Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Published on: March 29, 2010

The Motorcyclist Survived with Serious Injuries

Laying down a motorcycle and sliding to avoid fatal injuries saved this man’s life. The car driver that caused the accident was oblivious.

This is another case we heard about and were interested in because we handle a fair number of motorcycle accidents every year. Many of them are fatal. This one was not, but it did cause the rider a lot of grief in the long run.

“This happened in 2007 and involved a Honda custom motorcycle that was traveling along a highway when a car heading in the opposite direction to the biker suddenly made a left turn a few feet in front of him without signaling. With no place else to go, the biker did the smart thing and laid his bike down on its side and slid behind it to avoid a fatality,” recounted Stephen M. Ozcomert, who handles personal injury cases, accidents, and malpractice law in Atlanta, Georgia.

Published on: March 28, 2010

Standing Water on Concrete Floor Causes Serious Injury after Fall

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Slip and fall accidents may be more than just embarrassing. They may cause serious injuries and even death.

“Premises liability is a tricky area of the law and there are several things that need to be in place before a good case is made to take to court. Let’s take a look at a case we heard about recently that involved an entrepreneur with her own business that badly injured her knee in a slip and fall at a grocery store,” said Stephen M. Ozcomert who handles personal injury cases, accidents, and malpractice law in Atlanta, Georgia.

The woman in question was shopping at a local grocery store where she slipped and fell in a high traffic area due to standing water on a concrete floor. The condition was made even worse because the water had plant food and organic soil in it, which made the surface of the concrete very slick. “In other words, this was not just standing water on concrete. It was standing water with additives that made the surface of the concrete slippery,” Ozcomert pointed out.

Published on: March 10, 2010

Indifferent Diagnosis Means Medical Malpractice with a Serious Price

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Time is of the essence when it comes to a medical diagnosis in a great number of cases. One indifferent or missed diagnosis may cause serious complications or death.

Diagnosing men with prostate cancer is a challenging art, but one that can be done if the doctor follows the standard and well accepted usual protocol of having their patient screened. Screening involves a blood test that looks for something called the prostate specific antigen (PSA). So, the PSA test tells a doctor how much PSA is in the bloodstream as a result of changes in the man’s prostate. As a man ages, the levels of PSA in their blood usually increase and their prostate also gets larger.

This particular test can be used to detect other things such as inflammation or various kinds of trauma, but primarily it is used as an early detection test for prostate cancer; an invaluable test in terms of reducing mortality risks. In other words, if the presence of cancer is detected early enough, something can be done about it quickly and with far less stress and anxiety than if the disease progresses.

Published on: March 1, 2010

Cell Phone Convo Distracted Driver and Seriously Injured Police Officer

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

People just don’t seem to realize that being on a cell phone while driving is a deadly distraction. This case demonstrates that clearly.

This car crash happened on an expressway where vehicles were traveling at high rates of speed. A state trooper was seriously injured as a result of this collision caused by a 19-year-old woman talking on her cell phone.

The details of this case indicate that the 19-year-old Kimmy Buetel (name has been changed to protect the victims) was on the local expressway and busy talking on her cell phone; so busy in fact that she didn’t pay attention to the state police cruiser parked on the right shoulder of the road. The officer was handling a traffic stop.

Published on: February 27, 2010

Keeping Eyes Forward Not on a Cell Phone Prevents Accidents

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

There is only one cell phone law in the State of Georgia; the one relating to school bus drivers. That may change if the Bill in the House dealing with this is passed.

Who hasn’t been behind a person on cell phone trying to drive at the same time and making a total mess of it? Cell phone use while driving and texting while driving are two new additions to what makes driving a real hazard in the 21^st century. That last brutal car crash on the Interstate, the one that took the life of a young teenage boy, was the result of the teen texting while driving. He never saw the 18-wheeler he slid under.

“While it may seem to be a no-brainer that people who use cell phones and drive at the same time are accidents looking for a place to happen, this isn’t easy to prove statistically speaking. I just recently read a study released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that indicated bans on handheld cell phone usage while driving didn’t make a different to accident rates. This piqued my interest and I did some further research, knowing Georgia was about to pass a ban into law,” commented Stephen Ozcomert, an Atlanta personal injury and malpractice attorney.

Published on: February 18, 2010

The License Can Be Revoked for Professional Misconduct

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Been to the dentist lately and come away with something you didn’t expect? Dental malpractice is a real issue faced by patients in the chair.

In order to practice law, accounting, medicine and dentistry, among other professions, the dentist is required to have a license to practice in a certain state. This isn’t just a piece of paper that says nice words and welcome the dentist to the world of dentistry, this is a license that means that subject to heavy duty rules and regulations, they are allowed to practice their trade. Professional conduct is high on the list of things dentists are required to have.

Most states also have a licensing board that investigates complaints laid against dentists for various forms of negligence and malpractice. When in doubt about the rules and regulations in a certain state, it’s time to speak to a “licensed” and skilled medical malpractice attorney to find out the lay of the land. Knowing what rights a plaintiff has is a smart move. Even if the person inquiring suspects they may have been a victim of dental malpractice but are not sure, ask questions and find out how to proceed.

Published on: February 10, 2010

Clipping a Rear Axle on Semi Causes Teen Death

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

This case could have had another outcome if negligence had been identified. Personal injury cases involving 18-wheelers are extremely complex.

Tangling with an 18-wheeler never has a happy ending. This particular case is even more tragic in that it appeared on the surface to be the result of driver error. Although the investigation is not yet complete, there may be other evidence that surfaces that will change the initial evaluation of the crash.

A young 17-year-old girl was killed when she and her passenger crashed into a 1992 Kenworth tractor-trailer. The young driver was pronounced dead at the scene and the passenger was transported to medical care at the nearest hospital. The truck driver made it out of the crash unscathed. The accident happened just after 11 p.m. at night.

Published on: February 1, 2010

Premises Liability Extends to Golf Courses as Well

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Who would think that premises liability would extend to a golf course? It does and course owners and employees need to be aware.

Let’s consider a case that we heard about just recently about a man who wound up with traumatic brain injury after falling off a golf cart. The man’s wife is seeking damages for the trauma and loss of consortium in the form of a personal injury lawsuit.

The story goes like this: the gentleman was golfing when one of the club’s employees offered to give him a ride in one of the club’s golf carts. Evidently rather than being able to sit on the front seat with the employee, he was told to stand in the area normally reserved for carrying the golf clubs. The foundation of this personal injury lawsuit is the negligence of the employee who was driving the golf cart at the time of the accident.

Published on: January 30, 2010

Who Is at Fault in an 18-Wheeler Accident Is Critical

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

When a car meets an 18-wheeler head on, the results are not pretty. In cases like this, it is critical to know who was at fault for the accident.

Let’s take a look at a real life case example. Picture a big rig barreling down the interstate heading west. On the other side of the highway route, a car is traveling east. The car, for some unknown reason, suddenly veers left of the centerline, causing the semi to swerve to avoid the car. While the intention was there to avoid an accident, in reality, the defensive driving maneuver the trucker took failed. The car was subsequently stuck under the big rig.

It will come as no surprise that the driver of the car was pronounced dead at the scene. An open and active cell phone was found by police lying on what was left of the front seat of the car. The accident also caused an oil and gas spill.

Published on: January 20, 2010

Georgia Insists on Car Insurance

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Just in case you don’t know this, you should if you live in the state of Georgia. Everyone must have car insurance.

If you’re a newbie just arriving in Georgia from another state or out of country, one of the first things you will want to know is that you need car insurance. If you think no one will know whether you have it or not, think again. In 2003, Georgia made an arrangement where the state police have access to the Department of Motor Vehicle Safety database. This information clearly shows the police who has expired insurance or no insurance.

Now you may be thinking that if you happen to be carrying an insurance card and have an accident that this is proof enough. It isn’t, and can’t be used as proof of valid insurance. Unfortunately, having the card could mean the driver is trying to pull a fast one on the police. While the vast majority of car owners would be honest enough to actually “have” the required insurance, there will always be exceptions to the general rule.