Truck laws in Georgia are generally the same as truck laws anywhere else in the United States. Because truckers cross state lines so frequently, there are over twenty specifically-truck related federal regulations with which truckers must comply. These include:

• Mandatory drug and alcohol testing
• Maintaining motor carrier registration and insurance
• Safety and health standards
• Keeping all the necessary accessories for safe operation of the vehicle

However, Georgia’s laws add an additional level of scrutiny to the laws demanded by the federal government.

Medical Examiner’s Certificate

If you are pulling a trailer of 10,001 lbs or more (class A Commercial Driver’s License), you need a medical examiner’s certificate.

Time Limits for Driving

Again, if you are pulling a trailer of 10,001 lbs or more, you may not drive for more than 14 hours straight. After 14 hours, you must have ten consecutive hours off duty. In addition, you may not log more than 70 hours in any 8-day working period. If your company doesn’t operate on the weekends, you may not log more than 60 hours in a week.

Trailer Brakes

If the gross weight of the trailer is over 3,000 lbs, you need to have separate trailer brakes installed on your truck.

Alcoholic Beverages

Drivers may not operate the vehicle while under the influence. Furthermore, drivers may not have alcoholic beverages anywhere in the vehicle, unless they are part of the cargo.

Most Commonly Violated Regulations

In addition to the above regulations, these are the most common issues truck drivers face with the law. If you get into an accident these can be used against you:

• Improper vehicle identification (name and DOT number)
• Lack of medical examiner’s certificate
• Use of a radar detector. Radar detectors are prohibited.
• Lack of a fire extinguisher in the truck. You must keep a fire extinguisher within reach at all times.
• Forgetting to do a safety check before leaving. In Georgia, if it can be proven that you didn’t do a safety check before you take your cargo, and you get into an accident, you can suffer huge fees and even loss of license.
• No time records kept in the truck. This is important because you are only allowed to work for a certain amount of time each week.

As long as you stay abreast of Georgia’s traffic laws, you will stay safe from having to pay exorbitant legal fees. However, if you fail to follow the laws, you put yourself at risk. For assistance with truck laws in Georgia, contact the Truck Accident Law today.

Mesothelioma is a very rare form of lung cancer. It is caused by exposure to, and the inhaling of, asbestos particles. It is most prevalent in those who have been working with asbestos over protracted periods of time. However, it actually takes very little exposure to asbestos to result in mesothelioma. In as little as a couple of months of exposure, the body can have inhaled sufficient amounts of asbestos to allow the tumors to begin to grow. Adding to the difficulty of diagnosis and treatment, the latency period, the period of time between the exposure and the time a person starts to show symptoms, can be decades, sometimes as long as 20-50 years.

The cancer, usually in the form of a tumor, is formed in the mesothelium, the protective lining surrounding our internal organs. The mesothelium contains a sac which allows the fluid within to move about the organ easily. This can allow reduced friction between the lungs and the ribs for instance. Cancerous cells start replicating in the mesothelium. Tumors follow, reducing the ability of the mesothelium to perform its lubricating job. Breathing can be painful for a person afflicted with this form of cancer.

Most mesothelioma tumors are found in the lungs. But they can also be present in the abdomen and in the heart muscle although these tend to be rare. The cancer can metastasize, or spread to other parts of the body.

Diagnosis can be difficult in part due to the long latency period and in part due to similarity of symptoms to other diseases and conditions. It is important to seek medical help quickly.

Symptoms of lung mesothelioma can include: a dry cough, wheezing or hoarseness, fatigue, and pain and/or shortness of breath when breathing. Symptoms of abdominal mesothelioma can include:abdominal pain and/or swelling, bowel problems, and weight loss.

While surgical intervention can be used to remove the tumors, the long-term prognosis for most people suffering from mesothelioma is poor. If you suspect that you may have been exposed to asbestos, you should seek medical and legal help immediately.

This article does not provide legal advice.

Clients in Indiana that have suffered the damaging effects of mesothelioma need legal assistance from Kenneth J. Allen & Associates, P.C.

While estate planning is never simple, it can become a nightmare when property is owned in more than one state. All states follow the federal tax code, which changed this year and will change again next year with regard to inheritance tax. However, each state also has the right to assess its own taxes on inheritance, and no two state have exactly the same laws.

To make matters more confusing, states are not bound by the federal inheritance tax limits, and some states have lower or higher limits than the IRS. States also differ in the types of taxes they assess on various properties. A condominium may have taxes assessed differently from a single-family dwelling; vacation property may be rated on a different scale than residential property.

If you own property in more than one state, it would pay to have a competent estate-planning attorney look at your assets and advise you as to the best way to shelter your property from taxes. Most attorneys are licensed in only one state; however, your estate-planning attorney may be licensed in more than one state, especially if you are in an area where state boundaries are close. If he or she is not licensed in more than one state, it is easy to incorporate the counsel of another attorney in the estate planning strategy for solid advice and feedback. Whatever you and your attorney decide, it is imperative to get sound advice about the tax laws in each state where you own property, in order to protect all your investments.

You should also keep in mind that if you have heirs who live outside of your state, your attorney should be aware of this so that he or she can look at the laws of that particular state. States can and do assess inheritance taxes on out-of-state heirs, and there may be tax consequences in the heir’s home state as well.

There are ways to shelter your property, such as trusts. An estate attorney can help you decide which options are best for you.

This article is not intended as legal advice. Only an estate planning attorney can give you information tailored to your individual situation.

Often, people have many questions and concerns regarding DUIs and DWIs. This article will seek to better explain your rights, and when you should seek an attorney when dealing with DUIs and DWIs.

What is the difference between a DUI and DWI?
Both DUI and DWI are legal terms that refer to driving under the influence of illegal alcohol or drugs. The state requirements and laws regarding a DUI or DWI vary. DUI refers to “driving under the influence,” while DWI refers to “driving while intoxicated.” Typically, a DUI offers less harsh punishment and reflect lesser intoxication than a DWI. Often, a DWI can be reduced to a DUI with the aid of a lawyer.

If the police stop me, should I answer questions they may ask regarding drinking?
If a police stops your vehicle and proceeds to question you, you are not bound to answer any questions he or she asks. Instead, you may respectfully request to speak with an attorney before answering any questions. If you have only had 1 or 2 drinks, it should not be a problem to simply say you have had a drink. You should also understand, however, that a police officer may be recording everything you say from the moment he or she approaches you, or even beforehand.

If police stop me for a DWI investigation, do I have the right to an attorney?
Often, people misunderstand the extent of their legal rights when asked to submit to a breath, blood, or urine test. You do have the option to take the test or not, however, in varying states you may receive harsh penalties for not taking the test if found to meet the DUI or DWI requirements. You also do not have the right to speak with an attorney until after an investigation has been conducted, even if that investigation ultimately means you are taken to jail. However, it is beneficial to ask respectfully if you may speak with an attorney and express this desire in a polite way.

These are just a few questions people often have regarding DWIs and DUIs. If you are in the position of having a DUI or DWI, be sure to consult a defense attorney to help you every step within your case.

A lawsuit is commenced with the filing of a complaint with a court which has jurisdiction over the cause of action, the person being sued and the relief being asked. In the complaint, the plaintiff states what damages or relief he or she is asking the court to award, the legal basis or the reasons why he or she is entitled to the damage and/or relief he or she is seeking, and the defendants he or she wants to answer for the damages he or she has suffered.

Tender of Lawsuit Summon

The clerk of court then issues a summons to the defendant notifying the latter that he or she is being sued, the nature of the complaint, and the time he or she has to file an answer with the court where the suit has been filed. The tendering of the summons is called service and also includes a copy of the complaint which has been filed.

In some courts, however, the summons and the complaint can be tendered directly to the defendant without prior filing of the complaint with the court. Once the defendant has received summons, he or she has a fixed amount of time to answer or respond to the complaint made against him or her.

Course of Actions

Within that time she may do the following:

• Answer the plaintiff’s complaint by stating his or her defenses and counterclaims against the plaintiff’s allegations as well as admit or deny the allegations made in the complaint.

• The defendant may also file a third party complaint if he or she believes that other defendant should be included in the complaint and also be held liable for the damages suffered by the plaintiff.

• The defendant may also choose to dispute the validity of the complaint by filing motions to dismiss the complaint. Should these motions be denied by the courts and an appeal is also denied, the defendant will have to file an answer to the complaint.

While these pleadings are usually drafted and filed by a lawyer, the parties to a suit may choose to do this themselves and courts do provide what is known as a pro se clerk to assist those acting as their own legal counsel.

This article is for information purposes only and not intended for legal advice. For legal assistance with a lawsuit summons, please contact the attorneys at Shavitz Law in Boca Raton, Florida.

While hunting is considered one of the safest outdoor recreation sports accidents do occur, and often make the headlines. One of the saddest things about hunting accidents is that more often than not they involve friends accidentally shooting friends. Over 1,000 people are accidentally shot by hunters every year in Canada and the United States. There are several main reasons why shooting accidents occur.

The main reasons where accidental shooting occurs (not in order of frequency) are:

• Victim being out of sight of the shooter.
• Failure to identify the target.
• Victim moving into the line of fire.
• Swinging on game
• Careless handling of firearms
• Loading or unloading firearms
• Failure to check beyond the target
• Improper crossing of an obstacle
• Faulty equipment
• Falling

Non-shooting Accidents

Non shooting accidents can also occur when hunting. The most common of these is falling from tree stands. Injury can also occur from slipping and falling. Attacks from prey can also occur depending on what is being hunted with wild boar being the most likely to attack.

Biggest Safety Concern

Failure to identify the target is the biggest concern among researchers as it often ends in fatalities or serious injury and is often the hardest for personal injury claims to determine. Many hunters who accidentally shoot a fellow hunter find themselves facing manslaughter charges.

Safety Tips

Correctly identifying the target is the number one safety rule and there is concern at how often people fail to do so. This is often attributed to ‘buck fever’ where the hunter becomes so engrossed in the process of the chase that they forget this basic rule and shoot at any shape, color or movement sets them into fire.

Wearing brightly colored clothing to avoid mistaking the target is a requirement in nearly every country. In the United States blaze orange is specified as the legal color. Inspector Joe Green (from New Zealand) states that in some lighting conditions blaze orange can be seen as a deep red instead (the same color as deer). He suggests that light blue may actually have more contrast in most hunting environments.

There has also been concern that ‘hunter density’ can contribute to accidents, in times where there are many hunting parties in a small area. Statistics show though that 65% of the time the shooter and the victim are from the same hunting party.

Hunting safety classes should really be a necessity for those intending to hunt. The risks involved for uneducated hunters and others in the area are just too great. Even experienced hunters should take the time to re-read the rules at the beginning of any hunting season.

Keeping equipment, particularly firearms in good shape can also reduce the risk of accidental injury. Hunters should always wear appropriate clothing that makes them clearly identifiable and have a solid means of communication open with others they are hunting with.

Along with following the basics, one of the main things each hunter needs to do is keep a level head. Always, always – Think before you shoot. Being involved in a hunting accident can change lives forever.

If you have been the victim of a hunting accident, seek legal counsel from the injury attorneys at Ken Allen Law.

An adult child may be cut out of a Last Will and Testament, provided the parent is mentally competent. The removal may be made for any reason or for no cause at all. It is recommended that any heirs intentionally omitted be mentioned specifically in the will. The child must be disinherited or they may have a claim, called a will contest, to having been unintentionally excluded, mistakenly, for no fault of their own.

Predetermined Child Statute
These rights fall under the Predetermined Child Statute, which gives recently born or adopted dependents fifty percent of the decedent’s estate, provided they were born or adopted between the time of the will’s drafting and the time of death. Dating back to Roman law, the child is guaranteed the same amount they would have received had the decedent died intestate, with no will at all.

Homesteading Rights
Minor children are protected by homesteading rights that prevent the decedent from giving away the family home if there is an heir who is a minor child. Exceptions to this would include a child who was intentionally left out of the will; a child who was given an alternate inheritance intended to replace being mentioned in the will; or a child whose surviving parent inherited the entire estate or the great majority of it.

After-born Children
Some states have specific laws regarding the rights of children born after the making of a will. These are called after-born children. Rather than voiding an existing will, after-born children serve to modify it. Obviously, a child born well after the decedent’s demise, for example ten months later, would not be included in the settlement, as the will would be closed nine months after death.

For more information on Cutting a Child out a Will, please visit the office of Adrian Phillips Thomas, Probate Lawyer in Fort Lauderdale.

You may think that if you’ve only had one drink, there is no way you can be found guilty of drunk driving. However, this answer to this question is complicated. Drunk driving is not determined by the number of drinks you’ve had, but by the level of alcohol in your blood. So the most accurate answer is “It depends.”

Blood Alcohol Level
It depends on a few factors, one being how much alcohol was in the one drink you had, and the other being how much that alcohol impacted your body. In most states, you are considered to be over the legal limit when your blood alcohol level reaches .08 percent. On average, a 100 pound person will reach the .08 percent limit for each 2 drinks consumed during a one hour period.

Standard Drinks
Also, the above calculation assumes “standard drinks,” which are not high in alcohol content. If your “one drink” is high in alcohol content or is a large drink, like a double- or a triple-sized drink, it is very easy for your body to cross the legal BAC driving limit after finishing that drink. And if your body weight is below 100 pounds, then that will make your BAC reach .08 percent with less alcohol.

Absorption of Alcohol
Additionally, the general condition of your body will determine how it absorbs alcohol, which influences your blood alcohol content level as well. If you have more fat on your body you will absorb alcohol more quickly (this is one reason why women get drunk faster than men). If you’re fatigued or dehydrated, that can affect how alcohol interacts with your body and cause your BAC to go up quickly. And if you haven’t eaten, that can also make your body absorb alcohol speedily and cause the alcohol level in your body to increase more rapidly.

If you’re in doubt about your BAC level, the safest choice is always to walk, take a cab, or let a sober friend drive instead.

This article is intended to provide you with information about how different factors can affect your blood alcohol content and is not intended to be legal advice.

Legal Resource: If you have been convicted of drunk driving in the state of Texas, the attorneys at Dallas Justice can help.

Citizens and the federal and state governments are all advocates of road safety. Everyone wants the roads and highways to be a safer place both for motorists and pedestrians, this in order to preserve human life and monetary value of property. However, with aggressive behavior running loose and unchecked on the streets, this noble aspiration for the greater good is undermined and made more difficult to achieve. A closer look at the causes of behavior then becomes an important task, a task that can begin with a peek into the environment that harbors aggression.

The Golden Sssshh

Many researchers accept the idea that aggression behind the wheel is triggered or exacerbated by situational causes. Noise is considered one important and interesting variable in the study of driving aggression. One unique thing about noise is that it directly affects the intensity of aggression, rather than directly cause it. In fact, noise may directly influence the frustration that leads to aggression rather than promote aggression by itself.
It has also been observed that the extent of control the driver has over the noise affects his or her aggressive behavior. That is, if the driver has totally no control over the noise, the likelihood of aggression increases progressively. This in turn affects the level of danger that can arise out of such aggression level.

Turning Up The Temperature

While it is widely testified that crimes of violence occur more often during the summer months, actual studies on the relationship between temperature and aggression are few. The causal link between the two is supposed to exist. However, a study was able to make a direct correlation between the variables. Conducted by D.C. Kenrick and S.W. McFarlane in 1986, the experiment involved repeatedly positioning a car at a traffic light junction and ignoring the green light in increasing time duration to test the following drivers’ reactions. The temperature variable, heat, was tested under experimental conditions in which subjects could not avoid or control the level of heat. Indeed the study demonstrated that there is a direct influence of heat on driver aggression.

Being An “I”

Ultimately, the individual differences between drivers affect predisposition to and likelihood of aggression. Each driver’s predisposition to violence will affect his or her reactions to problems encountered on the road with other drivers. Inevitably, a conflict between or among drivers predisposed to violence or aggression would categorically lead to a display of such behavior.
For legal advice, visit the website of Gordon & Elias, L.L.P. Representing truck accident victims in Oakland, CA area and anywhere else in the United States.

This article is intended solely for general knowledge purposes. The content should not be considered and is not legal advice.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced it will launch its new program, CSA (Comprehensive Safety Analysis) 2010. This new program is a way for the FMCSA and state enforcement agencies to work together more efficiently to identify and target motor carriers and truck drivers who violate safety regulations and cause dangerous or deadly truck accidents. The system, designed to have several advantages over the current system of enforcement, has been undergoing test implementation in a number of states: Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, and New Jersey.

It is hoped that this new system of recording and sharing crash data and following up with targeted enforcement will lead to further reductions in the number and frequency of truck accidents across the country. The goal is to focus enforcement on the most important aspects of truck operation. Under CSA, these are defined as Behavior Analysis Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs):

• Unsafe Driving
• Fatigued Driving (Hours-of-Service violations)
• Driver Fitness, including training and general health
• Use of drugs or alcohol
• Vehicle Maintenance
• Cargo-Related
• Crash Indicator

These factors are identified by the state-level inspectors, but enforcement is carried out at a Federal and state level, and identified deficiencies are followed up by targeted enforcement. Consider the case of a Maryland truck accident in which a speeding driver performs an improper lane change, causing his improperly secured load to spill, which led to a number of accidents. Under the old system, the focus was on the carrier, who would be cited for fines, but would mostly be treated in the same way as before. If the motor carrier then fired the driver, he could be hired on at a new motor carrier, and any crash he caused in his new position would be linked with the new carrier, not the driver.

Under CSA the data from this Maryland truck accident would be linked to both the driver and the carrier as applicable, and the carrier and driver would be flagged for targeted follow-up. The carrier’s vehicles would undergo increased scrutiny for cargo securement, no matter where in the country the inspection was performed. The driver’s data would remain linked with the driver and would be made available to the driver’s current employer and any future employers.

By linking violations and following up with appropriate, targeted enforcement the system hopes to continue to reduce the frequency of truck accidents nationwide. As a side benefit, the system removes time-consuming comprehensive inspections for motor carriers that follow the rules. This will save resources for the states, the federal government, and for motor carriers. Finally, by identifying dangerous drivers and linking them to their violations, the system provides a powerful evaluation tool for motor carriers to evaluate present and future drivers.

The system is slated for nationwide implementation this summer.