Some accidents can’t be avoided, no matter how careful a person drives. In one recent Georgia accident a Dearing woman was an innocent victim who could not avoid a truck accident in which her Chevrolet SUV was hit by a jack-knifing 18-wheeler. The scenario of events was started when a 43-year-old man ran his Ford Crown Victoria through a stop sign into the path of the truck that was heading north on Wrens Highway at McDuffie. When the truck crashed into the Ford, it jack-knifed and collided with the oncoming Chevrolet SUV.
The Georgia State Patrol investigated and presumably is still investigating the causes of this fatal accident. The injured SUV driver was flown to Georgia Regents Medical Center. The extent of her personal injury was described as serious but the nature of those injuries was not disclosed. The driver of the Ford was declared dead at the scene by the McDuffie County Coroner.
The truck driver was reported to be uninjured. The deceased man was from Irmo, South Carolina. The Georgia State Patrol special reconstruction team was at the scene along with motor carrier compliance division officers. No reports or conclusions have yet been issued regarding the fatal accident.
Under Georgia law pertaining to a truck accident or other vehicular accidents, a party whose carelessness substantially caused or contributed to the victim’s injuries is liable to pay compensation to that injured person. Here, the main focus of carelessness is on the Ford, which reportedly went through a stop sign into the truck’s path. The estate of the driver of the Ford is liable to pay compensatory damages to the seriously injured woman. Under modern tort laws, if the truck was even partially at fault it may also be held liable for payment of damages to the woman.
Source: The Augusta Chronicle, “McDuffie wreck kills S.C. man,” Donna Stillinger, May 21, 2013
