Category Archives: Auto Accidents

Common accidents that cause injuries

Every day, individuals suffer personal injuries in motor vehicle accidents that could have been prevented. Automobile accidents can result in a range of injuries, many of which are serious and could lead to death. If your accident was caused by negligence, a lawyer from our firm can help you seek compensation for any injuries you endured.

When you suffer a personal injury in an auto accident

If negligence was a factor in your motor vehicle accident, the negligent driver can be held accountable for head and back injuries and any other harm you suffered. A car accident lawyer can help you file a claim and determine how the driver was responsible. The driver of a car, truck or other vehicle might be found negligent for any of the following:

Becoming distracted

Becoming fatigued

Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs

Failing to obey the speed limit or other traffic regulation

Aggressive driving

When negligence is the cause, any crash can be a fatal car accident. The most common types of collisions resulting from negligence, as reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), are as follows:

Rear-impact­ — The NHTSA reports rear-ending and other rear-impact accidents as the most common type of collision — 29.6 percent of all crashes are rear-impact. Often, these types of collisions have to do with misuse of brakes, malfunctioning brakes or following too closely.

Side-impact — Side-impact accidents account for 28.9 percent of all crashes, according to the NHTSA. These often occur when drivers change lanes without checking their mirrors or run a red light or stop sign.

Run-off — Run-offs are also common, accounting for 16.1 percent of all automobile accidents. They usually involve only one car. The driver becomes distracted, falls asleep at the wheel, or intentionally swerves to avoid hitting an animal or other vehicle on the road.

Rollovers — Rollovers are less common, only accounting for 2.3 percent of all accidents, according to the NHTSA. They often occur due to sharp turns and particularly with tall vehicles like trucks and SUVs that have higher centers of gravity. Rollovers can also happen as a result of high-impact rear, side or head-on collisions.

Head-on collisions — Even though head-on collisions only account for 2 percent of all crashes, they often cause the most serious injuries and property damage. They often occur when a driver goes down a one-way street in the wrong direction, boards the wrong entrance on a highway or crosses a double line while asleep at the wheel or intoxicated.

When a reckless driver is responsible for your car crash  

Speeding and reckless drivers cause serious accidents every day. In fact, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), reckless driving contributes to a significant portion of the 6 million motor vehicle accidents that occur every year in the United States. Speeding plays a role in approximately 30 percent of all fatal auto accidents, while other types of reckless behaviors are a factor in about 33 percent of fatal accidents. If you or your loved one was injured in a reckless driving or speeding accident, a skilled lawyer from our firm can help you obtain fair compensation for the physical injuries, medical costs, property damage, lost wages, and emotional pain and suffering you endured as a result.

Types of reckless driving

For nearly 30 years, our firm has represented clients injured in a wide variety of speeding and reckless driving accidents. Our firm works with you to determine damages in a settlement and advocates for you in court if necessary.

Serious and fatal accidents involving reckless drivers often include the following factors:

Speeding — Traveling faster than 80 miles per hour or more than 20 mph above the posted speed limit

Racing — Using a public road or highway to race vehicles

Negligence when yielding — Failing to observe right-of-way rules and stop signs

Obstructed view — Driving a car, truck or other vehicle without the ability to properly use mirrors, windows and windshields to view the road, usually as a result of excess passengers or cargo

Lane violations — Weaving in and out of lanes unnecessarily or passing another automobile on a single-lane road

When we use public transportation or share the road with public transportation vehicles, we trust bus drivers and those responsible for bus maintenance to consider our safety. But bus drivers sometimes fail to properly operate their vehicles, and buses may malfunction due to lack of upkeep. Any resulting accidents can cause serious injury to many people. our firm advocates for pedestrians, passengers and other motorists who are injured in bus accidents resulting from a bus driver’s or a transportation company’s negligence. We help clients obtain fair compensation for all medical costs, property damage, wage loss, and emotional pain and suffering associated with their bus accident injuries.

About bus accidents

Because they carry so many travelers at once, buses have the potential to injure a number of people in a single accident. In fact, data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) showed 24,000 individuals were injured in 11,000 crashes. All types of buses were included in this statistic, including the following:

MARTA buses

Commercial coaches (Peter Pan, Megabus, Greyhound, etc.)

Airport shuttles

School buses

Tour buses

Church buses and vans with a capacity of more than 10 people

Prison buses

How does negligence play a role in bus accidents?

Bus drivers and bus companies can be found negligent and therefore liable for accidents and subsequent injuries, depending on the circumstances. For instance, bus drivers who are drunk when they cause accidents or who run red lights and hit pedestrians or other vehicles could be held liable. However, the bus company who hired the driver would be negligent if it failed to follow federal and state regulations for hiring personnel and performing maintenance on the fleet of vehicles and this failure caused a bus accident. If you believe your bus accident resulted from any of the following types of negligence, consult an injury lawyer to learn about your options for filing a claim:

Failure to check driving records and confirm bus license certifications

Lack of vehicle maintenance

Lack of proper driver training

Other bus company oversight

Overloaded buses

Failure of the driver to follow traffic signs and laws

Driver fatigue

Driver distraction

Driver criminal behavior