In 2018, one of my company’s school buses was fully stopped with lights flashing, loading students along a DeKalb County road, as it did every school day, like at thousands of other school bus stops across the country.
Our driver neither did anything different nor anything wrong, but heartbreaking tragedy struck. A mom and her 8-year-old daughter, running through a crosswalk, were struck by a car. The mother survived terrible injuries, but, sadly, the girl died shortly after the accident.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Law enforcement on the scene had no doubt who was at fault: the driver of the car that struck the victims. She served significant time in jail for the offense.
But the person at fault was of little interest to the plaintiff’s attorney because the person at fault was poorly insured. A bus company like mine is required to possess robust coverage. So, a year after the tragedy, my company was sued because it was the nearest deep pocket and a prime target for aggressive lawyers.
No rational person could argue our driver acted negligently. To argue my driver was at fault is to argue that any school bus driver picking up kids is acting recklessly. It’s absurd. Unfortunately, absurdities are allowed in Georgia courts.
Yet, because my insurance company feared the runaway jury verdicts that have become too common in Georgia, it settled with the plaintiff for $5 million — the maximum allowed under my policy — though the plaintiff’s attorney had floated obscene numbers up to $40 million.
Our company has offered bus services out of our headquarters near Hapeville since my father started the company in 1983. We provide charters, school buses and military transports, and we’re proud to offer good salaries that exceed industry standards. We take safety so seriously that we give our drivers a $500 safety bonus each month without an incident.
Across many business sectors in Georgia, insurance rates have skyrocketed because of unfair, unjustified and unsustainable payouts to plaintiffs. In some counties in metro Atlanta, juries consider business defendants as guilty until proved otherwise by a mountain of evidence. In short, anyone with commercial insurance is considered at fault. It is also typical for the officer at the scene to charge the commercial carrier with fault, often not citing the driver of the other car involved as they know the commercial carrier has significant insurance. In short, Lady Justice has had her blindfold removed and her thumb placed firmly on the scales of justice against the commercial carrier.
Our insurance costs have risen 400% since 2019. Before the government-mandated COVID-19 shutdowns, we owned and operated 62 units, paying $850,000 per year on insurance. After the pandemic’s disruptions to charter companies, we now operate 26 units, but our insurance is still nearly $800,000. The cost per unit has risen exorbitantly.
Whereas we used to get up to 10 bids from competing insurance companies, only one would offer us coverage last year. Carriers are leaving the market in Atlanta because our legal climate is untenable. As such, we do not know if we will even have insurance from one year to the next. At this point, we’re not fighting to profit; we’re fighting to just stay open.
As with any business expense, these costs are passed on to consumers. We all pay higher prices as a result. Perhaps that’s why 71% of Georgians say the increasing number of lawsuits is hurting the state’s economy, according to a University of Georgia poll.
Concerned that jury verdicts in Georgia are far outstripping the costs in neighboring states, Gov. Brian Kemp is offering reforms that will restore balance to our broken system, and I highly encourage our legislators to pass legislation that will bring relief.
No business is seeking immunity when someone is harmed because of negligence. Someone who is wronged should have access to justice. But Georgia must rein in predatory lawsuits that target businesses simply for their proximity to an accident or crime.
Businesses like mine provide our communities with services they need. Without legislative changes that bring affordable insurance and rein in obvious fraud, the futures of many businesses are in peril.
John Sambdman is chief executive of Samson Tours in Atlanta.
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