GA Injury Advocates - May 2021

GA Injury Advocates - May 2021

Auto Injury T R I B U N E

May 2021

The Money You Might Be Leaving on the Table

A Primer on Diminished Value

I often write about personal topics in this space, but a law topic caught my attention recently, and I wanted to share. As a longtime personal injury attorney, there’s not a lot I don’t know about Georgia Law that relates to my practice. But every now and again, I learn something new that I know will be valuable to my readers, too. That’s why I want to talk this month about diminished value (DV) claims. Most people know that if you get in a car accident and the other driver was at fault, you’re entitled to compensation for your injuries and for property damage. But it’s less well-known that you may also be entitled to diminished value compensation, which accounts for the money you’ll lose out on when you go to resell your car due to its decreased value after having been in an accident.

Most insurance companies aren’t going to offer up this compensation. You’ve got to ask for it, and under Georgia law, they must give it to you. (Of course, we’re here to help you do the asking!) But there’s a catch. In order to qualify, your vehicle has to meet certain requirements. And this is the part that was news to me.

You qualify for this compensation if your vehicle: • Has a market value of over $7,000 • Sustained property damage of over $500 • Is less than 10 years old • Has at least normal mileage • Has a clean title

If your vehicle doesn’t meet all of those criteria, you’re out of luck. But if it does and you get in a car accident, don’t leave money on the

Let’s say you look up the resale value of your vehicle in the morning, then get rear-ended on your way to work. You take all the necessary steps to get medical care, file an

table! Be sure to account for diminished value when you and your attorney are calculating damages. The at-fault driver’s insurance company is on the hook, by law, to pay for diminished value right alongside medical and property damage claims.

insurance claim, and eventually have your car repaired. Should you decide to look up your car’s post-accident value, you’ll likely be dismayed to find that the resale value of your vehicle has dropped considerably. Cars with an accident history can be more difficult to sell, and they are also worth less money, even if they’ve been fully repaired and

I’m sure I’ll be back to my usual inspirational content next month, but for now, I hope you’ve learned something that might even pay off in the future.

Enjoy the rest of this beautiful month!

seem like new. While you can expect every car to depreciate with time, some studies show that cars that have been in accidents depreciate an additional 10%–25% more than cars that haven’t been in an accident.

El Abogado Ramiro (El Abogado Amigo) y su equipo hablan español

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(770) 233-7400

GET YOUR HEART PUMPING AT HOME!

SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT – WITH 5 ORGANIZATION HACKS

4 LIVING ROOM CARDIO WORKOUTS

You may want to throw away your bread tags, old rakes, and shower curtain rings, but what if you can reuse them for a more sustainable, organized lifestyle? You’ll never lose your remote control or confuse your power cords again, and it won’t even cost you anything extra. No. 1: Use shower curtain rings to hang clothing items. Tank tops and delicates (like scarves) tend to scrunch and pile up in the corner of your closet or drawers. But if you’re replacing your curtain rings anytime soon, don’t toss your old ones — you can attach them to hangers and hang ties, belts, hats, and many other accessories! No. 2: Organize power cords with old bread tags. Have a chaotic power strip

Walking for 30 minutes a day is a great way to get in some exercise, but getting in a daily walk outdoors isn’t always possible. If you’re unable to enjoy your regular cardio exercise, what can you do? Try these four cardio workouts to get your heart pumping right from your living room. March in Place Marching is a great way to start slowly increasing your heart rate. Start by standing

in place then lifting the legs up in a steady march, lifting each knee as high as you can without losing your balance. Make sure that you are also pumping your arms in time with your feet. For the best outcome, lift your legs 20 times. Side Steps Start by standing in the middle of the room with plenty of space for you to step left and right. Take a side step in one direction, then two side steps in the opposite direction, then move back two steps. If you’re worried about keeping your balance, try doing this within an arm’s length of a wall so you can reach out to steady yourself, and remember to keep your back straight. Repeat 20 times. Seated Rows While sitting in a chair, keep your spine straight and shoulders back. Extend your arms until they’re out in front of you, parallel with the floor. Using your shoulder and back muscles, pull your arms toward you then back out in front, as though you were rowing a canoe. Repeat this exercise 8–10 times. Dance Dancing is a great cardio exercise and plenty of fun too! Pick your favorite dance style and start moving those feet. Some styles, such as ballet or hip-hop, can be more challenging, especially if your mobility is limited. However, freestyle is plenty of fun too. No matter how you choose to dance and whether you’re by yourself, with a friend, or with your spouse, turn on some music and start grooving to your favorite tunes. A Note on Safety: Before you get started on any exercises, make sure that the space around you is safe. Give yourself plenty of room to move around so you don’t have to worry about bumping into furniture and accidentally hurting yourself. If you’re an older adult, be sure to have a stable surface nearby just in case. A chair, for example, can help you steady yourself if you begin to lose your balance.

that’s impossible to navigate or reorganize on the fly? Luckily, you already have labels that’ll easily attach to any cord you have: bread tags. One side of your bread tag may list the

“best by” date for your bread. The other side is blank! That’s where you can take a permanent marker, write down the name of the cord, and attach it to the cord near the power strip. No. 3: Repurpose old drawers to be under-the- bed storage. Most people will throw out their old wardrobes, but if you have leftover drawers, you don’t have to get rid of them. Refinishing them is optional — they make great storage containers as-is for under your bed! Store toys, board games, and more beneath your bed, sofa, or anywhere else that has a narrow opening. No. 4: Convert an old wine rack into towel storage. It can be a tough task to stow your towels in a fashionable way. But as you begin to upgrade your home decor, you may find an extra wine rack on your hands, which happens to be perfect for storing rolled towels! No. 5: Use a hollowed book for remote control storage. Have a thick book that you’re about to get rid of? It might feel sacrilegious to repurpose a book, but it’s also one of the coolest ways to celebrate literature in a stylish, practical way. Hollow out a book and use it to store many things, including remote controls.

We hope these tips will inspire you to reduce and reuse! See you next month!

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The Sad Truth About Increasing Speed Limits What Georgia Can Learn From Texas While the posted speed limit is meant to be just that, a limit, it’s not uncommon for drivers to go 5–10 mph above those limits. And that need for speed is proving both fatal and harmful. Crash tests under 60 mph still show an incredible capacity to damage both the vehicle and the driver, including severe neck and leg injuries. As Dr. David Yang, executive director of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, put it, even “a small increase could make a big difference on the harm to a human body.” You may be thinking of all the safety features that come standard with cars now, including airbags, which have some life-saving features. However, IIHS president Dr. David Harkey sums up their limitations by saying, “Higher speed limits cancel out the benefits of vehicle safety improvements like airbags and improved structural designs.” If you’ve been injured in an auto accident, you no doubt already know this from firsthand experience. At GA Injury Advocates, we help people who’ve found themselves in this unfortunate incident. Please drive safely!

In Georgia, the fastest you can legally drive is 70 mph, and that’s on the interstate. If you’re late to work, that might not feel fast enough, but consider this: Higher speed limits and serious injury or death go hand in hand. States regained control over setting local speed limits in 1995. In 1974, Congress established a 55 mph speed limit aptly named the National Maximum Speed Law. This was partly in response to fuel shortages and rising oil prices, so it’s no surprise that it was later increased to 65 mph, then repealed entirely in 1995. Since then, just nine states have stuck to the 65 mph guidelines, while all others set their limits at 70 mph or high. Texas State Highway 130 takes the crown of highest speed limit at 85 mph. But research shows that since the speed limit law was repealed and most states hiked their limits, fatalities increased right alongside. So, this may not be a crown worth having. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released a study noting that “such boosts have been responsible for nearly 37,000 additional highway fatalities over a 25-year period.” That’s almost 1,500 additional vehicle-related fatalities each year.

RECIPE:

SUDOKUU

EASY & HEALTHY GREEN RICE

Ingredients •

1 cup tightly packed spinach leaves 1 cup tightly packed kale leaves, stems removed

•

• • • •

1/2 cup green peppers, diced 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

• • • •

1 1/2 cups vegetable stock 2 tbsp full-fat coconut milk

1 tsp kosher salt

1 cup long-grain white rice

1/2 cup yellow onions, finely diced

Directions 1. In a blender, purée spinach and kale with vegetable stock, coconut milk, and salt. Set aside. 2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, sauté onions and peppers in olive oil until soft. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. 3. Stir in rice and cook and toast for 1–2 minutes before adding the blended mixture. Increase heat to bring to a boil. 4. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until liquid has evaporated, 15–20 minutes. 5. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.

Solution on Page 4

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Solution from Page 3

Inside

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Don’t Leave Money on the Table!

Reduce and Reuse With 5 Organization Hacks!

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Can You Do Cardio at Home?

The Sad Truth About Increasing Speed Limits

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Green Rice Recipe

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Weird Georgia Laws

If you were to be arrested and jailed in our great state, you wouldn’t expect a luxury experience while in jail, but you would expect basic humane treatment, including regular meals and being able to properly tend to your bodily needs. According to Georgia Code Title 4, livestock are no different! In addition to feed and water provided “no less than twice a day,” dairy cows and goats are entitled to a twice- daily milking by the sheriff, guards, or other designated milker. Imagine coming to work ready to fight crime and put the bad guys away, only to find a milking stool, a bucket, and a Holstein with full utters. Talk about “not my job”! But according to state law, this may be part of your job if you’re working for the local police department. Don’t worry, though, the law also includes a provision for you to be compensated for your extra duties at a rate of $5 per day per animal. That might not be the bonus you were looking for, but the good news is that this

law is rarely enforced these days. Why did it ever make it on the books?

The law was added as a way to address animals, especially livestock, that were found running at large — also known as “straying” — on public roads or on private property. In the latter case, if the property was a farm, that farmer also has a right, by law, to impound the stray livestock and assess similar fees for feed and care. In both cases, the livestock’s owner (if known) must be notified, and if they haven’t claimed their property within three days (and paid any fees due for its impoundment), the animal can be advertised for sale. It’s fun to imagine what that classified ad would look like: Stray milk cow in need of a loving home. Must be milked twice daily. Call the sheriff’s office for more information. Check out future newsletters to learn more about other weird laws from the Peach State.

THAT REQUIRES SHERIFFS TO MILK COWS AND GOATS

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