Container freight truck crash liability
Every time I make my way from Atlanta to Savannah, I enjoy watching the container ships cruising up the river past downtown. They are always stacked high with hundreds of huge freight containers. Thousands of those containers are unloaded from the ships onto truck trailers and trains at every major port to be transported across the country. Georgia highways are full of intermodal containers imported through the ports of Savannah, Jacksonville and Charleston. Often the trailers used in these intermodal operations are old chassis repainted to look good but poorly maintained. Too often the trailers that were loaded in Shanghai or Rotterdam contained unbalanced loads that ri

Justice for truck drivers who refuse to violate the law
The STAA (Surface Transportation Assistance Act), which also covers truck driver whistleblower cases, gives truck drivers a right to refuse to drive a commercial vehicle when it would violate the law to do so. Examples include driver fatigue or illness, unwillingness to participate in an illegal activity, or a reasonable belief that a vehicle is unsafe because of worn tires, missing headlights, or low air pressure in brake system. STAA is supposed to protect drivers by preventing firing or other retaliatory action from truck companies. However, without effective legal representation those rights can be meaningless. I don't handle STAA claims. I could probably fill up my

Bus crashes & overturns on I-75 with Morehouse College band
Today a tour bus carrying the Morehouse College band to a football game in Albany hydroplaned, crashed and overturned on I-75 in Henry County, south of Atlanta. The incident immediately brought to mind the crash of a tour bus carrying the Bluffton University baseball team as it passed through Atlanta on I-75 in 2007, and the crash of a University of West Georgia cheerleader van on I-20 in 1997. I was part of the joint prosecution group in both of those cases. Several Morehouse band members were taken by ambulance to area hospitals, while others were taken by a transfer bus to be checked out fro injuries. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, 49 CFR §392.

Hahira woman killed in side underride crash when Ohio trucker runs stop sign
A 25 year old Hahira woman was killed on October 20th when an 18 wheeler from Ohio ran a stop sign and her car crashed under the side of the trailer. Christian Jennings at WALB-TV in Albany, reported that Julie Tyler, who made pictures of school children as a photographer for LifeTouch Portraits, was killed instantly in a side underride with a big rig operated by William Fishbaugh, 61, of Ohio. He was held at the Worth County jail on charges of running a stop sign, reckless driving and first d

Truckers Chapel at truck stop on I-75 south of Atlanta
As a trucking accident trial attorney in Atlanta, it may appear that I'm always focusing on the negative about truckers, even though I'm often representing innocent truckers against other truckers who injure them. This Sunday, I want to call attention to a more positive story about truckers. CNN ran a profile of Rev. Joe Hunter, chap