Charlotte Injury Lawyers Blog

Tight Bike Lanes Lead To “Dooring” Danger :: Personal Injury Attorneys and Lawyers in Charlotte, NC

September 12, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “Do I have to sign a release allowing the insurance company to get my medical records?”

City Council members in Raleigh, NC say they are examining the current location of bike lanes and whether the lanes are so tight that bicyclists are actually put in harms way. The reason for the examination is that some bikers have complained about being injured by “dooring”, the term for what happens when a bicyclist runs into an open car door.

To help remedy the problem, a local cycling organization, Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC), suggests that laws be changed to say that it is illegal for a motorist to open the door of their vehicle on the side that faces moving traffic unless it is reasonably safe to do so. Though dooring might seem like a minor annoyance, BPAC leaders say that the practice can frequently turn deadly. BPAC says that they hope local lawmakers in North Carolina will make it clear that it is the responsibility of the person opening their door to be sure that the door has sufficient clearance.

BPAC leaders said that they are working at the local level to push for dooring changes given that North Carolina is one of only 10 states across the country without a dooring law already in place. A survey of state laws found that besides North Carolina, the following states lack dooring regulations: Virginia, Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, Tennessee and West Virginia. Even Alaska, where there are surely few instances of cyclists being endangered on congested streets, has passed an anti-dooring law.

One council member noted that cyclists must also have some responsibility for their own safety and use common sense to stay alert when they see an approaching vehicle has just parked. The city council considered the dooring proposal, but said that before they feel comfortable voting on the issue they would like to have staff gather statistical data on the number of accidents that involve dooring and how best to remedy the problem.

Front Yard Fire Leads To North Carolina Man’s Death :: Personal Injury Attorneys and Lawyers in Charlotte, NC

September 10, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “Are the laws or rules applying to a wrongful death claim different from a personal injury not involving death?”

Police in Fayetteville, North Carolina say that a man standing near a fire pit at a North Carolina home died after a terrible explosion. Authorities say the deadly accident happened last weekend, late one Saturday night when a group of friends and family were gathered around a front yard fire.

According to a spokesperson for the police department, one man, 28-year-old Martin Antoine Blossom, died and at least four other people sustained serious injuries as a result of the fire pit explosion. Police have not yet said how or why the explosion occurred, but say they do believe the incident was accidental.

Emergency responders say that beyond the fatality, two other men were injured in the fire pit explosion along with a woman and a young 14-year-old girl. All four of those injured were taken to local hospitals for treatment.

Commercially manufactured fire pits have grown in popularity in recent years are commonly used for social gatherings. While they are perfectly legal, fire pits can pose serious risks, especially if used improperly. Experts say that every year fire pits are blamed for house fires, serious injuries and even deaths. As a result, anyone considering using a fire pit at his or her home should consider the following safety tips.

First thing, be sure to set up the fire pit on a solid surface away from any buildings or overhanging rooflines or trees. Next, be sure to clear any and all combustibles away from the fire pit. This includes leaves, dry grass, pine needles and patio furniture. Keep a working fire extinguisher nearby as well as a water source. Never use a fire pit during windy conditions as you will not be able to control where embers are blown. Keep fires small and under control and be sure that children stay away from the fire pit in case the pit accidentally tips over. Never leave a fire pit unattended and be sure when you are done to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for how to put out the fire and safely dispose of the ash.

North Carolina Texting Laws Not Tough Enough According to Federal Government :: Personal Injury Attorneys and Lawyers in Charlotte, NC

September 5, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “Is a tractor-trailer accident the same as an automobile accident?”

North Carolina lawmakers were surprised when the state lost an opportunity to receive grant money from the federal government that would have gone towards efforts to fund a campaign aimed at warning drivers about the dangers of distraction behind the wheel. North Carolina, along with 31 other states, lost the money because the Department of Transportation decided that the state’s existing texting laws were not strict enough.

Many people understand that North Carolina law prohibits texting and driving and might therefore be confused to learn that the state’s law did not measure up, at least according to guidelines created by the Department of Transportation. According to the DOT, for a state to receive the $300,000 grant it would have to have in place stringent measures that prevented drivers from engaging in a range of distracted driving.

North Carolina already has primary enforcement laws in place, a step in the right direction. These primary laws allow police officers to pull over people for texting alone and do not require another offense to justify pulling a car over. However, the DOT says that North Carolina’s law failed to define “texting” and “driving” in ways that were tough enough.

For instance, North Carolina’s law defines “texting” as either texting or emailing from a cellphone. The DOT wanted all states that receive the grant to have texting defined more broadly to include things like surfing the web and using a tablet computer, not just a smart phone. Another problem was North Carolina’s definition of “driving.” The state’s law says that texting is prohibited when the car is in motion, but is permitted when the car is stopped, even temporarily. Federal regulations say that texting is prohibited when a car is only temporarily stopped, a distinction that North Carolina’s law lacked.

North Carolina College Student Dies After Being Thrown From Motorcycle :: Personal Injury Attorneys and Lawyers in Charlotte, NC

September 3, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “The insurance company wants to send me to their own doctor for a second opinion. Do I have to go?”

In an episode that highlights just how dangerous motorcycle riding can be, a freshman at North Carolina A&T was killed late last month after his bike collided with a stopped vehicle. The force of the accident threw the motorcyclist into oncoming traffic, causing severe injuries that led to his death.

According to police, Xavier Watkins died while riding his 2012 Yamaha motorcycle sometime after 10:30 p.m. Police say Watkins was traveling around 50 miles per hour when he collided with a vehicle that had stopped at a stop sign.

Authorities say that the impact with a stopped car caused Watkins to be thrown from his bike and fly more than 97 feet in the air before landing in oncoming traffic. Emergency responders say Watkins was taken to Moses Cone Hospital with multiple broken bones and a variety of other severe injuries. Sadly, Watkins died several days later from his injuries.

According to public safety experts, the kinds of injuries caused by motorcycle accidents can be incredibly severe and wide ranging, depending a lot on the circumstances of the accident itself. Concussion and brain damage are common results of accidents where drivers are thrown from their bikes given the force with which the riders hit the pavement. Wearing a helmet reduces your risk of death by 37 percent, though by no means ensures your survival. Other common injuries in motorcycle accidents where a rider has been thrown from a bike incudes broken arms, legs, shoulders, hips, knees and wrists. Arms and legs are most vulnerable to breakage given a person’s natural instinct to use them to break their fall.

Texting May Be Responsible For Recent North Carolina Teen’s Serious Accident :: Personal Injury Attorneys and Lawyers in Charlotte, NC

August 29, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “If I am injured in a car accident or at work what should I do?”

A teenager from Union County, North Carolina is currently recovering after a serious car accident earlier this week that authorities now believe may have been caused by distracted driving. Officials with the North Carolina Highway Patrol say that they have reason to believe the teenager’s collision with a dump truck may have been caused by the teen’s decision to text and drive.

According to authorities, the wreck happened a little before 7:30 in the morning when 16-year-old Paul Glaser was on his way to pick up his girlfriend for school. Police say that Glaser failed to yield to a dump truck that was passing through an intersection and was then hit by the truck. Police say they have gotten word that Glaser was late for school and may have been in a rush to pick up his girlfriend. Police also say that they have heard reports that Glaser was either texting before leaving his house that morning or that he may have been texting during his car ride to school.

Investigators say that a quick search of Glazer’s phone turned up a message that simply read “OMW” (on my way) though it is unclear if the timestamp on the text message corresponds with the time of the accident. Police say they still need to speak to Glaser about the accident once he has recuperated from what emergency officials say were serious injuries.

After being hit by the dump truck Glaser was rushed by ambulance to Carolinas Medical Center where he underwent surgery to have his spleen removed. Glaser also suffered several broken ribs, but is thankfully in stable condition.

Wrong Way Driver On I-26 In North Carolina Causes Deadly Wreck :: Personal Injury Attorneys and Lawyers in Charlotte, NC

August 27, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What if the accident was my fault?”

According to North Carolina law enforcement officials, a retired minister was likely suffering from health problems and was confused at the time of his recent deadly interstate crash outside of Asheville, NC. Officials say that 63-year-old Dennis Tornquist died when his car collided head-on with the car driven by 61-year-old Fred King on I-26 late last month.

The terrible accident took place at 3:25 a.m. and occurred near the Brevard Road exit. Police say that Tornquist, in his Honda Civic, was heading west in the eastbound lanes of I-26 when he collided with King’s eastbound Chevy Tahoe. The force of the head-on collision was intense and it left both men dead at the scene of the accident. Before coming to a stop after hitting King’s vehicle, police say Tornquist grazed a tractor-trailer driven by a Tennessee trucker, causing relatively minor damage.

Tornquist’s family says the man had suffered a series of heart attacks and strokes that caused brain damage and frequently resulted in confusion. Police say they are continuing to investigate the crash and that they are looking into reports of Tornquist’s previous health problems as a potential cause.

The crash stands as a tragic reminder of the dangers of wrong-way driving, a problem that impacts drivers across the country far more often than many people might imagine. As most people would expect, such wrong-way accidents are incredibly deadly; in fact, more than 20 percent of wrong-way crashes are fatal while 50 percent result in serious or debilitating injuries. This is vastly higher than other categories of accidents, especially when compared to .3 percent fatality rate for other highway accidents.

Child Porn Victim Files Class-Action Suit Against Those Who Viewed Her Images :: Personal Injury Attorneys and Lawyers in Charlotte, NC

August 22, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What can you sue for in a personal injury case?”

A young woman from Pennsylvania has broken ground by filing a class action suit against more than a dozen men who were found to have viewed explicit images of her as a young girl. The victim of child pornography, Masha Allen, is now using a law that carries her name to try and collect at least $150,000 from each of 14 different men so far.

Masha’s story is an especially tragic one and begins when she was a five-year-old Russian orphan. Masha was adopted by a divorced Pittsburgh millionaire named Matthew Mancuso. Mancuso claimed at the time that he was adopting her to try and make up for the distance he felt between himself and his teenage daughter, when he was actually seeking to adopt a young girl for sexual purposes. Police say Mancuso, a successful engineer in his 40s, repeatedly raped and sexually abused Masha on camera, sometimes during trips to Disney World. More than 200 sexually explicit images of her were posted online and the FBI says they have since been viewed millions of times.

Thankfully the FBI located Masha back in 2003, at age 10. She’s now 20 and testified before Congress about how law enforcement failed her by never checking up on her wellbeing. In response, Congress passed a law that allowed for lawsuits against the sometimes-wealthy individuals who view child pornography. The law notes that victims are injured every time their images are illegally accessed, thus allowing even viewers and not just the actual perpetrators to be held liable.

Dozens Injured After Charter Bus Overturns :: Personal Injury Attorneys and Lawyers in Charlotte, NC

August 20, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “If I am injured in a car accident or at work what should I do?”

Last week dozens of soldiers were injured in a bus accident along wet roads in Mooresville, North Carolina. Police have revealed that they have since charged the driver with failure to maintain lane control for his role in flipping the bus.

According to law enforcement officials, the driver was operating a charter bus that had been hired to transport 45 Army Reserve soldiers from the Charlotte airport back to their base in Salisbury. The troops had been away in Wisconsin on training exercises. At a little after 3 p.m. rain began to fall along N.C. 150 when the traffic suddenly came to a stop. The driver of the charter bus then slammed on his brakes, but the stopping didn’t happen fast enough. Instead, the bus spun off the road, overturning and skidding down a small hill, leaving a 15-foot muddy cut in the grass as it continued sliding.

Officers say the bus was one of two charter buses that were traveling together; thankfully the other bus was able to come to a complete stop safely. After the accident, 29 of the 45 troops on board had to be taken to hospitals for treatment of their injuries. One of the soldiers required emergency air transport while the rest were taken by ambulance. 14 other troops suffered minor injuries, but were able to receive treatment at the scene of the accident. Most of the troops were taken to Lake Norman Regional Medical Center and Iredell Memorial Hospital for treatment. The most severely injured solider was flown to Carolinas Medical Center here in Charlotte.

AAA Names Deadliest Counties In North Carolina For Traffic Accidents :: Personal Injury Attorneys and Lawyers in Charlotte, NC

August 15, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “If I am injured in a car accident or at work what should I do?”

AAA of the Carolinas recently released its annual list of the most dangerous counties in the state for drivers. They list the counties according to various categories of accidents, including a general category for all accidents, one for motorcycles and another for tractor-trailer collisions.

According to AAA’s regional director, the most dangerous counties for overall collisions in 2012 were Pitt, New Hanover, Person, Watauga and Union. AAA made clear that these lists often feature repeat offenders, with the top four most dangerous counties in 2012 appearing on the list for each the past three years.

Though AAA notes the dangers to drivers in the counties, the organization says it is difficult to pinpoint exactly why some counties are more dangerous than others. AAA says that New Hanover frequently ranks high on lists of deadly counties likely because of the large number of tourists in the area who are unfamiliar with local roads. Pitt, New Hanover and Watauga all contain college towns, a risk factor that is linked with more dangerous accidents.

Mountain communities frequently make up the list of the most dangerous counties for motorcycle accidents due to twisty roads and steep cliffs. According to AAA, the most dangerous county in North Carolina for motorcycle crashes is Graham County, a place that has topped the lists for other categories in years past. Graham County is home to the “Tail of the Dragon,” a scenic road that is 11 miles long with 318 curves and popular with motorcyclists.

Fake NC Gunslinger Suffers Real Injuries In Fictitious Wild West Shootout :: Personal Injury Attorneys and Lawyers in Charlotte, NC

August 15, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “How do worker comps payments work?”

It’s not too often you hear about gunslingers engaged in workers’ comp cases, but an accident late last month in the mountains of North Carolina resulted in just that. In a bizarre work-related injury case out of Maggie Valley, a gunfighter was wounded during a fake fight and now, understandably, wants to be compensated for his injuries.

Robert Bradley, a longtime employee of the Ghost Town amusement park in Maggie Valley, spent decades working as a fake gunfighter in the park’s Wild West Town. The attraction, one of the most popular at the park, requires Bradley and others to stage shootouts for the amusement of guests. While the fake shootouts are normally uneventful, things took a surprising turn a few weeks ago when Bradley was injured performing a scene he had done hundreds of times before.

According to Bradley, in the middle of a shootout he was hit in the right thigh by an as yet unknown projectile from the gun of another performer. Though police deemed the incident accidental and in no way suspicious, it did lead to a serious injury for Bradley. Authorities say the projectile was lodged 1.5 inches into his leg and that Bradley had to be rushed to an emergency room where he was asked to submit to a drug test.

Bradley refused to submit to the drug test, saying that he thinks such tests are merely ways for insurance companies to avoid paying workers’ for legitimate injuries. Given his refusal he was afraid the company might not pay his hospital bills since such tests are often prerequisites for handling an injury claim. Experts say that while a refusal can lead to delays in payments, it does not necessarily mean Bradley will never see money for his injury. Since the incident, Bradley says he has been contacted by a workers’ comp representative who asked that he forward along his medical bills. Though this does not mean Bradley’s troubles are over, it’s a good indication that his case is moving forward.