North Carolina Injury Lawyer Blog

This week in North Carolina, 67 patients filed a personal injury lawsuit against Cardinal Health and Steris Corp., the companies that supply Duke University Health System hospitals with sterilization equipment. Also named in the lawsuit are a number of Cardinal workers. The lawsuit alleges deceptive trading practices, negligence, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice, and it comes right after Duke Healthy University Health System reached a settlement with patients that claim they were injured because of exposure to the fluid.

The current lawsuit accuses the defendants of trying to cover up their mistakes after some 3,800 surgical patients at Duke Health Raleigh Hospital and Durham Regional Hospital in 2004 were exposed to instruments washed with used hydraulic fluid.

Duke Health officials have said that the instruments had been sterilized after being washed in the fluid and that their findings showed that patients were unlikely to be harmed. A number of patients, however, said they suffered immune system reactions and infections as a result of the exposure.

Although Duke Health isn’t a defendant in this new lawsuit, the plaintiffs are accusing the hospital system of working with the defendants to minimize liability in the case. Duke Health allegedly shared costs with the companies for testing the instruments, conducting the test in a lab connected to Duke, preventing patients from getting more information, and destroying key evidence.

The lawsuit accuses Cardinal workers of failing to check the detergent drums before sending them to the hospital. The hydraulic fluid came from an elevator and was transported to the hospital to be used as detergent. The Steris workers are accused of disregarding complaints of greasy surgical tools and neglecting to check the sterilization equipment at the hospitals.

Hydraulic fluid is often used in equipment, machines, and motor vehicles and has been known to cause health issues in people that have been exposed to it.

If you have suffered health issues because of your exposure to a toxic or hazardous substance, contact our North Carolina personal injury law firm today.

Suit alleges cover-up in tainted surgical instrument case, WRAL.com, June 19, 2008

Duke, patients settle hydraulic fluid claims, The News and Observer, January 19, 2008

Read the Lawsuit

Related Web Resources:

Hydraulic Fluid Facts, Dukehealth.org

A compilation of correspondence related to hydraulic fluid issues at Duke University Health System, Dukehealth.org

Continue reading "North Carolina Personal Injury Lawsuit Sues Suppliers Involved in Tainted-Surgical Instrument Incident At Duke University Health System Hospitals" »

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

Posted In: Personal Injury

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A North Carolina sheriff’s deputy Steven Boehm and firefighter Gene Thomas died on Saturday after being struck by an 18-wheeler truck. The fatal accident took place on a coastal highway near a burn site at Marine Corps Base Camp in Oslow County. Bill Hall, a second deputy, sustained minor injuries from the crash.

Reduced visibility, caused by fog and smoke from the burn, may have played a role.
The truck driver, Fayetteville resident Robert Kornegay, was charged with exceeding a safe speed and two counts of misdemeanor death by vehicle.

18-wheeler Tractor-Trailer Accidents
Traffic accidents involving 18-wheeler trucks can lead to serious injuries for those involved. If you or someone you love suffered serious injuries in a collision with an 18-wheeler tractor-trailer in North Carolina or South Carolina, it is important that you hire an experienced truck crash lawyer.

Trucking companies are prepared when it comes to dealing with injury cases, and many of them will aggressively fight to minimize liability. You need a truck collision law firm that is familiar with the state trucking regulations, as well as the regulations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Our North Carolina truck crash attorneys have successfully represented clients with trucking accident claims and lawsuits. You are entitled to financial recovery for your injuries and losses.

Causes of Tractor-Trailer Accidents include:

• DUI
• Failure to monitor blind spots
• Driver fatigue
• Break or tire failure
• Unsecured cargo
• Speeding
• Driver inattention
• Reckless or careless driving

Do NOT speak to a truck company representative without your lawyer present. Tractor-trailer accidents are usually catastrophic injury accidents.

Potential defendants in a truck accident case may include the truck driver, the trucking company, the owner of the tractor-trailer, the truck leasing company, the truck manufacturer, and other liable parties.

NC Deputy and Firefighter Killed in Tractor-trailer Crash, Efluxmedia.com, June 15, 2008

Officer Down: Deputy Sheriff Steve Boehm, PoliceOne.com, June 14, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Truck Safety Coalition

Continue reading "18-Wheeler Tractor-Trailer Crash Claims the Lives of a Firefighter and a Sheriff’s Deputy in North Carolina" »

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

Posted In: Personal Injury , Truck Accidents , Wrongful Death

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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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The deadly New York crane collapse that left seven people dead and 10 others injured has brought the issue of crane safety to attention—especially in Charlotte, North Carolina where a number of cranes are in operation.

Heade Southeast, Inc. operates 20 cranes in Center City Charlotte alone, not to mention another 20 cranes in the rest of the region. Some cranes can carry weight as heavy as 40,000 pounds.

The North Carolina Department of Labor says that there have been four deaths involving cranes in North Carolina since 2004. Dennis Kenna, Heade Southeast President, cites human error or disregard of the manufacturer’s safety recommendations as causes for crane accidents.

Recent North Carolina construction-related crane accidents:

November 2006: No one was injured when a crane collapsed at a construction site at Caldwell and Third Streets.

May 2006: A construction worker suffered a broken arm, neck, and legs when he was struck by a big concrete bucket that fell from a crane.

August 2004: A construction worker died at 'Steel Fab' in West Charlotte when a large steel beam crushed him.

May 2004: A construction worker died in Statesville after a crane hit him.

In New York on Monday, rescue workers pulled three more bodies from the rubble of Saturday’s catastrophic crane collapse--bringing the death toll to seven. The three victims are construction workers Clifford Canzona and Santino Gallino and Florida resident Odin Torres.

Torres is the only fatality that was not a construction workers. She was visiting her friend John Gallego in a nearby town home at the time of the collapse. The town home was destroyed by the crane. As of Tuesday, Gallego was in critical condition after being pulled from below 30 feet of rubble.

The crane had fallen when a 5 ½-ton steel collar, which workers had been installing around the crane, brook loose. The falling collar hit another collar, which destabilized the crane. The crane then smashed into the building on East 51st street and then the townhouse.

If you have been injured in a North Carolina or South Carolina construction accident, you should contact our personal injury law firm for your free consultation.

Death toll in New York crane collapse rises to 7, Los Angeles Times, March 18, 2008

Crane safety questioned after incident, News14.com, March 17, 2008

Related Web Resource:

Crane Accidents

Continue reading "Deadly New York Crane Accident Highlights Safety Issues As Multiple Cranes Operate in Charlotte, North Carolina" »

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

Posted In: Construction Accidents , Personal Injury , Workers' Compensation

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Over three dozen current and ex-Duke Lacrosse players are suing Duke University, the North Carolina city of Durham, and a number of police and school officers. The federal lawsuit alleges abuse, fraud, and breach of duty during the high profile case, now dismissed rape case against three team members.

The three lacrosse players who were charged, Reade Seligmann, Dave Evans, and Collin Finnerty, are not plaintiffs in this civil case. They have filed their own cases against Durham and police investigators. The three of them reached a settlement with Duke University last year.

The plaintiffs in this latest lawsuit related to the rape case are 38 unindicted players and nine of their family members. They are suing for damages for emotional trauma, invasion of privacy, and other injuries.

In 2006, Seligmann, Evans, and Finnerty were indicted by then-Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong after a woman accused the three of them of raping her at a Lacrosse team party that March. State prosecutors dropped all charges against the three men in April 2007.

Apparently, Nifong and his investigative team had made up and suppressed evidence. The victim continued to change her account of the alleged attack. The federal lawsuit claims that the University and the city abandoned the lacrosse team in favor of protecting the images of the school and the city. The plaintiffs are accusing Duke of disregarding and discrediting evidence that showed the players did not rape the alleged rape victim.

As a result, the players say that they were harassed, abused, and disciplined as if they were already guilty of rape. The University cancelled the lacrosse team’s season.

The players want to hold the city of Durham responsible for Nifong’s actions. The former DA, who has declared bankruptcy and is a defendant in two other lawsuits related to his handling of the rape case was not named in this lawsuit. He was disbarred and spent a night in jail for his actions.

If you have suffered any injuries or losses because of the misconduct or negligence of any person or entity in North Carolina or South Carolina, you may be able to receive personal injury compensation for the harm that you have suffered.

Players allege Duke failed to protect their reputation, CNN.com, February 21, 2008

Duke lacrosse players seek damages in federal lawsuit, USA Today.com, February 21, 2008

Related Web Resources:

McFayden et al v Duke University et al, Justia.com

Duke Rape Case Unravels, CSMonitor.com, December 26, 2006

Continue reading "Duke Lacrosse Players File Lawsuit Against Duke University and the City of Durham, North Carolina" »

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

Posted In: Personal Injury

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In North Carolina, the parents of Larry D. Green, the man who Franklin County medical officers wrongly declared dead in January 2005, have filed a personal injury lawsuit against Franklin County’s medical examiner, Franklin County Emergency Medical Services, the emergency responders who were at Green’s pedestrian accident scene, Louisburg Rescue, and EMS.

Green, now 31, was critically injured in Louisburg in January 2005 when he was hit by a motor vehicle while walking across U.S. 401 north. He was declared dead, placed in a body bag, and sent to a morgue. It wasn’t until after his body had been at the morgue for over two hours that the coroner realized that Green was alive.

The lawsuit, filed by Green’s parents, Larry Alston and Ruby Kelly, alleges that medical officials did not properly check Green’s vital signs and that he would not have sustained permanent injuries if they had done their job correctly. Green’s mother, Ruby Kelly, says that she sustained emotional trauma after seeing the crash scene and believing that her son was dead.

Green was in the hospital for two months. Injuries included a serious head injury and leg injuries. It wasn’t until five months after the accident that he started to talk again. Green now resides in a Wilson nursing home, and he may never fully recover from his injuries.

Last month, J.B. Perdue, the Franklin County medical examiner named in the lawsuit, stated that pronouncing a person dead is not part of his job. He said his responsibilities are to investigate the cause of death.

The lawsuit says that Perdue saw Green’s eye twitching and chest moving at the morgue but did not make sure Green was dead before starting his forensic evaluation.

Green’s family is accusing emergency medical technicians and paramedics of not following policy in their handling of Green. Medics admit that they did not use a stethoscope or electrocardiogram monitor to make sure that Green was dead after failing to detect a pulse or breath.

If you or someone you love was injured because of medical malpractice or negligence, you must contact a personal injury lawyer immediately.

Death blunder draws lawsuit, The News & Observer.com, December 28, 2007

Family Of North Carolina Man Mistakenly Declared Dead Files Suit, All Headlines, December 28, 2007

After body bag, life goes on, The News & Observer.com, January 24, 2007

Related Web Resource:

No further state action warranted against Franklin County EMS personnel, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, February 9, 2005

Continue reading "Parents of North Carolina Man Sue Franklin County Medical Officers for Son’s Wrongly Declared Death" »

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

Posted In: Medical Malpractice , Personal Injury

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The families of several Iraqis hurt or killed in a September shooting incident in Baghdad are suing Blackwater, the military contractor that is headquartered in North Carolina.

The lawsuit claims Blackwater engaged in war crimes, assault, wrongful death, emotional distress, and negligent hiring. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the families of five people who died in the September 16 shootings that took place around Baghdad’s Nusoor Square and two others who were injured in the attack.

The lawsuit claims that Blackwater guards used excessive force during the shootings and that the guards involved left a secure area and fired at their victims “without provocation.” Blackwater, however, disputes this claim and says its guards were just doing their job to protect a State Department convoy under attack by Iraqi insurgents. 17 people died and 24 others were wounded in the shootings.

The plaintiffs are accusing Blackwater of failing to make sure that its guards did not use steroids. The military contractor has fired employees in the past for steroid use.

The lawsuit also claims that Blackwater knowingly hired ex-Chilean commandos that were barred from working in their own countries because they committed human rights violations, as well as mercenaries from other nations.

The plaintiffs are seeking punitive damages, personal injury compensation, and wrongful death recovery.

The United States has paid Blackwater close to $1 billion for its services since the invasion of Iraq. Blackwater guards provide security to high-level U.S. officials in Baghdad.

The Iraqi government is now considering withdrawing the legal immunity that private security contractors currently enjoy in Iraq.

If you or someone you love has been injured because of the negligent, careless, reckless, or excessively violent actions of another person or entity, you may have grounds to file a personal injury claim or lawsuit against any negligent parties.

Blackwater accused in lawsuit over civilian deaths, USA Today, November 27, 2007

Blackwater Lawsuit Says Order Ignored, AP, November 27, 2007

Blackwater guards pumped on steroids, lawsuit alleges, CNN.com, November 27, 2007

Iraq contractors say they'll keep working without immunity, Boston.com, December 9, 2007

Related Web Resources:

Prosecutors narrow focus in Blackwater killings, December 7, 2007

Blackwater Worldwide

Continue reading "North Carolina-Based Private Security Company Blackwater is Sued For Wrongful Death, Personal Injury, and War Crimes" »

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

Posted In: Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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Troopers in North Carolina issued over 50,000 traffic violation tickets during the November Operation Slow Down/No Need 2 Speed program, which is designed to apprehend drivers speeding on highways in North Carolina. From November 13 until November 25, 2007, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol and local troopers worked together to apprehend anyone driving over the speed limit.

Speeding is considered a major cause of motor vehicle accidents. Last year, 554 people in North Carolina died in a motor vehicle accident where speeding was a factor. The NHTSA says that 13,713 people died in the United States in 2002 because of accidents involving speeding.

North Carolina’s Highway Patrol says that of the 51,198 citations that it issued, 24,274 of them were for speeding violations. 954 violations involved DWI (driving while impaired).

If you or someone you love was seriously injured in a car accident, truck collision, bus accident, pedestrian accident, or motorcycle crash because another driver on the road was speeding, you should contact an experienced South Carolina or North Carolina motor vehicle accident lawyer right away.

Perils of Speeding
Speeding can make it hard for a driver to stop their motor vehicle suddenly and safely. It also decreases a driver’s ability to steer around objects on the street or go around curving roads safely. A driver who is intent on speeding may end up changing lanes unnecessarily in order to keep up the pace. Many deadly car crashes happen because a driver was speeding.

Safedrivingtest.com offers a number of survival strategies that doesn’t involve speeding:

• Drive the speed limit.
• Don’t let the car behind you pressure you to speed.
• Slow down even below the speed limit in rainy, icy or snowy weather or on a road that is under construction.
• Don’t tailgate.
• Generally keep pace with the flow of traffic.

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol says that it plans to continue keeping a vigilant watch for anyone speeding on the roads.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, 20 peopled were killed on North Carolina’s highways. Although the causes of all the accidents have not yet been determined, officials expect that speeding, not paying proper attention to the roads, carelessness, drunk driving, and not wearing seatbelts will arise as some of the reasons for the deadly crashes.

Troopers issue 50,000 tickets during statewide speeding crackdown, Charlotte.com, November 27, 2007

20 killed on N.C. highways over holiday, Charlotte.com, November 27, 2007
N.C.'s Operation Slow Down to 'Crack Down' on Speeders, Enhance Safety, Insurance Journal, November 13, 2007

More about Speed, Safedrivingtest.com

Related Web Resource:

Gov. Easley Announces Operation Slow Down/No Need 2 Speed, State of North Carolina Office of the Governor

Continue reading "North Carolina State Highway Patrol Issues More Than 50,000 Traffic Violation Citations During Operation Slow Down " »

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

Posted In: Car Accidents , Personal Injury

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Operation Buckle Up begins in North Carolina today. The state and local initiative by law enforcement officers is designed to reduced the number of injury accidents and deaths, as well as prevent certain traffic violations. Over the next two weeks, police officers will crack down on motor vehicle drivers and riders that are in violation of North Carolina’s seat belt laws.

Statistics:

• 1558 people died on North Carolina’s roads in 2006.
• 48% of fatalities involved people that did not wear seat belts.
• 88.6% of people in cars and trucks are believed to be in compliance with North Carolina’s seat belt laws.

The North Carolina Highway Patrol has also been cracking down on drunk drivers. Police cited 2,905 drivers for driving while impaired between August 13 and through the Labor Day weekend ending September 3.

The areas where the largest number of drunk drivers were apprehended in North Carolina during the two-week initiative were Carteret (86), Mecklenburg, (100), and Wake (342). One Highway Patrol officer at the Lexington office says that his agency has arrested 182 people for DWI this year.

The James Madison University Web site offers the following facts and statistics about seat belt safety:

• Out of every five motor vehicle drivers, one driver will be in a traffic accident this year.
• About 35,000 people die in accidents involving a motor vehicle every year. About 50% would not have died if they were wearing seat belts at the time of the fatal crash.
• If just 172 of the 35,000 people did not die, some $100 million a year in personal injury and wrongful death recovery costs would be saved.
• Children have been known to die or be seriously injured in a motor vehicle crash because they were crushed by adults that were not wearing seatbelts.
• 80 out of every 100 children that die in a motor vehicle collision would have been saved if they had been a safety belt or child safety seat.

Many motor vehicle accidents happen because a car driver, truck driver, motorcyclist, or bus driver was negligent. If you were injured in a motor vehicle injury victim because another party was negligent—even if you were not wearing a seat belt—you should speak to a personal injury lawyer right away.

Your personal injury attorney can file a personal injury claim or lawsuit for you so that you can obtain the recovery that you need to cover your medical costs and other related damages.

If you were injured in a motor vehicle accident because of a defective seat belt, you could have grounds to file a seat belt injury claim for your injuries.

Highway Patrol focuses on seat-belt usage, The Dispatch Online, September 17, 2007

Safety Belt Statistics, James Madison University

Related Web Resources:

NC Seat Belt Law, NC Crime Control.org

The Disaster Center's Motor Vehicle Accident Death and Injury data Index, Disaster Center.com

Continue reading "North Carolina Highway Patrol Starts "Operation Buckle Up" to Reduce Motor Vehicle Injury Accidents and Deaths " »

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

Posted In: Car Accidents , Personal Injury

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North Carolina’s Department of Transportation has started looking at its substandard bridges following the deadly highway bridge collapse in Minnesota. A report on the bridges’ safety is expected to be completed by the time the Board of Transportation meets in September.

Oregon Inlet’s Herbert C. Bonner Bridge is considered the bridge with the most safety issues in North Carolina, although the bridge is still considered safe for use. A number of repairs have been recommended to keep it sound for travelers and a replacement bridge is scheduled to be constructed in 2013.

On Thursday, the state’s Transportation Department inspected the bridge in Gaston County that carries N.C. Highway 273 over a canal in Duke Power. It is the only bridge in North Carolina that has a similar design to the bridge that fell in Minneapolis.

The Federal Highway Administration had previously ranked the collapsed bridge in Minnesota as “structurally deficient.” In 2006, 2,256 North Carolina bridges were rated “structurally deficient” while 2,816 were deemed “functionally obsolete.” There are over 17,000 bridges in the state.

In Minneapolis, the death toll is now up to five bodies, although that number is expected to rise. Divers searching the Mississippi River on Thursday discovered 11 vehicles in its water. At least 79 people were injured in Wednesday's collapse of the eight-lane bridge.

If it can be proven that state or federal departments or any officials or anyone else acted negligently or carelessly when maintaining or managing the Minneapolis bridge and were directly or indirectly responsible for the collapse, any of these parties might be held liable for the personal injuries and wrongful deaths that have been sustained by the victims of the bridge disaster.

Some recent bridge tragedies in North Carolina (as reported by the News & Observer):

1984: In Burnsville, a single-lane bridge over the Toe River between Yancy and Mitchell Counties collapses when an overloaded tractor-trailer crosses it. No one is seriously injured.

1987: Skeen's Mill Bridge, a 100-foot-long covered bridge, collapses near Asheville into the Uwharrie River.

2000: A pedestrian bridge spanning U.S. Highway 29 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord collapses, injuring more than 100 people. Officials blame badly corroded cables for the collapse but are unsure of how the cables became rusted.

2001: A one-lane suspension bridge near Asheville collapses under a large truck hauling magazines. No one is injured.

2004: Three vehicles are swept away by raging currents after uprooted trees wipe out a two-lane bridge over Beaver Dam Creek near Boiling Springs. One man is killed. Officials note that 10 to 12 bridges were similarly washed out during flooding from the season's hurricanes and heavy rains in the N.C. mountains.

Five now confirmed killed in bridge collapse, CNN.com, August 3, 2007

North Carolina to study 'substandard' bridges' safety, Hampton Roads.com, August 3, 2007

North Carolina bridge incidents, News Observer, August 2, 2007

Related Web Resources:

North Carolina Department of Transportation

Continue reading "North Carolina to Inspect Safety of Its Substandard Bridges As Death Toll in Minneapolis Bridge Collapse Rises to Five" »

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

Posted In: Personal Injury

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State officials in North Carolina are investigating whether the Department of Correction administrator let a group of inmates work on a six-person roadside cleaning crew last Tuesday without giving them the proper safety equipment that they needed to stay safe on Interstate 40 near Lake Wheeler Road. One of the inmates, Charles Wilson, died after an SUV struck an empty prison van nearby. The van then rolled onto him.

Several inmates and workers at the Wake Correctional Center said that a corrections officer told his supervisor that the crew lacked the proper safety equipment, including road signs to warn motorists of their presence while working in the area. They say that the supervisor disregarded the absence of the equipment. A corrections department spokesperson says that the accusations are being investigated.

The van also struck inmate John Terry and correction officer John McDonald.

Police have charged Frederick Henri Beaujeu-Dufour, a Clinton resident and the man driving the SUV, with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle.

Road Construction Site Injury Statistics

• From 1995-2002, 844 workers died at a road construction site in the US
• More than 50% of these deaths involved motor vehicle accidents

The Federal Highway Administration’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices defines a work zone as:

“an area of a highway with construction, maintenance, or utility work activities. A
work zone is typically marked by signs, channelizing devices, barriers, pavement
markings, and/or work vehicles. It extends from the first warning sign or high-
intensity rotating, flashing, oscillating, or strobe lights on a vehicle to the 'End Road Work' sign or the last temporary traffic control device.”

By law, safety markers must be in place to ensure that workers on the road are safe. If North Carolina’s Department of Corrections knowingly allowed the inmates to work on the roads without the proper safety equipment, they could be held liable for the personal injuries and wrongful death sustained by some of the inmates. The driver of the SUV, Frederick Henri Beaujeu-Dufour, could also be held liable for the wrongful death of inmate Charles Wilson.

Inmates in roadside accident lacked safety equipment, Winston-Salem Journal, July 13, 2007

1 North Carolina Inmate Dies, 2 Injured in Roadside Crew Accident, WRAL.com, July 11, 2007

Fatal occupational injuries at road construction sites

Related Web Resource:

Notification of the Work Zone Safety and Mobility Final Rule, U.S. Department of Transporation Federal Highway Administration

Continue reading "North Carolina Inmate Killed On Roadside Cleaning Crew Lacked Proper Safety Equipment " »

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

Posted In: Car Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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