Car accidents

It can be difficult to remain calm after a car accident, especially when it appears to have been the other driver’s fault. However, remaining as calm as possible will allow you to think clearly and preserve evidence at the scene. This is important should you want to hire a Marietta auto accident lawyer and pursue a personal injury lawsuit.

Wait for the Police to Clear the Scene

Even if you assume that both you and the other driver are okay, never leave the scene of a car accident until directed to do so by the police. You must also exchange basic information with the other driver such as name and insurance policy details. Be sure to turn on your emergency flashers and drive your car to the shoulder of the road if possible.

Determine if Anyone Needs Medical Attention

Check each person in your vehicle for obvious injuries and ask if they’re okay. Never move a person who appears unconscious or who claims to have neck or back pain. Instead, do your best to keep that person calm and call 9-1-1. If you smell gas or your car is on fire, evacuate each person immediately while supporting his or her back, head, and neck to the best of your ability. Obtaining medical help is the priority at this point. You should wait to contact a Marietta auto accident lawyer until you’re more stable.

Giving a Statement to the Police

When a police officer arrives on the scene, he or she will ask for your driver’s license, insurance information, and a brief description of how the accident happened. You should be as factual as possible while not accepting blame or assigning it to the other driver. The police officer should also give you a business card with his or her name and badge number. You may need this information later if you want to obtain a copy of the police report from the accident.

Get Witness Statements and Take Pictures if Possible

If anyone who was not riding in either vehicle witnesses the accident, ask if they would be willing to provide you with a statement. This information will be useful later if you decide to pursue a personal injury lawsuit with help from a Marietta auto accident lawyer. The responding police officer will also obtain as many witness statements as possible, including from the passengers in both vehicles. However, statements from witnesses who were not in either vehicle tend to be the most useful since they don’t have a stake in the outcome.

If you carry a smartphone with a camera application, now is the ideal time to use it if your injuries don’t prevent you from doing so. Take pictures of the damage to your vehicle, the road conditions, and injuries you or any passengers suffered. This often proves to be the most valuable evidence for your Marietta auto accident lawyer to prove how the accident happened as well as the extent of your injuries.

You have two years from the date of the accident under Georgia law to file a personal injury lawsuit against the other party. We encourage you to contact Morrison & Hughes as soon as possible to get your case started.

While people sometimes assume that distracted driving only refers to talking on a cell phone or sending or reading text messages, the definition is actually much broader than that. Anything that takes the driver’s attention away from safe operation of the vehicle for even a second is considered distracted driving.

Common examples include reaching to change the radio dial, eating, operating a GPS system, and turning to talk to passengers in the car. However, it has been the experience of the Marietta auto accident attorney at Morrison & Hughes that texting is the most serious type of distraction of all. Continue reading

Recently, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety conducted a study of the most common distractions that are likely to occur while driving and distract the driver’s attention, thereby possibly leading to a car accident. Participants in the study performed a number of tasks in three different settings: (1) while not driving; (2) while driving in a simulator; and (3) while actually driving. The results of the study, beginning with the least distracting and progressing up to the most distracting, were not at all surprising to our Marietta auto accident lawyer. Here are the six most common driving distractions we see all the time. Continue reading

Recent economic forecast predictions state that interstate commercial trucking revenue will increase to approximately $1,200,000,000.00 by 2015. While this is undoubtedly great news for the trucking industry, the news isn’t so great for the drivers and passengers of cars, pickups, and SUVs that drive the same roads, since over 98% of all fatalities in truck vs car accidents consist of the drivers and/or occupants of the cars, pickups, and SUVs. If you or a family member have been injured in an collision with a semi-tractor trailer or other commercial truck, or if you’ve had a family member killed as a result of a collision with a commercial vehicle, you need to know and understand the following from a Marietta truck accident lawyer: Continue reading

You may be considering hiring a Marietta car accident lawyer if you have recently been in a car accident that caused significant injuries. You may also be considering representing yourself or simply paying your own out-of-pocket expenses even though someone else’s negligence caused your injuries and property damage. If you find yourself in this position, working with an experienced Marietta car accident lawyer is always your best bet. We discuss some of the reasons for making this statement below.

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Here’s a frightening statistic: Over 100,000 pedestrians a year in the U.S. are struck by vehicles.

Pedestrian injuries and fatalities are rising faster than ever before, according to a study by the Governors Highway Safety Association. “We are projecting the largest year-to-year increase in pedestrian injuries and fatalities since national records have been kept, and therefore we are quite alarmed,” said an author of the study. Continue reading