Car Wreck

Transgender military members face termination for becoming who they are

October 28, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What happens when the employer refuses to acknowledge my claim?”

Military regulations require the immediate dismissal of any service member who is found to be transgender. That is placing the some 15,500 transgender people serving in the military in a quandary, and forcing peers, supervisors and military doctors who are aware of members’ status to “look the other way,” according to sources and advocates interviewed by the Washington Post.

Political leaders from President Barack Obama to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have expressed support for examining the ban and, potentially, lifting it. The Pentagon, however, told the Post that no review was underway, and Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, worries that transgender service members are being lulled into a false sense of security.

She said openly transgender service members risk losing their jobs. Some two dozen service members have been discharged in the past two years after their transgender status was uncovered, according to advocates.

Military leaders are focused now on more urgent priorities such as the conflict with the Islamic State raging in Iraq and Syria and looming budget cuts. Army Maj. Gen. Gale S. Pollock told the Post that the military will eventually “do the right thing” by allowing transgender service members to serve openly. The change is just not going to occur as soon as some would like.

Spike in bicyclist deaths has two-wheeled travelers ducking for cover

October 23, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question ” If an incident report was filled out, do I have a right to receive a copy?”

Scenes and outtakes from countless television shows and movies have shown cyclists speeding past people jogging or skating alongside the sands of Southern California beaches. Many of these have featured the twenty-or-so mile paved Marvin Braude Bicycle Path that runs from Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles south to Torrance.

Cyclists may enjoy a relative safety on the seaside paths, but inland things have gotten downright tragic for bicycle riders. California saw 338 cyclists killed in collisions with motor vehicles between 2010 and 2012, according to a report issued Monday by the Governors Highway Safety Association. Florida lagged not far behind Golden State, reporting 329 cyclists killed in collisions with motor vehicles in the same period.

Bicyclist deaths nationwide increased by 16-percent between 2010 and 2012, according to the report, but Florida and California reported the largest increases in deaths.

Allen Williams, a scientist who worked at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, compiled the report. He observed what he described as “remarkable changes” in the profile of those killed in crashes involving bicycles and cars. Adult males accounted for 74-percent of bicyclists killed in 2012. In 1975, by comparison, only 21-percent of bicyclists killed were adults of either gender.

Two-thirds of bicyclists killed in 2012 were not wearing helmets, while nearly a third of those killed registered a blood-alcohol content of .08 or more.

Woman “virtually decapitated” by lap belt awarded $12.5 million

October 21, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What if the accident was my fault?”

A 17-year-old girl who was “virtually decapitated” at the waist when she “jackknifed” over the lap belt in a 1996 Toyota 4Runner has been awarded $12.5 million by a California jury. If she had brought suit in North Carolina, her case would have been dismissed.

Toyota spokeswoman Carly Shaffner said the carmaker respected the jury’s time and consideration, but she remained confident that plaintiff Chelsie Hill’s injuries “were not the result of a defect in the 1996 Toyota 4Runner.” The jury reached the opposite conclusion after four hours of deliberations.

Hill—now 22—was a passenger in the February 21, 2010 crash in Monterey, California. Driver Aaron Corn, who was only 18 at the time and was driving while under the influence of alcohol, struck a tree while driving 30 miles per hour. The jury found that Corn was five-percent responsible for Hill’s injuries and that Hill was five-percent at fault for getting into a car with a drunken driver.

Dr. Robert Lieberson, the neurosurgeon who treated Hill after the crash, said the lap belt severed the girl at her midsection, and she was only held together by her skin. Lieberson and others testified that Hill used the belt properly.

Hill’s attorney suggested that Toyota chose to install the least safe and least expensive restraint system in the seat. Videos shown to the jury depicting dummies compared crashes involving lap belts against those with shoulder belts. Test dummies with lap-only belts jackknifed violently in crashes, while dummies in lap-and-shoulder belts remained upright.

Golfer who accused Eddie Murphy of inflating his handicap has lawsuit sunk

October 14, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Can I wait a few months to pursue a personal injury claim?”

A 77-year-old Irish golfer who sued Eddie Murphy after a golf club told him he had a 13 handicap watched Ireland’s High and Supreme Courts sink his lawsuit last week.

The golfer, a retired insurance official from Dublin named Thomas Talbot, sued the Golfing Union of Ireland, the Hermitage Golf Club and Hermitage Officer Eddie Murphy in 2004 after the golf club sent Talbot a certificate showing he had a 13 handicap and was entitled to “General Play (Handicap Building).”

Talbot felt his handicap was lower. By assigning him a 13 handicap, he believed, the golf club accused him of cheating.

Irish Supreme Court Justice Daniel Herbert rejected Talbot’s claim. While the justice conceded that the words “Handicap Building” could have been interpreted by fellow golfers to mean that Talbot was inflating his handicap, “the words were only published in a limited form to a computer programmer who designed software for the club, including for handicap records.” The limited, intra-club publication of the words meant that it “enjoyed qualified privilege from being sued,” Justice Herbert said.

Check out our quarterly Legal Matters newsletter for all the latest in personal injury news

September 23, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What can you sue for in a personal injury case?”

Legal Matters is Arnold & Smith, PLLC’s quarterly personal injury newsletter. If you haven’t signed up to receive this free source of legal news and information, please take a moment and do so here now. You might learn something that makes all the difference in your case.

In the latest issue of Legal Matters, we discuss how many court cases come down to battles between witnesses and testimony. One witness says one thing happened; another witness’s account directly contradicts the first witness. Both sides try to show their witnesses are telling the truth, while the other side’s witnesses are either wrong, confused or flat-out lying.

These he-said, she-said battles might not be completely avoidable, but stronger cases are made in court when one side can produce photographs, video, audio or other documentary evidence that cannot, by its nature, lie. We live in an age of constant connectivity. Nearly everyone has a phone with a built-in camera, video recorder or both.

When we encounter misfortune, we can use the tools we have at our disposal to document the misfortune and to hold the people responsible for our injuries accountable. That said, if you are injured in an accident, the key to winning your case might be in your back pocket.

Exhausted Truck Driver Responsible For Tracy Morgan’s Accident

June 12, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What if the medical condition improves before the hearing?”

A recent accident in New Jersey involving actor and comedian Tracy Morgan highlights the extreme dangers posed by exhausted drivers. The crash earlier this month left the former 30 Rock star in critical condition and has now led to criminal charges for the driver of the tractor-trailer responsible for the accident.

Police say the chain-reaction crash began when a tractor-trailer driver, Kevin Roper, collided with Morgan’s chauffeured limousine bus. Morgan was heading back home from a comedy show in Delaware with a group of friends at the time. The accident spread out across the interstate and left one member of Morgan’s entourage dead and two others critically injured. Morgan and the others were airlifted to nearby hospitals for treatment and several remain in intensive care even now.

The driver of the truck has been charged with death by auto and also faces four counts of assault by auto related to the crash. The trucker was given a $50,000 bail and has now hired an attorney to fight for his freedom.

Given the seriousness of the crash and the involvement of a commercial motor vehicle, investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board stepped in to examine what may have caused the accident. A recent report issued by the NTSB says that the driver of the rig that slammed into Morgan’s van was speeding at the time of the crash and was likely exhausted from working more than 13 consecutive hours.

Drunk Driving Responsible For Ambulance Accident

June 10, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “The insurance adjuster is saying I am partially negligent what does that mean?”

Police in Gaston County, North Carolina say that five people have been injured after a car and an ambulance were involved in a crash. The wreck occurred in the later afternoon and took place on a busy stretch of highway.

According to officers with the North Carolina Highway Patrol, the crash occurred when an ambulance operated by two EMTS was hit by an oncoming car carrying three people. The ambulance was from the Stanley Fire and Rescue and was in the process of responding to an emergency call at the time of the accident.

Emergency responders say that four of those injured in the accident were ultimately transported to CaroMont Regional Medical Center for serious but non-life threatening injuries. The other person was taken to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte and is said to have suffered serious harm.

Stunningly, the terrible accident was caught on video thanks to in-cabin cameras located on the newer ambulances operated by Stanley Fire and Rescue. The driver of the ambulance was Roger Arrowood, a part-time employee who survived with relatively minor injuries.

North Carolina Legislature Considers Moped Regulations

June 5, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

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

A North Carolina Senate committed has added language to a piece of legislation that will now require drivers of mopeds to purchase liability insurance before legally operating the vehicles on state roadways. The measure, House Bill 1145, has already been approved by the house, though the new language will need to be agreed to before the bill progresses any further.
The language attached by the Senate says that moped drivers are required to register their vehicles with the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles, in addition to purchasing liability coverage. Moped drivers will have until July 1, 2015 to comply with the new regulations.

Under current North Carolina law, mopeds are not among those vehicles that must be registered or insured in the state. Mopeds are also not subject to any property taxes, allowing owners to essentially avoid any fees associated with their use.

The new measure would require moped owners to pay a $15 registration fee as well as demonstrate to the Division of Motor Vehicles that the moped was designed and manufactured specifically for highway use. These requirements mirror those for motorcyclists, something that some legislators believe is necessary to guarantee the safety of all North Carolina motorists.

Alcohol And High Speed Responsible For Deadly Charlotte Crash

June 3, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What exactly is a wrongful death claim?”

Police in Charlotte say that a recent deadly accident likely involved high rates of speed and alcohol. Law enforcement officials say they believe the two risky behaviors combined to cause the death of a four-month-old girl as well as injuries to five other people.

Police officers say that a 21-year-old driver was seriously injured in the accident and is believed to be responsible for the collision. The man, Thabiti Ashim Pierre-Louis, has been charged with felony death by vehicle, reckless driving, possession of marijuana and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The wreck happened around three in the afternoon when Pierre-Louis was in his 2000 Nissan Altima heading north along Old Statesville Road. Investigators say they believe that the 21-year-old then tried to pass another car, but eventually lost control and crashed into a telephone pole located near the driver’s door.

The force of the collision resulted in the car being flipped, landing on its roof. Given the position of the car, it’s understandable why the accident resulted in such severe injuries to passengers. The four-month-old child sustained critical injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash by emergency medical responders.

Woman claims anxiety over work commute entitles her to damages

May 29, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Can my employer fire me because I filed a workers’ compensation claim?”

A New Jersey woman is driving workplace discrimination claims in a new direction, claiming that congested roadways on her work commute aggravated her “great anxiety and depression.” The woman, Andrea DeGerolamo, doesn’t blame Gov. Chris Christie for the congestion; instead, she blames her former employer, Fulton Financial Corp., for not letting her change her work schedule to avoid it.

DeGerolamo alleged in the suit that her doctor mandated the change in commuting times after determining that DeGerolamo was clinically depressed and that her condition was “especially aggravated by crowded roadways during the heavy traffic of rush hour.”

Fulton hired DeGerolamo in 2007 as a marketing coordinator. In her suit – premised upon New Jersey’s workplace antidiscrimination act – she alleged that Fulton refused “to enter into an interactive dialogue… aimed at reaching a reasonable accommodation.”

DeGerolamo alleged that she took a medical leave of absence in 2012, but after returning to work she was terminated. She said her termination amounted to discrimination, based on her efforts to “address alleged workplace bias.” She also alleged that Fulton retaliated against her for using the Family Medical Leave Act to take some time off.

In the lawsuit, DeGerolamo sought damages for lost wages and benefits, front pay, medical insurance, punitive damages, emotional distress damages, and attorneys’ fees. Fulton has removed the case to Federal Court, where it is pending in the New Jersey District.