The impact rule in Georgia states that a parent cannot sue for their own emotional hell (and thus access the other $25,000.00 in the insurance policy unless: (1) the parent sustained a physical impact; (2) the impact caused physical injury to the parent; and (3) the parent sustained mental suffering or distress as a result of witnessing the injury or death. Lee et al. v. State Farm et al., 272 Ga. 583 (2000).

In our case, the mother sustained no impact at all and would be cut off from the other half of the insurance policy. Fortunately, the firm was able use the one existing exception, the pecuniary loss exception. The exception provides that where the surviving family member was in a car accident and their own car was damaged in the crash where the loved one died, they could seek a recovery for purely mental injuries. The court used the old legal theory that the at-fault driver had damaged (trespassed) property and therefore the emotional distress claim could bootstrap to the property damage claim.

I know, it is a stupid rule used to get around a another stupid rule, but in this case it will help a family to heal. This caveat will allow us to double the amount of insurance available on all of the policies.

A final thought for those of you that might read this and say, "well it's just money and it won't bring her back." The thing you must remember is that our system of compensation for injuries and death developed as a core tenet of civilization. In the dark ages, if a child was run down by a person, the family would extract revenge through physical violence. Justice was an "eye for an eye." As civilization stabilized, we realized that the violence would solve nothing and financial compensation evolved as the only safe and fair way to balance the scales. While no amount of money will ever compensate the family for losing their beautiful daughter, compensation has a huge effect on the family from a fairness standpoint. It is far from perfect, but it is the best system we have developed. This woman will be punished by the criminal justice system and the family will obtain some compensation through the civil justice system.

The legal effect is that the Judge will read the impeachment charge to the jury. A charge is a statement of the law by the judge to the jury. In this case he would tell the jury that they may legally choose to disregard all of the testimony of an impeached witness.

For a misdemeanor to come into evidence, the prior crime must be one that reflects on likelihood that the witness will lie, like a fraudulent credit car application charge or a perjury conviction for stating, "I did not have intercourse with that Lewinski woman." Felonies come into evidence if their probative value outweighs the prejudice it inspires. In my experience, most judges will let in a felony even though it fails the test.

Misdemeanor

A witness or party can be impeached through the introduction of a certified copy of their misdemeanor conviction of a crime involving “dishonesty or making a false statement.” The new Georgia law borrowed heavily from from the Federal Evidentiary Rule found in Rule 609(a)(2). (remember states make their own rules about what evidence comes in and it is different from what the Feds do)

The FRE (Federal Rule of Evidence) allows in evidence of conviction "if the elements of the crime required proof or admission of an act of dishonesty or false statement by the witness.”

Georgia Appeals courts have looked to how the Federal Appeals courts have interpreted the FRE in applying the "new" Georgia rule. This led to some shocking decisions.

The 11th Circuit has held that theft, robbery and shoplifting do not involve “dishonesty or false statements.” United States v. Sellers, 906 F2d 597, 603 (11th Cir. 1990). "I'm sorry, come again?"

Another confusing problem arose because the old Georgia rule allowed impeachment by crimes that involved "moral turpitude." In Adams v. State, 284 Ga. App. 534; 644 S.E.2d 426 (2007) the court held that the new statute overrides the old common law rule so the old "moral turpitude" rule is out.

Therefore misdemeanor crimes such as shoplifting will not impeach a witness. The Adams Court held for a crime to have "impeachment effect" the misdemeanor must be a crime that reflects on the witnesses' probability of telling the truth. Explain to me again how cheating and stealing are not crimes of dishonesty? Will someone please email me when the Court of Appeals starts making sense?

Felonies

O.C.G.A. §24-9-84.1(1) says that all crimes calling for punishment over 12 months will impeach a witness if the Judge decides that the probative value of admitting the evidence outweighs the prejudicial effect. In effect the legislature said "hey Judge, do what you want."

The new Georgia rule also states that convictions over 10 years old are usually not admitted unless the conviction has an evidentiary value so important that it outweighs the "staleness" of the conviction.

In summary, there will be less impeachment by both sides going forward and you may now steal that chocolate bar and consider yourself honest.

Does your job not require specialized skills?

Have you worked with the company for a long time?

Is your job one that a lot of people at the company do?

If you answered "yes" to a lot of these, you are probably protected by the overtime law. Employers have a variety of reasons for trying to call you an independent contractor but the bottom line is that a Rose by any other name is still a rose. Let's now look at the legal test:

Courts don't look at the employer's definition, the use the Economic Reality Test. What is the economic reality of the relationship? Are you economically dependent on the business or are you in business for yourself?

Economic Reality Test Factors:

1) The skill needed to do your job. More general it is, more likely employee

2) Amount of control your boss has on how your work is done. More control= more likely you are an employee.

3) Do you have a chance to profit or lose money as contractor or is income fixed?

4) Are you invested in the equipment at the business?

5) How long have you been working for these people. Shorter stint= less likely that you are an employee

6) Is the work you do a core part of their business. For example if they are in sales and you are in charge of IT to run the computers, it is more likely you are a contractor. On the other hand if they are in sales and you are a salesperson for them, then more likely to be an employee

In a nutshell, the biggest issue is how much does the company control what you do. If the company is micromanaging you, you are likely and employee and entitled to overtime under the FLSA

Nonetheless, there are countless scenarios where an employment relationship can exist, and the courts will normally look at all or some of the above factors in the particular facts of each situation. For example:

In fact, the donations will go directly to the family after the funerary and other family utilities are caught up.

The firm will continue to support the Campos family in their quest to raise awareness of the danger that can be posed by elderly drivers and to push for legislation requiring more frequent driving tests for the elderly. The woman that ran Karla down was 82 years old and claimed she hit the wrong pedal before she traveled 80 feet, half on the curb, past 3 stopped cars, to run the child down in front of her mother. This tragedy could have been prevented if the state had testing legislation in place.

Typically OCGA 33-7-11 requires that before you get a chance to recover from your uninsured motorist coverage, you are able to take a judgment against the defendant. For example, if your lawyer does not file the lawsuit against the other driver within the Georgia statute of limitations, you cannot go after your uninsured motorist coverage. The law says that you must be in a position to take a judgment against the bad guy that you in order to get to your UM coverage. In the Tinsley decision, the Court said that sovereign immunity bars suits against government employees and that makes them uninsured for purposes of the statute. In other words, you can sue them and your own uninsured motorist coverage will protect you against the loss. It is a very well thought out decision that protects consumers in the State of Georgia who might otherwise have no recourse.

I want to thank Jim Neuberger for bringing this case to my attention.

In Georgia, the owner of a tree is liable for injuries from a falling tree only if he knew or reasonably should have known the tree was diseased, decayed or otherwise constituted a dangerous condition. In other words, if you did not have a reason to know it was diseased (full leaves, looks fine) then it is not your fault if something happens. If you should have known, you had better have good homeowner's insurance coverage.

One Court put it this way: "A landowner who knows that a tree on his property is decayed and may fall and damage the property of an adjoining landowner is under a duty to eliminate the danger.” But a landowner does not have a duty to consistently and constantly check all trees on his property for nonvisible rot; 'the manifestation of decay must be visible, apparent, and patent.'” Cornett v. Agee, 143 Ga.App. 55, 57 (1977).

"This is in accord with what is called one of the most important and best-proved laws in science, "The Second Law of Thermodynamics," or energy decay. The court can take judicial notice of anything in the scientific world scientifically provable. Rome R. &c. Co. v. Keel, 3 Ga. App. 769 (60 SE 468). This law tells us that all in the universe, trees, human beings, plants, animals, buildings and all else are headed downward from complexity to simplicity toward decay, deterioration, decadence, and death. See, "In the Game of Energy and Thermodynamics You Can't Even Break Even," by Isaac Asimov, Journal of the Smithsonian Institute (June, 1970), p. 6-8. This means while there is energy being converted, none is created or destroyed (Law of Thermodynamics Number One) nevertheless everything tends toward decay; for example, a tree decaying, which is an increase of entropy or uselessness. We are specifically limiting liability in this case to patent visible decay and not the normal usual latent micro-non-visible accumulative decay. In other words, there is no duty to consistently and constantly check all pine trees for non-visible rot as the manifestation of decay must be visible, apparent, and patent so that one could be aware that high winds might combine with visible rot and cause damage."

If there is no evidence in a case upon which a jury could side with the plaintiff and find that the tree was visibly detiorating, then the case gets thrown out of court on a Motion. See Wade v. Howard 232 Ga.App. 55 (1998). Even though most of my work comes as a Georgia car accident lawyer, we also deal with these unusual liability cases from time to time. The safest course is to act as soon as you have a doubt about the health of the tree.

If there is black ice on the roadway, that can mean as slow as 5 mph. In some of these situations, the black ice forms because a person or business allows water to flow out onto the street and it freezes overnight. In those situations, it is reasonable to present the repair bill to the business or person as it is foreseeable that the fluid will freeze. The final and most complex type of case involves suits against the Georgia Department of Transportation if they engineered the roadway with dips in it that allow water to collect and freeze. For an illustrative case involving a driver who crashed on ice and could not prove that a road contractor deviated from a well engineered road, see Adams v. Apac-Georgia, Inc., 236 Ga. App. 215, 511 S.E.2d 581 (1999)

Here is an appellate case involving ice at a stop sign. Gibson v. Carter 248 Ga. App. 280, (2001). If you maintained control and were struck by a driver who lost control, either submit the property damage claim to your own insurer and let them go after the other driver or take the other driver to magistrate court if their insurance refuses to pay.

Turning to the multi-vehicle collision cases, these are a nightmare in many senses. In the 27 car pile-up this week on the ramp at I-285 and I-85 in Fulton County, liability is going to be hard to determine. The insurance companies for the cars in the front of the crash will want to argue that the collision was unavoidable and is solely due to the black ice. Eventually though, they will tender their property damage limits due to the shear volume of claims they will be facing. Remember that most drivers in Georgia only have $25,000.00 in insurance for property damage so they will run out of coverage quickly.

The people in the middle of the crash that rear-ended stopped or wrecked vehicles are going to have a tough uphill climb to convince the other driver's insurance company that they were not driving too fast for conditions themselves.

The folks to the rear may be in the best position depending on the way they were impacted.

Typically we see the insurance companies for the front-most vehicles surrendering their property damage policy limits and once those are exhausted, it is up to each person's own collision coverage to pick up the repair bill. These crashes are a mess in every sense of the word. A skilled Atlanta car accident lawyer can pick their way through the police report as some individuals may have a claim to get their property damage repaired by another insurer, but it will be tough going.

1. Purdue pushed the law to raise money; over $20 million by most estimates.
2. Studies show that speeding is not the cause in most accidents, it is crappy driving.
3. The Georgia Super Speeder fine is an additional $200.00 fine on top of the local ticket.
4. If you go over 75mph on a two lane country road, you will pay it.
5. If you go 85mph or over on an expressway, you will pay it.

The damage to the front left of the passenger car was not consistent with a side impact and when the impact velocity was finally known, the math was fed into a computer and this simulation was created to show the jury exactly how the car ended up the way it did.

So how do you protect yourself? You buy gap insurance. You can get it through the financing bank or a dealership. It will step in and pay for the gap between the two. Gap coverage applies regardless of whether you caused the crash and your car insurance is paying to total it or if another driver totaled the car.

If you have further questions, call a Georgia insurance lawyer or buy my Georgia Car Accident Book.

Table of Contents

Why I Wrote this Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Professional Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Disclaimer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Part 1: Buying Georgia Automobile Insurance
Chapter 1 | Understand the Types of
Insurance Available on an Auto Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Chapter 2 | Determine What Coverage You Have. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Chapter 3 | Get a Quote on Increasing Your
Insurance Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Chapter 4 | Compare Your Insurance
Company’s Rates and Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Part 2: Dealing with a Car Accident in Georgia
Chapter 5 | Quick Do’s and Don’ts after a
Georgia Car Accident. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Chapter 6 | Action Items after a Car Accident. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Chapter 7 | How to Read a Georgia Accident
Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Chapter 8 | Assess Insurance Coverage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Chapter 9 | Property Damage Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Chapter 10 | Understanding Injury Cases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Chapter 11 | “What is my Auto Collision
Case Worth?”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
vi
Chapter 12 | “Do I Need a Lawyer to Handle
My Case?” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Chapter 13 | Putting Together a Demand
Package. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Chapter 14 | Negotiating Your Claim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Part 3: Hiring a Lawyer
Chapter 15 | “How Do I Choose a Good Lawyer?”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Chapter 16 | “How Long Will It Take a
Lawyer to Resolve My Car Accident Case?”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Chapter 17 | The Deadline—the Statute of
Limitations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Chapter 18 | “Should I Just Pay the Traffic Ticket?” . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Chapter 19 | Who Pays for the Medical Bills
after the Crash?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Chapter 20 | “Why is the Hospital Trying to
Send the Bill to the Other Car
Insurance Company instead of to
My Health Insurance?” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Chapter 21 | Understanding Georgia Medical
Liens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Chapter 22 | Entities that Will Try to Take
Away Parts of Your Settlement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Chapter 23 | What to Do If You Caused the Crash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

About the Author. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Exhibit A | Wage and Salary Verification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Exhibit B | Sample Insurance Settlement Demand Letter. . . . . . . . . 98
Exhibit C | Settlement Demand Worksheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Exhibit D | Medical Records Request Sample Letter. . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Exhibit E | Hospital Insurance Payment Sample Letter . . . . . . . . . 104