Augusta, GA Personal Injury Law Blog

Driving a motor vehicle is a skill many of us take for granted. But a moment's inattention can lead to a serious auto accident, which can end lives or turn them upside down in an instant. It is not known if distraction was the cause of a head-on collision between two pickup trucks that occurred in southwest Georgia recently, but it is certainly a possibility. The wreck left one man dead and sent two others, including a small child, to the hospital.

The collision occurred on a Wednesday morning in Thomasville. A pickup truck driven by a Georgia man, with another man and a four-year-old child as passengers, was traveling westbound on Cairo Road. Another pickup, driven by a 38-year-old man, was traveling eastbound. For some reason the eastbound pickup crossed the center line and crashed head-on into the westbound vehicle.

Georgia's DUI law covers more than drunken driving. It also covers driving under the influence of legal or illegal drugs, if those affect the driver's ability to operate a vehicle safely. A recent arrest in North Augusta serves as a good illustration: a 24-year-old woman was arrested and jailed after a three-car wreck and charged with driving under the influence of prescription medications.

The DUI accident occurred at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and West Martintown Road. The woman was driving a 2000 Honda Civic when she rear-ended a 2008 Honda Fit at the traffic light. The collision caused the Honda Fit to crash into a Honda Odyssey.

When a person is injured or killed by a drunk driver, Georgia law imposes stiff criminal penalties on the drunk driver. In addition, the injured victim or family members of a victim who died have the right to bring a civil lawsuit against the drunk driver to recover damages for their loss.

But there are others besides the drunk driver who can be held responsible in the wake of a drunk driving accident. Georgia has criminal laws on the books that prohibit bars and restaurants from over-serving alcohol to a patron. Unfortunately, a recent TV news investigation showed that those laws are rarely enforced. This is in contrast to some other states, which periodically issue citations to bartenders for over-serving, and even conduct undercover operations to catch bartenders in the act.

Following too closely behind another vehicle - or tailgating - is a dangerous practice that has caused numerous accidents. According to the Georgia State Patrol, tailgating was the cause of a recent car accident in North Forsyth, Georgia that wrecked three cars and sent four people to the hospital.

The chain-reaction auto accident happened on GA 400 during the evening rush hour. Two vehicles were traveling north in the left lane, one behind the other. A third vehicle was also heading north in the right lane. As the vehicles slowed due to heavy traffic, the second vehicle in the left lane rear-ended the one in front of it. The collision propelled the leading vehicle into the right lane, where it hit the left side of the third vehicle. The first two cars ended up striking the cable barrier in the centerline of the roadway.