Personal Injury Law

First Bluffton, Ohio Bus Crash Lawsuit Filed in Atlanta, Georgia

I read in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution this weekend that the first lawsuit regarding the Bluffton, Ohio bus crash, that killed or injured the members of a Bluffton, Ohio baseball team, was filed in Atlanta, Georgia. The article may not have detailed all the counts alleged or all of the defendants named in the suit, but it concerned me that it did not mention the Georgia Department of Transportation as being named as a defendant. This is concerning to me given the fact that the Georgia DOT has, for all intents and purposes, admitted it maintained a defective exit where the bus went off the interstate, onto the poorly marked exit off to the left, and then over the overpass, crashing to the asphalt below. The lawyers who filed this lawsuit, regrettably, are not from Georgia, which is another concern. These families deserve justice, and it seems to me the best way for them to obtain that is a lawsuit here in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, against the Georgia Department of Transportation for negligent design and maintenance. The Georgia DOT has already made efforts to change the poorly designed exit, with bigger, more effective warning signs, that, in my opinion, should have been in place long ago. Many Atlanta citizens were probably already familiar with what a dangerous exit this was, as other wrecks had occurred here numerous times. Yet it was only after the Bluffton, Ohio crash did the Georgia DOT wake up and actually try to correct the situation.

My heart and my prayers go out to the families who lost loved ones in this wreck. It should never have happened, and wouldn't have happened had the Georgia DOT not been asleep at the wheel.

Full post as published by Atlanta Injury Lawyer Blog on October 01, 2007 (boomark / email).