New statistics show that Georgia driving fatalities has decreased for another year.  Georgia drivers appear to be driving safer or are they? With another reduction in driving fatalities let us examine some of the potential reasons for this great news.  By the way, way to go Georgians!

“While we wish no one was ever even injured on our highways, we are most gratified by this decline in fatalities,” Georgia DOT Commissioner Keith Golden said. “This dramatic improvement is a direct result of the Department’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan begun in 2006.   “We’re concentrating on raising public awareness and also on engineering and construction improvements – things like improved roadway drainage, center median cable barriers, rumble strips, and driver recovery zones. They are making a difference and saving lives.”

As you can see from the chart interstate fatalities have decreased 6% since last year.  State routes and local routes have fared about the same at 5% and 7%.  Motorcycle fatalities increased this year.  They were up 11%.

The biggest winners in this year’s decrease in Georgia fatalities are the pedestrians.  People out walking on the street had a decrease in fatalities from 143 to 106.  That is great.

I think that more people are aware of individuals crossing the street and know that they must stop their car for these pedestrians.

Why is the Georgia driving fatalities rate decreasing?

One reason may be that we are better prepared.  We are getting more trauma centers around the county and in Georgia.  More trauma centers will save lives.  What happens if Memorial Hospital is completely full with patients? They bring them here anyway and then the patients get the best that we can do but if we’re incredibly busy, we have to spread ourselves then over a number of patients if we brought the entire state up to the average trauma system – we’d save over 600 people’s lives per year, that’s not even counting the people that would have better outcomes in terms of disability,” said William Bromberg.  Others have that figure even higher.  See this post about this topic.

Another reason is the safety of the cars.  When NASA gets involved to make cars safer, then we are moving in the right direction.  See this article about NASA and cars.  They are teaming up with Toyota to determine the causes of the acceleration issues in their newer cars.  As you may remember, Toyota cars, Prius being one, started accelerating without the driver wanting the car to.  Even when the driver pushes the brakes, the car does not stop.  These drivers cause accidents.

Cars are so much safer than they were in the past.  Remember back when people did not use their seat belts before the cars had automatic seat belts?  Things have changed for the better when it comes to driving safety.

The same issue has arisen in our recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  We are suffering less fatalities than in previous wars, but higher numbers of wounded vets.  Since our medical practices are better, we lose less lives.  Perhaps it is the same practice playing out with our trauma centers and better prepared hospitals.

Also, the amount of airbags that come standard issue on new cars now days is like 100%.  The first several cars I owned growing up didn’t even have air bags.  This is the reason I think that things get safer, especially cars.  This could definitely be the reason for the decrease in Georgia fatality rates.

For whatever reason Georgia driving fatalities are decreasing is a good thing.  We have our work cut out for us in 2012 Georgia.  Let us hope that we continue in that direction.  This is a post from attorney Joseph McClelland about Georgia driving fatality rates.

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Do you have a will?  Does your husband or wife have a will in place?  For some people a will is not a necessity.  For others not having a will puts your family at risk for disruptions in finances and more potentially disruptive situations.

Creating a will is a simple process for most people.  It is just a matter of understanding what you have in your possession to give, to whom you want each item to go,  to whom you want certain items to go if the person you want them to go to is not available or renounces the gift, and issues like these.  We just go over some different circumstances to make sure your best wishes are maintained in different situations.

Contact our office to discuss the need for a will in Georgia and other elder law issues.

Welcome back to another legal post by the Atlanta Accident Attorney, Joseph P. McClelland.  This post is fun for me because it combines two of my favorite things: personal injury law and politics.  Well, let us get to tonight’s topic which is about all of this talk and commercials on the television about Trauma Centers in Georgia.  With all of the tractor trailer accidents, catastrophic car injuries, and just a huge amount of serious wrecks on the road, this is an important post to you at some point in your or a friend’s life.  I really was not familiar with this term a few years back, and I assume that your might have heard of them before, but have no personal information.  Well, let’s change that and review the current issues with Trauma Centers in Georgia.

Does Georgia need more Trauma Centers?

Yes.  It will save lives.  What happens if Memorial is socked in with patients? They bring them here anyway and then the patients get the best that we can do but if we’re incredibly busy, we have to spread ourselves then over a number of patients if we brought the entire state up to the average trauma system – we’d save over 600 people’s lives per year, that’s not even counting the people that would have better outcomes in terms of disability,” said William Bromberg.  Others have that figure even higher.

Rochella Mood, trauma coordinator with the Atlanta Medical Center, estimates 700 patients die in Georgia each year because they do not receive treatment fast enough.  That is 20 percent over the national average” said Mood. Those patients that receive care in that golden hour have better outcomes than the patients who do not. It is a small price to pay. It’s an insurance policy for you and your family to have care when you need it unexpectedly. Most people don’t realize they will be trauma patients when they wake up to go to work.

Yes.  We do need more.  With the number of crazy drivers out there, we all know that accidents in Georgia are a common occurrence.  If you have to travel too far in the ambulance, then the changes of significant injury or death sadly increases.

How many Trauma Centers does Georgia have?

Georgia has 16 trauma centers.  However, it is estimated that Georgia needs 30.

Yes.  Georgia sadly leads many states in the wrong category.  We have one of the lowest trauma centers per population that most states.  Is that what we in Georgia settle with?  Are we not one of the worst states in almost every category for things like these?  I am not even talking about our literacy rate or child birth rate or graduation rate or whatever.

What can you do about Georgia funding more Trauma Centers?

It is actually on the ballot this November.  Early voting has already started in some counties.  Go to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Website and see when you can vote and where.  The law will require you to pay an addition ten dollars when you purchase your tag.  Ten dollars per person to save over 600 Georgians a year seems like a bargain.

Thanks for visiting the Legal Blog of the McClelland Law Firm.  We strive to provide legal services to all of Georgia and enlighten where we can.  We hope this article provided you with another view on trauma centers or provided you with more facts on the issue.

The Atlanta Accident Attorney & The McClelland Law Firm is a plaintiff’s law firm representing clients in Atlanta, Georgia and all over the state.  This website has numerous pages for individual cities throughout the website.   Follow the site map above or go to personal injury and follow the links to the individual city that you need information on.  If you cannot find your city, either we did a poor job of navigation or we have not built on yet.  Give us a call to see if we can service your geographical location.  I am sure our firm would be happy to represent you even if you are outside of our general practice area.  We represent people injured in car accidents, trucking accidents, and wrongful death cases.

As soon as you are in an accident, the most important legal question becomes insurance coverage.  Being an Atlanta, Georgia Accident Attorney, I understand the complex issues about car insurance coverage in Georgia.  The point of this legal post is to explore some topics of car insurance coverage and car insurance liability after a car accident in Georgia.

For the last example let’s look and a different type of scenario.  Let’s say the driver has 25,000 in liability coverage.  Let’s also say the value of your claim is $60,000 (if we could all actually agree on this number).  Let’s also say that the at-fault driver is married and the wife has a car insurance policy of $25,000 in liability coverage.  And you have uninsured motorist coverage in the amount of $25,000.  It is also the type of policy that does not reduce or set off the the other driver’s insurance, but rather adds to it.  In this example, you would get full recovery for the first time in our examples.  Why?The at-fault driver has 25 in insurance.  His wife’s policy will stack on top of his policy.  So, now we have $50,000 in coverage.

After getting limited releases from the husband and wife, then we would look to your uninsured motorist coverage.  Since, it adds on other insurance rather than being reduced by the amount of first party (at-fault driver) insurance available, you have a full $75,000 in coverage.  Now, we stated that in our imaginary land of internet we all agreed your claim was worth $60,000.  Therefore, you would have available insurance to cover your claim, and even more had we imagined higher.  Still have insurance questions, contact us today at 770-775-0938.

We help people in Atlanta, Marietta, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Duluth, Dunwoody, Alpharetta, Stone Mountain, Decatur, Stockbridge, Jonesboro, McDonough, Griffin, Jackson, Monticello, Locust Grove, Forsyth, Barnesville, and Macon.  We also represent Fulton County, Dekalb County, Clayton County, Henry County, Butts County, Bibb County, Spalding County, and Jasper County.

Welcome to another addition of the Georgia Lawyer and the McClelland Accident Report.  Every week in Georgia, a number of accidents occur, and the is blog will highlight some of the newsworthy accidents reported in the local press.

In Dekalb County Accident News, a local office was hurt following a funeral service.  He was not killed so there is no irony, just really bad luck for the individual.  The Dekalb County Police Officer was on a motorcycle, and he was escorting a funeral service in Snellville, Georgia (in Gwinnett County) when the officer was hit by another car causing injuries to the officer.  The accident happened on Wisteria Drive between Georgia 78 and Georgia 124 this Friday. The Dekalb Officer was injured, but not fatally so.  He was taken to Gwinnett Medical Center for his treatment.

Fatal Wreck on Highway 16

The Georgia State Patrol is investigating a fatal wreck on Highway 16 East Saturday morning in which alcohol may have been a factor.  Zachary Campbell-Hovland, 21, faces a charge of first degree vehicular homicide in the death of 62-year-old Sondra Lynn Reece, according to Senior Trooper K.J. Searcy of the Georgia State Patrol.

Two vehicles hit each other head-on near.  Campbell-Hovland continued in the westbound lane and struck a white Ford Mustang head-on, instantly killing Reece. Sutton was taken to Piedmont Newnan Hospital. Campbell-Hovland was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital. Neither suffered fatal injuries.  Searcy suspects that Campbell-Hovland was drunk at the time of the accident,  but the blood results are still pending at the time of the legal post.

Witnesses claimed to have smelled alcohol coming from the Jeep, but we must wait to see if they stick with their story. Another witness claimed to have reported that Campbell-Hovland struck two construction barrels right before the accident.

Georgia Southern Student In Deadly Accident

A Georgia Southern University student died Tuesday afternoon in a two-vehicle crash in Effingham County.

Kyle David Turansky, 19, of Warner Robins, was pronounced dead at the scene of the wreck in the 2900 block of Sandhill Road.

Witnesses to the accident reported Turansky, who was driving a Ford F-150 truck, was northbound on Sandhill Road when his truck crossed the center line and struck head-on a tow truck that was pulling a utility vehicle.

The Ford flipped, landed in a yard and caught on fire, entrapping Turansky in the fire.

No charges have been filed in the accident and no other injuries were reported

Parasail Accident Kills Georgia Woman

OK, we all have wanted to go prarsailing, but were all afraid of it.  I am not sure why I am scared, but after hearing about this recent accident.  A woman has died days after a parasail’s tether detached from a boat during a Florida vacation.  She was from Georgia, and just there for a vacation.  The accident does not seem like what you would think.  If you landed in the water, it seems like you might be alright.  No, wait, that is why people jump off of bridges, I guess.  Never mind.  Well, the person who hit the water sadly passed away and the person who hit the beach was only slightly injured.

Alejandra White and Shaun Ladd the Atlanta vacationers that were hurt when the tether between a towboat and their harness broke, sending the woman into the water and the man hit the beach. To make it worse, after White landed on the beach, he was dragged behind the chute through beach umbrellas and into a post on a volleyball court.

Time for another plug.  Spalding County, Georgia and the city of Griffin, Georgia is growing fast.  Ever since I was a child, my family went to Griffin, Georgia to go out to eat and go the movies.  I took my first date to the movies in Griffin.  So, it is only natural that I represent clients in Griffin in car accidents and personal injury claims and lawsuits.  So, if you need a Griffin Accident Lawyer, contact our offices today to talk about your legal case and how to get you the compensation that you deserve.

Georgia Man Dies on Interstate 85

A two car accident kills a Georgia man recently.  According to the Lee County Coroner’s Office, two vehicles were traveling north when the driver of one vehicle attempted to changed lanes and apparently hit the second vehicle and went into the median and flipped several times.

According to the reports the driver was partially ejected from the car but was wearing his seatbelt. He was immediately taken to the East Alabama Medical Center emergency room, however he was pronounced dead soon after arrival. He suffered multiple blunt force trauma.   The driver and passenger were taken to the emergency room with non-life threatening injuries from the Georgia accident.

If you need an attorney in the Henry County area, contact our law office for representation by your McDonough Accident Lawyer.  Accident occur all the time on Interstate 75 going through Henry County, and you need an attorney in the area that can represent you interest and get you the compensation that you deserve.

Iraqi Vets Injured in Hit and Run Accident

In some more weird accident news, two solders that were not injured on the battlefield in Iraq, but got injured during a hit-and-run accident in Lithonia, Georgia which is in Dekalb County.

Quick plug:  If you need a Dekalb County Accident Attorney, call us today for legal representation.

Police are searching for the driver, but have yet to locate the fleeing drivers.  The hit-and-run crash that totaled the vet’s Suzuki motorcycle.  He was taken to the hospital with a concussion which is a mild traumatic brain injury. Haynes’ wife, Krista suffered scrapes and bruises, but nothing too serious or life threatening.

DeKalb County police said eyewitnesses spotted the hit-and-run driver fleeing the scene. The police report indicates the driver told someone on the phone the she had just hit someone, but that is hearsay and probably not true in my opinion.

“Whether she said it or not, to hit somebody and see somebody laid out and to still drive off that speaks a lot about somebody’s character,” said Stanley Haynes.  DeKalb County police said they are searching for a tan colored Toyota sedan.

We represent clients in Atlanta, Marietta, Decatur, Roswell, Cobb County, Fulton County, Snellville, Stone Mountain, Dekalb County, Stockbridge, McDonough, Henry County, Jackson, Butts County, Monticello, Jasper County, Griffin, Spalding County, and Macon, Bibb County, Georgia in car accidents, traffic accidents, car wrecks, vehicle crashes, motorcycle wrecks, tractor trailer accidents, 18 wheeler wrecks, and wrongful death cases.

See previous article on Recent Georgia Accident News

See previous article on Macon Motorcycle Accident News

Representing clients in Atlanta, Decatur, Marietta, Roswell, Buckhead, Midtown Atlanta, Stone Mountain, Stockbridge, Jonesboro, Riverdale, McDonough, Jackson, Griffin, Monticello, Forsyth, Barnesville, and Macon.  We also represent accident victims in Henry County, Spalding County, Butts County, Jasper County, Dekalb County, Fulton County, Cobb County, and others.

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New article from Atlanta Attorney for Motorcycle Accidents and the Georgia Accident Lawyer about an Atlanta Man Hurt on Motorcycle in Macon.  A young man was traveling west bound in Macon on his motorcycle following the rules of the road.  Up ahead was a women in a automobile just getting on with her day waiting to turn left onto another road.  The light was green for the young guy on his bike, so he continued ahead.  It was just another green light in the history of thousands without incident.  However, this one was different than all like it before.  The same goes for the young girl in the car waiting to turn.  How many left turns has she made in her lifetime without causing a wreck.  Fate had a different course for these two young drivers.  It was not a love match, but rather a car crash.

The car driver did not see the motorcycle driver and hit him.  She was not looking for a bike rider or motorcycle, but she was looking for a huge car.  She did not see a car and proceeded to hit the young man.  You can see where injuries, motorcycles, and an Atlanta, Georgia accident attorney collide.   Contact an Atlanta, Georgia law firm that cares.

His bike was mangled and destroyed.  Her car was dented in several places.  She was alright.  She did not sustain any serious damages to her body, perhaps her emotional well-being.  The young man, on the other hand, broke one of his legs in two places.  When such broken legs occur, likely metal pins will be put into place so that the muscles and tendons can grow back properly.  The young man may never drive a bike again out of fear of another traumatic accident.

Motorcycle Accidents and Uninsured Motorist Coverage

Let’s transition to money why don’t we?  Insurance is the next question.  Who has it and how much?  Let’s start with the girl driver who was at-fault for the wreck.  Her insurance will be directly liable.  In Georgia, the minimum insurance requirement is 25,000 dollars per person and 50,000 dollars per occurrence.  You should be thinking that $25,000 is not enough for a broken leg, and you would be right.  We need to find more insurance.

Now, we will turn to any other policies that the young girl might be covered under.  Perhaps she is married.  If she is married and living with the spouse, then if he has an insurance policy on a car that insurance policy may provide coverage.

Pause.  If husband does have additional policies, it is important to see if his policy has a different policy number than his wife’s.  If it is the same policy number with two different schedules of coverage, then it is the same as just having one.

Now that we have seen if she has additional coverage, we turn to the young man’s policies.  Since he is a young man (and invincible) he will not likely have uninsured motorist coverage.  At this point the insurance hunt may be over.  But wait!  Does the young man still live at home.  Let us assume that the young man was hit in Macon, but lives with his divorced father in Atlanta.  His father has uninsured motorist coverage on his Honda Civic, but the son is not listed on the policy.

In Georgia, the son would be able to utilize the uninsured motorist coverage policy from his dad.  This would allow him additional coverage.

Let’s go even further and assume the father has uninsured motorist coverage on three other autos all with separate policy numbers.  In this case, young man with the broken leg would stack all of the insurance policies to cover his damages.

Likely damages would start to mount up quickly.  Ambulance, doctor’s bills, emergency room bills, imaging bills, surgery, physical therapy, and others are just the start.  We should not forget about his pain and suffering, potential for permanent disability, lost wages and more.

As soon as this kid was hit on his motorcycle, I am sure the other insurance company was quick to contact him and offer him a quick settlement.  They probably even “disclosed” the amount of insurance and told them that they would try to get it to cover all of the losses, but it is what it is.  Do you really think they told the kid about the possibility of husband’s insurance?  Do you really think they told him about uninsured motorist coverage?  Do you think they tried to tell him not to hire a lawyer?  Can you figure out why or should you read the article again.  Thank you for reading Atlanta Man Hurt on Motorcycle in Macon.

Georgia Blog’s Greatest Hits

We have been working away over here at The McClelland Law Firm’s website on Georgia Accidents.  Pages have come and gone, but the past remains.  Let’s take a look back at some of the most popular car accident articles.  Here is your 10 favorite posts on car accidents and personal injury cases in Atlanta, Marietta, Griffin, Decatur, McDonough, Macon and all of Georgia.

Thoughts on small town practice – In this post I talked about what it is like to work in a small town in Georgia.  The cases are the same, but the level of involvement is much deeper.  You become the family’s lawyer such as what you might expect the richest family in America would have.  Before you can finish one case, another family member has a more important legal issue that needs to be addressed.  This could really be the stuff of a novel.  It is a fun thing to practice in a small town.  I get to handle very complex cases that one would not get in a huge city.  From tax issues to dog bites, you never know where the day will take you.

Atlanta carriage accident debate – What happens when two cars are racing on Peachtree Street and hit a horse and buggy?  A debate starts on whether or not to have horses and buggies.  Go figure!   We just updated this post with a little bit of context.  I love how at the time everyone was talking about the pros and cons of have a carriage going through the city of Atlanta.  As someone who lives in Atlanta, I love it.  I have never used one here in the city, but all things being equal it is nice to have the option here in the city.

Commissioner Dies in Wreck – Story about a political figure in North Atlanta that died in a car accident.  The article dovetails with other articles on wrongful death cases in Georgia.  This article get a good bit of traffic even though it is not a fun article.  Bad things happen on the way to good things and being on the road is no different.  Anything can happen.  One of those things is a fatal car accident.  They occur everyday in every state, but it is terrible when it happens here in Atlanta, Georgia.

Ponce De Leon Bike Wreck – This story was hot off the press back in the day.  Why?  Because I was the on the scene as a reporter for this one.  Well, I drove by it after it happened and got a good look.  Can we all say rubberneck at the same time?  We recently updated this page with some new photos.  Your’s truely is a photographer after all.  My sister normally takes all of the photos, but on this day I grabbed a camera and snapped some nice one right there on Ponce.

Late Night Jokes – I take my stab at a second career with a terrible late night joke about a recent auto accident.  I know, I should stick to my day job.  Anyway, it was a fun attempt at a silly situation.  No harm, no foul.  I am a natural j0ke teller, I tell myself all of the time when I am alone and sad…what.  Do you think I should stop by and try to get someone to notice me at Turner?  I think I should keep my day job as your favorite Atlanta personal injury attorney and Georgia law firm.

Drunk Driver Injures Passenger – Here is tale of your best friend making matters worse.  Wait, don’t they always?  Kids, don’t drive drunk or this is what you get.  It is a lot easier to get mad at the person who seriously hurt you when they are your friend.

Head-On Accident Attorney – This article is about a tragic car accident in Griffin, Georgia.  You see these types of head-on accidents a good amount on old county roads because they are so narrow and curvy.

Accident On 75 in Macon – Everyday another major wreck on the souther corridor’s busiest highway.  Macon is no exception with tons of cars speeding their way north to Atlanta and beyond and southbound to Florida.  We work with attorneys all of the time from out of state.  If you are with a personal injury law firm in another state and need a Georgia attorney, then give us a call to work together.

Accidents and Insurance Rates – How do car accidents effect car insurance rates?  Well, just click and find out.  Don’t make me do it for you.  That might be some sort of law suit.

Log Truck Overturns -Yikes.  Those log trucks scare me for real.  I just know that one is going to come loose and fall off.  That is not what happened here, but still.

Well, that was a brief look back at some of our past work over here at the blog.

If you need a lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia or in suburbs of Atlanta, contact The McClelland Law Firm for help at 770-775-0938 or visit the website at www.jacksonlaws.com

I’m not sure this article should have made the list of 10 relevant legal articles on our site but it did and so let’s deal with the consequences. This is sure article. It has a very limited purpose. When the purpose is to raise awareness of previous article about trucking accidents and trailer tractor wrecks in the small city of jobs and Georgia.

The purpose of the article is to identify the local residents of Bucks County and Jackson Georgia that with Interstate 75 going through the county these accidents are hyper local in a car on a regular basis. Therefore, feeling that legal representation is not necessary is in error. Furthermore, the purpose of this article is to illustrate the availability of local counsel for serious injury cases in Jackson.

Hello, everyone.  As we are all doing some late spring cleaning, we here at the McClelland Accident Firm are doing some updates on the website.  Our focus at this moment is on the Jackson page and its subpages. It is a lot work considering Jackson, Georgia is so small and Jackson, MS is so big.  Thereby, making it difficult for poor old Google to figure out which Jackson we are discussing.  Anyway, our new article is about tractor trailer accidents in Jackson, Georgia and why you need a personal injury lawyer to represent your case.  We represent clients in Macon, Jackson, Griffin, McDonough, Decatur, and Atlanta, Georgia.  It is a smaller, but more specific page than our classic Georgia tractor trailer accident page.  Don’t try to represent yourself.  Would you cut your own hair?  Would you fill your own cavity?  Let me do my thing and you get back to your life.

If you need an attorney to help you through your situation, give us a call today.  Tractor trailer injuries can often be quite severe.  It is imperative to hire a lawyer to get you the maximum possible financial recovery from your personal injury case.

If the insurance company says that you do not need a lawyer, then you probably should call one as fast as possible.  Why take a risk with future medical bills, future injuries, missed work, lost job, aggravation of previous injuries, and a loss of possible money in your pocket.  We do not get paid unless we recover on your Georgia accident case.

If you’re ever in Jackson Georgia, please feel free to stop by our office. We can take you out to lunch to some of our payments local places and show you around town, but watch out for large trucks.