Edwards & Edwards, LLP

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Saving Teen Lives

Local authorities have been on a quest to help reduce accidents involving teen drivers. Their principle focus recently has been distracted driving, and they have taken extra steps to ensure that our teens get the knowledge they need to avoid these accidents. Three different distracted driving simulators have visited East North Carolina in as many months, and the North Carolina Highway Patrol (NCHP) have even started their own program to help teach teens.

The “Drive To Live” program was designed by NCHP to help improve teen’s driving education. They hold the program in April—around prom season—and do their best to make sure these kids have all the tools they need to avoid crashes. Teens have the highest accident rate among all age groups in the United States. To learn more check out our full story, and keep following our blog, Facebook, and Twitter for even more tips on how to keep your teenagers safer on the road.

Edwards & Edwards, L.L.P.—Greenville Personal Injury Attorneys

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Women Get Concussions Too

A new study from the NCAA shows that women athletes appear to get concussions more often than male athletes. The study focused on softball players, who got concussions at double the rate of their male counterparts, but the study also found something disturbing. When the women reported the symptoms of their concussions, they were often sent to migraine clinics where they received the wrong type of treatment for their injuries.

Studies have not been conducted on non-athletes yet, but experts fear the same statistics might prove true for the general population. Check out our full story for more information, and keep following our blog to learn more about news that could affect you.

Edwards & Edwards, L.L.P.—Greenville Personal Injury Attorneys

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How to Stop Distracted Driving

In our modern lives, the convenience of technology is often overlooked. Sometimes this can lead to risky road behaviors like driving while talking on your cell phone, driving while setting your GPS or even driving while texting. Risky behavior like this can lead to accidents.

Nationwide, 421,000 people were injured in distracted driving accidents, and 590 of those injury causing accidents happened right here in North Carolina. To combat this growing trend, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol will be using Department of Transportation trucks to catch distracted drivers in the act.

For the full story and more valuable information on preventing these accidents, visit our blog.

Edwards & Edwards, L.L.P.—Greenville Personal Injury Attorneys

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The Master Poet of Greenville

Randall Jarrell was an esteemed poet and critic who taught at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. His tenure was celebrated and prestigious, so the university has honored this man’s achievements by holding the Randall Jarrell Poetry Competition every year. The prize for winning this contest is $200 and publication in the storySouth literary journal.

This year, the winner was a teacher from Greenville, Gabrielle Freeman. Gabrielle beat out the two-time winner of the contest Michael Parker of Davidson for this year’s honors, and the lawyers of Edwards & Edwards would like to congratulate her on the win. For more on Gabrielle’s win, check out our full blog, and follow our Facebook and Twitter accounts for more news straight out of Greenville.

Edwards & Edwards, L.L.P.—Greenville Personal Injury Attorneys

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North Carolina’s Fallen Officers Remembered in Memorial Ceremony

Law enforcement officials from all over the state of North Carolina gathered at Temple Baptist Church on May 4th to honor and remember the 127 police officers who gave their lives protecting the citizens of this state. The day is called North Carolina Peace Officers Memorial Day, and the services started at 11 am.

This year’s ceremony was held in New Bern, which has never before been the location of this event. Several officers mourned the fallen and shared words about the comrades they will never see again. The Chief of New Bern Police said that remembering those who paid the ultimate sacrifice is very important.

The lawyers of Edwards & Edwards would like to thank the police of North Carolina for their service. For more on this story, visit our blog.

Edwards & Edwards, L.L.P.—Greenville Personal Injury Attorneys

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How Will A New Healthcare Law Affect Medical Malpractice Lawsuits?

A new healthcare law signed by the President on April 16th contains a troubling provision that could make it more difficult for medical malpractice victims to show that the care they received was substandard.  The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, a piece of legislation sponsored by Rep. Michael Burgess of Texas, makes federal quality-of-care standards inadmissible in malpractice lawsuits. These standards have become increasingly important under the Affordable Care Act as the federal government attempts to track the quality of patient care and adjust resources accordingly.  

Without these recognized standards to compare against the treatment in the malpractice claim, it will be more challenging for plaintiffs and their attorneys to present a case. Improvements in quality of care studies in the 1990s helped generate the awareness of medical malpractice that exists today. Before the Institute of Medicine’s 1999 report To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System, Americans were not nearly as aware of the many deaths caused by preventable medical errors. Making the standards inadmissible creates a hypocritical situation where the government preaches the importance of the standards in prescribing care, but denies the value of standards to help injured malpractice victims and punish negligent healthcare providers.

How Can Injured Victims of Medical Malpractice Prevail?

While the law removes one resource for malpractice victims, it will not stop experienced attorneys from bringing justice for injured clients. Expert witness testimony can establish that a standard of care was broken even when federal guidelines are out of the picture. To see how the attorneys at Edwards & Edwards help victims of medical malpractice, please visit our webpage on medical malpractice cases or read through past entries on our blog.

 Edwards & Edwards, L.L.P. – Greenville Personal Injury Attorneys

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Are Cyclists More At Risk Of Suffering TBIs Than Football Players?

Comments made by Joseph Maroon, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ team neurosurgeon and a consultant to the NFL’s Head, Neck, and Spine Committee, have increased the scrutiny of traumatic brain injury (TBI) awareness and treatment yet again. Maroon voiced his belief that cyclists are at greater risk of suffering concussions than football players.

Experts in neurology accused the doctor of misrepresenting the facts to make football seem safer relative to a more common activity like bicycling. The NFL quickly distanced itself from Maroon’s claims as the league tries to rehabilitate its own image in regard to brain injuries.

Maroon’s opinion seems to be based partly on the sheer number of brain injuries related to bicycling, which causes more traumatic brain injuries in people 19 and younger than any other activity. However, he fails to take into account the massive difference in the number of participants in these two activities. While football has over a million players at the high school level nationwide, it is estimated that over half the people in the U.S.  have taken a bike ride in the past year. The National Household Travel Survey stated that there were probably nine million bike trips in America daily. With that many cyclists taking that many trips, the comparison to playing football is really apples and oranges.

Football also causes brain injuries when played as intended, something that cannot be said of bicycling, where injuries occur as the result of accidents outside the range of normal activity. An average football collision of little note could cause a brain injury that a fallen cyclist would be more likely to notice, simply because most cyclists are not accustomed to impacting their heads regularly.

If you would like more information about traumatic brain injuries, or how our Greenville personal lawyers help victims of these injuries, please check out our brain injury page and other blog posts about brain injuries.

Edwards & Edwards, L.L.P. – Greenville Personal Injury Attorneys

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Lawmakers Seek To End North Carolina’s Motorcycle Helmet Law

A group of North Carolina lawmakers is seeking to change the state’s motorcycle helmet law to remove mandatory helmet requirements for riders over the age of 21. Riders over 21 that want to ride without a helmet would also have to:

Carry at least $10,000 in medical insurance to provide potential care

Be trained in a motorcycle safety class or have at least a year of riding experience

Riders who violated the age, insurance, or experience provisions of the law would only be looking at a fine of $25.50, which opponents point to as a weak deterrent if the state wants to encourage riders to wear helmets. The amount of medical insurance that should be required is also the subject of debate, as hospital data from 2011 suggests that the average cost of treating a motorcycle-related traumatic brain injury is over $80,000.

Even with the use of a helmet, motorcyclists will still face a heightened amount of danger on the roads compared to drivers in other vehicles. A mistake by a driver of a larger vehicle that results in a minor wreck from that driver’s perspective could leave the motorcyclist catastrophically or even fatally injured.

For more information about motorcycle accident cases and how we may be able to help you if you or a loved one was the victim of a wreck caused by another party’s negligent driving, continue to follow our blog and visit our testimonials and motorcycle accident information pages.

Edwards & Edwards, L.L.P. – Greenville Personal Injury Attorneys

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Massive Collision Between Amtrak Train and Tractor-Trailer Truck Injures 55

A stalled truck at a railroad crossing in Halifax, North Carolina caused a derailment accident with Amtrak’s Carolinian train on March 9. The driver of the truck abandoned the vehicle when he realized he could not get it off the tracks in time to prevent an accident. The engine car of the Amtrak train derailed and was flipped onto its side, and passengers throughout the train were jolted with enough force to cause dozens of injuries.

 New York Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, already pushing for a federal rail safety bill before the accident in North Carolina, repeated pleas for new safety laws. “It shouldn’t take tragedy after tragedy for us to act on commonsense improvements at dangerous rail crossings, and until we do, these preventable accidents will continue to be everyday occurrences,” the Congressman explained. The National Transportation Safety Board will conduct an investigation to sort out why the collision occurred and if safety measures were ignored before the accident.

 Edwards & Edwards, L.L.P. – Greenville Personal Injury Attorneys

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New Program Uses Police in DOT Trucks to Cut Down on Distracted Driving in North Carolina

New Program Uses Police in DOT Trucks to Cut Down on Distracted Driving in North Carolina

Law enforcement authorities in North Carolina are launching a new plan designed to reduce the number of distracted drivers and accidents in the state. There were more than 590 distracted driving incidents in North Carolina in 2014, and authorities believe stealthy enforcement might be the key.

 What Will Police Do to Stop Distracted Driving?

The plan is to put officers in yellow Department of Transportation trucks, where they can observe unsuspecting drivers who might take their eyes off the road to text, check email or perform a variety of other inappropriate tasks at the wheel. The program was originally used only in DOT work zones to protect workers at risk, but after launching in Greensboro successfully, officials believe the program is ready to go statewide.

 Edwards & Edwards, L.L.P. – Greenville Personal Injury Attorneys

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Does North Carolina Have a Growing Uninsured Driver Problem?

According to WSOC-TV report that ran recently, North Carolina could have a growing uninsured driver problem on its hands. Since 2012, according to the WSOC report, the amount of uninsured drivers on North Carolina’s roads has increased every year. 

The WSOC report goes on to highlight a recent incident involving a family that was left to pick up the pieces after an uninsured driver ran into their home. The incident, which thankfully led to no injuries, left the family with hundreds in repair costs as well as a hotel bill from not being able to stay in their house while it was repaired. 

There is a law on the books requiring North Carolina drivers to have car insurance. The penalties for motorists who violate the law include: 

1. Having their license suspended and paying a $50 fine for a first offense

2. Possibly serving time in jail or being put on probation and having to pay a $150 fine if they commit a second offense within three years of the first 

Edwards & Edwards, L.L.P. – Greenville Personal Injury Attorneys

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Did Drowsy Driving Lead to Ramen Noodle Truck Accident?

It is never easy to try to stay awake when your body is in need of sleep. However, to do so while you’re sitting on the couch trying to finish watching a movie is virtually harmless, but getting behind the wheel when you are overtired should never be an option. 

Sadly, a trucker may have been driving drowsy, leading to a ramen noodle truck crash in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The accident happened at around 4 a.m. on I-95 in Nash County, according to WRAL-TV. 

Thankfully, no other vehicles were involved in the wreck, which reportedly began when the tractor-trailer truck veered off the road and struck a guardrail. After slamming into the guardrail, the ramen noodle truck continued, hitting a bridge overpass before finally coming to a stop after it hit one of the pillars holding up the bridge. 

The 60-year-old truck driver was not injured in the wreck. In the wake of the incident, he was charged with reckless driving after it was determined that his fatigue contributed to the crash. 

Edwards & Edwards, L.L.P. – Greenville Personal Injury Attorneys

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Can I Sue a Drunk Driver Who Is Already Facing Criminal Charges?

In December, a driver in Greenville, South Carolina was charged with failure to yield to an emergency vehicle and felony DUI with great bodily harm in a wreck that claimed the life a 22-year-old man. 

Those who drink and drive should have to face criminal punishment, especially if their actions led to the injury or death of someone else. However, criminal cases unfortunately don’t help the victims of drunk driving accidents.

Thankfully, whether or not a drunk driver is facing criminal charges, his or her victims often have the option to file a civil lawsuit against him or her. Unlike a criminal suit, a civil suit enables victims to recover the money they and their families need for lost pay, hospital costs, property damage and rehabilitation bills. 

Edwards & Edwards, L.L.P. – Greenville Personal Injury Attorneys

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What Are the Penalties for Drunk Driving in North Carolina?

While a suspected drunk driver has been forgiven by the family of a moped passenger who died in an accident that the driver is alleged to have caused, she could still face several penalties if the results of a blood test reveal that she was driving while intoxicated, including: 

24 hours of jail time

$200 fine

60-day license suspension 

Those penalties are just the minimum punishment for a first time DUI/DWI offender in North Carolina. Drivers who have committed a third offense can have their driver’s license permanently suspended and spend two years in jail. In addition, if a drunk driver’s offense involved other crimes, such as manslaughter, he or she could face increased punishment. 

Edwards & Edwards, L.L.P. – Greenville Personal Injury Attorneys

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Could Traumatic Brain Injury Victims in North Carolina Get More Funding?

The North Carolina Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services subcommittee on traumatic brain injuries (TBI) has unanimously approved an annual $2.2 million fund for Medicaid recipients with TBIs. Federal funding would double the state amount for a grand total of $6.6 million for TBI victims.

According to the Brain Injury Association of North Carolina, about 43,000 people in our state live with a TBI. Additionally, males, and younger adults and adolescents are overrepresented in TBI cases.

Not all forms of TBI are obvious at first; therefore, it is strongly recommended that you seek out a physician in the event of an auto accident or fall.

Edwards & Edwards, L.L.P. – Greenville Personal Injury Attorneys

Source: http://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2014/12/04/lawmakers-look-to-support-people-with-traumatic-brain-injury/

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What Is the Proposed Higher Liability for Trucking?

The current federal motor carrier insurance is $750,000 for any interstate or international truck carrying non-hazardous good and weighing more than 10,001 pounds. After 32 years at this level, a proposal is gaining steam to increase the coverage amount because injuries and damages from accidents often exceed $1 million.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has proposed to increase trucking liability insurance, but the dollar amount for the insurance has not been settled. $1 million has been discussed.

This proposal will make it more likely that a company can cover damages such as hospital costs, lost wages, rehabilitation, and other economic or non-economic damages.

Edwards & Edwards, L.L.P. – Greenville Personal Injury Attorneys

Source: http://fleetowner.com/regulations/fmcsa-seeks-higher-liability-coverage-trucking

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A jury is deciding whether or not a wrongful death lawsuit against a state trooper will be allowed to continue.

In 2010, a state trooper was chasing a speeding driver when he collided with a car on Business 85. The accident killed two people, including one child.

Investigators say that the 55-year-old driver who died caused the accident, because she failed to yield when turning at River Road. Investigators have cleared the officer of wrongdoing, but the victim’s family is suing the man for wrongful death.

According to court documents, the trooper was traveling more than 100 mph when he struck the vehicle. He had his lights on but not his siren, so the woman may not have heard him coming before it was too late.

The family’s wrongful death suit claims that the trooper’s reckless driving caused the accident. However, the defense attorneys argue that the officer was immune from liability because he was in pursuit of a speeding vehicle.

Now, a jury is deciding whether or not to hold the officer accountable for reckless driving. If the jury determines that the trooper was engaged in a pursuit of a speeding vehicle, then the wrongful death claim will be dismissed.

Edwards & Edwards, L.L.P. – Greenville Personal Injury Attorneys