As an experienced Marietta dog bite injury attorney, I have highlighted this issue on a number of occasions. Dog bites don’t always make headlines but the number of attacks by dogs appears to be increasing.

An Associated Press report in the Atlanta Journal Constitution said the giant insurance company State Farm Insurance, paid in excess of $109 million on about 3,800 dog bite claims nationwide in 2011. In 2010, there were about 3,500 claims and $90 million in payouts.

The reasons for the increase in payouts are unclear. While more dogs may be attacking, it’s also possible that victims are becoming more aware of their rights and are contacting dog bite injury attorneys.

The Insurance Information Institute estimates about $479 million in dog bite claims were paid by all insurance companies in 2011, spokeswoman Loretta Worters told AP.  In 2010, it was $413 million.

The people most likely to be victims are children and postal workers. Every year a staggering 4.7 million people are bitten by dogs and more than half of the victims are children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Of these about 800,000 people seek medical attention for the bites. Less than half of those people require treatment and about 16 die, according to agency figures.

There are few more traumatic experiences than being bitten by a ferocious dog. A child can be left with physical and mental scars for the rest of his or her life.

The trend of rising dog attacks also appears to be occurring in Georgia.

As recently as January 2012, Marietta saw a dog attack, our Atlanta dog bite injury lawyers have reported. A man from Marietta was jailed after he allegedly watched and even laughed while his pit bull launched a 10 minute long attack on a woman, the Marietta Daily Journal reported.
According to a warrant, the pit bull attacked the woman for about 10 minutes while the man watched and laughed. The victim told police the dog bit her arms, hands and right ankle.

Two years earlier a 67-year-old woman was attacked by two pit bulls while she was walking near Walton Village apartments near Austell Road in Marietta. She was bitten in the face, according to the Daily Journal.

Alarming Georgia dog bite cases like this have led to the introduction of a tougher new dog bite law in the Georgia General Assembly, one that passed through the House in March, 2012. It contains more specific classifications for a dangerous dog.

Drale Short, Georgia’s Animal Care and Control Director told WLTZ.com that the number of dog bites are on the rise across Georgia.

If you are attacked by a dan­ger­ous dog you should con­tact an expe­ri­enced Mari­etta injury attor­ney who will help you nego­ti­ate the com­pli­cated maze of statutes and recover the most from insurance.

Dog bites are not to be taken lightly; just because you own a breed that is not known to be aggres­sive does not mean that it will not bite or attack under cer­tain cir­cum­stances. If you or a loved one have been bit­ten by a dog and suf­fered injuries, con­sult with an expe­ri­enced Geor­gia per­sonal injury lawyer.  The Keener Law Firm offers skilled, aggres­sive legal coun­sel work­ing to pro­tect the rights of our clients.  You can call us for a free, con­fi­den­tial con­sul­ta­tion at: 770–955‑3000

As experienced Marietta cycling accident injury attorneys, we have reported on a number of accidents involving cyclists in past years.

 The annual Ride of Silence has been held in Cobb County for four years, the Marietta Daily Journal reported.

 The newspaper reported since 2003, there have been 28 cyclists in the metro Atlanta area who have been hit and killed by drivers.

The event in Cobb will start at the parking garage at 191 Lawrence St. in Marietta at 7 p.m. Cyclists are likely to start showing up around 6:30 p.m., according to the Marietta Daily Journal.

“It’s to bring awareness to the fact that there is a need to share the road (with cars and bikes) and the consequences of not sharing well or nicely are very serious,” Celeste Burr, the vice president of Bike Cobb, told the newspaper.

 The cyclists will ride 10 miles in silence to highlight the toll of deaths and serious injuries to cyclists on the roads in and around Marietta.

“The particular feature about this ride is that it’s done in silence and you’re only supposed to use hand signals or speak if there is an emergency,” Burr told the Marietta Daily Journal. “We are riding and remembering those who have been killed or injured. It’s supposed to be a very solemn processional.”

About 48 riders took part last year but the recent death of Paul Taylor in Decatur, may fuel the numbers further.

The 53-year-old cyclist was killed when he was hit by a pickup truck on April 30, 2012 on North Decatur Road

Those taking part in the ride will be wearing red armbands in honor of injured riders and black armbands in memory of riders like Taylor who have been killed.

The deaths of cyclists in Georgia led to the passing of a new law, our experienced Marietta accident injury lawyers recently reported.

Under leg­is­la­tion that passed through the Geor­gia Gen­eral Assem­bly in 2011, dri­vers who pass cyclists must now main­tain a safe dis­tance of at least three feet.

The mea­sure was widely wel­comed by cycling groups and we wel­come it as Mari­etta cycling injury attor­neys. But it hasn’t stopped the spate of deaths and injuries on the roads of Geor­gia, although it will take more time for the offi­cial sta­tis­tics to be compiled.

In Decem­ber 2011, for example, Mark Jidov, a 56-year-old cyclist, was killed in Loganville, GA when he was hit behind by a Chevy S10 dri­ven by a 16-year-old dri­ver who had his license for approximately five months.

Many drivers in Geor­gia still appear to have a blind spot when it comes to cyclists. Indeed a cyclist was killed in Atlanta just days after the new law took effect last year.

The Geor­gia Bikes Alliance cited 2,819 acci­dents involv­ing cyclists from 2004 to 2006 in the state. Of these accidents, 1,049 involved a car and a cyclist trav­el­ing in the same direc­tion. These are the kind of acci­dents the new law was enacted to prevent.

Increasing distractions for drivers on the roads of Georgia can mean they fail to notice road users such as cyclists and motorcyclists.

 If you or a loved one has been involved in a cycling acci­dent, con­tact a skilled Geor­gia per­sonal injury lawyer with The Keener Law Firm.  770–955‑3000.

 As a Rome wrongful death lawyer, I see a number of cases in which work places have proved to be deadly for employees.

Tiffany Bishop had been a Rome probation officer for just six months before she was killed on the job. According to reports she died after an accidental shooting at a Butts County firing range during training. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking for answers into this fatal workplace accident, LawOfficer.com reported.

The probation officer’s death was caused by an apparent accidental discharge of a gun during a classroom training exercise in September 2011.

When accidents like this occur there has usually been a serious lapse by an employer or a trainer, and reports have pointed to mistakes that led to this tragic death.

A source told CBS Atlanta the shooting happened inside the classroom. CBS Atlanta reported this source called it “a major breach of policy” because “firearms are not allowed in a training class.”

According to the report instructors were meant to use red guns during classroom training exercises but the instructor “forgot to replace the real gun in his holster with his red gun before returning to class after lunch.”

An official report is looking into what mistakes were made in this incident. As an experienced Marietta wrongful death attorney, there is also scope for a potential wrongful death lawsuit in this case.

Accidents that involve serious or fatal injuries to law enforcement officers during training are rare but not unheard of. In Norfolk, Virginia the family of police recruit John Kohn, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit, alleging that training exercises in which he was struck on the head led to his death in 2010.

Employers have a duty to ensure conditions are safe for their workers whether they are operating in the private or the public sector.

As Marietta workplace injury attorneys, we have reported how jobs such as those on con­struc­tion sites, man­u­fac­tur­ing plants, ware­houses, or truck driving jobs place employees at an increased risk of injuries due to the nature of their jobs.

Recently we reported on how a worker was killed when a wall collapsed at the Pauling Northwest Atlanta Airport near Marietta in March 2012.

Law enforcement is another dangerous job, but employers have a duty to make sure officers receive adequate protection. But we read of many workplace injuries and a few deaths.

In makes no dif­fer­ence what indus­try you are work in; when you are injured on the job, even because of your own mis­take,  you are 100% eli­gi­ble for work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion ben­e­fits which include 100% pay­ment of all of your med­ical bills for life with no co-pay and no deductible, a weekly pay­check, pay­ment for your dis­abil­ity, and in some cases reha­bil­i­ta­tion, retrain­ing, home mod­i­fi­ca­tions, pur­chase of hand­i­cap acces­si­ble vehi­cles and more.  If you live in Atlanta or out­ly­ing areas of Decatur, Roswell, Rome, Colum­bus, Dal­ton or Mari­etta and would like more infor­ma­tion about the rights of injured work­ers in Geor­gia, con­tact an expe­ri­enced Geor­gia work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion law firm.

But in some cases inaction, poor standards, a lack of maintenance and negligence by a trucking operator can render these vehicles even more hazardous to other road users.

Recently the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) ordered Georgia-based Judson Mobley Logging, Inc. to immediately cease all of its transportation services, declaring the trucking company an imminent hazard to public safety.

It’s an extreme sanction but one I welcome as a Marietta truck accident injury attorney, given this company’s track record.

“The shutdown order follows an extensive review of the company’s operations by FMCSA, which found multiple violations of drug and alcohol testing, driver qualifications and vehicle maintenance rules,” the FMCSA said in a news release.

“Safety is our number-one priority,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We will not allow commercial truck companies that recklessly disregard safety to continue operating on the nation’s roadways.”

The notice said a lengthy review was carried out into Judson Mobley Logging, a company based in Girard, GA.

FMCSA immediately shut down the company after safety investigators found that it continued to operate its vehicles in violation of a previous agency order to stop its transportation services following an unsatisfactory safety rating.

As well as the violation of a previous shutdown order, investigators found a range of alarming safety infractions, including driver qualification and vehicle maintenance violations that they said substantially increased the likelihood of jeopardizing the safety of the traveling public.

“Unsafe truck companies that jeopardize public safety have no place on our roads,” said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. “We will continue to do everything within our current authority to aggressively pursue and shut down these illegal actors.”

The ongoing problems at the company were highlighted on April 30, 2012 when a logging truck crashed into an escorted tractor trailer in South Carolina. Investigators found the truck had defective brakes and 20 other safety violations.

When trucking companies fail to meet standards they can be held liable in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits.

Every year, more than 5,000 peo­ple die and about 100,000 peo­ple are injured on the roads of the United States as a result of crashes involv­ing big trucks. “In the last ten years, 56,935 peo­ple have died and a mil­lion more were injured in truck crashes in com­mu­ni­ties across the coun­try,” said Jackie Gillan, vice pres­i­dent of Advo­cates for High­way and Auto Safety.

Our experienced Marietta trucking accident injury lawyers have highlighted the problem of fatigued truck drivers in the past.

Fatigue has long been known to be a fac­tor in a large num­ber of acci­dents. Accord­ing to safety groups, stud­ies concentration is affected after just eight hours of dri­ving.

If you add a failure to adequately test drivers for drugs and alcohol, as federal investigators are claiming in the case of Judson Mobley Logging, you have a clear recipe for disaster on the highways.

A split second can be the difference between life and death in a truck accident. In September, 2011, Jason Chatham, was driving a dump truck eastbound on Dallas Highway in Marietta. As he approached intersection, the traffic light changed from yellow to red. He tried to stop the truck, according to reports, but ended up going through the light and crashing into a Kia attempting to make a left turn.

The truck and the Kia then smashed into a Nissan Sentra before the three vehicles hit a guard rail. The Kia driver died after the accident and another driver was seriously injured.

If you or a loved one has been involved in an acci­dent with a large truck, call The Keener Law Firm for a free con­fi­den­tial con­sul­ta­tion at 770–955‑3000.

It’s a heart-breaking story. And as a Marietta medical malpractice attorney, it raises questions about whether the infection was picked up at a hospital.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is the bacteria responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections.

MRSA is associated with hospitals and nursing homes, where patients with open wounds, or weakened immune systems face a considerably greater risk than the general public.

Aimee Copeland from Gwinnett County, suffered a gash to her left calf in a zip lining accident on Little Tallapoosa River in Carrollton with friends last week, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.

According to her father, the 24-year-old grad student at West Georgia University, was taken to the emergency room at Tanner Medical Center, Carrollton, after the accident. In what appeared to be a routine procedure, doctors closed the gash with 22 staples and told her to take Motrin and Tylenol to alleviate the pain.

But things quickly went wrong. A day later Copeland suffered from severe pain. She returned to the Tanner ER where she was given a prescription for Darvocet.

“This alleviated her symptoms, but she continued in pain on Thursday,” her father told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “Aimee went to the doctor and received a prescription for antibiotics and posted a clean MRI report. Again, she was treated and released.”

By May 4, 2012, she was pale and weak. This time a physician diagnosed her with “necrotizing fasciitis” in her wounded leg.

“The fasciitis –a flesh-eating bacteria that can destroy skin, fat and muscle — had spread beyond her wound to her hip and thigh,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.

Aimee’s prognosis is grim. Her father Andy wrote on a Facebook page that doctors have given her survival chances as “slim to none,” according to reports.

As an experienced Atlanta medical malpractice attorney my thoughts are with Aimee and her family during this terrible ordeal.

MRSA infections have been a known problem in hospitals for many years. MRSA can be spread through skin contact, via equipment or towels or bed sheets.  It is, therefore, vital that hygiene and cleanliness standards are maintained in busy hospitals and other facilities such as nursing homes where infection is a potential problem.

A large number of MRSA cases that are dealt with by lawyers are caused by poor hygiene in hospitals. Some of the measures that hospitals can take to prevent this infection are basic ones such as regular hand washing, the regular cleaning of wards with suitable disinfectants and the use of clean gowns and surgical gloves. Wounds should be kept clean. Hospitals should also have active policies in place to prevent MRSA.

When hospitals or other institutions fail to provide the standards of hygiene we expect they can be the subject of a lawsuit. Recently a flesh eating bacteria case was settled against Graterford Prison in Pennsylvania. A female worker who said an MRSA infection had left her face badly scarred and disfigured, received $226,000.

But Aimee’s survival is the only thing now on the mind of her family and friends. Her father is organizing a blood drive to be held next Tuesday at the West Georgia University, and people in the Augusta area can locally donate blood to the JMS Burn Center. If you are interested in helping her family they are accepting blood and financial donations at http://uwgpsychology.org/2012/aimee-copeland/.

If you have been injured by an infection at a hospital or have lost a loved one, con­tact an expe­ri­enced Mari­etta per­sonal injury attor­ney today. Call toll free at (800) 900‑2400 or locally at (770) 955‑3000 for an absolutely free and com­pletely con­fi­den­tial consultation.

A recent attack at Kennesaw State University near Marietta has led students to think again about how safe the campus is, according to the Marietta Daily Journal.

The newspaper reported an attack by a man on a female student at the KSU Place resident hall on May 4, 2012, according to Kennesaw State Police.

The university issued advice in a news release urging students to “use caution and remain observant of their surroundings.”

But the incident raised questions about whether authorities went far enough. The university issued text and phone alerts to the faculty, students and staff early on the morning of May 4.

Cynthia Davis, a junior at KSU, said reports issued about the attack were too vague, the Marietta Daily Journal reported.

“I didn’t know which area it was in here,” she said, pointing out there are many units on the property.

Other students said they were surprised that the attack occurred, given the large number of security guards on the campus. Few details were issued about the attack.

There are a number of high profile cases in which the courts have found university authorities negligent in the protection of their students, none more so than in the case of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.

On April 16, 2007, Seung-Hui Cho, a student, shot two other students at a West Ambler Johnston dormitory room on the Virginia Tech campus. Later that morning the gunman went on to kill 30 other students.

In March 2012, a jury decided in favor of two families of victims in the shooting who had accused the school of negligence. The jury awarded $4 million to each of the families.

Lawyers for the families argued the school authorities should have notified the student body sooner when they learned two other students had been found dead in a dormitory room earlier that morning.

The jury heard a message did not go out to the campus for about two hours after the initial shooting and it was vague.

Under a Virginia cap the damages were limited to $100,000 per claim against the state.

While Virginia Tech is the most high profile example of a school being held accountable by the civil law for violence on a campus, there are others.

Recently the mother of slain University of Virgnia lacrosse star Yeardley Love revealed she is suing coaches of The University of Virginia (UVA) men’s lacrosse team claiming they ignored assaults by the killer George Huguely, on other students, including another female student.

She has launched a $30 million wrongful death suit claiming that the coaches overlooked Huguely’s aggressive behavior because he was a star player.

University authorities have a duty to ensure their campuses are safe environments for students and staff members. This could amount to building safety issues such as making sure there is no exposure to hazardous conditions such as asbestos and mold, or security issues in dorms.

If you have encountered a dangerous condition in a building or educational campus that has led to an injury, con­tact our Mari­etta personal injury attorneys.

But, in the case of a 19-year-old Acworth man who killed a motorcyclist from Marietta, his mother has also been charged — with allowing an unlicensed person to drive her car, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

The driver of a Lincoln Navigator, Giovanni Aragon-Mercado, is thought by investigators to have fallen asleep at the wheel before crossing a center line at about 5 p.m. on May 2, 2012, hitting a motorcycle driven by Derrick Ferree, 24, of Marietta.

As experienced Marietta motorcycle accident injury lawyers we are sad to report that this young motorcyclist was taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, where he died of his injuries some time later.

We have reported on many occasions about how vulnerable motorcyclists can be. In a crash with a large Lincoln Navigator, the odds were stacked against the motorcyclist escaping without a serious or a fatal injury.

Aragon-Mercado, was not hurt in the crash. But he faces a charge of misdemeanor vehicular homicide for the accident in Cherokee County, as well as failure to maintain lane and violation of license restrictions.

Investigators said he “had a learner’s permit only and was not licensed to drive alone,” according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Aragon-Mercado’s 38-year-old mother Perla Mercado, 38, of Woodstock is charged with allowing an unlicensed person to drive.

Just as this young driver’s mother is facing criminal charges she could also be held liable for the consequences of her son’s actions in a civil lawsuit.

In Georgia, under the doctrine of negligent entrustment, a person or business can be held liable for another person’s injury or death if there was negligence in the loaning or entrusting of a motor vehicle to a driver despite knowing the driver was incompetent or unfit to operate the vehicle without being a danger to other road users.

As experienced Marietta car accident injury lawyers, typically we see this in cases where a company has loaned a car to an employee without properly checking his or her background. Issues such as a history of driving offenses, a physical or mental impairment, past DUIs or drug abuse may be relevant as well as an invalid license, in the company’s liability.

In Georgia, a driver is automatically considered incompetent if he or she does not possess a valid driver’s license for the type of motor vehicle in question.

Fatigue remains a major cause of deaths and injuries on the roads of cities such as Marietta, Rome, Cartersville and Dallas.

Recently our experienced Atlanta car and truck accident injury lawyers reported on how the Fed­eral Motor Car­rier Safety Admin­is­tra­tion has taken new steps to improve the med­ical cer­ti­fi­ca­tion regime of truck drivers in an effort to reduce the number of deaths caused by tiredness.

The National Sleep Foundation’s 2005 Sleep in America poll, found 60 percent of adult drivers – amounting to about 168 million people – admit to have driven a vehicle while feeling drowsy in the 12 months before the survey, and 37 percent or 103 million people, have fallen asleep at the wheel.

The survey found about 13 percent of these drivers said they have done so at least once a month. Four percent – about 11 million drivers – admitted they had an accident or a close call because they dozed off or were too tired to drive.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates about 100,000 police-reported crashes are the direct result of driver fatigue each year leading to 1,550 deaths, 71,000 injuries, and $12.5 billion in financial losses.

And this may underplay the effects of drowsy driving because police do not always know if a crash was caused by sleepiness.

If you have been hurt in a car crash or a fam­ily mem­ber has been killed, you should con­sider con­tact­ing an expe­ri­enced Atlanta, GA injury attor­ney. Call toll free at (800) 900‑2400 or locally at (770) 955‑3000 for an absolutely free and com­pletely con­fi­den­tial consultation.

I am sad to report another pedestrian has been killed on an infamous stretch of highway.

Arthur Horne, 38, was killed trying to cross Austell Road just north of Hicks Road, Marietta Patch reported.

The thoughts of our Georgia car accident injury lawyers are with the family of Mr. Horne.

This was at least the fourth time in the space of two months that a pedestrian has been killed in Cobb County. In all of these deaths the pedestrian was not using a crosswalk.

According to Cobb County police, the victim walked into the path of a Volkswagen Jetta heading south that was driven by Claudia Hopkins, 22, of Austell about 6 p.m. on April 27, 2012. Investigators said the driver was not hurt and is not expected to be charged, according to Marietta Patch.

Just over two months earlier, Wendy Nolan of Austell was fatally struck by a Toyota Corolla as she attempted to cross Austell Road south of Floyd Road on Feb. 24, just over two miles south of the spot where Horne was killed.

February, 2012 was a grim month for pedestrians in and around Marietta. The victims included a 50-year-old man who died on February 25 near Southern Polytechnic and Charles Collins of Smyrna, a former McEachern football coach, on February 23.

On the same day Preston Lee Hester, a visitor from Greensboro, NC, was seriously injured on Powder Springs Road at Oxford Road, Marietta Patch reported.

Police have highlighted the importance of pedestrians using crosswalks in the wake of this spate of fatal pedestrian accidents in Cobb County and the drivers are unlikely to face criminal charges.

When pedes­tri­ans are hit the first question that’s usually asked is whether the vic­tim was walk­ing on a crosswalk?

It’s a relevant ques­tion to crim­i­nal charges as well as a civil law­suit. But the very fact that a vic­tim was not on a cross­walk does not mean his or her fam­ily will be unsuc­cess­ful in a wrong­ful death law­suit.  In fact, vic­tims or their fam­i­lies have been awarded considerable sums in lawsuits in the past for per­sonal injury acci­dents or deaths to pedes­tri­ans that have been away from cross­walks, although an award may be impacted by the behav­ior of the victim.

It’s certainly not a charter for driver to fail to take corrective action if they see a pedestrian who is not on a crosswalk.

The short­age of cross­walks in Cobb County is another issue that has been high­lighted in recent years, after the tragic death of 4-year-old A.J. Newman. The latest fatality was just over a mile from the place on Austell Road where the child was killed two years ago.

Despite a local campaign, the Geor­gia Depart­ment of Trans­porta­tion has resisted pres­sure to install cross­walks on the stretch of Austell Road where the child was killed in 2010.

If you have been hurt or you have lost a loved one on the high­ways, con­tact an expe­ri­enced Mari­etta per­sonal injury attor­ney today. Call toll free at (800) 900‑2400 or locally at (770) 955‑3000 for an absolutely free and com­pletely con­fi­den­tial consultation.

As experienced Marietta personal injury attorneys we see far fewer boating accidents than car wrecks. But lakes and rivers are more dangerous places than many of us realize and some of the same rules apply as to the roads

A recent fatal accident on Lake Lanier that killed a Duluth man and seriously injured another person, has served as a reminder of some of the hidden dangers of boating in our state.

The accident occurred on the weekend of April 20, 2012.  A speed boat hit the front of a pontoon boat, according to DNR investigator Stephen Adams, AccessNorthGa.com reported.

Speed played a part in this horrific crash, according to investigators. They said the pontoon boat was badly damaged by the impact.

Adams said the 59-year-old victim, Stephen Blake Jones, and a woman who has not been identified, were sitting at the front of the boat when it was hit by the speedboat near Habersham Marina.

The two people in the speed boat suffered minor injuries. It’s not yet clear if charges will be brought. It will take about a month to complete the investigation.

The crew of the speed boat Steven Parker, 32, and Ashley LeBlanc, 30, from Cumming, told investigators they were crossing the lake in their 21-foot ski boat when they hit an unknown object in the water.

Adams said there are many factors to consider in the case because the accident occurred late at night.

Investigators look at a number of factors such as the speed the boat was traveling, who had the right of way, whether there were lights on the vessels and whether alcohol was consumed.

Many of the considerations are similar to those that come into play in the case of traffic accidents on Georgia’s roads.

Although parts of northern Georgia are some way from the coast a number of lakes make it a boater’s paradise. They include Lake Lanier, Allatoona, Jackson and Blue Ridge. They are used by recreational boaters including jet skiers and speed boats as well as fishermen.

Although there are far fewer accidents on the waterways of Atlanta as there are on the roads the number of boating accidents in the United States every year reaches four figures.

For instance, according to the U.S. Coast Guard in 2009 there were 4,730 accidents that involved 736 deaths, 3,358 injuries and approximately $36 million dollars of damage to property as a result of recreational boating accidents.

 The fatality rate on America’s waterways was 5.8 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels.

 The figures point to a shocking level of complacency on our waterways. Almost three-fourths of all fatal boating accident victims drowned, and of those, 84 percent were not reported as wearing a life jacket.

 The most common types of vessels involved in reported accidents were open motorboats (46%), personal watercraft (22%), and cabin motorboats (14%).

 As experienced Marietta accident injury attorneys, we would urge boaters to take more precautions. Always formulate a float plan. Leave details of where you are going and provide contact information. You should always wear a life jacket on the water and avoid alcohol when you are behind the wheel of a boat.

 If you or a loved one has been involved in a boating acci­dent con­tact a skilled Geor­gia per­sonal injury lawyer with The Keener Law Firm.  770–955‑3000.

As an experienced Marietta wrongful death attorney the findings of this report concern me greatly. Among the victims were five members of a Cobb County church. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported the church is still struggling to come to terms with the aftermath of this terrible crash.

The report was ordered by the state of Florida in the wake of a series of deadly crashes on I-75 in the early hours of January 29, 2012.

“The Florida Highway Patrol committed multiple errors before the accidents, including a failure to effectively monitor the conditions on Interstate 75 as visibility worsened for motorists,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

The report found the problems on the highway began the day before the accident when a fire burned in an area called Paynes Prairie on the afternoon of Jan. 28.

As an experienced Atlanta car accident attorney, I’m concerned that clear warning signs were downplayed and ignored. Between 11 p.m. and midnight on Jan. 27, 2012, in dense smoke, there was a six-vehicle crash and a three-vehicle crash.

These incidents led the Alachua County Sheriff’s office to close parts of Interstate 75 and nearby U.S. Highway 441.

The LA Times reported that around 3:26 a.m., Highway Patrol Lt. John Gourley decided to reopen I-75, after evaluating conditions, which, the report states, “appeared to be favorable toward restoring the flow of traffic” — at least in the short term.

Shortly afterwards numerous other crashes occurred in thick smoke, involving 25 vehicles. These crashes left 11 people dead.

The crashes involved about 12 cars, pickup trucks, a van, six tractor trailers and a motorhome. Reports said there were six crashes in total. Some vehicles involved caught fire, making it difficult for the authorities to identify the dead. Eighteen people were hospitalized.

The Igreja da Restauracao Restoration Church, a Brazilian church in Cobb County, lost five members of its congregation in the crash. They were traveling in a church van that was involved in one of the crashes. Lidiane Carmo, 15, was the only member of her immediate family to survive a van crash she doesn’t remember.

“The report is nothing new for us,” Roger Pacheco, a church member, told the AJC, after the release of the report. “For us, it’s just official. It’s on paper.”

The report from the State of Florida questioned the level of training given to Gourley. It pointed out he had not been trained in road closures and re-opening in the event of poor visibility. However, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement report found no criminal wrongdoing in his actions.

The report called for changes to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

“Immediate changes should be made to FHP policy and an evaluation of the state’s roadway signage and monitoring capabilities should occur,” the report states.

Although criminal charges are unlikely to result from the Florida investigation, official confirmation that state police erred in reopening the interstate, is likely to bolster the case made by parties bringing wrongful death lawsuits or claims made over serious injuries.

This high profile wreck made headlines but there are numerous other fatal crashes on the roads around Marietta, Douglasville, Cartersville and Rome, GA., that receive little attention.

The National Safety Coun­cil keeps some alarm­ing sta­tis­tics about traffic acci­dents. About 40 per­cent of all unin­tended injuries in peo­ple aged 20 or over are the result of auto acci­dents, the coun­cil stated in a recent report.

Coun­cil data reveals in 2005 Amer­ica saw 45,800 motor vehi­cle related deaths. Another 2.4 mil­lion “dis­abling injuries” resulted from vehi­cle wrecks in the same year. Accord­ing to another safety orga­ni­za­tion, the Amer­i­can Safety Coun­cil, a per­son dies on America’s roads an aver­age of about every 12 minutes.

It’s disturbing enough when drivers fail to pay attention on the roads, or are distracted or drive after consuming alcohol. It’s even more alarming when the highway authorities which are meant to protect drivers, fall short in their duty, as was seen with tragic consequences in Florida earlier this year.

If you have been hurt in a car crash or a family member has been killed, you should con­sider con­tact­ing an expe­ri­enced Atlanta, GA injury attor­ney. Call toll free at (800) 900‑2400 or locally at (770) 955‑3000 for an absolutely free and com­pletely con­fi­den­tial consultation.

In both of these cases the children were very young and the roads were busy ones or were close to major highways. As an Atlanta car accident injury lawyer I am relieved these children were not injured by their frightening ordeals.

Lisbeth Guzman-Lopez, a 20-year-old mother from Smyrna in Cobb County, is accused of leaving children, aged 2 and 3, alone at an apartment on Lincoln Trace Avenue as she was getting water from a store on April 10, 2012, the Marietta Daily Journal reported.

“The children were able to get out of the apartment and were picked up by Officer Snow of the Cobb County Police Department walking down Herodian Way … a four-lane roadway,” a warrant for the mother’s arrest stated.

Herodian Way is off Cobb Parkway. Police say it’s a busy road. Guzman-Lopez has been charged with felony second-degree cruelty to children.

A second case involved an even younger child. Gregory Marvin Olvey from Powder Springs, has been charged with letting his one-year-old wander onto Paris Avenue which is close to Hiram-Lithia Springs Road in Powder Springs in Cobb County on the evening of April 13, 2012.

Police said they were contacted by a member of the public who said a young child was seen walking down Paris Avenue.

The Marietta Daily Journal reported Olvey was found by police driving a vehicle with the child in the back seat and an odor of alcohol on his breath, according to a warrant for his arrest.

Olvey has been charged with a misdemeanor of contributing to the deprivation of a minor.

As a Marietta pedestrian accident injury lawyer, I see many cases in which walkers are hit and killed on the roads around Marietta, Smyrna and Rome.

Even adults have been unable to avoid fatal accidents on occasions. In March, 2012, Thomas Franklyn Tru­itt, of Ranger, allegedly hit and killed Nor­man G. Koehn, 59 of Kansas, as well as his van near the Hick­ory Grove Road over­pass on I-75 in Cobb County. Police issued a warrant for his arrest.

In February, 2012 three pedestrians were killed in as many days in the Marietta area.

Not only does Marietta have fast and dangerous roads but the city has come under criticism for a perceived lack of crosswalks.

The short­age of cross­walks in the Mari­etta area was highlighted after the tragic death of 4-year-old A.J. Newman.

However, The Geor­gia Depart­ment of Trans­porta­tion has to date resisted pres­sure to install cross­walks on the stretch of Austell Road where the child was killed in 2010.

If you are a pedestrian who has been injured in Geor­gia or a loved one has been hurt or killed, call the Geor­gia injury experts at The Keener Law Firm, 770–955‑3000, or visit the web­site at KeenerLaw.com.

 If you are involved in a crash with a big rig, chances are your injuries will be more severe than those in a crash with a lighter vehicle, and you may not survive at all.

 Every year, in excess of 5,000 peo­ple die and about 100,000 peo­ple are injured on the roads as a result of crashes involving big trucks. “In the last ten years, 56,935 peo­ple have died and a mil­lion more were injured in truck crashes in com­mu­ni­ties across the coun­try,” said Jackie Gillan, vice pres­i­dent of Advo­cates for High­way and Auto Safety.

 Often the victims suffer severe trauma, such as the 43-year-old woman who was struck by a tractor trailer outside Dad’s Restau­rant in Lavo­nia in Sep­tem­ber, 2012.

Our truck accident injury lawyers in Marietta, GA, recently highlighted concerns that truckers are spending more hours behind the wheel.

In a bill passed in 2003 and changed in 2005, 18-wheeler dri­vers are permitted to drive 11 con­sec­u­tive hours, an increase on the 10-hour max­i­mum estab­lished since 1939. Statistics released by the safety groups show deaths in big rig acci­dents increased 3.1% in 2004 over 2003.

For some time we have been concerned about the health of drivers of these big rigs that thunder along on the roads of Cartersville, Douglasville, Marietta, Rome and other cities.

The lifestyle of long-haul drivers is often not congruent with a healthy lifestyle such as good diet and exercise. Ailments such as obesity, sleep apnea, and other serious conditions are far too common in long distance truck drivers.

Now after numerous horrific crashes the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has taken new steps to improving the medical certification regime of drivers.

Regulations brought in in 2009 required states to maintain records linking medical certifications, medical examiner certifications, and commercial drivers’ license records.

Copies of these documents must be maintained in trucking companies’ driver qualification file. The rule was being phased in be fully implemented by that start of 2012.

At the end of 2011, the federal government passed a final rule for commercial vehicle drivers relating to their hours of service. This important new rule governs the amount of time truck or commercial vehicle operators can spend on the road.

It means drivers will be mandated to take rests. By limiting the number of hours drivers can spend on the roads in a given period, drivers will be forced to rest an adequate amount of time. This should minimize drowsiness behind the wheel and reduce the likelihood of an accident caused by big rig driver fatigue.

This revision to the rules that was finalized by the government in December 2011, brought in new limits of the time commercial truck drivers can spend behind the wheel.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration new hours of service (HOS) final rule reduces by 12 hours the maximum number of hours the driver of a truck can work within a week.

Under the previous rule, truck drivers could work on average up to 82 hours within a seven-day period. The new final hours of service rule limits a driver’s work week to 70 hours.

Additionally, truck drivers cannot drive after working eight hours without first taking a break of at least 30 minutes. Drivers can take the 30-minute break whenever they need rest during the eight-hour window.

“Trucking is a difficult job, and a big rig can be deadly when a driver is tired and overworked,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in a press release. “This final rule will help prevent fatigue-related truck crashes and save lives. Truck drivers deserve a work environment that allows them to perform their jobs safely.”

Commercial truck drivers and companies must comply with the HOS final rule by July 1, 2013.

As Marietta truck accident injury attorneys we welcome these new rules that can’t come soon enough on the roads of Georgia.

If you or a loved one has been involved in an acci­dent in which a truck driver has been to blame, con­tact a skilled Geor­gia per­sonal injury lawyer with The Keener Law Firm.  770–955‑3000.

As a Marietta head injuries lawyer, I am always concerned to hear about traumatic brain injuries because these kinds of injuries can be for life and leave a victim with long term medical needs.

In the latest lawsuit filed in Atlanta, Georgia, four former players claim the league failed in its duty to protect players from concussions that can lead to traumatic brain injuries. The lawsuit cited “bounties paid to New Orleans Saints players for hard hits evidence of the league’s violent culture,” USA Today reported.

In a new report CBS news said the Atlanta lawsuit could be “leading a wave of new lawsuits that cite the New Orleans Saints’ bounty system for hard hits as evidence that pro football didn’t properly protect its players from concussions.”

The former players bringing the action in Atlanta are Myron Guyton, Lomas Brown, Jessie Small and Willie Whitehead.

This lawsuit concerns me as an experienced Cartersville, GA brain injury attorney. The NFL is not the only league to have failed to take concussions seriously in the past. Athletes in schools and other leagues in cities such as Rome, Cartersville, Douglasville and Smyrna, have only woken up recently to the dangers posed by blows to the head.

New legislation to help protect students was introduced this year. Buddy Curry, a linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons in the 1980s, who showed up at the Capitol to support the bill, told reporters it was a “badge of honor’’ in the past to be seen as the toughest player on the field.

He suffered from several concussions and said after taking some “smelling salts,’’ he would return to the game.

Curry along with current Falcons players, testified on behalf on House Bill 673, legislation that was introduced in February, 2012 that would require school teams to remove a student who showed signs of having a concussion from a game.

The Atlanta lawsuit argues the NFL is setting a poor example. USA Today said the Saints’ “pay-for-pain system” showed that the league “explicitly relied on violence” and failed to inform or educate players about the dangers of concussions and head injuries.

NFL agent and Georgia lawyer Von DuBose filed the lawsuit on behalf of the four players and their wives. He said since they suffered concussions they have suffered from many problems ranging from memory loss, headaches, depression and other symptoms characteristic of TBIs.

The Atlanta lawsuit is just the tip of a growing iceberg. In excess of 1,000 former NFL players are suing the league, according to attorneys, and more appear to be poised to follow.

There are plenty of examples of how repeated blows to the head have proved tragic for football players. In 2011 former Chicago Bears star Dave Duerson committed suicide, leaving a note asking for his brain to be examined.

Scientists later said Duerson’s brain tissue showed “moderately advanced” evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a disease of the brain compared to dementia, that afflicts athletes exposed to repeated brain trauma.

As experienced Atlanta brain injury lawyers we are very concerned at the way leagues and other authorities only now seem to be realizing the dangers of concussions on the sports field, long after much of the damage has been done.

Brain injuries are some of most serious kinds of injuries we see as lawyers. Although symptoms may be fairly evident after an automobile wreck or an explosion in a war zone, athletes often don’t realize the effects of repeated blows to their head, until years after they retired.

If you or a loved one has experienced a brain injury from a car accident or on the sports field, you should consult an experienced Marietta brain and head injury lawyer.

Trau­matic brain injuries can often be blamed on the neg­li­gence of another motorist or a sporting organization. Or in other cases, a car man­u­fac­turer may be held respon­si­ble if it’s found that airbags are defec­tive, caus­ing them to deploy too late to pre­vent an individual’s head from hitting the wind­shield, dash­board or other poten­tially dan­ger­ous objects.

At The Keener Law Firm, our Atlanta per­sonal injury lawyers work aggres­sively to seek the jus­tice and full com­pen­sa­tion vic­tims of trau­matic brain injuries deserve. If you or a loved one has been the vic­tim of a seri­ous car wreck, call the Keener Law Firm at 770–955‑3000 for a free con­fi­den­tial con­sul­ta­tion today.

The dangers facing motorcyclists were again illustrated in a multivehicle crash that left a 74-year-old motorcyclist seriously injured after he lost control of his 2009 Honda Goldwing motorcycle on I-75 at the Allgood Road Bridge on April 14, 2012, Marietta Patch reported. The injuries to this motorcyclist were life threatening, police said.

As is the case with so many motorcycle accidents, it does not appear as if the rider was to blame.

Marietta police said a landscaping truck was traveling north on I-75 when it blew a tire. The motorcyclist, Roy Hendrix of Jasper, swerved to avoid the debris from the tire that was strewn across the highway, leading him to swerve and fall off his motorcycle.

According to reports a pickup truck carrying a trailer also swerved to avoid the tire. A third truck crashed into the motorcycle but did not hit the rider.

“The wreck and the resulting investigation shut down a couple of northbound lanes and backed up traffic on I-75 to Interstate 285 and the Cumberland Mall area for more than two hours,” Marietta Patch reported.

No charges are expected to be brought against the driver. However, as an Atlanta, GA products liability attorney, this crash raises the question as to why the tire failed.

In March, 2012, I wrote about a number of lawsuits that followed blow outs caused by defective tires, in some cases with tragic consequences.

When tires fail the con­se­quences can be horrific. Over the last few years there has been con­sid­er­able pub­lic­ity about Fire­stone tires that shred­ded on the road, at times with ter­ri­ble results.

Recently the lawyers act­ing for a couple from Indi­ana who were killed due to a defec­tive tire seven years ago in north­ern Geor­gia, said their clients have received an undis­closed set­tle­ment from the man­u­fac­turer, Bridge­stone Corp. in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of the couple.

In September, 2011, a 12-year-old Dou­glasville boy was killed after he was thrown from the fam­ily SUV, a 2005 Ford Excur­sion, in an accident caused by a tire blowing out.

These kinds of accidents usually occur through no fault of the driver. As a Marietta product liability attorney, I am becoming increasingly concerned about the high number of deaths and injuries that are linked to tires blowing out on the roads of Georgia.

In such cases a manufacturer or a workshop that has fitted the tires could be held accountable in subsequent litigation.

If you or a loved one has been involved in an acci­dent in which you feel that defects may have been to blame, con­tact a skilled Geor­gia per­sonal injury lawyer with The Keener Law Firm.  770–955‑3000

As an experienced Marietta, GA injury lawyer I’m glad to see these kinds of lessons because electric shock injuries and fatalities are more common than many of us believe.

Linemen Matt Brown and Jeremy McBrayer attended a career day at Kincaid Elementary which was intended to teach Marietta kindergartners to be safe around electricity, Marietta Patch reported.

The lesson was taught to six classes, totaling 135 students. Students were instructed on how to call 911 if they saw downed power lines. They also learned lessons in electric safety in the home.

As a Georgia electric shock injury lawyer, I believe it’s important to educate children about the dangers of electricity.

The fact we can’t see electricity in the way we can see many other hazards we deal with as experienced Atlanta personal injury attorneys, makes it so potentially dangerous.

But if you are working on your home, your car or are the parent of a small child, the danger of an electric shock or electrocution is always present.

Inevitably those who work with electricity on a daily basis are most at risk. They include Construction workers and electricians.  We see a number of lawsuits brought by construction workers who have been severely injured by an electrical shock in a working environment that is not as safe as it should be. Sadly in some cases an electric shock leads to death. This is known as electrocution.

In March, 2012 the New York Times reported on how Verizon had been fined more than $140,000 for safety violations that resulted in the electrocution death of a technician in Brooklyn.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration “found that Verizon repeatedly failed to abide by safety rules in place to protect its workers, and issued 10 citations against the company,” the New York Times reported.

In cases like this there is clear cause for a wrongful death lawsuit against a company that has failed to put adequate safety measures in place.

The construction industry sees the highest number of electric shock injuries, accounting for about 52 percent of electrocutions, according to the International Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI). 

When workers are injured by electricity, at the very least, a work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion claim can be filed with the employer. In these cases the employer’s work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion insur­ance covers the expenses, includ­ing med­ical expenses, lost wages and reha­bil­i­ta­tion for rel­a­tively sim­ple injuries.

When injuries are more serious, the employer may also pay for ongo­ing reha­bil­i­ta­tion costs, per­ma­nent dis­abil­ity income if the worker is unable to return to work, and com­pen­sa­tion for suf­fer­ing and pain. Your work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion attor­ney in Decatur and Marietta can help you file for work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion, and avoid the need for a stressful battle with the insurance company.

In other cases members of the public have been hurt or killed by wires. While electric companies are well aware of the dangers, they often fail to properly install or maintain wires. Although Georgia is prone to hurricanes and tornadoes, if power lines are brought down because they are in a poor condition and somebody is injured, there is a basis for a lawsuit.

The courts have held power companies have a duty to protect the general public. Power lines should not sag or run too closely to homes.

In a recent lawsuit, a Yankees fan filed a $2 million action against Yankees Stadium in New York, after she received a serious shock when she stepped on a metal hatch with a wire running coming out of it at the stadium’s Hard Rock Café.

The victim said the shock has left her with a raft of symptoms including memory loss, headaches and post-traumatic stress disorder. There have been a number of lawsuits brought over shocks suffered at public arenas such as stadiums as well as at hotels where guests have been shocked by malfunctioning electrical appliances.

THE EFFECTS OF AN ELECTRIC SHOCK

Electric shock injuries can cause numerous problems for victims that ensure their lives may never be the same again.  The nervous system is very sensitive to electric shock injuries, and serious neurological damage is common with these kinds of injuries.

Electric shocks can harm the victim’s respiratory and cardiovascular systems at the time of the shock. Electricity may paralyze a respiratory system or affect the heart causing cardiac arrest and instant death.

An electric shock injury can also cause blood clots and damage to smaller vessels, leading to amputation of a limb.

Powerful electric shocks can cause extremely violent muscle spasms that can shatter and dislocate bones.

Burns are another common effect of an electric shock. Burns are caused by electric current going through bone or body tissues. Arc or flash burns are a result of extreme temperatures near the body. They are produced by an electric arc or an explosion.

If you or a loved one has suffered from an electric shock, call the Geor­gia injury experts at The Keener Law Firm, 770–955‑3000, or visit the web­site at KeenerLaw.com.

One council member has expressed a concern that residential neighborhoods are being used as cut through routes by motorists who are seeking to get to Atlanta.

“I get more phone calls about this than by far anything else in the city,” Councilman Johnny Sinclair, who requested the issue be put on the council agenda, told the Marietta Daily Journal. “This whole safety of our streets and quality of life in the neighborhoods has become a major issue.”

But bringing about change is not a straightforward process. Marietta’s existing policy on speed hump policy requires 65 percent of property owners in the neighborhood that would receive the speed humps to vote in favor of them before the council will consider allowing their installation.  And a failure to vote is counted as a no vote.

Sinclair has proposed an easing of that restriction by not counting the property owners who do not vote on the petition as “no” votes. It’s a change that could make a major difference, if backed.

Patrick Thompson, a resident of Rambo Estates, told the Marietta Daily Journal speed humps in his neighborhood would slow down drivers who cut through the residential streets on their route to and from Atlanta.

“I’ve seen cars treat our road like a drag strip,” Thompson told the newspaper.

These comments are of concern because areas like Rambo Estates have many children and elderly residents. If drivers are rushing through these streets to and from Atlanta there’s a considerable potential for personal injury accidents as well as deaths.

In a recent article our Marietta car accident injury lawyers wrote how three pedestrians were killed in as many days in the city.

In residential neighborhoods a few miles an hour can be the difference between life and death.

Speed is one of the biggest killers on the roads of Georgia. Excessive speed is a factor in about a third of all road deaths nationally.

In 1998 alone, almost 42,000 people were killed in traffic crashes and nearly 3.2 million more were injured by excess speed, at a cost of over $150 billion to the national economy.

A national mandated speed limit was abolished in 1995. A report of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) noted after Congress abolished the speed limit the “speeding-related fatalities have been gradually increasing on roads with speed limits of 65 mph and above.”

 The number of deaths has been more stable on roads with a speed limit under 50 mph.

In a recent article I noted teenage drivers and those in their 20s are most likely to be involved in an accident. The most significant risk factors include distracted driving, excess speed, driving under the influence and failing to stop at a red light.

Speed humps can help reduce speeds in residential areas because they force drivers to slow down. Marietta’s public works department has received about 50 requests for humps. However, some council members have expressed concerns about the humps saying they are intrusive.

If you or some­one you love has been injured or killed in Geor­gia because of excess speed, call the Geor­gia injury experts at The Keener Law Firm, 770–955‑3000, or visit the web­site at KeenerLaw.com.

Georgia has experienced four cases of salmonella poisoning, with one of them in Cobb County, MariettaPatch reports.

Although no deaths have been reported 10 people have been hospitalized. Federal agencies have launched an investigation to seek a possible cause of the outbreak. Almost 70 percent of the people interviewed so far say they ate some kind of sushi within a week of getting sick. The infection has been tracked to an unusual strain of salmonella called Salmonella Bareilly.

As injury lawyers in Marietta, we are concerned about this latest outbreak. Food poisoning is often linked to poor hygiene or bad practices at a production facility.

In one of the worst food poisoning outbreaks in recent years in 2009 more than 500 people fell ill from salmonella from eating peanut butter. Tragically there were nine deaths, resulting in wrongful death lawsuits.

Despite evidence of poor hygiene, criminal charges were not brought against officials from the company linked to the outbreak — Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) of Lynchburg, Virginia. Wrongful death lawsuits were filed, in this case.

An outbreak of listeria poisoning traced back to cantaloupes in 2011 proved to be even more deadly, causing at least 16 deaths in 18 states. This was the deadliest food poisoning outbreak in the US in more than a decade.

The cantaloupes were grown at Jensen Farms in Colorado, which was later hit by lawsuits from food poisoning victims.

And it may not just have been the producers who were to blame in this case,

A report by the Associated Press said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found “serious design flaws” and a “lack of awareness” about safety standards at Jensen Farms.

“Congressional investigators found the company that conducted a July safety audit at the farm, Bio Food Safety, gave it near-perfect marks despite finding three ‘major deficiencies’,” AP reported.

Food poisoning is more common than many of us imagine. In 2010 about 48 million people fell ill in the United States due to food poisoning, resulting in about 3,000 deaths.

Negligence in the manufacture and preparation of food is often a cause. The problems may occur with the manufacturer or in the kitchen of a restaurant. Sadly very often the scale of the problem is not realized until people have fallen sick.

Symptoms of salmonella food poisoning include sickness, persistent diarrhea, dehydration, severe abdominal cramps and pain.  Symptoms often begin to surface between 12 hours and three days after eating infected food.

While most of us will get over salmonella poisoning, infants, the elderly and those with conditions such as diabetes or weak immune systems, may not survive.

We hope the latest salmonella outbreak will be contained and the source of the infection will be tracked down.

If you have suffered from severe food poisoning in Georgia that has affected your health or a loved one’s life has been claimed by food poisoning, call the Geor­gia injury experts at The Keener Law Firm, 770–955‑3000, or visit the web­site at KeenerLaw.com.

The charging station was unveiled by GE Energy and Mayer Electric, the Marietta Daily Journal reported. The new station means drivers of electric vehicles will be able to charge their cars without a cost at Mayer Electric’s branch location.

“We are supporting the adoption of plug-in electric vehicles in the metro Atlanta area as well as the businesses that are directly tied to this new industry,” Dave Karr, sales manager of GE Energy Industrial Solutions, told the Marietta Daily Journal.

While I welcome this new greener technology as a Marietta auto injury lawyer, I have some concerns about the safety record of this new generation of cars.

Two electric cars currently dominate the market. They are the Nissan Leaf, which is a 100 percent electric car, and the Chevrolet Volt, which can switch between electricity and gasoline.

In 2011 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation after a series of fires in the batteries of Volts during testing.

These fires were caused by a coolant leak that occurred after the battery pack was punctured during side impact testing conducted by the NHTSA.

The Los Angeles Times recently reported General Motors (GM) is now making modifications to the Volt after a number of fires. These occurred after the safety tests when coolant leaked, creating a short circuit, the newspaper reported.

The safety agency ended its investigation after GM detailed the changes it would make to the Volt. The agency stated it “remains unaware of any real-world crashes that have resulted in a battery-related fire involving the Chevy Volt or any other electric vehicle. NHTSA continues to believe that electric vehicles show great promise as a safe and fuel-efficient option for American drivers.”

Although the federal agency is now satisfied, as a Marietta car accident injury attorney who sees many examples of defects in cars, this spate of fires was clearly a cause for concern.

For now the investigation seems to have allayed some of the fears in the electric vehicle industry. Initially it was feared the Volt fires would lead to questions about the safety of lithium-ion batteries, which also power the Nissan Leaf.

Although the Volt episode raised safety concerns about electric cars, there are plenty of examples of recalls and defects in traditional gasoline powered cars, as well.

Toyota’s mass recalls were the most high profile example of the quality problem that’s dogged the auto industry in recent years. In 2010, Toy­ota, recalled more than eight mil­lion cars due to sud­den acceleration-related defects and brake prob­lems.

In some cases this problem has been linked to fatalities and wrongful death lawsuits.

Also in 2010 Toy­ota recall­ed its 2010 Lexus GX 460 sport-utility to fix the soft­ware in the sport util­ity vehicle’s sta­bil­ity con­trol sys­tem. This defect posed another threat to the safety of occupants and was deemed to constitute a rollover risk.

The move to greener vehicles may herald a new era in motoring. But there are few indications that cars will be safer to drive.

If you or some­one you love has been injured in Geor­gia because of a mal­func­tion in your car, call the Geor­gia injury experts at The Keener Law Firm, 770–955‑3000, or visit the web­site at KeenerLaw.com.

It’s bad enough to be involved in a fatal accident. But cases in which the at-fault driver fails to take responsibility for his or her actions and flees the accident scene, are even harder to comprehend and add to the misery of the deceased person’s family.

Recently an arrest warrant for vehicular homicide was issued for a motorist who is accused of hitting and killing a man while he stood in the emergency lane of I-75 in Cobb County, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.

The newspaper reported Thomas Franklyn Truitt, of Ranger, allegedly hit 59-year-old Norman G. Koehn of Kansas, as well as his van on March 21, 2012 near the Hickory Grove Road overpass on I-75 in Cobb County.

The victim was standing in an emergency lane next to his Dodge Caravan. Cobb County police said he died from injuries sustained in the wreck.

“Truitt, who was driving a Saturn L200 on a suspended license, ran away from the crash scene, the warrant states,” the AJC reported.

As experienced Marietta, GA auto accident injury attorneys, we are saddened by the circumstances of this case.

Police officers found drugs such as methamphetamine as well as prescription drugs following a search of the Saturn that hit Mr. Koehn, the AJC reported.

Hit and run cases are more common than many of us realize. While drivers may feel it’s a good idea to escape the accident scene, the justice system usually catches up with them and imposes even tougher penalties than they would have faced for the crash.

In another hit and run case to hit the headlines in recent days in Georgia, A man was arrested in Charlotte, NC over an accident that left a driver who stopped by the roadside to help another driver, with serious injuries.

Miguel Sanchez-Cruz, 40, has been wanted since the summer of 2011 by Gwinnett County police in Georgia, where he is accused of felony hit-and-run charges.

The Charlotte Observer reported in August 2011, Good Samaritan Caleb Graves had stopped by the road to help a stranded motorist in Norcross.

“Authorities said Graves was helping the driver push the vehicle out of an intersection when Sanchez-Cruz, who was driving a Nissan Altima, struck Graves, pinning him between the two vehicles,” the Charlotte Observer reported.

Sanchez-Cruz is accused of getting out of his car and fleeing the scene before police officers arrived. The victim ended up having one leg amputated and the other reconstructed as a result of this severe personal injury crash.

As a per­sonal injury lawyer in Atlanta I deal with many hit and run cases in an area including Marietta, Rome, Dallas and Douglasville, GA. In these cases a lawyer will help you recover dam­ages to help with your med­ical bills and other recov­ery expenses. We’ll help you recover money to com­pen­sate for pain and suf­fer­ing, com­pen­sate for lost wages as a result of lost work due to the acci­dent, and much more.

Although the other dri­ver fled the scene after the acci­dent, and engaged in what is normally con­sid­ered to be crim­i­nal behav­ior, that driver’s insur­ance com­pany will still do every­thing pos­si­ble to lower the amount of com­pen­sa­tion you receive as a result of the acci­dent. There­fore, the insurer may offer you a set­tle­ment right away, hop­ing to appease you and get you to close the case quickly.

It’s seldom a good idea to accept an offer at this stage because the case has an exac­er­bat­ing cir­cum­stance in that the other dri­ver left the scene of the acci­dent, and you have the right to pur­sue a case like this to its fullest extent so that you receive the money you deserve. If your injuries are very seri­ous or even dis­abling, as in the Gwinnett County case, you will need the money to cover your med­ical expenses, pain and suf­fer­ing, and per­haps to pro­vide income in the event you’re per­ma­nently dis­abled and won’t be able to return to work.

If you have been hurt in a car crash you should con­sider con­tact­ing an expe­ri­enced Atlanta, GA injury attor­ney. Call toll free at (800) 900‑2400 or locally at (770) 955‑3000 for an absolutely free and com­pletely con­fi­den­tial consultation.