Personal Injury Law

$650,000.00 Verdict in DeKalb County, Georgia Against Likely Suspect, GDOT

I am tickled to report a verdict this week in DeKalb County, Georgia against the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) in the amount of $650,000.00 for the DOT's negligence is causing a collision that resulted in a fractured hip and hip replacement of the plaintiff. Couldn't happen to a more deserving defendant. My readers have known for years now what utterly ridiculous stances the GDOT takes in its litigation, at Georgia taxpayer expense. And this is after they have injured a Georgia citizen!

The plaintiff in the DeKalb County case was the driver of a van that was struck by a DOT truck as the truck crossed the gore on I-20, resulting in a hip replacement. Defendant DOT contended that the truck was stopped in the gore and that the plaintiff drove into the back of it. It is illegal for a car or truck to cross through the gore. Can you believe the silly position the GDOT took in this case, that the plaintiff drove into the back of the DOT truck? The DeKalb County jury saw through this smokescreen and insured justice prevailed for this poor injured Georgia citizen. This case probably could have been settled for well less than the verdict prior to trial...but the GDOT and its insurance carrier, the Department of Administrative Services (DOAS), continue to show its extreme hardheadedness in refusing to admit fault where the DOT is at fault and refusing to try to mitigate the damages and the impact to the pockets of Georgia citizens. What is wrong with the Georgia Department of Transportation?

Once more the GDOT thumbed its nose at the Georgia Rules of the Road, that we all have to follow, and then when the DOT got caught, cried "I didn't do anything wrong." Leave it to a good ole DeKalb County jury to set the DOT straight. The jury system is a wonderful thing indeed and the best thing we have to level the playing field against the likes of the Georgia DOT.

Full post as published by Atlanta Injury Lawyer Blog on November 20, 2008 (boomark / email).