Motor Vehicle Negligence

Distracted Driving Leads To Deadly North Carolina Accident :: Personal Injury Attorneys and Lawyers in Charlotte, NC

April 9, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What should I do if I have been injured by another party but I can’t afford a lawyer?”

Police investigators with the Asheville Police Department have announced that a woman from Candler, NC died and several others were injured due to distracted driving. Specifically, officers say they found three phones, two of which were open, in the car of Donna May, the woman who ultimately died after the three-car wreck.

Police say they are currently in the process of gathering evidence about what May was using the phones for at the time of the deadly accident. A judge from Buncombe County approved a request by the police to download information contained on the phones to help piece the events of that morning together.

So far, investigators say they know that May was driving east on I-40 in her Ford Thunderbird headed towards the exit ramp for I-26 a little after nine in the morning when she slammed into the back of a Land Rover. May was driving quickly in very congested, morning rush hour traffic and, given her distraction, did not see that the exit ramp was backed up. She then drove directly into the Land Rover, hitting it hard enough to push it into a Ford van. May was taken to a local hospital where she later died from her injuries. Two passengers in the Land Rover were also hospitalized, but have since been released after receiving treatment.

The dangers of distracted driving are clear and law enforcement officials have taken pains to remind drivers about how using cellphones while driving can greatly increase your risk of being involved in an accident. Every single day distracted driving is thought to contribute to 8,000 car accidents. AAA says that those drivers using cellphones while behind the wheel quadruple their risk of being in an accident.

Trucking Accident Lawyers and Attorneys in Charlotte, NC :: Court Says Texting Trucker Ultimately Responsible for Damage

December 20, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

An opinion from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week revealed that the Court affirmed a summary judgment ruling issued by a lower court that held a trucking dispatching system manufacturer should be dismissed from a personal injury lawsuit. The court held that the company could not be responsible for a crash that was caused by a texting driver.

The case is important because of the facts it presents. In the case, Durkee v. Geologic Solutions, Inc., the plaintiff sued after a truck crash occurred on Route 40 in North Carolina. The driver of the tractor-trailer rear-ended several cars that were in front of him. The accident was powerful and ultimately deadly, resulting in the tragic death of one of the plaintiffs’ infants.

The plaintiffs consulted North Carolina personal injury attorneys and began filing claims against all the usual suspects. Included in this group of defendants was a surprising addition, the company that made a texting system located inside the cab of the truck. The plaintiffs made two arguments to try and hold the company liable. First, they said that the texting system required the driver of the truck to divert his attention from the road to read the text messages coming from the dispatcher. Second, the system was poorly designed in that it allowed the driver to receive text messages while the vehicle was in motion. The plaintiffs said that both of these things contributed to the deadly wreck and make the company liable.

Charlotte Baseball Coach Seriously Injured After Accident With Speeding Driver

September 25, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

According to WBTV, a popular college baseball coach was critically injured after a police spokesman says he was involved in a crash along Interstate 77 in Charlotte, NC earlier this week.

The crash, which happened along I-77 north near I-485 and WT Harris Boulevard, sent at least two cars off the highway a little after 9 p.m. Dick Cooke, the Davidson College baseball coach, was injured in the crash which sent both vehicles slamming into a wooded area. The coach was hit from behind by a speeding driver according to police reports. Cooke has reported serious injuries, including bleeding on his brain, cracked ribs, lung issues and a leg that is broken in four places.

North Carolina Troopers have said they believe alcohol was involved in the crash. The N.C. Highway Patrol have since charged Brittany Alana Fitch, 27, of Clover, South Carolina with driving while impaired, driving with license revoked and reckless driving. The investigation is ongoing.

Personal Injury Lawyers in Charlotte, NC :: Distracted Driving Leads to Jail Time in Charlotte

August 23, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

A recent article on WBTV.com, discussed the tragic case of Leah Walton, a Charlotte woman who was recently sentenced to several years behind bars for a deadly distracted driving accident which took place two years ago.

A Mecklenburg County jury issued the guilty verdict to the 23-year old earlier this week, not taking much time to deliberate over the young woman’s fate. She was found guilty of a laundry list of charges, including involuntary manslaughter, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, reckless driving, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of marijuana.

For the assault conviction she will serve between 2 years, 7 months and 4 years and for involuntary manslaughter she was sentenced to six years of supervised probation. If she fails to satisfy the terms of her probation, she will be sent to prison for 20-24 months. Beyond jail time, she was ordered to pay substantial restitution to the innocent victims; $18,000 to the woman who survived the terrible crash but is now wheelchair bound, and $12,000 to the family of the woman who was killed. Both were nurses taking a break from work and walking along a sidewalk.

Walton’s mother took to the stand to plea for mercy on her daughter. She explained that her family had suffered terribly as a result of the accident. She said that her daughter “will suffer with the knowledge of the events for the remainder of her life.”

Personal Injury Lawyers in Charlotte, NC :: Megabus Bound for Charlotte Involved in Mega-Accident

August 21, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

A double-decker bus caught fire last week along I-85 in northeast Georgia, forcing Megabus passengers to flee to safety and closing the northbound lanes of the interstate for hours. The commercial bus was traveling from Atlanta to Charlotte, North Carolina when the fire broke out at about 11:40 a.m. near Lavonia, Georgia. Officials with Megabus said that some 80 passengers were on board at the time and all, including the driver, were able to evacuate safely.

It’s the latest incident for Megabus, which offers low-priced, one-way fares between major cities across the U.S. Just a week before, on August 2, a Megabus struck a bridge pillar in the median of I-55 near Litchfield, Illinois killing one passenger and injuring nearly four-dozen others. Police have said that a blown tire likely caused the double-decker bus to weave out of control and crash into the pillar. The same week a 76-year-old woman in Chicago died from injuries she suffered when a Megabus hit her as the driver attempted to make a turn on a tight downtown street. Finally, back in February, a Megabus driver was acquitted of homicide charges for the deaths of four passengers when his double-decker bus crashed into a low overpass in upstate New York back in 2010.

Megabus drivers have been cited for speeding 35 times in the past two years, including 14 occasions where the driver was traveling more than 15 mph over the speed limit. During those same two years, a driver was cited for failure to inspect or use emergency equipment, six buses were cited for no or defective emergency doors and more than 50 citations were issued for failure to properly log a driver’s time on duty.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Megabus officials said they are working with state and federal investigators to determine whether all safety protocols were followed in the accident. The bus that caught on fire was manufactured by Van Hool in 2012 and had passed a full preventative maintenance check less than 2,500 miles ago, according to Megabus. It is unknown whether the driver performed an inspection before leaving Atlanta the morning of the accident. Such an inspection is required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration of all commercial interstate drivers.

Semi-Truck and Freight Train Collide in North Carolina

May 3, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

The residents of Long View, North Carolina got a surprise early in the morning when a semi-truck and a freight train collided. A Long View police officer, Raymond Denton, observed a semi-truck stalled on the railroad tracks at 8:00 am on the morning of May 14, 2012. Denton tried to get communications to tell Norfolk Southern, the freight line that operated on that track, to stop the train. Norfolk Southern responded saying that they were not able to stop the train and to inform the semi-truck’s drivers to clear the track immediately.

There was no time to clear the track. Seconds after Norfolk Southern responded, the train smashed into the semi-truck stalled on the track, splitting the tractor-trailer in two. The two parts of the truck ended up on opposite sides of the train tracks. The train was traveling at a relatively slow rate of speed because it was coming through Long View and it is customary for the train to slow down as it traveled through the town.

The damage was not limited to the train and truck. The semi was carrying a chemical called disodium trioxosilicate, a white powdery substance. The chemical can have adverse reactions, but since it had been raining that morning, the rain likely diluted the effect of the chemical. However, HAZMAT crews were on standby to assist with the cleanup. In the end there was no significant impact on the environment.

Fortunately, no one was injured in the crash, but there was significant property damage to both the train and the tractor-trailer. There has been no determination of fault for the accident. If the truck stalled on the tracks due to some negligence on the part of the trucking company, then the trucking company will be responsible for the damage to the truck and the train. If however, a mechanical failure happened that was not the fault of the trucking company or the drivers, then the company will not be liable for the damage.

Charlotte, North Carolina School Bus Accident Sends 12 to the Hospital

April 19, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

The presence of school buses should always give drivers pause. It should signal to those who are around that precious cargo is present. No one wishes anyone to be injured, but injuries to children are the most heartbreaking. Anything that can be done to prevent a child from being senseless injured by the carelessness of others should be observed and highlighted.

On Wednesday, May 2, 2012, two school buses carrying busloads of children and one car were involved in an accident that sent several to the hospital. Fox Charlotte reported that around 3:00 p.m. at the corner of Carolina and Edgefield Avenues, a Chrysler sedan and the two school buses collided. Between the two buses and the car, there were 58 people involved in the accident. Twelve people were taken to the hospital and treated for minor injuries.

One of the buses was from the YMCA and the other bus was from the Gaston Boys and Girls Club. Both buses had just picked up the students that participated in their afterschool program. The report does not reveal the cause of the accident or whether any charges are pending against any of the drivers.

Accidents like this are often preventable. As long as everyone on the road is paying attention to those around them, there is no reason why school children should be injured in such accidents. It is possible that some legal liability will come out of this accident. If the driver of the car was negligent, then he or she will be responsible for the injuries to the children and the damage to the buses. If either of the bus drivers were negligent, they too would be responsible for the injuries to the children and the damage to the buses, but it is also possible that their employers may be held liable.

Car Accident with Train in Charlotte, North Carolina

April 17, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

According to a recent report by WBTV.com, Charlotte light rail train riders received a shock last week when one of the trains was involved in an accident with a car. On Wednesday, April 25, 2012, all traffic on the rail lines was halted due to the accident. There were no reported fatalities, but six people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

The accident happened at the crossing at Remont Road and South Boulevard, at 8:30 p.m. There was a car sitting at the crossing, waiting for the train to completely pass by. All of the safety measures and lights were in working order that evening, or at least no one has reported that there was a malfunction with any of the warning signals. While the car was waiting for the train to pass, a Jeep approached the car and it through the protective arms onto the railroad tracks. As a result, both the lead car and the Jeep were in the train’s way as it was coming down the tracks.

The authorities are being quiet about the cause of the accident. The police are not yet saying whether alcohol was involved in the accident or whether there was some other cause of the accident. The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) personnel are talking, however, and a spokesperson, Jason Leier, revealed that three passengers and the engineer were taken to the hospital. The engineer was not injured, but company policy requires that a doctor see the engineer after an accident.

Also, the car that was hit by the train was carrying three people. They were all taken to the hospital as well and treated for minor injuries. As yet there has been no word on when the injured parties will be released from the hospital. If these minor injuries turn into major injuries, the driver of the vehicles that caused the accident may be facing significant legal liability.

Pedestrian Injured and Killed in Crosswalk Automobile Accident

April 12, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Yet again there has been a pedestrian hit by a car and inadequate crosswalks may be to blame. On Monday, April 16, 2012, 13-year-old Jessi Mendoza-Valdez had an unfortunate encounter with a car as he was crossing the street and two days later he died from his injuries. He was trying to cross a busy intersection during rush hour traffic.

Valdez and his parents lived at the Misty Woods Apartment complex. On Monday afternoon, he was trying to cross the Central Avenue from the side of the street where his apartment complex was located to the other side where a small group of stores was located. He successfully made it to the middle of the road onto the median, but when he was trying to make it across the rest of the way he was hit by a car.

The driver of the vehicle immediately stopped to help Valdez and remained on the scene while the police began their investigation. He has been cooperating with the police the investigation. An eyewitness to the accident, Anival Sandoval, had just made it into the store when the accident occurred. Wednesday, Sandoval noted that the same intersection where Valdez was hit has posed a danger in the past because of the lack of crosswalks there.

Poop Pours Onto North Carolina Highway

March 22, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Drivers on Interstate 70 in eastern North Carolina were not prepared for what they were going to endure on that early morning drive Monday morning. As drivers were on their morning commute, they were accompanied by a truck carrying an unlikely substance. None of the drivers knew what the unsuspecting truck was carrying until something malfunctioned and the contents of the truck ended up splattered on the road in front of them.

WCNC.com reported that the truck was carrying human waste from a sewage plant to be used as fertilizer. Something went wrong and the truck opened up while the driver was on the interstate. The waste came pouring out of the truck onto the highway. One lane was blocked and about 300 feet of waste spilled out on the road. While no injuries were reported, at least two cars ended up sliding around in the mess before the lane was closed off to further traffic.