Greensboro Personal Injury Lawyer - All Topics - Most Popular

Teen sent text message seconds before fatal crash

Dan Deuterman — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 08:25:37 GMT

Some states, including North Carolina, have laws that restrict cell phone use by teens while driving.

A recent tragedy in New York illustrates why such laws are necessary. All drivers need to keep their attention on the road, but statists show that inexperienced drivers are more likely to die in car accidents. Distractions like cell phones, text messages, the radio or chatty friends can prove deadly, as they did recently in Canandaigua, New York.

Five teens, including the 17-year-old driver, were killed June 28 in a head-on crash with a truck. Just moments before the teens' SUV slammed into the truck, the driver was carrying on a text message conversation with a friend, according to police and news reports.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Dan Deuterman

Sending a Text Message While Driving Will Soon Be Illegal in Washington State

Dan Deuterman — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:48:32 GMT

Need to text? Your cell phone could be taken away

Texting while driving can lead to deadly consequences, which is why states are taking a look at toughening laws to deter drivers from using their handheld electronics behind the wheel.

Washington state has received a lot of attention lately after passing a ban on texting while driving that takes effect this January. Violaters will be charged $100 fines and may even have their cell phone confiscated for repeated offenses.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Are texting while driving bans a good idea? Are there better ways to prevent deadly car accidents that occur when drivers become distracted by cell phones, text messages and other things?

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Dan Deuterman

Is Food From China Safe? Cardboard Found in Street Vendor's Stuffed Dumplings

Dan Deuterman — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 08:41:58 GMT

InjuryBoard bloggers from Parker & McConkie in Salt Lake City have an interesting post about a disturbing discovery in China.

A street vendor was caught selling baozi, a popular dumpling-like snack, that was stuffed with cardboard and soaked in an industrial chemical.

Stories such as this one illustrate why the U.S. government needs to take a firmer stand on food imported from China. First the pet food recall, then the toothpaste recall, then reports of melamine fillers in food and now this. Is any food product imported from China safe? What assurance do we have that it's even "food" that is being imported?

China appears to be taking a hard stance on the food safety issue. China executed its former top food and drug regulator for taking bribes to approve untested medicine. Obviously, such actions are meant to signal to the U.S. that China takes food safety seriously.

But does it really? Or is China just trying to protect its economic interests? And should the U.S. accept imports from a country that imposes such Draconian punishments? I'd love to hear what you think about this issue.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Dan Deuterman

How much your rating is worth in your NC Workers' Comp. Case

Ben Burnside — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 07:00:00 GMT

A lot of people have heard of an injured worker getting a "rating," sometimes referred to as a "disability rating," for their work-related injury. However, you may not know what this rating is exactly, how you get it, or how much money the insurance company has to pay you because of it. This post gives a brief overview of ratings in the North Carolina Workers' Compensation System, and shows you how to calculate the amount of money that you are entitled to because of your rating.

The typical course of a work related injury might look like the following. You are injured at work, say you fall and hurt your knee, and you report this to your employer. Your employer sends you to a Doctor, who thinks you might have some real damage in your knee, and so you see an Orthopedic Specialist. The Orthopedic Specialist writes you out of work while you are undergoing treatment, and so the insurance company starts paying you weekly benefits in the amount of two thirds of your average weekly wage. If they don't do this voluntarily, you might hire an attorney to represent you to fight the insurance company to get them to pay you your weekly benefits.

In the meantime, the Doctor says that you have a torn ligament, and need surgery. You have this surgery, and your recovery from it goes pretty well. After the surgery, you undergo some physical therapy, and maybe you work light duty during this time. Eventually, your knee is pretty much healed, but it is never going to be in the great shape it was in before you hurt it. The Doctor tells you that you may have some problems with that knee down the line (for example you might get arthritis in that knee), but there is nothing more she can do for you. She then might tell you that she is giving you a rating of 10% and releasing you back to full duty work. You are able to return to the job you were doing before the injury, but what is this rating all about?

A "rating" is the term used for the degree of "Permanent Partial Disability", or PPD, that your Doctor has assigned you for the body part you injured at work. Under the NC Workers' Comp. Act, once you finish healing from your injury, you are entitled to a certain amount of money in PPD based on the rating that your Doctor has given you. The idea is that your employer or (more commonly) your employer's insurance company should have to pay you for the permanent damage to your body that you have suffered as a result of your work injury. The statute is 97-31, which gives a "schedule" for the compensation you are due, depending on your body part and the amount of money you made before you were injured. It might sound a little odd, but the statute actually gives a formula that will give you a certain amount of money for the loss of any specific body part you can think of. Lose a finger? The statute will tell you how much that finger is worth.

The statute itself gives the amount of compensation you would be due if you completely lost that body part. For example, if you lost your thumb, you are entitled to two thirds of your average weekly wages for 75 weeks, paid in one lump sum. So, for example, say you had to have your thumb amputated because of a work-related injury. Say you made $600.00 a week before you were injured. Under the statute, the loss of a thumb is worth two thirds of your average weekly wage during seventy five weeks. So you multiply two thirds of your average weekly wage (two thirds of $600.00 is about $400.00), times 75 weeks, which means you are owed about $30,000.00 in one lump sum.

A rating is a percentage of this total loss. So, for example, a 10% rating to your thumb means you have permanently lost 10% of the use of your thumb. To figure out how much this rating is worth, you multiply your rating by the number of weeks that the statute gives for total loss. To use the example above, the total loss of your thumb is worth 75 weeks. A 10% rating to your thumb is worth 10% of 75 weeks, which is 7.5 weeks. Multiply 7.5 weeks times two thirds of your average weekly wage (which we said was about $400.00), and voila, your 10% rating is worth $3,000.00.

Keep in mind that ratings are worth very different amounts depending on the body part you injured. A 10% rating to your back, for example, is worth two thirds of your average weekly wage for 30 weeks, which is obviously a lot more than the 7.5 weeks you got for that 10% to your thumb. The statute includes most body parts that you might injure, and provides money that you might be due if your body part isn't included.

The only way to get a rating is to get a Doctor to assign you one. If your Doctor is getting ready to release you, it is perfectly OK to ask him or her if you will be getting a rating. However, Doctors have guidelines they must follow when assigning ratings based on the specific facts of your injury, so they don't just "make them up." If you or your attorney feels like your rating was too low, or you or your attorney thinks you didn't get one when you should have, the Workers' Comp. Act gives you the right to have the insurance company pay for a second opinion on the rating with another Doctor. Keep in mind, however, that the second opinion Doctor could give you a lower rating than your treating Doctor did.

I hope this post has given you some useful information. Keep in mind that the foregoing analysis is based on a very simple case, where you have an injury, are not fired by your employer, and are able to go back to your old job making the same amount of money after you are finished healing from your injury. If you have multiple injuries, you are fired by your employer after your injury, or you are unable to go back to your old job because of your injury, you may be entitled to a lot more money than just your rating. If you are unsure if you are entitled to more than just your rating, you can call a workers' compensation attorney for advice. Keep in mind that most workers' comp. attorneys will give you a free consultation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Burnside

One Roadway to Carry Them All

Pierce Egerton — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:02:56 GMT

Bicyclists are perhaps the most vulnerable vehicles on the road. The accident rate for bicycles is lower than for other vehicles because they move slower. But, when there is an accident involving a bicyclist, he or she is at a greater risk for injury and death. As drivers, it is important to watch out for two-wheeled vehicles – they are harder to see, and their occupants are not encased in a protective layer of glass and steel.

Being myself a bicyclist, however, I hear the question often, “What about the bicyclists we see riding erratically, unsafely, and/or illegally?”

Sadly, the question has some merit and deserves a look. In Greensboro recently, a bicyclist was severely injured when she failed to yield at a stop sign and t-boned an SUV:

http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/11/09/article/bicyclist_seriously_injured_after_hitting_car

Stop signs and traffic signals apply to bicyclists too! Many bicyclists think that they can treat Stop signs as Yield, and red lights as Stop signs. This idea may be reasonable in some situations, but any vehicle, bicycle included, ignores stop signs and traffic signals at its peril.

Another thing we see often in Greensboro is bicycles on sidewalks where they shouldn’t necessarily be. To an inexperienced cyclist, the sidewalk can seem like a safer place to ride than the roadway. This is usually not the case!! Although speeds are lower on the sidewalk, there are many additional hazards riding there, and not just for the bike. Riding on the sidewalk, first and foremost, endangers the pedestrians who have a right to be there. Also, bicyclists using the sidewalk are often not aware when a crosswalk approaches, that a car or truck making a turn might contest the roadway, with disastrous results for the bicyclist.

The roadway is usually the safest place to ride. Yes, it can be scary for riders who are not familiar with the exercise – the cars are so much closer! Drivers, however, are more likely to see a bicycle on the roadway than one on the sidewalk or the shoulder. Don’t think that bicycles are required to ride near the side of the road – in most places, the law requires bicycles to ride as far to the right as is practicable, not as far right as possible. Plus, being seen on the roadway as a bicyclist, and obeying the laws of the road, drivers will be able to predict what the bicycle will do, and thereby avoid running it over.

The NC Department of Transportation site provides resources on safe riding: Streetwise Cycling — A Guide to Safe Bicycling in North Carolina

For more I’ve written recently on this topic, have a look at:

Be on the Look Out for 2-Wheeled Vehicles!

Update: Arrest Made for Greensboro Cyclist's Hit-and-Run Death

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Pierce Egerton

Update: Arrest Made for Greensboro Cyclist's Hit-and-Run Death

Pierce Egerton — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:21:51 GMT

The Greensboro News & Record reports that an arrest has been made in a hit and run case that has shocked the Triad. Grayson Dawson, a 48 year old Eden woman, has been charged with felony hit and run, misdemeanor death by vehicle, and driving with a revoked license for the death of David Sherman, the vice president of Sealy, Inc. in Trinity.

Sherman was riding his bicycle on North Church St when Dawson swerved left of the center line and struck him. She then made a U-turn and fled the scene, but witness reports led police to her driveway, where her SUV was sitting. Police identified blood on the windshield and other damage to the vehicle.

Dawson turned herself in, but was released on $5,000 bond. She has previously been in court for driving on the wrong side of the road and driving without a license.

The NC Dept. of Transportation records over 900 bicycle accidents a year, and that 112 cyclists have been killed in a four year span. Cycling is growing in popularity, especially as an alternative to cars and public transportation for young people in downtown Greensboro; in fact, one of my employees cycles to work every morning. As more people take to the road on bikes, we need more attention from the legislature and the city to ensure that cyclists are given safe streets to ride on.

A memorial bike ride will be held to honor Sherman, starting at the High Point Regional Hospital on Nov. 15, starting at 1:30. Organizers are urging people to donate to Yield to Life, a bicycle safety organization.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Pierce Egerton

British Woman Sentenced to Jail in Texting-While-Driving Fatality

Pierce Egerton — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:54:03 GMT

While awareness of the texting-while-driving epidemic is growing, the United Kingdom is one of the few countries that are aggressively prosecuting people whose texting causes tragic accidents on the roadway. The New York Times reports that Phillipa Curtis, 22, was sentenced to 21 months in a high-security prison for an act of carelessness that cost another young woman, 24 year old Victoria McBryde, her life.

Ms. McBryde’s car had broken down on the A40 motorway. She put her blinkers on, and her car was a neon yellow Fiat. The night was clear. Under normal circumstances, there was no way that Ms. Curtis could have missed her.

“The crash might once have been written off as a tragic accident. Ms. Curtis’s alcohol level was zero. But her phone, which had flown onto the road and was handed to the police by a witness, told a story that — under new British sentencing guidelines — would send its owner to jail.

In the hour before the crash, she had exchanged nearly two dozen messages with at least five friends, most concerning her encounter with a celebrity singer she had served at the restaurant where she worked.”

Prosecutors were able to prove that Ms. Curtis received a text just seconds before the tragic accident. The state is now appealing the verdict to give her an even harsher sentence.

It’s tragic that two young lives have to be ruined in such a way. Maybe American lawmakers will wake up and receive the message that texting while driving is every bit as dangerous and irresponsible as driving under the influence.

We’ve written before about the dangers of texting and driving, and the alarming results of a Car and Driver study that showed texting can impair someone’s reaction time even more than alcohol. Here’s the video of that test.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbiHwGBsRr0&feature=player_embedded

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Pierce Egerton

Pro Athlete Has His Bubble Burst by Exercise Ball

Pierce Egerton — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:15:05 GMT

Working out carries a lot of risks for injury, especially if you’re using heavy weights. But what about when a piece of exercise equipment malfunctions while you’re using it properly? We take for granted that the machines and products we work out with are built to last, but sometimes that’s not the case.

The Sacramento Kings found this out the hard way. Starting forward Francisco Garcia will miss at least four months of the season after an exercise ball accident broke his right wrist. Garcia, who weighs 195 pounds, was laying on his back on an exercise ball, lifting 90 pound weights in each hand, when the ball burst. Professional quality exercise balls have a weight limit of up to 600 pounds.

Exercise balls should deflate slowly instead of bursting, even if they’re punctured. Check out this video to see the way an exercise ball should and shouldn’t deflate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Ig0Izz23s

Reportedly, Garcia was using a Gymnic brand exercise ball. Their site has recently started advertising a new “burst-resistant” line of exercise balls.

With Garcia’s contract worth $29.6 million over 5 years, the Kings management is considering legal action and warning other teams not to use the balls.

It’s not just NBA players who are at risk, though. A faulty piece of exercise equipment can send you to the hospital and make you miss time from work. People assume that if they get hurt working out, it’s their own fault, but that’s not always the case. Always make sure you’re using your equipment properly, but if that equipment malfunctions, make sure someone knows it.

Has anyone else experienced problems with an exercise ball bursting? Leave a comment if you have. I’d like to know just how widespread this problem is.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Pierce Egerton

Teen Killed In Fatal BMW Crash Sought Speeding Advice in Online Forum

Dan Deuterman — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:36:10 GMT

Just 12 hours before he died in a reckless, high-speed crash, an 18-year-old Florida man logged onto an online forum for BMW drivers and asked for tips on driving his faster.

Later that same night, Joshua Ammirato raced his 2008 BMW M5 off an airstrip and into a tree. He and four other young men from Marion County in Florida were killed in the high-speed crash that clearly was the result of joyriding and youthful bravada.

In between typical car banter, some of the posters on the M5.com questioned Ammirato's maturity and urged him to be cautious while driving his high-performance car.

"[I]t's just disturbing to know, if you're for real, that an 18 year old who is asking these questions about a 500hp car is driving the same streets I am. I don't have anything against young guys driving nice cars, but an 18 year old behind the wheel of an M5 is what accidents are made of," he wrote.

Ammirato assured his fellow M5 bufs that he was a safe driver -- an assertion that contrasts sharply with accident reports.

"I completely understand where you are coming from assuming that I am irresponsible ... that is definitely understandable. I do sometimes make bad decisions but I am young and I do drive safe and I will not endanger the lives of others."

A case like this truly is tragic. All teenagers do stupid things, but for these five will never have the chance to do another stupid thing. And where does fault for this accident lie? Solely with the driver? Or with his friends, who surely encouraged him to push the limits of his fast sportscare? With his father, for giving an 18-year-old such a powerful car? With BMW for manufacturing a performance vehicle? With online car buffs who are always boasting about the performance they get from their sports cars? I'd love to hear your opinion.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Dan Deuterman

Reidsville Rush Hour Lands Two in ER

Pierce Egerton — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:15:44 GMT

A two vehicle collision on NC 14 in Reidsville put two men in the hospital this morning. The News & Record is reporting that Maurice Cooper, Jr., was injured when a Lincoln Town Car reportedly drifted across the center line and collided head on with his Isuzu pick up.

Mr. Cooper was taken to Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem. The driver of the Town Car, Freddie McCain, was also injured and taken to the hospital.

The accident report has not yet been released, but in my experience driver distraction and driver fatigue are the primary culprits in rush hour accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Pierce Egerton