Attorney Douglas Herman on Auto Injury Laws in Georgia

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An accomplished legal professional, Douglas Herman began his legal career as an associate attorney at Caldwell and Kearns in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He has gained extensive litigation experience over the decades, and in 2018 joined the Hostilo Law Firm in Savannah, Georgia, as chief legal officer and litigation director. As an attorney, Douglas Herman focuses on serious injury cases, along with various additional types of personal injury cases, such as automobile accident injury cases.

Auto accidents are one of the most common personal injury cases. Several factors can lead to an auto accident, including driver inattention and reckless driving, and factor into how fault is determined. Georgia operates as an “at-fault” state for vehicle accidents, meaning that drivers must prove that other motorists broke a driving law and caused the collision. In many cases, this means proving negligence, such as distracted driving.

Per Georgia’s Department of Driver Safety, distracted drivers account for 46 percent of auto accidents with serious injuries, while 75 percent of traffic accident deaths involve either distracted driving, excessive speeds based on road conditions, or impaired driving. Other hallmarks of inattentive and negligent driving include running stop signs and red lights, making unsafe turns, tailgating, and texting or otherwise using a personal device while driving.

Due to the weight of cargo and the size of the vehicles, commercial truck accidents often lead to serious personal injuries and fatalities. Distracted driving with commercial vehicles is especially dangerous because large trucks require greater braking distances and more time to come to a full stop. Reckless driving can lead to steel, timber, and other heavy materials falling off of the truck and causing severe damage and injury.

Negligent truck drivers may violate common rules of the road, but they can also make unique violations. Examples range from failure to properly secure loads to exceeding limits on the number of driving hours over a set period. Commercial drivers must also closely adhere to vehicle inspection schedules, particularly when it comes to tires and brakes.

In some cases, driver injuries and damages are not the result of negligent motorists, but rather faulty equipment in defective vehicles. Faulty airbags cause many injuries and deaths, as do steering wheels, brakes, and computer systems. Car accidents caused by defective vehicles lead not only to personal injury cases, but also product liability cases (potentially mass torts that involve numerous plaintiffs against a single manufacturer).

Georgia’s at-fault system utilizes comparative negligence. This means that a person who experiences an injury can secure compensation following an accident even if they share some portion of blame. For example, if a court determines that a driver is entitled to $150,000 in damages, but is 20 percent responsible for the accident, the person can receive up to 80 percent ($120,000) in compensatory damages. The state’s modified comparative negligence law means a person’s negligence can never exceed 49 percent, otherwise the driver is not entitled to damages.

Visiting drivers should be aware of how Georgia’s comparative negligence rules work, especially drivers from neighboring states. While Georgia and Tennessee bar recovery for drivers with a fault of 50 percent or higher, South Carolina utilizes a 51 percent standard for claimants, meaning injured parties must account for less than 51 percent of fault to recover any damages.