Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
According to the Georgia Department of Transportation (“GDOT”), traffic fatalities are on the rise throughout the state. The agency has speculated that driver distraction may account for the increase in traffic accidents, citing texting and surfing the web while driving. Prior to this year, traffic deaths had declined for the past nine years. According to the GDOT, transportation and law enforcement officials throughout Georgia started a multi-agency campaign called DriveAlert ArriveAlive to call attention to a startling 25 percent increase in roadway fatalities in the first quarter of 2015.
Hopefully, the awareness program will serve to reduce the number of accidents and resulting injuries and fatalities. People who have been injured in car or other vehicle accidents may be entitled, at the very least, to compensation for their pain and suffering and losses. To determine your right to a recovery, you are encouraged to contact a local Atlanta injury attorney who has extensive experience representing parties in car accident cases.
Most auto accident cases involve discovery to some extent. It is an integral part of any negligence case. Under Georgia law, parties may obtain discovery regarding any matter that is not “privileged” if it is considered relevant to the subject matter of the pending action. In a recent case, Chandler et al., v Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co., (Ga. Ct. of App. 2015), parties to a car accident case argued over the trial court’s decision in refusing to require the production of evidence (the plaintiffs’ request for discovery). Here, a couple and their daughter (the plaintiffs) were injured in a car accident with another driver (Evans Johnson III), who was insured by Liberty Mutual. The plaintiffs were also insured by Liberty Mutual. The company denied their claims under the uninsured motorist (“UM”) policy.