Alpharetta Attorney Blog

Depending on what state you are driving in, the law can define aggressive driving differently. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration defines it as "when individuals commit a combination of moving traffic offenses so as to endanger other persons or property." Some unsafe driving behaviors which fall into the category of aggressive driving includes:

• Exceeding the speed limit
• Following too closely
• Unsafe lane changes, erratic (weaving in and out) of lanes
• Not signaling lane changes
• Disregarding traffic signals and/or signs
• Red light running

What Is The Aggressive Driving Law In Georgia?

An aggressive driver is not just unintentionally violating the law, it is intentional. Many factors can contribute to driving aggressively such as an impatient personality, stress, and crowded roadways, but a driver is responsible for operating his vehicle in accordance with state law and in a safe manner. Research has found that aggressive driving can even escalate into road rage ending in a physical assault with others to the point of serious injury and even death.

To date 11 states have defined what constitutes aggressive driving. In Georgia aggressive driving falls under Georgia Code 40-6-397 which states that a person is guilty of aggressive driving if they operate a motor vehicle with "the intent to annoy, harass, molest, intimidate, injure or obstruct another person, while doing one or more of the following: overtaking and passing another vehicle; violating traffic lane markings; following too closely; violating signal, lane change, slowing or stopping laws; impeding traffic flows; reckless driving."

In Georgia aggressive driving is a criminal offense and if you are convicted of aggressive driving it can result in fines, points against your license, possible loss of driving privileges, possibility of jail time, and higher insurance rates.

Continue reading "More Than Half Of Fatal Car Accidents Involve Aggressive Drivers According To The AAA Foundation For Traffic Safety" »

You take your medicine like you normally do, then get in your car to run some errands. Everything is great, right? Not necessarily. Should you get involved in a car accident it is possible for you to be charged with a DUI. Under Georgia Code OCGA 40-6-391 it is against the law to drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and that includes legal prescription drugs, if they impair your driving ability.

One Georgia Man Recently Charged With A DUI For Driving While Under The Influence Of A Prescription Drug

On February 7, 2012 this situation became a reality for one Georgia man. The Moultrie Observer ran a news article about a man who was charged with a DUI after he had caused a car accident while he was under the influence of a legal prescription.

According to the news article, 911 operators had received several calls about a vehicle that was driving erratically on highway 111. A Highway patrol officer had been sent to investigate the calls when he came upon an accident on highway 111 near the intersection of Circle Road. Ronald Bentley had crashed his Ford Ranger into a car carrying 5 passengers. The car carried a male driver, a 20 year old female passenger and three children, ages 2, 3 and 7 who were in the backseat restrained in car seats. Fortunately the driver and the children were not seriously injured and were treated and released from the hospital. The woman passenger, however, was hurt more seriously and needed to be hospitalized.

Mr. Bentley, who had taken morphine which he had a legal prescription for, told the highway patrol officer that he had been going in and out of consciousness before the accident. Mr. Bentley was charged with a DUI and improper lane change.

Continue reading "Taking Your Legally Prescribed Drugs & Driving Can Result In A Georgia DUI Charge" »

CPSC Recalls Tassimo Single Cup Coffeemakers

Every month, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) releases warnings and recalls on various consumer products that are responsible for causing death, injury or property damage. Among the most recent recalls is a popular coffee maker, the Tassimo single cup brewer manufactured by BSH Home Appliances Corp. of Irvine California. About 835,000 of these coffee brewer units have been sold in the U.S. alone with another 900,000 in Canada between June 2008 up to the present.

How Is The Tassimo Single Cup Coffee Maker Causing Injury?

There have been 140 reports of users being injured while using the coffee maker, when the T disc (small cup which holds the coffee or tea) unexpectedly bursts and sprays its contents out onto the user or anyone who is standing nearby. Among the incident reports that the CPSC has received, 37 of the complaints involved 2nd degree burn injuries. In one incident a 10 year old girl had to be hospitalized when she was burned in the face.

A consumer alert article in the Boston Globe also reported that Kraft Foods is recalling 4 million of their Tassimo expresso T Discs. These T discs were sold under the brand names Gevalia, Maxwell House, and Nabob. Kraft's recall is in response to 37 reports of burns received when these T discs sprayed out their hot contents. The recalled brewer discs were sold from August 2011 up to February 2012.

Continue reading "Burn Hazard Brewing With Recalled Tassimo Single Cup Coffee Makers" »

Craig Walters, a longtime customer of Kroger's, was shopping at their Ridge Road store in Douglasville in May 2008 when he slipped on some crushed fruit that was on the floor. According to the Douglasville Patch, he fell on his back with such force that he injured his spine severely requiring back-fusion surgery and the insertion of rods and screws to help stabilize his spine. Mr. Walters asked Kroger to help him with his medical bills which had run up to almost $135,000 but they said they were not responsible for his accident and would not help him. That was when Mr. Walters turned to a Georgia premises liability attorney for help.

Owners and managers of property, including commercial property, are required by law to maintain their premises in a safe manner. Being a grocery store, managers and store personnel knew or should have known that people drop food items frequently and need to be vigilant about keeping floors clean and free of debris or any item that could potentially cause a slip & fall accident.

During the investigation of Mr. Walter's accident it was discovered that Kroger had a camera in the area of the store where he suffered his spinal injury. But when asked about recovering video footage from the camera Kroger said it did not cover the area where Mr. Walters had slipped. It was later discovered that the camera did cover the area of the accident. Ultimately it came out that Kroger lied about having video of the area and then destroyed any video evidence that might have been on the tape. Video evidence would have been very important in showing, not only that there was a spill of some kind on the floor, but also would have shown how long it was left there without being attended to.

Continue reading "Georgia Man Wins $2.3 Million Lawsuit After Suffering Serious Injury From A Fall At Kroger" »