Alabama Injury Lawyer Blog

It only takes a moment of inattention for a car crash to turn a passenger into a victim of another senseless traffic accident. Here in Alabama, automobile crash injuries and deaths are commonplace. As a Birmingham personal injury attorney and parent myself, I cringe whenever I hear of a youngster being involved in a car or truck collision. Even coming home from school or riding to a play date with friends, auto accidents can happen in a neighborhood or on the highway.

A recent news story out of Huntsville shows how seemingly callus some people can be. The accident in question left a little boy laying in the hospital apparently in serious condition. According to news reports, a family was riding together in their car on Saturday, December 26, when it was hit by another driver who then drove away and fled the scene. The parents have since made a public appeal that the hit-and-run driver come forward and own up to what he or she did.

Emergency workers arriving at the scene treated members of the family, including little Jacob Austin. The boy’s injuries were such that he was transported to the pediatric intensive care unit at Huntsville Hospital for Women and Children. At the time of the article, Jacob was hooked up to various monitors, a feeding tube, a ventilator and an oxygen supply.

Police reports show that the crash occurred on Highway 53 at Burwell Road. The force of the crash jammed the passenger door shut, which made it difficult to get Jacob out right away. According to the news, the boy’s father, Ronnie Austin, tried to pry the car door open while his mother, Denise, jumped over the front seats to help get him out. Reports indicate that the father remembered seeing a red Ford Explorer briefly before it left the scene.

The little boy was treated for a broken jaw, a fracture behind his eye, lacerations on his liver and kidney, and a sheer brain injury. However, doctors did not know the extent of the brain injury at the time of the report.

Family Pleads For Driver In Hit and Run To Come Forward, WHNT.com, December 31, 2009

Posted by Steven D. Eversole | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Brain Injuries , Car Accidents , Product Liability

Tags: Alabama Injury Attorney, auto accident, Birmingham Personal Injury Lawyer, brain truama, defective equipment, driver error, excessive speed, head injuries, hospitalization, infant, injured child, negligence, passenger car, pediatric ICU, serious injury, spinal column injury, traffic accident, traumatic brain injury

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Whether it’s here in Alabama or elsewhere, it’s a terrible shame when good people are killed or injured in seemingly haphazard accidents. Being a personal injury attorney, I read with sadness a news report about a Baptist church bus carrying several dozen adults and children that rolled over on I-20 near the Alabama Welcome Center north of Birmingham, AL. One 14-year-old boy died from serious injuries received when he was thrown from the bus during the tragic crash, while 23 other passengers escaped near death with lesser injuries such as broken bones, cuts and bruises.

According to reports, on July 12 the church bus was traveling eastbound on Interstate 20/59 near the Alabama Welcome Center at the Alabama/Mississippi state line, about 80 miles southwest of Tuscaloosa. Suddenly, a tire blew out causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle. The bus apparently veered quickly to one side, which caused the large vehicle to flip over and roll three times at highway speeds.

As a Birmingham personal injury lawyer, I can say without a doubt that a high-speed rollover accident is one of the more violent vehicle crashes. For a bus crash, where the passengers are typically not wearing seatbelts, injuries sustained by the occupants can be extremely severe to the point of being fatal. Not only broken bones, but head, neck and back injuries are very common, which includes brain and spinal column trauma.

The church’s youth minister, Jason Matlack, fractured his C7 vertebra and had artery injuries that caused serious internal blood loss. According to reports, it took doctors a while to figure out why the man was losing so much blood. He is doing better now, but his injuries were severe and could have resulted in death had doctors not been able to stabilize him early on.

Several teenage passengers also received serious injuries. One girl, who was released from the hospital a few days after the wreck, had fractures of the neck and upper back. Another youngster had surgeries to repair fractures to her femur, clavicle and face. Still another remained in critical condition a week following the accident due to severe head injuries.

In all, 17 youths and six adults were injured and one teenager was killed in the accident -- all because of one blown tire. Whether the final police accident report shows the tire was too old, poorly maintained or simply defective from the factory, the pain and suffering that these folks and their families have gone through is almost immeasurable.

If you or a loved one has been hurt as a result of a vehicle accident caused by defective equipment or another person’s negligence, my advice is for you to consult an experienced personal injury lawyer to learn about your various options to recover medical costs and other damages for pain and suffering. Life is too precious.

Youth minister hurt in bus wreck released from hospital, ABPNews.com, July 20, 2009

Posted by Steven D. Eversole | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Brain Injuries , Car Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

Tags: Alabama Personal Injury, brain truama, Brimingham Injury Lawyer, bus crash, death, defective equipment, fatal accident, head injuries, hospitalization, spinal column injury

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A former school board member and bank president from Marshall County was sentenced this week for a 2005 DUI accident that sent a 16-yeal-old girl to the hospital with life threatening injuries. Conrad Hamilton, 65, who pled guilty this past March to felony assault, ran a stop sign at Alabama 69 and Fourth Street NE on Christmas Eve and smashed into the vehicle in which Tiffany Hill was riding.

The accident left the Arab High School student unconscious and on full life support with severe brain injuries. According to reports, she was in the hospital for three weeks, 10 of those in the ICU. Upon returning home, her parents noticed a tremendous change in the girl. Her brain trauma had left her with the mental capacity of a seven-year-old and required her to be on medication to prevent seizures.

Because of the accident, Hill missed the second half of her sophomore year and had to repeat the grade, as well as enroll in special education classes. According to recent reports, she still has some short-term memory loss and although she graduated high school, she has a hard time with reading and comprehension. She also experiences bad headaches everyday.

I’ve counseled clients who have been injured due to someone else’s negligence and the stories are too sad to relate. Many times, the penalties that our legal system hands out are insufficient from the family’s standpoint. This is why it is so important to retain a skilled legal professional. As an experienced Birmingham personal injury attorney, I aggressively represent my clients to the utmost of my abilities.

In this case, the judge said he had a difficult decision to make, because the defendant was not only remorseful, but also a respected member of the community. Nevertheless, Mr. Hamilton made a conscious choice to drive drunk that December night and the judge let that fact, along with the young victim’s extensive injuries, guide his decision.

In the end, the judge sentenced Hamilton to a suspended six-year jail term with the Alabama Department of Corrections; three years probation; six months in the county jail; 500 hours of community service; fines and court costs; and an order to complete a Marshall County Court Referral program.

The judge also added another 12-month jail sentence at the end of Hamilton's probation, saying that whether or not Hamilton has to serve the additional 12 months would depend on his conduct during the probationary period.

It’s a shame that the victim and her family had to wait three years for closure in this case, yet their pain will continue regardless of the punishment the court recently handed down, which is why I have made it my mission to help clients with similar personal injury stories.

Hamilton sentenced to six months in the Marshall County Jail, TheArabTribune.com, June 8, 2009

Posted by Steven D. Eversole | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Brain Injuries , Car Accidents

Tags: accident, brain, defense, dui, ICU, jail, medication, mental capacity, personal injury, seizure, sentence

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