Sandy Springs Personal Injury Lawyer
Despite its bucolic name alluding to a nearby freshwater source, Sandy Springs is actually one of the largest cities in Atlanta and home to major employers and corporations. Unfortunately, injuries can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. In larger cities like Sandy Springs, there are more chances that a person might get hurt in a traffic accident, slip and fall on someone’s dangerous property while out shopping or dining, be neglected or abused in a local nursing home, or fall victim to medical malpractice in a hospital, surgery center or urgent care clinic.
Georgia personal injury law allows injury victims to pursue compensation (money damages) when another person or business causes them harm by breaching a duty of care through their negligence or misconduct. Most often, the responsible person is covered with liability insurance to pay these damages, but the insurance companies are rarely excited about paying claims. They are more likely to offer a lowball amount to settle your claim quickly, deny their insured is liable for the accident, downplay the serious nature of your injuries, or claim that your own negligence is to blame, at least in part.
Insurance company claims adjusters are professionally trained and work every day to settle claims as cheaply as possible or get out of paying them altogether. To get the amount of compensation you are truly owed, it’s essential to have a lawyer on your side who is as experienced or more as the insurance company professionals on the other side, someone who spends every day dedicated to getting the best result possible for accident and injury victims. At Hawkins Spizman, you’ll find a team of Sandy Springs personal injury lawyers with the skills and experience necessary to stand up to the insurance companies and fight to get significant compensation on your behalf. If you’ve been injured by another’s negligence or wrongful conduct in Sandy Springs, Georgia, call Hawkins Spizman for a free case evaluation, and find out how we can help you get the medical care and compensation you need and deserve.
Hawkins Spizman handles a variety of personal injury claims in Sandy Springs, including:
- Distracted Driving: When you get hit by a driver who was texting while driving or talking on their cell phone instead of paying attention to the road.
- Trucking Accidents: When a semi-truck driver stays behind the wheel longer than is safe, or when the trucking company fails to maintain its fleet with tires and brakes in good repair.
- Uber Car Accidents: When a car accident involves an Uber or Lyft, and you are unsure how to proceed on your claim.
- Medical Malpractice: When a medical professional makes an error that falls below the acceptable standard of care.
- Motorcycle Accidents: When drivers fail to check for motorcycles before turning or changing lanes, or make a left turn into the path of an oncoming bike.
- Negligent Nursing: When the professionals in charge of your care neglect or abuse you or your loved one.
- Pedestrian Accidents: When you get hit by a car while walking or riding your bike or scooter.
- Premises Liability: When you slip and fall because of a dangerous condition left unchecked by the property owner.
- Soft Tissue Injuries: When an accident causes painful and debilitating yet hard to prove damage like a muscle strain or sprain, including whiplash.
- Catastrophic Injury: When another’s negligence results in a traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, or lifelong impairment.
- Wrongful Death: When another’s negligent, intentional or criminal act takes the life of a beloved spouse, child or parent, and you need help holding them accountable to obtain justice for your loved one.
What Happens if I Get Hit by a Drunk Driver in Sandy Springs?
According to the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, in 2018, 375 traffic fatalities involved a driver with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit. This number, which accounts for a quarter of all traffic deaths that year, amounts to a five percent increase in drunk driving car accidents from the previous year. Drunk driving, it seems, is a problem that will not go away.
Drunk drivers are more likely to get into accidents and cause crashes that are more severe than others. They lack the motor reflexes and judgment to react in time to avoid a crash or to brake or maneuver to lessen the impact of a collision. They are more likely to drive too fast or too slow, drift out of their lane into oncoming traffic, or fall asleep at the wheel. Some of the worst car accidents involve drunk drivers.
When the driver is tested for alcohol after a crash and found to be impaired, this fact can be used against the driver in a civil case to prove they were negligent and are responsible for causing the accident. As long as this evidence exists, it doesn’t matter if the individual was arrested, prosecuted or convicted for DUI. The criminal and civil judicial systems use vastly different standards of proof, so even a defendant who is not found guilty in a criminal case can still face justice through a negligence lawsuit.
In Georgia, car accident victims who were hit by a drunk driver might also have a claim against the bar or restaurant that overserved the driver. Georgia’s so-called “dram shop” law is limited to cases where a bar, restaurant, or even a social host at home, knowingly furnished alcohol to a person under 21 or a person who was noticeably intoxicated. To be held liable, the alcohol must be knowingly furnished to a person knowing they would soon be driving, and it must be proven that alcohol intoxication was the proximate (legal) cause of the crash. Although dram shop liability is difficult to prove in Georgia, the Sandy Springs personal injury trial lawyers at Hawkins Spizman go the extra mile to hold all responsible parties accountable for the harm they have caused. This pursuit maximizes both justice and compensation for the injury victims.
Call Hawkins Spizman for Immediate Help With Your Sandy Springs Personal Injury Claim
If you or a loved one has been hurt in a car accident, slip and fall or other personal injury in Sandy Springs, Georgia, call Hawkins Spizman at 770-685-6400 for a free case evaluation and immediate assistance getting medical care and compensation appropriate to the injuries you have suffered.
