There are some standard kinds of car accidents where the general facts may be a tip-off as to who was negligent and at fault. Making an improper left turn in front of an oncoming vehicle is a prime example of a simple car accident in Georgia and elsewhere that almost always is negligence by the person making the turn. For some inexplicable reason, probably our incessant need to hurry and rush somewhere, drivers repetitively try to make risky left turns from a highway onto a side road when traffic approaches from the opposite direction.
Of course, that oncoming traffic has the right-of-way, and a driver must yield until the road ahead is clear. For example, a recent Georgia accident occurred on U.S. Highway 29 when a Ford Explorer that was traveling northbound tried to make a left turn onto Kelley Farm Road. Unfortunately, the Explorer turned directly in front of an oncoming 2006 Toyota Corolla traveling southbound.
The Corolla struck the Explorer on the passenger’s side, which caused the Explorer to tip on its side while sliding into a 2003 Dodge ram stopped at a stop sign on Kelley Farm Road. The driver of the Corolla was taken to Piedmont Newnan Hospital with a possible head injury and numerous cuts from broken glass. The 4-year-old son of the driver of the Explorer was also transported to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, possibly as a precautionary measure.
Georgia authorities noted a pending failure to yield violation would go to the woman who was driving the Explorer in this car accident. The Corolla driver has a personal injury claim against the Explorer driver. This allows one to recover damages such as pain and suffering, loss of life’s pleasures, lost wages, medical bills, and loss of permanent earning capacity, if any of those are applicable. A closed-head concussion is always a potential development if a driver sustains head trauma in the accident. A concussion is a form of brain injury that should be closely monitored, and fully documented for presentation as part of a settlement demand against the negligent party.
Source: The Newnan Times-Herald, Two taken to hospital after three-vehicle wreck, Wes Mayer, Aug. 24, 2013
