Georgia Service Fleet Accidents Increase Costs

Every year, fleet vehicle accidents and the subsequent damage insurance and lawsuit claims are among the highest costs for businesses. The typical cost of a loss related to vehicle accidents is approximately $70,000. This is nearly twice the cost of the average workplace injury at $36,592.

Without a formal fleet safety program, you may be putting the well being of your employees and company at risk. Fatal crashes or disability accidents and resulting lawsuits can drive these costs into multi-million dollar lawsuits jury awards. truck crash fraud increases costs for deliberate crashes and insurance costs.

In 2021, a 24 year old Georgia man was crippled  when his brother stopped behind a disabled car on Atlanta’s busy Interstate 75. Moments later, an Amazon delivery van slammed into them from behind—mangling the rear of the car and sending Ans Rana, his brother and their father to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital. Rana suffered life-changing brain and spinal-cord injuries.

In 2021, Rana found himself confined to a motorized wheelchair, unable to do simple tasks such as feeding himself. He filed a lawsuit in Georgia state court, alleging that Amazon is liable for the accident. Amazon responded to the truck crash lawsuit saying it isn’t legally culpable because the driver worked for Harper Logistics LLC, one of thousands of small businesses launched in recent years specifically to deliver Amazon packages. The van driver, was following the Tesla too closely, according to the Marietta, Georgia, police department that investigated the crash. Rana’s attorneys allege in their lawsuit that he acknowledged a “history of problems with illegal drugs” in his employment screening process, but that Harper Logistics and Amazon hired him and put him behind the wheel anyway.

This Georgia lawsuit illustrates the growing number of complaints against the Amazon’s delivery arm, Amazon Logistics, which has been a defendant in over 119 motor vehicle injury lawsuits in 35 states according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. That’s a fourfold increase over all of 2020 accidents and mirrors the steady increase in delivery fleet accidents nationwide.

A Texas couple filed suit after they were injured in a 2021 crash with an Amazon delivery van in Dallas and sought more than $1 million in damages. That case was later dismissed.

Costly Service Fleet Accidents Aggravated by Truck Crash Fraud

In 2021, 33 New Orleans individuals were charged for their part in as many as 100 staged accidents in the New Orleans area with trucks and cars.

After the staged accidents, members of the group filed lawsuits via two attorneys aiming to “defraud and obtain money and property from insurance and trucking companies,” investigators said. Some of the conspirators sought as much as $1 million each in lawsuit damages.

In November, 2021, New Orleans attorney Danny Patrick Keating was accused of being a participant in as many as 31 staged accidents in the New Orleans area.

Federal authorities specifically charged Keating along with the truck crash conspiracy leader and others for defrauding insurance companies, commercial carriers and trucking companies.

The federal court indictment charged that Keating and his 77 clients received approximately $1.5 million in settlements resulting from his representation of his clients involved in the staged accidents. Keating kept approximately $358,000 in attorney’s fees, according to the charges.

Dashcams Reduce Risky Driver Behaviors and Truck Crash Costs

These lawsuit and fraud costs and risks can be reduced by using a fleet dashcam solution and having a fleet safety policy. Dashcams can provide the vital proof when you service fleet drivers are not at fault. Sophisticated AI dashcams like the GPS Trackit VidFleet dashcam can even reduce accidents, with verbal warnings for speeding, distracted driving, hard braking and other risky driver behaviors. Dashcams are proven to reduce risky behaviors by fleet drivers up to 50 percent.

If you’d like to learn more about how GPS Trackit can help to improve safety, increase productivity and reduce costs for your business, speak with one of our knowledgeable Fleet Advisors at 866-320-5810 or get a quick Custom Quote.