Simon Law's online newsletter for July 2017
Let Us Guide You To Justice The Georgia Legal Report
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www.christophersimon.com
July 2017
How to Get Out of a Traffic Ticket in Atlanta
If you have a traffic ticket in the city of Atlanta, there is a way to get out of it without any points or a record. The city of Atlanta has a little-known program called PTI, or Pre-Trial Intervention- Traffic. Typically when you get a ticket in Atlanta, you have two choices: 1) you can pay the ticket online or 2) go to court and plead not guilty and come back for another trial date and take your chances. Nolo contendere is an option sometimes, but it carries all of the consequences of a guilty plea, including the points. Georgia operates on a point system, and the city of Atlanta assigns certain amounts of points for various offenses. The table can be found at atlantaga.gov/modules/showdocument. aspx?documentid=1420 . In Georgia, your driver’s license will be suspended when you reach 15 points in a 24-month period. Furthermore, your car insurance rates can rise drastically. When you get a ticket in Atlanta and the citation is of a minor nature — like running a stop sign, expired tags, speeding 34 miles or less over the speed limit, improper lane change with no accident involved — you can avail yourself of the program. If you are accepted, you pay around $185, and the charges are dismissed with no points and no
conviction, so your insurance company does not penalize you.
How Do You Do It?
This is the best part. In most cases, you can enroll via email and send payment by mail so you do not need to appear in court. Here are the two ways to do it without showing up:
1. Go to ditweb.atlantaga.gov/ptit/Default to apply online.
2. Send the court an email at PTIT@AtlantaGA.gov with:
o o o o o o o
Name
Date of birth
Driver’s license number
Email address or fax number
In Georgia, your driver’s license will be suspended when you reach 15 points in a 24-month period. Furthermore, your car insurance rates can rise drastically.
Telephone number
Citation number or case number Number of citations received
Once you send the email, they will respond within the day to advise you that you are accepted. You will then need to get a money order or certified check and mail it in, and that takes care of it. Remember, you can only do this once every 12 months.
- Christopher Simon
Arigato Mr. Roboto
also paint new stripes that the robot cars can clearly read. It appears that the smart corridor will be constructed
Next time you see a driverless Porsche with cameras and Georgia Tech logos all over it, don’t panic. It’s legal. Governor Deal recently signed legislation authorizing driverless cars with a few tweaks. The driverless cars must carry higher insurance limits than the standard
$25,000 minimum limits for human drivers. The first concrete step to effectively test these technologies is to create a smart corridor with upgraded traffic signals that can connect to advanced sensors in the roadway that will help traffic move smoothly. The city of Atlanta will
on North Avenue from the Georgia Tech campus all the way to the Ponce City Market.
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MAKING MORE CENTS
Technology has mastered the art of loose change. For decades, pennies and nickels have littered our couches and car seats — or, in the case of the more organized collector, filled up a five-gallon water jug. CoinStar revolutionized scrounging with an easy-to-use machine that eats your change and spits out cash vouchers in return, for a cut of the treasure. Now that cards are king, a new app has hit the market that puts your virtual “change” to work. Acorns is a micro-investing app that invests your extra cents without you even noticing. The app syncs to your debit card, and whenever you make a purchase, the app will round up to the nearest dollar and put the excess into your own diversified portfolio. If you go grocery shopping and your total comes to $44.26,
the app will automatically run your card for $45 and invest the extra 74 cents for you.
Most people want to put their money to work but feel like they don’t have any to spare. The purpose of the app is to simplify the process so anyone can do it. It automatically sends your money into a diversified exchange traded fund (or ETF) of over 7,000 stocks and bonds. With a 256-bit encryption, it’s as secure as using a bank, and your money is protected against fraud for up to $500,000. It feels hands-off, but you can also take control of whether your money is invested daily, weekly, monthly, or just one time. You can also withdraw your money at any time for no cost. Additional features include Found Money, in which select partners of Acorns will automatically invest money back into your account when you spend with them. It’s like getting cash back for purchases, only it’s cash forward. Those companies include Kohl’s, Dollar Shaving Club, Airbnb, and others. The service costs $1 a month, which is chump change. After your account surpasses $5,000, the fee becomes 0.25 percent (at $10,000, that’s $2.50). High numbers like that are the ultimate goal, and they’re attainable. If you accrue $5 every few days, within five years you’ll have invested around $3,000. Imagine how many five-gallon jugs that would fill!
Utilizing Georgia’s Second Permittee Doctrine TALES FROM THE TRENCHES
company was trying to deny coverage for this accident by claiming that the person who was driving their insured car at the time of the crash was not the person on their policy, nor the family member to whom he had given permission to drive the car; rather, the at-fault party was another person who had been given the car by the insured person’s family member. Since we had the burden of proving our case, we started to do a little digging into the case law on this issue. As it turns out, even if their version of the events was correct, the insurance policy would still apply based on something called the “second permittee” doctrine. This legal concept establishes that when a person with permission to drive another person’s motor vehicle allows a third party (the second permittee) to drive the same vehicle, the third party is covered under the car owner’s insurance policy, so long as the third party’s use is within the scope of the original permission given to the first driver. The second permittee’s
belief of whether or not he had permission to be driving the subject motor vehicle at the time and place of the collision in question is not relevant to the coverage issue. Moreover, we learned that where a second permittee uses a vehicle via another person who did have permission from the owner, the fact that the second permittee had neither express nor implied permission from the owner is irrelevant, along with the fact that the second permittee had no license to drive or was expressly forbidden to drive by the owner. So long as the use falls within the scope of the permission, then the owner’s insurance policy would still apply. Armed with this information, we were able to convince the insurance company that their argument, even if correct, would still provide for coverage under their insured’s policy in this scenario. After they accepted that the law was not on their side, they offered to settle the case.
We just recently resolved a case in which our client was injured by a driver who fled the scene of the crash after hitting our client’s car. This is not an unusual situation, but these cases can be difficult, given the lack of information on the fleeing driver. Fortunately for us, a witness was able to write down the license plate number on the vehicle and give it to law enforcement. With this information, we were able to determine the owner of the striking vehicle and the company through which he had purchased insurance. All seemed well until we learned that the insurance
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You Slipped and Fell DO YOU NEED A LAWYER?
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G E O X A I L E W B K L M U I F E J J C Z L N E A C P M E A Y O P G L R T P W B N R N H W Y R V Y P F T S E C C S M A E P G G C E N E K C R E I L N C X I E N H K S S Z E S D R K J Q A E H W X I J N S X O T C I D R E V V T N D K H T B N L F D Z F I A D S C V T N L P A O Z K C I Y U D T A L E L M J L M Q A Y N E M A C C I F F
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L E W B K L M U I F E J J C Z L N E A C P M E A Y O P G L R T P W B N R N H W Y R V Y P F T S E C C S M A E P G G C E N E K C R E I L N C X I E N H K S S Z E S D R K J Q A E H W X I J N S X O T C I D R E V V T N D K H T B N L F D Z F I A D S C V T N L P A O Z K C I Y U D T A L E L M J L M Q A Y N ATTORNEY CASE DEFENSE GEORGIA
You’re walking down the aisle of your local supermarket, peering carefully at the shelves. Where’s that olive oil you always buy? You can’t remember the brand, but maybe if you saw the label … suddenly, you’re on the ground, lying next to a broken piece of tile. You try to get into position to stand up, and that’s when the pain flares, blasting violently through your entire leg. It won’t seem to budge. When you eventually get out of the doctor’s and into a cast, and hopefully onto your feet, you might be asking yourself, “Do I need a lawyer?” The answer: It depends. The first thing you should determine when considering legal counsel is whether or not your fall warrants an attorney’s attention. Did you have a broken bone or need surgery? Will it interfere substantially with your ability to work and your quality of life? If not, you probably don’t need to get on the phone just yet. Then, you need to assign responsibility for the fall. Just because you fell on someone’s property doesn’t mean they are liable. In order for your case to hold water, you’ll need to prove two things. First, you need to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that the owner had actual or constructive knowledge of the substance or item that caused the fall. Second, you must prove that you didn’t know about the substance or item despite the exercise of care on your part. Not only that, but it’s important to note that slip-and-fall cases are highly vulnerable to motions by the property owner’s lawyers to throw out the case. Many property owners will have logs showing that they had an inspection routine in place. If they can show that they patrolled looking for hazards every 15–20 minutes, the court will throw out the case. Our lawyers combat stores’ allegations with detective work and depositions. While it is relatively easy for a store to put up a brave front and to claim that their policies and procedures are airtight, it tends to crumble when hourly wage employees are deposed under oath.
ACCIDENT CLAIMS INJURY LAWYER
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ACCIDENT CLAIMS INJURY LAWYER
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WHISKEY BURGER Dad’s
INGREDIENTS •
4 (6–6 ½ ounce) hamburger patties
• • • • • • • • •
¼ cup whiskey
3 garlic cloves, chopped
4 strips bacon
8 thick slices American cheese 2 large Vidalia onions, peeled, cut in half, and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons reserved bacon fat
1 teaspoon salt
4 hamburger buns
DIRECTIONS 1. Cook bacon until crisp. Remove and cool. Reserve 2 tablespoons bacon fat. 2. In a large skillet, combine olive oil and bacon fat, then add onions. Cook over low heat. Add salt and turn onions often for 30–40 minutes until caramelized. 3. Place whiskey and chopped garlic in a shallow dish and add hamburger patties. Marinate for 15 minutes, then flip and marinate another 15 minutes. 4. Grill burgers over medium-high heat until cooked to desired doneness. 5. Add two slices of cheese to each burger in the last minute of grilling. 6. Put hamburgers on buns, then top with a large spoonful of caramelized onions. Top with bacon.
If you think you may have a case, give us a call today and get what you deserve.
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2860 Piedmont Rd NE #210 Atlanta, GA 30305
How to Get Out of a Traffic Ticket in Atlanta Make a Nickel-and-Penny Portfolio Utilizing Georgia’s Second
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Permittee Doctrine Do I Need A Lawyer? Recipe This Month in History
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THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
At first glance, any American can tell you what happened on at least one day in July history. (I’ll give you a hint: It’s after July 3.) Instead, how about a pleasant jaunt down a dark lane, filled with mobsters, fraud, and murder? You’ll find all that and more in the fascinating story of Jimmy Hoffa, who disappeared on July 30, 1975. Jimmy Hoffa was born in 1913 and became an important union activist in his 20s. By the time he was in his 40s, he had become the national vice president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), which became the largest union in the U.S. But he had to step on a few toes to get there. Little is known about Hoffa’s mafia activity during several decades, but in 1964, he was convicted of attempted bribery, jury tampering, and fraud (basic mob stuff). He was sentenced to prison, but he struck a deal with President Richard M. Nixon for a presidential pardon if he resigned from the union.
At 2 p.m. on July 30, 1975, Hoffa visited the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox Restaurant in Bloomfield, Michigan, near Detroit. He told his friends he was there to meet with two mafia leaders. After 30 minutes, a frustrated Hoffa called his wife from a pay phone to say he would wait for a few more minutes. He hung up the phone and was never heard from again.
Wild speculation has surrounded his disappearance. After several decades and thousands of leads, including some from former friends and associates, the Hoffa case remains unsolved. One theory commonly retold in pop culture is that Hoffa was killed and stuffed in an oil drum that was buried under Giants Stadium in New
Jersey, as several ex-mobsters claimed in a 1989 Playboy article. However, when the stadium was demolished in 2010, the FBI searched for remains and found none. You may know what happened on July 4, 1776, but we’re afraid you may never know what happened to Jimmy Hoffa. Forty-two years later, the FBI claims that the investigation is ongoing.
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