Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Published on: March 18, 2013

Biker killed in accident with senior

Motorcycles are often involved in accidents with passenger vehicles. This case is no exception to the rule that drivers do not see bikers.

Minor bike/car accidents are exceedingly rare, largely because being on a motorcycle means being exposed to everything coming at you. If you are ejected, there is no such thing as a soft landing. If you are hit, there is no such thing as a minor injury.

Most injuries resulting from a collision between a biker and passenger vehicle result in life threatening, life-altering injuries or death. For this reason, if you survive an accident like this, you will need an Atlanta personal injury lawyer to get you the maximum compensation possible. There is no other way to pay for your medical expenses. If you do not live to walk away from the accident and make a recovery, an Atlanta injury lawyer will work with your family to recover fair and full compensation, by filing a wrongful death lawsuit.

Published on: February 27, 2013

Unarmed Man Shot and Tasered To Death by Police Results in Wrongful Death Lawsuit

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

No one knows for sure what happened in this deadly confrontation. One man was killed by police.

The story began in July, when a man was reported standing beside a major roadway, swearing and yelling at passing cars. Someone called the police, and a deputy was sent to the scene. The man was not armed, and reports do not indicate whether or not he was under the influence of something at the time to make him act out.

What is clear is that a struggle ensued and the first responding deputy fired a fatal shot into the man’s abdomen. The female deputy stated she was afraid for her life, despite the fact that the man had apparently broken no laws, was not under arrest, was not armed and did not appear to be a threat to anyone, including himself. She called for backup, and that is when things went horribly wrong.

Published on: February 15, 2013

Construction zones are dangerous for drivers

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Beware of trucks in construction zones. Any road work crew poses a major hazard.

We’re so used to seeing road work being done all over America, we tend to just shrug our shoulders and grumble about yet another delay in getting from point A to point B. Construction is considered to be royal nuisance, best avoided wherever possible. Very few people think of construction zones as being dangerous, after all, drivers are to slow down when passing workers.

Many drivers do not slow down. Many more ignore the lower speed limits for a construction zone and push on through to get to the other side as fast as they can. Everything is at the side of the road, and the workers are in ditches, and the equipment is on the shoulder – no worries. Think again. Construction zones are a threat to workers on site and truckers.

Published on: January 28, 2013

Sewer Truck Hits and Kills Elderly Man In His Own Yard

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

This wrongful death case was most unusual. A man was killed in his own front yard.

The day started out in a normal way for the couple in this story: They ate breakfast, talked about their plans for the day, and the man then went outside to spend some time in his front yard. He enjoyed puttering about. His wife later found her 71-year-old husband dead on the front lawn, perhaps not an unusual discovery, given the gentleman’s age. However, it was clear that he had been run over by a vehicle of some sort.

When the shock of the discovery wore off, the wife contacted an injury lawyer about filing a wrongful death lawsuit. As it turned out, the suit was filed against a city worker who had been driving a sewer truck at the time the elderly man was killed. The 46-year-old driver was charged with felony hit-and-run, resulting in death, and misdemeanor death-by-a-vehicle once the police department had completed an accident scene reconstruction.

Published on: January 21, 2013

Sports Bikes Are More Often Involved In Motorcycle Accidents

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says sports bikes are more likely to be involved in accidents than others.

Why sports bikes? It has to do with their size and construction, meaning they are typically lighter and smaller than the traditional “ride,” thus making them an easier target. In terms of handling, sports bikes are also considered to be more skittish, making them harder to handle in a dangerous situation.

There are a large number of cons to riding a motorcycle of any kind, not the least being death, but this does not seem to stop bikers from taking to the roads. Many have a sense that nothing could happen to them, that they are good bikers, safe drivers and know the ropes. They may well be all those things, but that does not mean the other guy on the road is safe. These days, with more and more people texting while driving, and even surfing the web while behind the wheel, safety is an issue for everyone on the road.

Published on: December 30, 2012

Collapsing Slide Kills Man, Resulting In Wrongful Death Lawsuit

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

When you go to a baseball game, you do not expect to die.

The day started out just like any other day, but with a hint of excitement in the air, because it was game day. The Cleveland Indians were ready to play ball, and the crowd was loving every moment in anticipation of a great game. And then, the unthinkable happened. A man was hit by a Kids Fun Day inflatable slide, just outside the ballpark. He was taken to hospital with three broken bones in his back, and expected to recover. Nine days later, he was the victim of a deadly pulmonary embolism as a result of the fractures.

The man’s wife chose to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the Cleveland Indians, the ballpark and the company that erected the slide, citing negligence in setting up the slide. National Pastime Sports representatives did not make an appearance in court, which resulted in a default judgment against them for $3.5 million. The Cleveland Indians denied they were liable for the accident that subsequently killed the sports fan outside their park, indicating the slide was the sole responsibility of National Pastime Sports. Ultimately, they did offer to settle with the widow, as it was the right thing to do, and saved the expense of a two week trial.

Published on: December 28, 2012

Big Rig Crushes Smaller Car

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

When a trucker loses control of his vehicle, the result may be deadly. It was in this case.

No one knew for sure what happened just prior to this accident. The facts are spare: The driver of a large flatbed rig lost control of his vehicle and was ejected from the cab. He died at the scene. What happened after his ejection was horrific.

The driverless truck continued to barrel down the highway before engulfing a white Acura. The smaller car did not stand a chance, as the behemoth truck ended up on top of the car, completely crushing it. The Acura’s driver was dead at the scene; his female passenger made it alive to a local hospital, with undetermined, but serious injuries.

Published on: November 24, 2012

Distracted Driving May Have Caused This Semi Wreck

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Distracted driving is on the rise, and as a result, so are the number of traffic accidents.

“Often, if you look past the surface of what seems to be noticeable after a wreck, whether it is between two cars, or a semi and another vehicle, you will find evidence of a cell phone, or smart phone in use. That is what happened in this reported case,” explained Stephen Ozcomert, an Atlanta injury lawyer, who practices personal injury, accidents and malpractice law in Georgia.

This two vehicle crash involved a pickup truck and a semi-truck. One of the vehicles was heading east on the road, and the other south on the parallel road, when they met in the intersection. The police were not able to determine which vehicle was heading in which direction, as the impact skewed everything around and left vehicles every which way on the side of the road. The scene was a complete mess of twisted steel, radiator fluid, busted windshield glass and torn rubber.

Published on: November 20, 2012

Two Bikers Collide, One Dies, One Is Later Charged With Murder

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Motorcycles and murder are an unusual mix. This case led to homicide charges against a biker.

A 20-year-old man was recently charged by police with homicide by vehicle (his motorcycle) by driving while inebriated, and operating a vehicle without the consent of the owner. These are, respectively, a Class B felony and an aggravated misdemeanor in the state of Iowa. Other states would lay their own applicable charges.

According to the police report, biker number one was heading southbound about 10:00 p.m. He came up behind another biker, a 19-year-old young man, and slammed into him. The force of the impact ejected both from their rides. The 19-year-old was killed. The 20-year-old survived, was taken to hospital for treatment and released.

Published on: November 15, 2012

Murder or Wrongful Death Is The Question In This Tough Case

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

This is a complex case with interesting twists and turns.

In this tense story of love possibly gone wrong, the police and other family members are suggesting that the woman at the center of their investigation shoved her husband out of a window, where he fell 25 stories to his death. While theories still swirl, the woman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the apartment complex where they were living at the time of the alleged crime.

The woman was seven months pregnant at the time of the incident, and insists her husband tripped over something, stumbled wildly and unable to recover from his forward momentum, fell through the living room window. Facts filed in the wrongful death lawsuit point to a window that consisted of single pane glass, which is a flagrant violation of building codes and existing safety standards. Because it was only a single pane, it could be shattered with a minimum of pressure. If someone fell into it head first, with even a modicum of force, it would easily crack and give way.