Fatigued big rig drivers kill a lot of people on the roads. It is downright criminal what happens in the name of interstate commerce.

This case was shocking, as it was pivotal to pending regulations to change the hours of service a trucker may put in on the road. A woman who was driving home from a family reunion was killed instantly when she and her son were hit by a triple-trailer truck. The driver drifted off to sleep behind the wheel. The consequences? The needless death of the woman and her 12-year-old son was left permanently disabled.

The trucker was sentenced to five years in prison, a fact that brings no joy to those who were left behind after her sudden, untimely death. He pled guilty to two counts of aggravated vehicle assault and one count of aggravated vehicular homicide. The story spread around the country, acting as a wakeup call for those campaigning to lower service hours on the road in the trucking industry. The group wanted 10 hours. The hours remained the same, set at 11, but they did not go up as most trucking outfits would have preferred.

Trucking for 11 hours a day is causing horrific accidents in every state, and yet, the driving force behind the industry is not to make the truckers or those on the roads with them safer, but to make more money by campaigning for even more hours. Along with going to sleep at the wheel, texting, using a cell phone or other mobile device while driving, watching a laptop movie or picking up something from the floor of the cab, all these reasons and more, are the cause of 18-wheeler accidents that maim and kill.

Big rig accidents are highly complex due to the nature of the industry and who is insured. The industry will fight tooth and nail to keep any settlements low, as that is what is best for the bottom line. Do not let an insurance company guide you in making any decisions if you have been seriously hurt in an accident. Consult with an Atlanta personal injury lawyer and get the real facts about what happens in a case like this. You will come to understand that part of the case strategy is focusing on the number of hours a trucker is behind the wheel.

It is not unheard of for truckers and their companies to falsify their service records. They do that by keeping two sets of books. More time on the road is what drives the trucking companies, as the loads are money when they are delivered on time and in good shape. If that means driving more hours in a day, then the almighty dollar dictates a trucker to keep on trucking.

This is negligence. It’s just that simple, and this is a discussion you will have with your Atlanta personal injury lawyer about what way the case will roll, why, and what arguments will be used to make a point for more compensation for injuries. While lawyers cannot restore your complete health, they can make sure you have sufficient compensation to care for yourself for the rest of your life.

Tim Anderson writes for 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, visit Ozcomert.com.

Tasers have their place in law enforcement. However, they must be used responsibly.

“This is a troubling case from many angles,” says Stephen Ozcomert, an Atlanta injury lawyer who practices personal injury, accidents and malpractice law. “It is troubling from the point of view that the police officer who used a Taser on a mentally distressed man did so twice, despite being told the man would not harm anyone and was not armed. The man was off his bipolar drugs.”

As a result of the man dying later in the hospital, a victim of cardiac arrest from two Taser shots, the man’s wife filed a wrongful death lawsuit that, among other things, stated the police used excessive force for the situation, intentionally inflicted emotional distress and deprived the dead man of his constitutional rights. “Should a jury agree with the plaintiff that the man was not a threat, then they could regard the deployment of the Taser, twice, as an intentional wrongful act without a good reason to do so,” explained Ozcomert.

The man’s wife, present during the whole confrontation with the police, stated the officer had no reason to use the weapon on her unarmed and naked husband. They had pulled over to the side of the road, and the wife was rummaging in the trunk to get her husband’s medication. While he took the medicine, it would not kick in for some time, during which he took off his clothes and refused to get into the car. His wife called the police, as she was afraid he would be hit by a passing vehicle.

The police dispatch notified the officers responding that they were about to be going into a psychiatric situation. Two troopers arrived on the scene, one of which was the police chief. The naked man was running up the road, screaming and trying to direct traffic. The first officer supposedly told him to hit the ground thirteen times. For some reason, the screaming man thought the first officer was going to shoot the police chief. As he turned towards the first officer, he was hit with the first Taser shot.

“Things got confusing after that point, and the police said the man charged them, causing the first cop to deploy the Taser a second time in self-defense. The man was not warned about the Taser and was hit twice within 42 seconds,” Ozcomert pointed out.

A jury may well side with the plaintiff in this type of a situation, as the man appeared to be unarmed and certainly not a threat to anyone but himself. The officers knew what they were going to be dealing with prior to their arrival, and had they chosen to handle themselves a different way, the man may still be alive today and his small daughter would still have her father.

Situations like this do not happen all the time, but they happen often enough that if an individual finds themselves in a scenario like this, they need to call a competent Atlanta personal injury attorney right away. If justice is to be done, and the family assisted to move forward with their lives, the Atlanta personal injury lawyer is the best course of action.

To learn more visit http://www.ozcomert.com.

Even cops can be responsible for the wrongful death of another. This case highlights a police officer driving with a heavy foot while not responding to calls.

This reported case did go to settlement largely because if it had gone to court, the family of the deceased would likely have been awarded more. As it was, the city approved a half million dollar settlement for the family of the dead teens and an unborn baby.

Although the city did step up and make a settlement offer, they also added that just because they were considering a settlement did not mean they were admitting guilt on their part or on the part of the officer involved. It’s hard to assume that if they are willing to pay out a settlement that they do not assume some degree of guilt.

Most cases where settlements are offered are resolved because one party knows the other one has enough to mount a substantial case against them. Rather than face a possibly significant jury verdict, offering a settlement gives the defendant some control over their financial liability. In some instances, and this may happen in states with damage caps, a family may sue for a maximum of $250,000 per person.

In this case where the accident killed two teens and an unborn child (considered in that jurisdiction to be a person), the jury total could be $750,000. However, it is capped at $500,000 for one incident. In other words, where this accident happened, whether the case did make it to court or not, the half million dollars would be the ceiling for wrongful death damages. This is why it is so important to consult with an experienced Atlanta personal injury lawyer to find out what you need to do to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Georgia. Every state has different rules when it comes to wrongful death claims.

Was this accident caused by the police officer’s negligence? On the face of the evidence, the answer is yes. Accident reconstruction technicians proved that he was travelling 80 mph in a 45 mph zone, and he was not responding to a call. He was suspended without pay indefinitely, just shortly after the police department learned he had not told his supervisor he was on medication that could impair his ability to work.

The rest of the facts of the case will not see the light of day, thanks to the settlement. However, it is worth considering those details when it comes right down to the wire. There was obviously negligence here based on the speed the officer was doing when he hit the teen’s car. Factor in the medical issue, and you have an accident looking for a place to happen. It did happen and three people died. It could be said the settlement is not enough, considering the circumstances.

These factors and many others play an integral part in any wrongful death case handled by an Atlanta personal injury lawyer. If you have been in a similar situation, or are dealing with a wrongful death claim, find out what your rights are, when to file, whether or not there are damage caps in your state and what to expect when the case is resolved.

Tim Anderson writes for 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, visit Ozcomert.com.

Cases that involve kids are the toughest ones to handle. This accident story is heartbreaking.

Often in cases like this one, there are two elements you need to keep in mind: the criminal side and the civil side. In this reported case, there was the criminal element of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, driving without a license and felony hit-and-run causing a death.

The 22-year-old man, driving through a crosswalk, hit and killed a four-year-old pedestrian. Rather than stopping and remaining at the scene of the accident for the police to arrive, the driver left the area. The man probably knew he was going to be in deep trouble, compounded by the fact he was driving without a license and left the scene of the accident.

While the criminal side of this case will come first, the family can most definitely file a wrongful death lawsuit. Was there negligence involved? Yes. Here is a man driving without a license that gets involved in a hit-and-run accident, kills a small child and flees the scene. Whether or not the individual was also under the influence, distracted, speeding or whatever other reason he may have offered for why he hit the child is not relevant. The facts speak for themselves, or in the words of the law, “Res ipsa loquitur.”

While criminal accountability is vitally important, the other element, the civil wrongful death lawsuit, is equally as important. It is a way for the family to seek some form of compensation for that gut-wrenching loss of a family member; a toddler who had his whole life before him, but for the negligence of the 22-year-old driver who hit and killed him. Criminal courts decide if a person intentionally committed a crime. Civil courts figure out if wrongful conduct should be accountable, financially speaking.

The fact is that in civil wrongful death cases, the whole focus of the case is obtaining compensation for those wrongfully harmed. If you have been in a similar situation, seek expert legal counsel to handle your case. Only an experienced Atlanta personal injury lawyer has the requisite skill to ensure you get the compensation you deserve to move on with your life. While cases like this are never easy, a seasoned Atlanta personal injury lawyer has the strength and compassion to help you make it through your ordeal.

Tim Anderson writes for 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, visit http://www.ozcomert.com.

The next time you are out on the highway, look around you. There are far more potentially deadly big rigs on the road than there ever used to be.

No one wants to hear that there are more accidents every year on the highways involving semis. Unfortunately, though, it is a hard, cold fact. In 2010 alone, close to 500,000 commercial trucks were in wrecks in the U.S. That overall figure includes at least 100,000 injuries and more than 5,000 deaths. In 2009, there were only 3,200 fatalities, says the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

If these figures were not dismal enough on their own, the Institute predicts an increase in commercial trucks on the roadways by 20 percent by 2012. You do not have to think too hard about what that means in terms of accident statistics. What causes trucking accidents?

This is a question that many people ask when they see this kind of a wreck; the same question hundreds of police officers, lawyers and victims ask in the ugly aftermath of this kind of accident. Interestingly, and not an astounding surprise, the biggest issue in big rig accidents can be traced directly to the behavior of the trucker. If you are interested in finding out more information on this issue, do an online search for the results of the Large Truck Causation Crash Study.

This particular study closely examined 120,000 18-wheeler accidents between 2001 and 2003, ultimately selecting 963 that involved a large truck and one passenger vehicle. The 963 crashes included 243 deaths and 1,654 injuries. As a part of this study, the timing and what was happening at the moment the inevitable crash took place was put under a microscope. The conclusion? That there were at least three catalysts for the wrecks:

• The big rig drifted out of the travel lane and either went into another lane, or off the road entirely
• The trucker lost control of the rig
• The truck rear-ended another vehicle in the truck’s path

The study went several steps beyond these initial classifications and identified the critical event, or cause, of an accident: the trucker, the vehicle and the environment. One could likely surmise that an accident could also be caused by all three of the critical events at the same time.

What do all these events have in common? The driver. Thus the study broke out the driver category into other classifications that included:

• The driver was impaired in some way, physically or mentally, i.e. alcohol or sleep deprivation
• The driver was inattentive or distracted
• The driver made a poor decision
• The driver did something like overcompensating after a turn

The statistics are very clear, and the researchers concluded that truckers were at fault at least 55 percent of the time, which is a frightening conclusion. That means your life is in the hands of the person behind the wheel of an 80,000 pound behemoth, and you had better hope they make the right decisions to keep that rig on the road.

18-wheeler wrecks can be catastrophic. There is no other word to describe them. Their impact on people’s lives is never-ending, often fatal, and if a victim survives, their life is often altered in unimaginable and devastating ways. This is the main reason you need qualified legal counsel to handle your personal injury case. Without the assistance of a skilled Atlanta personal injury lawyer, you may not get the compensation you need to live out the rest of your life.

Do you want to take the chance of trying to deal with an insurance company on your own when an Atlanta personal injury lawyer knows how to handle them and get you the compensation you need to live? If you have been in a big-rig truck accident, do not second guess your future. Call an Atlanta personal injury lawyer right away.

Tim Anderson writes for 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, visit http://www.ozcomert.com.

The courts are looking for unusual and innovative ways to make a point that it does not pay to drink and drive.

This reported case may sound like just another drunk driving conviction, but this one has a twist to it. This story started when a young 24-year-old man doing duty as a designated driver was taking his friends home from an evening out on the town drinking. After dropping the last one off, he headed home, but never made it.

In the middle of an intersection, another car driven by a 26-year-old woman ran a red light and slammed into the side of the man’s car. His family was in deep shock when they heard the news. That shock also turned to anger when they found out that her blood alcohol level was 0.229, and the legal limit was 0.08. The family sought legal counsel and filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

Before the civil action was launched in court, the woman was criminally charged and convicted o driving under the influence, first-degree vehicular homicide and reckless driving. The court ordered her to begin serving a five-year prison term, with another five-year term spent on probation. The unusual twist to this case is that the mother of the deceased requested the court to order the woman to always carry a picture of her dead son with her during her sentence, and the court acquiesced to the request in the hopes it would drive home a point – that her negligence killed someone.

It never ceases to be a source of disappointment that people still drink and drive. It has been proven over and over again that driving while drunk kills. Sadly, those who drink and drive, and think that they will get home alive are being thoughtless, and may also wind up as dead as the innocent victim they run over because they wanted to get drunk.

Have you been in a wreck with a drunk driver? If you have, contact an experienced Atlanta personal injury lawyer and start asking questions about how you can recover compensation for your injuries. You will need to know your legal rights and how a case may proceed should you file a lawsuit with the assistance of an Atlanta personal injury lawyer. Do not wait to make that call. Your recovery may depend on it.

Tim Anderson writes for 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, visit http://www.ozcomert.com.

For most people, going to the dentist is stressful. For the 13-year-old girl in this reported case, it resulted in her death. The young girl was having teeth removed during oral surgery in the dentist’s office, when she stopped breathing. The autopsy revealed that the death was the result of complications from anesthesia, given prior to surgery.

The devastated family elected to file a wrongful death lawsuit, which was settled out of court by the dentist’s insurance company and negotiated by the state’s Dental Board. The most interesting aspect of this case were the remarks made by the Dental Board once the settlement had been negotiated, commenting, among other things, that it was the task of the Board to ensure unsafe dentists, or those that were likely a threat, either took further training to remediate deficient areas in their practice or, in the alternative, stop practicing.

The upside of this case was, in addition to the negotiated settlement, that the doctor agreed to retire. On the surface, this may have been a stunningly good idea, given the man’s age. Digging deeper revealed that it was not the first time that the doctor had been sued for wrongful death. In 1997, a 57-year-old woman died from similar complications with anesthetic. At that time, the dentist would have been 67-years-old. That case was also settled out of court.

The state Dental Board was also heard to say that this case was a prime example of how hard it was to regulate dentistry, an admission that makes one cringe when thinking about their next dental procedure. For the most part, dentists are careful, skilled and caring, and provide their patients with excellent care. And then, there is always the odd bad dentist. This of course raises some very serious questions about the liability of the Board and the dentists they license, as they do not appear to regulate all that closely or well.

Did the family of the 13-year-old girl have a good case? Yes, and the sad fact is that her death may not have happened had the state Dental Board taken action about the dentist’s license in 1997, and made sure he was safe to be licensed and still practice. Certainly “what if’s” will not bring the girl back, but they may raise this issue to a level where someone does something about it, so that questionable dentists do not keep practicing.
It is quite likely that this was one of the reasons this case settled out of court as well.

If you feel you have been the victim of dental malpractice, seek legal counsel from an experienced Atlanta personal injury lawyer. If you want justice and compensation for injuries you may have suffered, the only way to get your case settled or into court is with the assistance of a knowledgeable Atlanta personal injury lawyer.

Tim Anderson writes for 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, visit http://www.ozcomert.com.

Wrongful death suits can be filed for many reasons and aren’t limited to vehicle crashes.

Although every state has its own wrongful death statute and the requirements to file a wrongful death lawsuit under the auspices of that statute vary, the reasons for filing such a suit tend to remain the same.

Cases vary and have many components to them like the case involving a man whose wife died as the result of a car crash in July of 2009. In this instance, the van the couple was driving was rear-ended and forced off the road, rolling over several times before coming to a halt. The husband was permanently and severely injured, and the wife died as a result of her injuries. In consultation with a skilled personal injury attorney, the husband decided to file a wrongful death suit against not only the driver of the other vehicle, but General Motors and a seatbelt manufacturer.

If you’re familiar enough with personal injury law from reading articles like this, you will realize that the wrongful death suit’s foundation lies in negligence (of the other vehicle’s driver) and product liability (the maker of the van and the seatbelt manufacturer). When the case winds up in court, it will allege that in combination with the negligence of the other driver failing to control her vehicle, that the seatbelt in the van was defective and failed, ejecting the wife.

The plaintiff, the severely injured husband, will further claim that General Motors and the makers of the seatbelt knew, or should have known the belt design was defective and that it stood a good chance of failing under accident conditions. The plaintiff’s attorney will present evidence that close to 19,000 vans of the same type the couple was driving when hit, were recalled due to defective right rear seat belts. The problem? The belts had a propensity to separate during a crash, causing severe passenger injuries.

While this may sound like an open and shut case on first blush, there are all kinds of other issues that may arise. This is one of the major reasons that if you are in a car accident involving severe injuries or death you should immediately speak to an experienced personal injury attorney. You need legal assistance to get compensation for your injuries and to obtain a settlement in a wrongful death case. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can do this on your own. There is too much at stake to be your own advocate in cases like this.

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, visit Ozcomert.com.

It is not often that two bikers are involved in a head-on collision with each other. It was a clear day and the group of riders headed out the popular, scenic highway to take in the sights. The first group had four riders, all of who were very experienced with bikes and affiliated with a church. The second group of four riders was not so experienced and was also younger too.

Just because the second group of riders was younger and not as experienced does not necessarily mean they lacked good judgment. Unfortunately, however, one rider did not follow the rules of the road and was speeding while heading south on the highway. He lost control of his bike, crossed the median into opposing traffic and hit the lead biker from the church group. Both riders died an unnecessary death, because of the negligence of the biker who was speeding.

Certainly the 19-year-old rider likely thought he could do anything and be just fine, no matter what. Chances are he had never seen a bike accident and had no concept of death. However, he miscalculated on this ride and lost his life because of it. The tragedy is a double one because two lives were lost due to speeding when the young man did not having the skills to handle a bike at such high speeds.

It is highly likely that the man’s wife, who was badly injured but survived the wreck, will want to consult with a personal injury lawyer to find out what her rights are in this situation. If she were to talk to an Atlanta personal injury attorney, she would find out that she likely had a case and could sue the 19-year-old’s estate for compensation for the death of her husband.

She should be able to recover, among other things, compensation for pain and suffering, lost wages, loss of companionship, loss of benefits, loss of inheritance, funeral burial expenses and (in some instances) punitive damages. An Atlanta personal injury lawyer will also explain the differences in jurisdictions and awards to the family, as wrongful death laws vary greatly from state to state.

Tim Anderson writes for <a href=”http://www.ozcomert.com/”>Atlanta Personal Injury</a> attorney, Stephen M. Ozcomert. The firm specializes in personal injury, malpractice, motorcycle accidents, and wrongful death. To learn more about <a href=”http://www.ozcomert.com/”>Atlanta personal injury lawyer</a>, Stephen M. Ozcomert, visit Ozcomert.com.

Death comes to people in many strange ways. The man in this case was run over while lying in the middle of the road.

This reported case is very odd for a number of reasons. The main reason for this is that the victim was lying in the middle of the road; drunk but alive until the defendant ran over him and killed him. The defendant is a former state trooper, who, one would think, would have a higher degree of awareness about driving safely and would not leave the scene of the accident.

The trooper was off duty at the time of the accident, was in the car with his girlfriend, and heading home from a party when he struck and killed John Doe. For reasons only known to him, he chose to leave the scene and continue on his way home. His girlfriend did however speak to the police after the man was hit. Investigators on scene were able to determine the dead man had been alive prior to being hit and had a blood alcohol content of 0.20.

As it turned out, John Doe had a substantial record for alcohol offenses, including a two-year prison sentence for DWI, his third in four years. He had hit a 14-year-old girl on her bike in 2000 and an 11-year-old child in 2004. He stopped driving when he was let out of prison in 2006, likely figuring it was safer to walk home drunk to his wife and two small kids. It was a decision that cost him his life.

Other sheriffs that went to the trooper’s home to conduct interviews noted that the sheriff agreed to take an alcohol prescreening. It was determined he had not been drinking. Ultimately, after the investigation was complete, there were no criminal charges and the felony charge for leaving the scene of an accident was dismissed by a grand jury.

The reason the criminal charges were dismissed is that the district attorney indicated the purpose of the law is to ensure drivers who get into personal injury accidents call the police and admit their guilty by giving their name and contact information. The off duty trooper’s girlfriend did call them from the road and both met law enforcement at the trooper’s home later on.

Evidently, the interpretation of the statute does not outline, specifically, the amount of time a driver has to report the crash if there is no one at the scene to report to, and the law does not mandate a driver to remain at the scene if there is no one present to get into details about how a report should be made. While this may deal with the criminal charges, this does not mean the family of the dead man might not wish to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

Would they be successful in filing a wrongful death lawsuit? It is likely that they would, given that it is hard to miss a body lying in the road when you are driving, given that the man was a trooper and subject to a higher standard of conduct and care and should not have fled the scene.

If you ever find yourself in a situation like this, do not wait to call an experienced Atlanta personal injury lawyer. Time is of the essence in cases like this, and in order to ensure all the relevant evidence is collected and understood in its proper context, your Atlanta personal injury lawyer needs to act fast.

Tim Anderson writes for <a href=”http://www.ozcomert.com/”>Atlanta Personal Injury</a> attorney, Stephen M. Ozcomert. The firm specializes in personal injury, malpractice, motorcycle accidents, and wrongful death. To learn more about <a href=”http://www.ozcomert.com/”>Atlanta personal injury lawyer</a>, Stephen M. Ozcomert, visit Ozcomert.com.