Motorcycle Madness Seizes the Nation

When a recession hits those who want to downsize their cars or give them up to save on gas, they usually opt to buy a motorbike. Not a bad idea, but with that choice comes an increased risk of serious personal injuries or even death.

In Georgia alone in 2008 there were over 390,000 motorcycles registered. That shouldn’t come as any great surprise in light of the state of the American economy. Gas prices are ridiculous and people are hunting for alternative methods to get to work and other places. In other words, they want a cheaper ride. On the other side of the fence, even though the ride is indeed a whole lot less expensive than owning a car, there are a lot of distracted (cell phone and texting) drivers out there. Add reckless drivers into the mix and this is a guaranteed recipe for disaster.

Know the laws of the state chosen to bike in, as every state does have different laws passed that are intended to help protect vehicle drivers and motorcyclists. In most states the law reads that bikers have many of the same rights and duties as other vehicles on the road.

Some of the laws aimed at protecting people include protective equipment use where the biker is required to use protective headgear and eyewear, unless they are over 21 years old, have had a license for two years, and have completed a safety course. What difference the age of the rider makes when it comes to wearing safety helmets and eye protection is a bit baffling, since older riders are at risk for accidents as well, but this is one of the reasons you need to know the law.

The laws for lane use for motorbikes are the same as those for cars. In other words they may use the whole lane and must not pass a vehicle using the same lane as the car being overtaken. What is different is that motorbikes are allowed to drive two abreast in a single lane of traffic for added safety.

Headphones and earphones are not allowed unless it is a hearing aid or a single cell phone earpiece. Any passengers may only ride on a permanently attached seat on the motorcycle and the biker may not carry anything that would interfere with the bike’s safe operation. In many states as well any bikes built after 1982 must have lighted headlamps on at all times and when it comes to insurance, all bikes are required to have liability insurance to deal with any injuries or property damage sustained by another person in a crash. Interestingly, in some states bikers aren’t mandated to carry medical insurance to cover their own personal injuries.

If faced with a motorcycle accident, speak to an experienced personal injury attorney to answer any questions that have come up and discuss legal options.

To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Stephen M. Ozcomert or Atlanta personal injury, Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Atlanta personal injury attorney, visit Ozcomert.com.

Gas Nozzle Accidents May Be Negligence

If you’ve ever been totally soaked by gas while filling up your vehicle because the hose separated from the nozzle, you may have cause to file a personal injury claim.

Getting gasoline all over yourself including in your eyes and all over your face, not to mention your clothes, is an upsetting experience. It may also be one that causes serious harm unless you get help immediately. Depending on the circumstances of the gas splash, you may have grounds to file a personal injury claim against the gas station for having a defective gas nozzle. If you do find yourself in a position like this, make sure you speak to a skilled personal injury lawyer for advice.

Let’s say there was no emergency eyewash station or other solution on hand at the gas station and the painful experience of having gas in your eyes was only alleviated by using the washroom and washing it out with water. Let’s also say that the hose was very clearly defective and that the management of the gas station knew or should have known the hose was in such a bad state – bad enough that they would have reasonably expected your type of accident could and would happen.

Let’s further posit that there was no damage to your vehicle because you immediately washed it after the incident and it was fine. Now, depending on which state you happen to be in, negligence law may be different. This is one of the major reasons to consult with an experienced personal injury attorney for assistance. Knowing your rights is the first thing you need to do for yourself.

This type of an accident is not common, and assuming the hose was indeed “clearly” defective and that may be proven, then you will, as mentioned above, need to prove the station owner did know about the problem, or should have known about it. Nozzles don’t have a habit of separating from the hoses, so it’s likely the owner should have known about the problem, have seen it or had it mentioned to him or her by other patrons filling their vehicles.

The other argument in your favor would be the fact that the standard of care or maintenance at a service station would seem to dictate that the hoses be checked for faults on a regular basis. Given those factors, you may be entitled to some form of compensation depending on the severity of your injuries.

If they are not that serious, you may not get a lot of money in return. Many personal injury cases are expediently evaluated on the basis of the degree of liability the station owner has, the exact nature of the injury, the type and amount of medical bills you may have incurred now, and perhaps in the future and any pain and suffering you struggle with now and in the future. In addition, you may be able to claim lost wages now and in the future.

Based on the fact that there were no serious injuries but there was severe pain from gas in your eyes, you may have a claim for the pain, stress and inconvenience as a result of the nozzle separating from the hose and dousing you with gas. Contact an attorney as soon as you can and make sure that the attorney not only handles personal injury claims, but premises liability. You never know, this kind of thing might have happened at the same gas station before and this would be good for your case. If the facts of your case merit a lawsuit, your attorney will begin to preserve evidence, examine maintenance records, get photographs and determine what kind of liability insurance the station has. Don’t delay contacting an attorney, as time is of the essence.

Tim Anderson works with Atlanta Personal Injury attorney, Stephen M. Ozcomert. The firm specializes in personal injury, malpractice, motorcycle accidents, and wrongful death. To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Stephen M. Ozcomert or Atlanta personal injury, Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Atlanta personal injury attorney, visit Ozcomert.com.

Premises Liability Applies in Public Places

It’s the law that property owners must take every reasonable precaution to make sure there are no serious hazards that would harm or kill anyone coming on the property.

Premises liability applies to personal and commercial property and any owner or manager looking after property is legally bound to make sure the premises are safe for the public. If the property is poorly maintained and an injury, illness or death happens as a result of being on another person’s property, the plaintiff may be awarded compensation by the courts against the negligent property owner.

It doesn’t matter what kind of property is being discussed, although some properties are inherently more hazardous than others, e.g. industrial sites with power tools, toxic chemicals and heavy machinery. Commercial locations such as stores have high pedestrian traffic and anything may happen in a crowded store; for instance, items falling from shelves or items on display in the patio furniture department falling apart when someone sits on it.

While your home may very well be your castle it is also a place that must be safe for visitors. Other locations that people have a reasonable expectation that they will be safe are airports. Witness a recent case where a passenger was walking through O’Hare airport and slipped and fell as the result of an oily substance on the floor. The passenger sustained a broken kneecap and was unable to work for a long period of time. The settlement in that particular case was $800,000 for her injuries and damages. It was alleged in that case that the management of the airport should have known about the oily substance on the floor, as there was a high likelihood of spills of that nature happening in an airport.

Every case and accident is unique which means that in every case the circumstances of that particular case play a huge role in what the eventual outcome may be. A good example of this may be an injured construction worker who took a fall at the mall, slipping on spilled coffee, will have different needs to resolve his case than an office worker in the same situation.

While a slip and fall injury may be just around the corner in a lot of people’s lives, there are certain fairly common instances where premises liability comes into play. They include a porch collapse, stair collapse, elevator and escalator injuries, fires, swimming pool injuries, lead paint poisoning and mercury poisoning, and what is considered to be a “typical” garden variety slip and fall such as a wet spot on the floor in the vegetable section of a store.

Generally speaking, if there is existing case law for an accident a person has, this will assist the premises liability attorney in recovering any damages due to the victim for medical care, suffering, pain and other incidental damages.

To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Stephen M. Ozcomert or Atlanta personal injury, Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Atlanta personal injury attorney, visit Ozcomert.com.

Personal Injury Car Crashes and Assessing Damages

It’s hard to try and set an amount of damages that you may have sustained in a car crash. The sheer overwhelming number and type of wounds may totally confuse you, not to mention having to repair your vehicle.

During the summer the highways and by-ways across America are jammed with holiday and regular travelers, add into this mix 18-wheelers, road construction, detours and unpaved roads waiting for upgrading, and you have the potential for accidents. It’s often bad enough traveling in an area you are familiar with, never mind going out of state to a place you have never been to before and have no idea how their traffic patterns will affect you. This makes it tough to know if you have enough insurance to take long distance road trips.

The inevitable may strike your first trip or your fifteenth trip, and when it happens those injuries are put into a category that will tell you the approximate dollar amount that may be awarded for those injuries. There are so many factors that need to be dealt with, not the least of which is determining who is at fault in the accident, the percentage of culpability, medical bills, down time from work, pain and suffering, the continual stream of medical rehab expenses you may face and yes, vehicle repair costs.

When you do submit a claim to an insurance company, every one of the above factors will be taken into consideration before the company works out how much they are going to offer you for a personal injury claim. At this point, if you have not spoken to a personal injury lawyer, then you should in case you get a lowball offer as settlement for your injuries. The thing with a great many injuries is that although they may not look serious on the surface, and may not hurt that much right now, they could develop into something potentially deadly later, e.g. neck and head injuries.

Figuring out how much your injuries are worth is just about the most important aspect of a personal injury claim, and it is also the hardest part to calculate. This is yet another reason why you need to be consulting with an experienced personal injury attorney who is able to assess your injuries and figure out what they may be worth if your case is taken to court.

Keep in mind that insurance companies will only offer you what “they” think your claim in worth and you can bet that what they think it’s worth and what you think it’s worth don’t agree. Let’s face it, an insurance company is in business to keep its claims to a minimum, not offer large sums of money to settle personal injury claims.

In most cases the person who was negligent and caused the accident (liability) has to ante up money to the injured person for things like permanent physical disability, disfigurement, lost wages, medical and rehabilitation care and other expenses, loss of educational, social and family experiences (missed school, training, recreation, vacation, etc.) and emotional damages such as stress, depression and damaged property.

Even though the insurance company has a formula to figure out damages, they may be right out of the ballpark when it comes to fair compensation. Always speak to a highly skilled personal attorney and find out the real scoop on how much your personal injuries may be worth if you are successful in court.

Tim Anderson works with Atlanta Personal Injury attorney, Stephen M. Ozcomert. The firm specializes in personal injury, malpractice, motorcycle accidents, and wrongful death. To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Stephen M. Ozcomert or Atlanta personal injury, Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Atlanta personal injury attorney, visit Ozcomert.com.

Texting While Driving a Major NO NO

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that texting while driving a vehicle is a remarkably bad idea. The results may be deadly for both the texter and the person they hit.

Adults don’t generally try to text while they are driving; most likely due to the fact they realize it’s not a very smart move. Teens and inexperienced younger drivers, however, have a disturbing record for attempting to text while handling a car on the road. The consequences are not pretty. Consider the statistics that show 5,000 teenagers killed annually in traffic accidents. This isn’t to say they were all caused by the drivers foolishly texting while driving, but a significant proportion of that number were doing precisely that at the time of the collision that killed them.

Even more disturbing than those figures, another 2,500 people were also killed by vehicles driven by teens doing a variety of things like talking on a cell phone, yakking to their friends in the backseat or attempting to reply to an email with their Blackberry. Inattention kills. It’s just that simple. This nationwide problem is being dealt with in various ways by each state. If you’re unsure what the law says in your state, consult with an experienced personal injury attorney.

Some states are getting downright innovative in trying to address the problem of texting teens. For instance, New York recently voted to bring in a bill that not only bans texting while driving (statewide) but kicks up the license requirements for younger drivers. For instance, the practice driving that teens do with an adult prior to a road test and getting a junior license has been substantially increased. It went from 20 hours to 50 hours and added in 15 hours of night driving. In addition, a learner’s permit must be held for six months before a junior license is issued.

When it comes to the infamous Blackberries and various assorted pagers, personal digital assistance, laptops, gaming devices and other two-way messaging systems, they are simply banned outright, with the exception of being used for “emergency” situations. Of course, what constitutes an emergency for one person may not be an emergency for another. Fines run to $150. Interestingly enough, there is one odd exclusion and that is iPods. We’re not sure why those weren’t banned either, as listening to an iPod while driving means emergency vehicles can’t be heard and the driver can’t react appropriately to allow them to pass.

There is no doubt that text and driving don’t mix. Even in the state of Georgia there is a problem with this kind of irresponsible activity. Unfortunately Georgia only has a cell phone ban, but nothing in place for texting. Would a texting ban be a good piece of legislation to bring into effect in Georgia? Undoubtedly it would be; the question is what would it take to make that happen?

In many instances new legislation addressing problems like texting while driving doesn’t come into being until there have been a number of fatal accidents that highlight the behavior as a problem. While that’s a rough way to introduce lifesaving legislation, it may be what happens in Georgia’s case unless someone wants to advocate for change now.

Tim Anderson works with Atlanta Personal Injury attorney, Stephen M. Ozcomert. The firm specializes in personal injury, malpractice, motorcycle accidents, and wrongful death. To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Stephen M. Ozcomert or Atlanta personal injury, Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Atlanta personal injury attorney, visit Ozcomert.com.

80,000 Pounds and Rolling

If you’ve ever spent any time on an Interstate Highway in the US, you will have had an up close and personal experience with sharing the road with a big rig.

There is no doubt that our highways are teeming with all types of vehicles, and some of the largest ones happen to be trucks and trailer units. Thanks to their massive size, these rigs are exceptionally deadly if involved in an accident. You’re looking at close to 80,000 pounds of steel hurtling down the road and it is unable to come to an immediate stop.

In fact, it takes three times the amount of time for an 18-wheeler to stop compared to a normal vehicle. This is a factor that people should keep in the back of their minds when they cut in front of a rig and then do something incredibly stupid like slow down or suddenly stop.

Most large rigs should really be looked at as accidents waiting to happen given their size and the number of things that may go wrong when they are traveling at high speeds on a highway. Aside from trucker negligence, there may be vehicle maintenance problems, tire problems, bad weather that makes it hard to drive or even uneven load distribution.

Whatever the cause of the accident, it’s a sad fact that roughly every 16 minutes there is a large rig accident in the US that takes a life or severely injures or disables another person. Large rig accidents cause some very traumatic injuries that include spinal cord injuries, brain injuries (coup and contre coup), broken bones, scars, acute bruising, paralysis, amputation and disfigurement.

While it may be the trucker at fault for the accident, or his employer, it’s best to discuss your case with an expert personal injury lawyer. Big rig accidents are never easy on the victim as they are complex and require a lot of groundwork to make a solid case. These cases are incredibly complex because of the nature of the liability and the number of people involved from the insurance company to the trucker and from the employer to the crew who maintained the road where the accident happened. Suffice it to say that there are a multitude of factors that need to be considered in big rig cases and only an experience personal injury attorney will be able to handle them.

Unfortunately, it’s a fact that many road rules go by the wayside when tired truckers attempt to meet often unrealistic delivery deadlines. Fatigue plays a significant role in accidents, as does the condition the driver and the truck itself, prior to the accident.

It’s the little details that count in preparing a personal injury lawsuit. Trust your attorney to do his job and make sure you obtain justice.

Tim Anderson works with Atlanta Personal Injury attorney, Stephen M. Ozcomert. The firm specializes in personal injury, malpractice, motorcycle accidents, and wrongful death. To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Stephen M. Ozcomert or Atlanta personal injury, Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Atlanta personal injury attorney, visit Ozcomert.com.

Helmet Hair May Save a Life

It should go without saying that wearing a motorcycle helmet will save lives, but many people opt not to wear them because they don’t look cool – a potentially deadly decision.

It’s cool to own and ride a motorbike or some other mode of transportation like that these days. It’s also economical because there isn’t as much gas being used, not to mention parking is a breeze. The point, however, is that despite the fact that motorcycles are cool in a lot of people’s books, they have the potential to be deadly – more deadly than a car if the truth were known.

Part of the truth lies in the number of accidents over the last few years involving motorcycles has increased by a staggering 50%. Throw in sales stats and it’s evident motorcycle sales are hopping. It’s the latest rage to beat the cost of gas. The latest rage has also cost over 4,700 deaths in the U.S.

The other truth that will hit home with a nasty shock is that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration offers numbers that show motorcyclists are approximately 35 times more likely to be killed in accidents as compared to car drivers. Many of the deaths happen in the first year of owning a bike because of inexperience.

Generally speaking, the major causes of motorbike crashes include, but are not limited to, road conditions such as unexpected rumble strips, potholes, loose gravel, wet pavement and road debris. Driving errors rank second and include actions such as driving too closely to others, tailgating, swerving in and out between cars and not signaling properly. The thing that compounds a motorcycle accident is the lack of protection for the rider. Part of the lack of protection relates to not wearing a proper helmet.

Even though it would seem to be smart to ensure a rider’s head is protected from contact with the pavement and averting traumatic brain injury, there are still those who choose not to wear them. This seems to fly in the face of common sense when studies show that wearing a helmet cuts the risk of brain injuries by up to 88 percent. This is critical information, as a vast majority of motorcycle crash deaths are due to head injuries. Despite these statistics, less than 50 percent of motorcycle riders choose to wear their helmet, even if they happen to own one. In many instances, the helmet winds up being a decoration on the bike.

Motorcycle crash victims and their families need the expert legal representation that only a fully qualified personal injury lawyer is able to provide. If the victim survives, the attorney will be able to fight for compensation for their long-term care. If the victim died at the scene and this becomes a wrongful death suit, the attorney is able to obtain justice and compensation for the loss.

To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Stephen M. Ozcomert or Atlanta personal injury, Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Atlanta personal injury attorney, visit Ozcomert.com.