Landscaping Truck Runs Red Light, Overturns, Spills Logs, Injures 2 in Peachtree City

Peachtree City, GA, 8/26/05.
A landscaping truck driven by Eric Hannah of Newnan, loaded with logs and towing a trailer with a Bobcat aboard, ran a red light in Peachtree City. It struck a vehicle driven by Tiffany Buysing of Peachtree City, then collided into a vehicle driven by Tabitha Kendall of Newnan, who was stopped at the red light, then started to overturn and collided into a vehicle driven by Rose Webb of Peachtree City. Webb’s vehicle also was overturned by the collision with Hannah’s truck. “Mr. Hannah’s vehicle came to rest on top of Ms. Webb’s vehicle causing both of these drivers to be entrapped,” Peachtree City police said in a prepared statement. Logs from Hannah’s truck spilled from his vehicle and into another vehicle driven by Susan Snow of Peachtree City. Webb was transported by helicopter to Grady Memorial Hospital, according to police. Hannah was transported by helicopter to Atlanta Medical Center. See article.
Fortunately, no one was killed and the people injured were doing well enough to be released from the hospitals. However, this incident highlights a loophole in Georgia’s financial responsibility laws regarding large trucks. Both interstate and intrastate motor carriers are regulated and required to carry reasonable amounts of liability insurance for protection of members of the traveling public. However, OCGA Section 46-1-1 specifically exempts vehicles used in agricultural, forestry and granite mining operations from all common carrier, contract carrier and private carrier requirements. They are only required to have the minimum insurance required of passenger cars — $25,000 per person & $50,000 per accident for bodily injury and $10,000 for property damage.
While many exempt operators do carry more insurance than this lax law requires, there are countless logging, farm and mining vehicles operating on Georgia highways without close attention to safety standards and without adequate insurance coverage for the people they run into.

The Shigley Law Firm represents plaintiffs in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases statewide in Georgia, and in other states subject to the multijurisdictional practice and pro hac vice rules in each state. Ken Shigley was designated as a “SuperLawyer” in Atlanta Magazine and one of the “Legal Elite” in Georgia Trend Magazine. He is a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, Chair of the Southeastern Motor Carrier Liability Institute and former chair of the Georgia Insurance Law Institute. He particularly focuses on cases arising from truck wrecks and accidents (tractor trailers truck wrecks, semi truck wrecks,18 wheeler truck wrecks, big rig truck wrecks, log truck wrecks, dump truck wrecks).