Based on preliminary data, the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), which represents the state highway safety offices nationwide, projects that motorcycling deaths declined from 5,290 in 2008 to 4,762 or fewer in 2009.

The projection is based on data collected from the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The report, released April 22, is based on a survey of GHSA members, who reported fatality numbers for their states. The GHSA notes that while data are still preliminary, most states have final fatality counts for at least nine months2009, giving GHSA confidence to predict that the death count will be down by at least 10% for the year. The GHSA cautioned that the report only involves one year, so it’s too soon to predict a steady decline.

“We will need to see three to five years of decline before we are ready to say that a positive trend has developed,” said GHSA Chairman Vernon Betkey.

In fact, the report points out that fatalities have significantly decreased in the past, but then rose again. For example, from 1980 to 1997 motorcycling fatalities dropped by almost 60%, but fatalities then increased steadily from 1997 through 2008.

2,294 motorcyclists were killed in 1998, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which gathers its data from the same sources as the GHSA. That number increased steadily each year, reaching 5,290 in 2008.

New Study

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) formally announced a new crash causation study on October 5, 2009. The FHWA is overseeing the four-year, $3 million study, which is being conducted by Oklahoma State University through the Oklahoma Transportation Center in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Old Findings

The last major study into the causes of motorcycle crashes, “Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures Volume I: Technical Report” (summary), issued in 1981, provided a wealth of data that has been used by organizations and individual motorcyclists to help keep riders safer on the road. You can find this document here.

Still, the traffic environment has changed enormously in the decades since, prompting the AMA to begin campaigning for a new study, several years ago.

Safety First

The reasons for the decline in motorcycle fatalities in 2009 is not known, but worsening economic conditions causing fewer new riders, fewer miles ridden and casual riders selling their motorcycles could be supporting factors. Whatever the reason may be, it is still vital to take all necessary precautions when driving a motorcycle: helmet, insurance, experience, etc.

This sort of report is what I love to see. With so many accidents and deaths happen around us, seeing a positive report where people are getting hurt less really makes my day!

The decision resulted from a case involving Marietta real estate agent Betty Nestlehutt and Dr. Harvey “Chip” Cole III of Oculus Facial Plastic Surgeons in Atlanta. Mrs. Nestlehutt went to Dr. Cole requesting a simple procedure, but was talked into a multi-procedure surgery by the doctor.

During the 2006 operation, the doctor severely damaged the blood supply to Mrs. Nestlehutt’s face, leaving her with painful, gaping wounds and permanent, disfiguring scars. For months following the surgery, Mr. Nestlehutt helped his injured wife dress and undress her wounds twice a day. The sessions were long and horribly painful, and left the couple emotionally and physically drained.

Eventually, with her wounds still not healing, Mrs. Nestlehutt consulted with Dr. Seth Yellen, chief of facial, plastic and reconstructive surgery at Emory. Though he was not able to undo the damage caused by Dr. Cole’s negligence, Dr. Yellen was so upset by what had been done to Mrs. Nestlehutt that he broke Emory’s unwritten rule discouraging its doctors from testifying against colleagues in court.

With a mountain of evidence on their side, the Nestlehutts sued Dr. Cole for medical malpractice and won. The jury awarded them $1,265,000, which included $900,000 for pain and suffering.

Although Dr. Cole had $3 million in insurance – more than enough to cover the award in the case – it didn’t end there. Special interest groups representing insurance companies, big business and for-profit healthcare had pushed a Tort Reform cap through the Georgia legislature in 2005 stating that the most a plaintiff could be awarded for pain and suffering in a medical malpractice case was $350,000.

Although a jury of her peers had found Mrs. Nestlehutt deserving of much more, this legislation basically said that the jury’s verdict didn’t matter. The judge in the case, however, ruled that the 2005 Tort Reform cap was unconstitutional.

Dr. Cole’s attorneys immediately filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Georgia. Recently, when the case came before them, Georgia’s Supreme Court judges unanimously agreed that any cap on damages awarded by a jury is unconstitutional.

While we can feel some relief that we live in a state where our constitutional rights to a trial by jury are protected by our Supreme Court, we must not get complacent. Tort reformers in the Legislature are working to resurrect the caps, and we need to make sure that it does not happen.
Though special interest groups argue that caps keep doctors’ insurance premiums down and eliminate frivolous lawsuits, this just is not true. Under the 2005 Tort Reform caps, insurance premiums continued to rise, and those suffering only minor injuries still were able to collect up to $350,000. For those suffering life-altering injuries, however, $350,000 is a disgrace.

The 2005 cap put on pain and suffering compensation in medical malpractice cases was especially damaging to children, retirees and stay-at-home parents. Those with no earning power cannot claim economic damage when medical malpractice leaves them injured, so with the Tort Reform caps, $350,000 was the absolute most they could be awarded, period.

We must ensure that caps remain out of Georgia legislature so that all of our citizens – including children and seniors – remain protected under an intact and upheld Constitution. Write or call your elected officials to express your support in Georgia’s recent Supreme Court ruling. Let them know that you fully understand your right to have your disputes decided by a jury of your peers, and that the Georgia Legislature’s attempts to put caps on awards for pain and suffering in medical malpractice cases was, is and always will be unconstitutional.

To watch an excellent video explaining the 2005 Tort Reform caps and the Nestlehutt case, click here.

Fulton County has proposed its budget for 2010, and under the tentative plan the judicial budget will be slashed by some $53 million. This represents about 25% of the present budget, and leaders say that a cut of this magnitude will have far reaching impact.

The proposed budgetary reduction could force the closure of the courthouse and place enormous stress on the Fulton County jail and the sheriff’s office. Of course legal professionals like judges, prosecutors, and public defenders would be in the crosshairs of these cuts as well. It is estimated that this radically reduced judiciary budget could result in the loss of as many as 1,000 jobs.

Doris Downs is the Chief Superior Court Judge for Fulton County. She and other officials have declared the Fulton County judicial system as being in an “economic state of emergency.”

“This is not something you can adjust to… this is going to dismantle the justice system. These are cuts…that we cannot withstand,” said Downs.

A logical extrapolation to be drawn from this situation is that a county that can’t afford to try and detain law breakers is going to have no choice but to put them back on the street. This is not a very appealing remedy for many Fulton County residents. John Eaves, the Fulton County Commission Chairperson, says that the plan to slash the budget is just that, a proposed plan that is under review, and not a finalized decision.

Source: “Atlanta judicial leaders declare court ‘emergency’“  Associated Press

If you have been injured in an accident in the the greater Atlanta metropolitan area, contact The People’s Lawyer, Bruce Hagen, at (404) 522-7553.

Harvard researcher Joshua Cohen told CBS News that in addition to the above statistics, about 1 in 20 automobile accidents involve a driver who is talking on a cell phone. Clearly, when you are talking on a hand-held cell phone, you are not paying total attention to the road, and you are only using one hand to drive. But how about text messaging? That usually takes two hands, doesn’t it?

Texting while driving is even more dangerous than talking on a cell phone. Statistics show that 25 percent of drivers admit to sending or receiving text messages while driving, and between drivers who are 18-24, that number skyrockets to 66%. Driving while distracted in some manner or other causes almost 80% of wrecks, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Ed Smith of the Delray Beach Police Department in Delray Beach, Florida, was quoted thusly in an interview on the subject: “Texting while driving is a serious public health issue. Law enforcement is concerned about how to enforce bans on text-messaging in the car.”

Many states have responded to this concern. No less than 14 states and the District of Columbia have laws in place that make texting while driving illegal. That refers to driving an automotive vehicle, by the way. But it appears as though people who operate high speed trains also have a penchant for this dangerous behavior.

WSBTV.com reports that a MARTA train engineer was recently suspended for three days, without pay, for allegedly texting while he was operating a train. This is serious business, because over the last year or so there have been at least two major train wrecks in the United States that have been attributed to cell phone texting. One head-on crash in California killed 25 people and injured 135, and a Boston area rear-end collision injured 50 individuals.

Driving can seem like a routine exercise that requires very little attention, but in fact, even a temporary loss of focus can cause an accident that can cost someone their life. If you have been involved in a wreck that was caused by a driver (or a train conductor!) who was talking on a cell phone or texting, call The Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer, Bruce Hagen, at (404) 522-7553, or simply get in touch through the website.

There were over 5,000 motorcycle accident fatalities in 2007 and some 103,000 injuries. Clearly, riding a motorcycle is a risky way to get around, and this statistic is especially telling: about 40% of the wrecks between motorcycles and other vehicles take place when the vehicle is making a left hand turn while the motorcycle is going straight. In these instances the driver of the other vehicle never knew that there was a bike behind them. Clearly, there are cases when the driver is not paying enough attention and has absolutely zero excuse. But due to the small width of a bike, there is also a “blind spot” to the left of the driver, who may not see a motorcycle when it is in this spot.

There was a fatal accident in Dade County, Georgia recently that underscored the danger of this phenomena. A motorcyclist, Michael Wayne Mooneyhan, found himself behind a slow moving vehicle, and he decided to pass. The driver of the vehicle made an unexpected left hand turn onto a side road as Mooneyhan was passing. His front bumper hit the bike, and Mooneyhan was thrown from his motorcycle as it went down an embankment and hit a tree. He was transported by helicopter to a trauma center in Chattanooga where he eventually died due to the injuries that he suffered in the crash.

Even though there is such a thing as a “blind spot,” drivers need to account for it by being totally aware of their surroundings before the biker enters that spot. Most of us have had the experience of suddenly realizing that there was in fact a motorcycle to their left that they didn’t see at first. This teaches you something and makes you a more defensive and aware driver when you consider what might have happened. Unfortunately, many drivers never learn that lesson, and others learn it at the expense of another.

If you have been the victim of a motorcycle accident due to the negligence of the other driver, contact the Atlanta personal injury attorney,  Bruce Hagen, at (404) 522-7553, or drop us a message through the website to schedule a consultation. There is no excuse for “not seeing” another motorist, and we will see to it that your legal interests are well represented so that you can devote your energy to getting well and putting the experience behind you.

DeWALT, the power tool company out of Baltimore, Maryland, has voluntarily recalled some 9,000 Framing Nailers. The DeWALT D51825 and D51850 nail guns have defective triggers which makes using them dangerous to the user of the tool and to anyone in the area. The triggers were not put together properly, and the result is that nails can be ejected even when the safety lock appears to be engaged. These nail guns sold for around $280 retail, and they were assembled in Mexico. DeWALT, a subsidiary of Black and Decker, is cooperating with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recall.

Consumers are being urged to discontinue use of the DeWALT D51825 and D51850 Framing Nailers immediately. People who have purchased one of these defective nailers can contact DeWALT for a replacement bump action trigger. Their toll-free number is (877) 437-7181 and they are available Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

This is not the first time that DeWALT nail guns have posed a risk to unwitting consumers in recent months. Back in August of last year they had to recall approximately 14,000 of their Cordless Brad Nailers. The problem was similar, if not identical, to this one; the nail gun would eject nails even when the safety lock was in the “locked” position.

There have been no injuries reported yet due to these defective DeWALT nailers, and hopefully, this recall will mitigate the risk that they pose going forward. If you are injured by the use of the DeWALT D51825 or D51850 nailer, retain the product so that it can be properly inspected to protect your rights under product liability law.

Should you be victimized by a defective product of any kind here in Georgia, you have rights, and it is always wise to consult with an experienced personal injury attorney who can protect those rights. Bruce Hagen, The People’s Lawyer, specializes in product liability law, so if you have been hurt due to product malfunction, give me a call at (404) 522-7553 or contact me through my site, Hagen-law.com.

The individual who has been charged with the pleasant task of notifying these folks and letting them know that funds were waiting for them is Cobb County Superior Court chief deputy clerk Elva Dombusch. Some of the restitution funds stem from crimes going all the way back the 1980s, and it was no small task to do the research necessary to find so many of these victims. So far, Dombusch has been able to contact about 80% of the individuals and businesses that are entitled to restitution; some 800 or so have yet to be found. So if you were the victim of a crime that was disposed of by the Cobb County Superior Court, you may want to contact them, or have a legal professional do so in your behalf.

Elva Dombush and the Cobb County Superior Court have gone the extra mile to do all that is within their power to help these victims and deliver their due to them, and this commendable effort has not gone without its rewards. Dombusch told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about a couple of the people that she spoke with that stood out in her mind.

There was a trucker who had been the victim of a burglary some years ago. The economy was impacting him heavily, and Dombush says that he wept when he heard the news that he had $3,200 coming to him as restitution. He had been unable to take his young daughter to Disney World during her summer vacation, and the unexpected windfall would be making that dream a reality. Dombusch says that the man’s emotional reaction drove her to tears as well.

Another case involved a pastor whose van needed $700 in repairs. He did what pastors do: he prayed. Dombusch called. He had restitution money coming. How much? You guessed it, $700.

Says Dombusch: “I felt like Santa Claus. I felt like this is what I’m here for. They were victims the first time. I don’t want them to be victims again because we couldn’t find them.”

This is an uplifting story about people helping people, and it is a reminder to all of us that the system is there to protect us and look after our interests when we are the victims.

If you think that you may have some unclaimed money in Georgia, or if you have been victimized by an act of negligence, contact the People’s Lawyer, Bruce Hagen, at (404) 522-7553, or contact him through his Atlanta Personal Injury website, to discuss the matter and decide how to proceed. Nobody wants to be a victim, but if monies are due you, the People’s Lawyer will work hard to make sure that the system works for you.

Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution

The most common type of cases that involve negligence tort law are personal injury suits that are the result of vehicular accidents. When pursuing this type of tort law case, a personal injury attorney needs to prove that his or her client was injured due to the negligence of the other driver, and he or she will seek compensation for damages suffered by the injured party. Without these tort laws, there would be no legal way for someone who is injured in an automobile accident through no fault of their own to receive due compensation.

Medical malpractice is another type of tort case that personal injury lawyers frequently handle. Once again, when their client has suffered damages due to the actions of a medical professional, the medical malpractice lawyer needs to prove that the doctor or other health care worker acted negligently to cause the damages for which his or her client is seeking compensation.

Other types of torts are product liability cases (though there are overlapping statutory violations involved in many of these), nuisance and trespass torts that involve one party infringing on another’s right to enjoy their real property, defamation of character torts, and a tort law that involves intentionally confining another (false imprisonment).

Basically, the purpose of tort law is to provide people with a legal recourse that enables them to collect compensation when they are injured by another party either intentionally, or due to negligence. The term “tort law” has been bandied about by insurance company lobbyists as though it is some sort of pejorative term, a negative force that needs to be “reined in.” But the fact is that tort law is there to protect people who have been injured due to the negligence of others. Torts are quite necessary, and they exist to protect all of us.

If you have been injured in some manner by the negligent actions of another, whether it is due to an auto accident in Atlanta, or an Atlanta malpractice case, tort laws are on the books for your protection. Call the People’s Lawyer, Bruce Hagen, at (404) 522-7553 or contact him through the website so that you can discuss the matter with a tort law expert and be certain that your interests are being diligently advocated.

The reality is that the workers compensation system in this country has been broken by insurance companies who pressure doctors to slant their findings. They finance examinations that invariably support the interests of the company at the expense of the worker. Certainly that comes as a surprise to you, right? The New York Times reports that the doctors who conduct supposedly “independent” exams are physicians who are found by, believe it or not, “brokers” who are hired by insurance companies, presumably to find doctors who understand who is buttering their bread. Some of these physicians see twenty or more injured workers who are seeking workers compensation benefits in a day. It is, apparently, a sweet gig.

A 75-year-old semi-retired Queens orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Alan Zimmerman, had this to say about the qualifications that one needs to become an independent workers compensation medical examiner:

“Basically if you haven’t murdered anyone and you have a medical license, you get certified. It’s clearly a nice way to semi-retire.”

That is, if you consistently find in favor of the insurance companies and against the interests of the injured workers. What qualities would you think the “brokers” who find these examiners for the insurance companies would be looking for?

“If you did a truly pure report, you’d be out on your ears and the insurers wouldn’t pay for it. You have to give them what they want…that’s the game, baby,” said Dr. Hershel Samuels, who is an independent medical examiner in New York.

If you have been injured on the job and you need to file, or have already filed, a workers compensation claim, you have an uphill battle ahead of you. A good workers compensation attorney can help you to wade through the maze and get you treatment that you need to get well and the financial assistance that you need to pay your bills until you can get back to work with a clean bill of health. Call the premier atlanta personal injury attorney today: 404-522-7553

AIG has led the big insurance industry lobby that has been pushing for “tort reform” since the 1980s, financing the notion that “greedy lawyers” who file “frivolous malpractice lawsuits” are driving up the cost of healthcare for all Americans. This is pure hogwash.

“The evidence available to date does not make a strong case that restricting malpractice liability would have a significant effect , either positive or negative, on economic efficiency.” — Congressional Budget Office (Source: Non-Partisan Annenberg Political Fact Check)

The man who was calling the shots at AIG before the collapse was their CEO, Mr. Martin J. Sullivan. His resignation became effective on July 1st, 2008. Gosh, you know, we hate to see anybody out of a job, but we sure hope that Mr. Sullivan was able to land on his feet. I suppose the $47 million severance package that he received, (financed by you and me) might help him to weather the storm until he can find something else. I guess compensatory limits only apply to CEOs, not paraplegics.

AIG was gambling with risky securities while paying themselves countless millions of dollars as their lobbyists, and subsequently, our elected officials, were telling us that our health care costs were being negatively impacted by “the lawyers” who were consistently filing “frivolous” lawsuits. In reality, it was trite to think that insurance claims of any kind were relevant at all. The whole “tort reform movement” is nothing less than a disingenuous marketing blitz. The truth is that this phony “tort reform” campaign has never been aimed at the “greedy lawyers,” like the ads try to tell you. It is sad to say it, but big insurance companies like AIG, and the politicians that their lobbyists influence, have been trying their level best to protect their own interests at the expense of the injured parties who are the victims of medical malpractice.

“This liability system, I’m telling you, is out of control. Because the system is so unpredictable, there is a constant risk of being hit by a massive jury award. It’s costly for the doctors, it’s costly for small businesses, it’s costly for hospitals, it is really costly for patients.” — George W. Bush

The next time you hear a politician say something like this, ask yourself, if you lose multiple limbs due to medical malpractice, would you feel as though $250,000 would cover the punitive damages? That is what “tort reform” is all about. When you think tort reform…think AIG.

If you have been a victim of medical malpractice and need an Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer, you need an experienced attorney who is passionate about defending your right to reasonable compensatory and punitive damages. Call The People’s Lawyer, Bruce Hagen, at (404) 522-7553 or simply fill out the contact form on the website and you can be certain that your medical malpractice case will be aggressively pursued and satisfactorily resolved.