Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Published on: June 5, 2012

Helmets Do Save Lives in a Motorcycle Accident, but not All the Time

While helmets do save lives, it does depend on the nature of the accident. This accident took the lives of a couple, both wearing helmets.

It was early in the morning, a perfect night to take the bike out and go for a spin. The 44-year-old man and his 45-year-old girlfriend thought it would be fun to take a late night ride. The motorcycle was thrumming along without a hitch, heading east on an avenue. Just to the biker’s right, a PT Cruiser was coming out of the parking lot of a local bank.

The impact was bone crushing, as the biker and his passenger slammed into the side of the car. Both were thrown from the motorcycle and died at the scene. Even though they were wearing helmets, the way they impacted and were tossed into the air and landed, meant instantaneous death. The car’s driver, in shock, was not hurt, but was examined at the scene and released.

Published on: March 15, 2012

Deadly Accident Shows Trucker Drove More Hours than Legally Mandated

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Fatigued big rig drivers kill a lot of people on the roads. It is downright criminal what happens in the name of interstate commerce.

This case was shocking, as it was pivotal to pending regulations to change the hours of service a trucker may put in on the road. A woman who was driving home from a family reunion was killed instantly when she and her son were hit by a triple-trailer truck. The driver drifted off to sleep behind the wheel. The consequences? The needless death of the woman and her 12-year-old son was left permanently disabled.

The trucker was sentenced to five years in prison, a fact that brings no joy to those who were left behind after her sudden, untimely death. He pled guilty to two counts of aggravated vehicle assault and one count of aggravated vehicular homicide. The story spread around the country, acting as a wakeup call for those campaigning to lower service hours on the road in the trucking industry. The group wanted 10 hours. The hours remained the same, set at 11, but they did not go up as most trucking outfits would have preferred.

Published on: March 11, 2012

Taser Deployment Ends in Wrongful Death Reports Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Tasers have their place in law enforcement. However, they must be used responsibly.

“This is a troubling case from many angles,” says Stephen Ozcomert, an Atlanta injury lawyer who practices personal injury, accidents and malpractice law. “It is troubling from the point of view that the police officer who used a Taser on a mentally distressed man did so twice, despite being told the man would not harm anyone and was not armed. The man was off his bipolar drugs.”

As a result of the man dying later in the hospital, a victim of cardiac arrest from two Taser shots, the man’s wife filed a wrongful death lawsuit that, among other things, stated the police used excessive force for the situation, intentionally inflicted emotional distress and deprived the dead man of his constitutional rights. “Should a jury agree with the plaintiff that the man was not a threat, then they could regard the deployment of the Taser, twice, as an intentional wrongful act without a good reason to do so,” explained Ozcomert.

Published on: March 1, 2012

Speeding Cop Kills Two Teens and Unborn Child

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Even cops can be responsible for the wrongful death of another. This case highlights a police officer driving with a heavy foot while not responding to calls.

This reported case did go to settlement largely because if it had gone to court, the family of the deceased would likely have been awarded more. As it was, the city approved a half million dollar settlement for the family of the dead teens and an unborn baby.

Although the city did step up and make a settlement offer, they also added that just because they were considering a settlement did not mean they were admitting guilt on their part or on the part of the officer involved. It’s hard to assume that if they are willing to pay out a settlement that they do not assume some degree of guilt.

Published on: January 26, 2012

Hit and Run Accident Kills Toddler and Family Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Cases that involve kids are the toughest ones to handle. This accident story is heartbreaking.

Often in cases like this one, there are two elements you need to keep in mind: the criminal side and the civil side. In this reported case, there was the criminal element of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, driving without a license and felony hit-and-run causing a death.

The 22-year-old man, driving through a crosswalk, hit and killed a four-year-old pedestrian. Rather than stopping and remaining at the scene of the accident for the police to arrive, the driver left the area. The man probably knew he was going to be in deep trouble, compounded by the fact he was driving without a license and left the scene of the accident.

Published on: January 13, 2012

It Is No Surprise that 18-Wheeler Accidents Are on the Increase

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

The next time you are out on the highway, look around you. There are far more potentially deadly big rigs on the road than there ever used to be.

No one wants to hear that there are more accidents every year on the highways involving semis. Unfortunately, though, it is a hard, cold fact. In 2010 alone, close to 500,000 commercial trucks were in wrecks in the U.S. That overall figure includes at least 100,000 injuries and more than 5,000 deaths. In 2009, there were only 3,200 fatalities, says the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

If these figures were not dismal enough on their own, the Institute predicts an increase in commercial trucks on the roadways by 20 percent by 2012. You do not have to think too hard about what that means in terms of accident statistics. What causes trucking accidents?

Published on: December 27, 2011

DUI Charge in Wrongful Death Case Results in Unusual Sentence Provision

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

The courts are looking for unusual and innovative ways to make a point that it does not pay to drink and drive.

This reported case may sound like just another drunk driving conviction, but this one has a twist to it. This story started when a young 24-year-old man doing duty as a designated driver was taking his friends home from an evening out on the town drinking. After dropping the last one off, he headed home, but never made it.

In the middle of an intersection, another car driven by a 26-year-old woman ran a red light and slammed into the side of the man’s car. His family was in deep shock when they heard the news. That shock also turned to anger when they found out that her blood alcohol level was 0.229, and the legal limit was 0.08. The family sought legal counsel and filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

Published on: December 20, 2011

Dentist Sued for Wrongful Death of Teen

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

For most people, going to the dentist is stressful. For the 13-year-old girl in this reported case, it resulted in her death. The young girl was having teeth removed during oral surgery in the dentist’s office, when she stopped breathing. The autopsy revealed that the death was the result of complications from anesthesia, given prior to surgery.

The devastated family elected to file a wrongful death lawsuit, which was settled out of court by the dentist’s insurance company and negotiated by the state’s Dental Board. The most interesting aspect of this case were the remarks made by the Dental Board once the settlement had been negotiated, commenting, among other things, that it was the task of the Board to ensure unsafe dentists, or those that were likely a threat, either took further training to remediate deficient areas in their practice or, in the alternative, stop practicing.

The upside of this case was, in addition to the negotiated settlement, that the doctor agreed to retire. On the surface, this may have been a stunningly good idea, given the man’s age. Digging deeper revealed that it was not the first time that the doctor had been sued for wrongful death. In 1997, a 57-year-old woman died from similar complications with anesthetic. At that time, the dentist would have been 67-years-old. That case was also settled out of court.

Published on: November 21, 2011

Rare Head-On Crash Between Two Motorcycles Kills Two and Injures at Least Four Others

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

It is not often that two bikers are involved in a head-on collision with each other. It was a clear day and the group of riders headed out the popular, scenic highway to take in the sights. The first group had four riders, all of who were very experienced with bikes and affiliated with a church. The second group of four riders was not so experienced and was also younger too.

Just because the second group of riders was younger and not as experienced does not necessarily mean they lacked good judgment. Unfortunately, however, one rider did not follow the rules of the road and was speeding while heading south on the highway. He lost control of his bike, crossed the median into opposing traffic and hit the lead biker from the church group. Both riders died an unnecessary death, because of the negligence of the biker who was speeding.

Certainly the 19-year-old rider likely thought he could do anything and be just fine, no matter what. Chances are he had never seen a bike accident and had no concept of death. However, he miscalculated on this ride and lost his life because of it. The tragedy is a double one because two lives were lost due to speeding when the young man did not having the skills to handle a bike at such high speeds.

Published on: November 7, 2011

Drunk Pedestrian Ran Over and Wrongful Death Suit May Follow

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Death comes to people in many strange ways. The man in this case was run over while lying in the middle of the road.

This reported case is very odd for a number of reasons. The main reason for this is that the victim was lying in the middle of the road; drunk but alive until the defendant ran over him and killed him. The defendant is a former state trooper, who, one would think, would have a higher degree of awareness about driving safely and would not leave the scene of the accident.

The trooper was off duty at the time of the accident, was in the car with his girlfriend, and heading home from a party when he struck and killed John Doe. For reasons only known to him, he chose to leave the scene and continue on his way home. His girlfriend did however speak to the police after the man was hit. Investigators on scene were able to determine the dead man had been alive prior to being hit and had a blood alcohol content of 0.20.