North Carolina Injury Lawyer Blog

Nancy Leady, 60, died last week after her bicycle was struck by a 21-year-old North Carolina State student. Brian Reid had been celebrating his 21st birthday when the tragic accident happened. He has been charged with driving while intoxicated, failure to control speed, and misdemeanor death by motor vehicle.

Because a bicyclist does not have any protection, except for a helmet, from the impact of colliding with a car, truck, motorcycle, or bus, many bicyclists are prone to serious injuries when they are involved in a traffic accident. Serious bicycle injuries can include broken bones, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, severed limbs, and death.

In Raleigh, Monroe, Hickory, Charlotte, or anywhere else in North Carolina or South Carolina, one of our bicycle accident lawyers can explore your legal options with you.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

• 622 bicyclists died in traffic accidents in 2003.
• 46,000 others were injured that same year.
• The average age of bicyclists killed in 2003 was 35.
• Over 30% of bicyclist deaths involved alcohol (whether the pedalcyclist or motorist).

In preparation for National Bicycle Safety Month in May, the N.C. Department of Transportation offers the following reminders to motorists about keeping bicyclists safe:

• Keep a lookout for oncoming bicyclists when turning left and wait for them to clear the intersection before completing your turn.
• After passing a bicyclist on your right, take care not to cut them off by immediately turning right in front of them.
• Slow down when passing a bicyclist to make sure the rider is aware of your presence and leave plenty of room between your vehicle and the bicyclist.
• Stay alert for bicyclists who suddenly swerve or turn in front of you.
• Yield to bicyclists, when appropriate, as you would for other motor vehicles.

The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles says that 114 bicyclists died and almost 2400 others were injured in traffic accidents in North Carolina from 2001 to 2005.

Bicyclist dies after struck by vehicle, News14.com, April 24, 2008

May is National Bicycle Safety Month, NCDOT.org

Related Web Resource:

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Continue reading "Woman Injured In Raleigh, North Carolina Bicycle Accident Dies " »

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Posted In: Bicycle Accidents

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Ag-Mart Produce has agreed to settle the birth defects lawsuit filed by the parents of Carlitos Candelario, a 3-year-old boy born without arms or legs. The boys’ parents Abraham Candelario and Francisca Herrera had worked for the tomato grower in fields in North Carolina and South Carolina that had been sprayed with pesticide while Francisca was pregnant.

Candelario and Herrera filed their birth defects lawsuit against Ag-Mart in 2006. They have accused the family of spraying pesticides on the fields while workers were present and not waiting long enough to send workers back to the field after the pesticides were applied.

A hearing has been scheduled this summer in North Carolina by the state pesticide board to determine whether Ag-Mart workers were exposed to toxic chemicals in pesticides. The tomato grower grows grape tomatoes in Brunswick County, North Carolina.

In 2005, Ag-Mart was charged with 369 violations of the state’s pesticide law. Company officials, however, says that many of the charges are false because North Carolina investigators had misinterpreted work records.

To this day, Ag-Mart continues to deny responsibility for causing Carlitos’s birth defects. Other farm workers under its employ also had children with birth defects around the time that Carlitos was born.

Ag-Mart has also voluntarily stopped using certain pesticides that appeared to be responsible for developmental problems in lab animals.

The terms of the birth defects settlement between Ag-Mart and Carlitos’s family is confidential, but their personal injury lawyer says that Carlitos will receive financial support for his medical costs, plus income, for life.

In South Carolina and North Carolina, our personal injury lawyers represent children and adults that have sustained catastrophic injuries because of the negligent or careless actions of people and/or corporations.

Ag-Mart settlement with couple OK'd, News and Observer, April 18, 2008

Board revives pesticide case, News and Observer, March 12, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Ag-Mart Produce

Beyond Pesticides

Continue reading "Plaintiff Mother In Ag-Mart Birth Defect Lawsuit Worked in North Carolina Tomato Fields While Pregnant With Son Born Without Limbs" »

Posted by Michael A. DeMayo | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Catastrophic Injuries , Personal Injury , Premises Liability , Products Liability

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In Pitt County, North Carolina, a grand jury this week indicted two men involved in separate deadly motor vehicle accidents that took place earlier this year.

Pablo Delacruz, was speeding in his Chevrolet Camaro on March 22 when he hit Harold Mills, a 75-year-old man on a bicycle. Mills was declared dead soon after he arrived at Pitt County Memorial Hospital. Delacruz had fled the accident scene but was tracked down by police after a witness wrote down his car’s license plate number.

DelaCruz was indicted for felony hit and run that caused personal injury and misdemeanor death by motor vehicle.

In the second fatal car accident, Danny Ellis Vick was driving his BMW headed north on NC 43 in Falkland Township on January 23 when he hit a car driven by 33-year-old Frankie Peaden after crossing the center line and hitting Peaden’s 1995 Toyota in a head-on collision. The North Carolina Highway Patrol says that Vick was driving under the influence of drugs.

At the time of the car accident, Vick was on parole after serving time in prison for robbery-related convictions. He was indicted this week on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and felony death by motor vehicle.

If someone you love was killed in a motor vehicle accident caused by another party’s negligence, not only can the responsible party be charged and convicted for committing a crime, but the driver may also be held liable in civil court.

In North Carolina and South Carolina, our North Carolina wrongful death law firm has helped many families recover damages from the responsible party for their loved ones’ deaths. We have successfully represented the surviving family members of people killed in truck accidents, train accidents, car accidents, bus crashes, and motorcycle collisions. We also have represented mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, husbands, and wives of people that died because of a defective product, a work-related accident, a premises liability-related crime, or any other injury accident caused by the negligence of someone else.

Two drivers from fatal wrecks indicted, The Daily Reflector, April 17, 2008

Hearing set for man in fatal wreck, The Daily Southerner, January 30, 2008

Greenville Police Investigating Hit and Run, WNCT.com, March 22, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Head-On Collisions

Things You May Not Know About Hit and Run Accidents, Deadly Roads

Continue reading "Pitt County Grand Jury Indicts North Carolina Two Drivers Involved in Separate Deadly Car Accidents" »

Posted by Michael A. DeMayo | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Car Accidents , Wrongful Death

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Dr. Mel Levine, a doctor and adjunct professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Medicine has asked the North Carolina Medical Board to put his medical license to practice medicine in the state in inactive status.

Dr. Levine is currently the defendant in personal injury lawsuits filed against him by several victims that are accusing him of sexual abusing them when they were young boys and patients at Children’s Hospital Boston in Massachusetts.

Dr. Levine says he is innocent of the allegations and his attorney says that the request to suspend his license is not an acknowledgement of wrongdoing. Levine has also volunteered to stop seeing patients at UNC until the sex abuse allegations are resolved.

Dr. Levine is the author of “A Mind at a Time” and other books about learning disabilities. Prior to transferring to UNC, he was the chief of ambulatory pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Boston.

The lawsuit accuses Dr. Levine of sexually abusing a boy from the time he was 8, in 1980, until 1985. He is also accused of sexually abusing six other boys, 5 to 13 years old, from 1967 to 1984. Some of these boys, now men, have also filed lawsuits against Dr. Levine.

A sex abuse lawyer for five of the men says that his clients waited to file their lawsuits because they were ashamed of the abuse or had suppressed the memories for years.

If you or your child was the victim of child sexual abuse by a teacher, doctor, coach, counselor, doctor, camp counselor, therapist, day care worker, a priest, or anyone else, you may be able to sue the perpetrator in civil court for personal injury damages.

A victim of sexual abuse may sustain physical as well as emotional injuries that can take its toll on the life of the victim and their loved ones. One of our North Carolina and South Carolina sexual abuse lawyers would be happy to speak with you to discuss your legal options.

Suit Accuses Pediatrician of Abuse, The New York Times, April 8, 2008

Doctor stops seeing patients after lawsuit, The Daily Tar Heel, April 8, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Biography of Dr. Mel Levine

UNC School of Medicine

Continue reading " UNC Pediatrician Being Sued For Sex Abuse Asks North Carolina Medical Board to Suspend His Medical License " »

Posted by Michael A. DeMayo | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Child Sex Abuse

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In North Carolina, Melissa White is suing the Stokes County Department of Social Services for wrongful death. Her sons, Jeffrey, 4, and Jacob, 3, White, drowned in the Dan River in 2006 after the social services department had taken the boys from their home and placed them under their paternal grandparents’ care. Melissa is seeking over $10,000 in damages on behalf of her sons’ estate.

The wrongful death lawsuit claims that the department acted negligently when it placed the boys under the charge of their grandparents, who were suffering from poor health and were not in the proper physical shape to oversee the two boys.

Melissa is also accusing the DSS and its social workers of failing to send the boys to a safe place. The lawsuit contends that the department’s negligence resulted in the boys’ drowning deaths. They were 4 and 3 years old at the time.

Custody of the boys was given to the grandparents following complaints that domestic violence was taking place in their own home and an investigation followed. Melissa and the boys' father, Jeffrey, Sr., are now divorced.

The two boys disappeared four months after being placed in their grandparents’ care. Their bodies were found in the river three days after their disappearance.

Last November, a state child-fatality review found that their were gaps in the services provided to protect the children and that the Stokes County DSS was working on more cases at a time than is normally recommended. The review also determined that the department did not properly review the danger risks that the kids actually faced in their parents' home.

Our North Carolina and South Carolina personal injury law firm has helped many families recover damages for the untimely deaths of their loved ones.

In North Carolina, plaintiffs have two years from the time of a loved one’s death to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

The DSS has filed a motion to have the case dismissed.

A good way to determine whether you have grounds to file a wrongful death claim is to speak to one of our wrongful death attorneys during your free consultation.

Mother sues Stokes over deaths, Journalnow.com, March 15, 2008

Parents Of Boys Who Drowned File Wrongful Death Lawsuit, WXII12.dom, March 14, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Stokes County, North Carolina Department of Social Services

North Carolina Division of Social Services

Continue reading "North Carolina Parents File Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Stokes County Department of Social Services For Son’s Drowning Deaths" »

Posted by Michael A. DeMayo | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Wrongful Death

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Annie McLeod, a University of North Carolina Wilmington Student, died on Sunday following a deadly car accident on North College Road in Wilmington over the weekend.

McLeod, 22, and two of her UNCW schoolmates, 19-year-old Tyler Roberts of Raleigh and 18-year-old Sarah Brown of Colerain, were on the road at around 2am on Sunday when they were struck by a Blue Lincoln that crossed the median. The Lincoln was driven by Wilmington resident Kelvin Cardwell, 22.

McLeod died on the way from the accident scene to the hospital. The other three injury victims were taken to New Hanover Regional Medical Center for medical treatment of their injuries.

The Wilmington Police say that alcohol was a factor in the crash.

If someone you love was seriously injured or killed in a motor vehicle crash in North Carolina or South Carolina because another person was negligent or careless, please contact our auto accident law firm right away to explore your legal options. Our law firm handles personal injury and wrongful death cases.

Drunk Driving
• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that 1 person dies every 31 minutes in an alcohol-related auto accident, while 2 people are injured every two minutes.

• The CDC says that 16,885 people died in the US in 2005 in motor vehicle crashes where alcohol was involved.

• Driving with a BAC of .08% or more is illegal in all U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

• Every year, alcohol-related accidents incur some $51 billion in costs in the U.S.

• Approximately 18% of auto accident driver deaths involved drugs other than alcohol.

UNCW student killed in crash, WWAYTV3.com, March 31, 2008

UNCW student killed in 2-car crash; 3 injured, StarNewsOnline.com, March 31, 2008

Impaired Driving, CDC.gov

Related Web Resource:

Drunk Driving, NSC.org

Continue reading "University of North Carolina Wilmington Student Dies and Three Others Are Injured In Car Accident Involving Alcohol" »

Posted by Michael A. DeMayo | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Car Accidents

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