and sustain severe injuries and may ultimately lose their lives. Education is a good start to reduce the number of motorcycle crashes on the road. Improving others’ driving skills and alertness would help. The problem is, some drivers just don’t seem to understand that bikers are smaller vehicles of which they need to be aware. Sadly, just about 70 percent of the wrecks involving bikers are due to the negligence of a motorist.

Published on: October 15, 2010

Professional malpractice also refers to accountants

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Professional malpractice refers to more than lawyers or doctors. It also includes accountants.

“Most people, when they hear the words ‘professional malpractice,’ think it refers to lawyers or doctors. While it may well refer to them, it is also a term used when talking about accounting malpractice. Simply put, accounting malpractice happens if any accounting professional is negligent in the performance of their duties,” said Stephen M. Ozcomert, who handles personal injury cases, accidents, and malpractice law in Atlanta, Georgia.

To further explain professional standards for various individuals who are certified to practice, it’s vital to know that the institutes that certify these professionals have a list that outlines what the standard of care is for their members to provide to their customers. The list says what standards of care need to be met to protect the public from harm, deceit, malfeasance, etc.

Published on: August 28, 2010

Big rigs are involved in at least 21 percent of all fatal accidents

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

At over 80,000 pounds each, it’s no wonder that 18-wheelers are involved in ugly, and often fatal, crashes.

Not many people realize that a fully loaded big rig can weigh that much. Comparatively, most cars weigh only about 4,000 pounds. It’s not hard to see why smaller vehicles tend to get completely demolished when hit by an 18-wheeler. In most truck-versus-car collisions, there isn’t much left of the car, while the truck may come out of it with just a few dents and scratches.

Picking up the pieces from this type of wreck is tough, but evidence needs to be preserved, the integrity of the scene needs to be maintained, and the accident itself needs to be reconstructed to determine fault, if that is not clear from the scene. Despite the fact that big rigs only represent about 3 percent of all the vehicles on the road, they figure into the crash statistics as being involved in at least 21 percent of all fatal collisions.

Published on: August 18, 2010

Beware of snow in Georgia

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

It’s never too early to mention that you need to beware of ice and snow in the winter. Slips and falls can do a lot of damage.

You may have never experienced snow or ice in Georgia, but it happens, and when it does, you still have to cope with trying to get through the mess. Since it’s not something that a lot of people are used to – after all, our temperatures are usually pretty balmy – they often don’t know how to walk on slick surfaces. To make matters worse, who really has salt, sand or anything else on hand to handle the snow? When it falls, snow is an accident waiting to happen.

What do you need to know if you do slip and fall on snow? Whether you slipped on snow or in a puddle in the middle of a mall, the first thing you need to know is that in virtually all but a few situations, the people who own a business are responsible for your safety when you are on their property – that includes their parking lot, front sidewalk, the aisles, etc. There is actually case law on this point – Dumas v. Tripps – case law your Atlanta personal injury lawyer would use if you file a slip and fall personal injury lawsuit.