Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Blog

We described in a recent blog post (December 29, 2011) just how serious federal regulators and safety agencies are about the laws and regulations put into place that govern the operation of commercial motor vehicles plying the interstates and roadways across the United States.

Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) spokespersons routinely link commercial drivers' failure to abide by applicable laws with the commercial truck accidents and bus crashes that occur on the nation's roads.

The law firm of Warren & Kallianos is pleased to announce that partners Jeff Warren and Chris Kallianos have been selected for inclusion in North Carolina Super Lawyers 2012.  Super Lawyers selects attorneys using a rigorous, multi-phased rating process, including creation of a candidate pool by peer nominations; evaluation of candidates by the research department of Super Lawyers; and peer evaluations by practice area. The objective is to develop a comprehensive and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys that can be used for clients and other attorneys searching for legal assistance. Only five percent of lawyers in a state are named to Super Lawyers. The announcement of Jeff and Chris's inclusion in Super Lawyers is appearing in two publications, North Carolina Super Lawyers 2012 and the February 2012 edition of Charlotte Magazine.

A new study is suggesting that states where medicinal marijuana has been legalized are experiencing significantly fewer motor vehicle-related fatalities, according to news reports.

Car accident experts note that the study, which gathered data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, as well as additional sources, found that traffic-related deaths decreased by nine percent in states where medicinal marijuana has been legalized.

In the midst of so much tumult going on in North Carolina over the past year concerning medical malpractice tort reform (especially regarding a ceiling on non-economic damages and a changed standard for finding professional liability for doctors alleged to have acted negligently), it is perhaps instructive to look at what is happening presently in Connecticut.

In that state, and with the strong backing of hospital administrators, doctors and the insurance industry, a law was passed in 2005 imposing an opinion letter requirement on every person filing a malpractice claim.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website makes this observation: "In the month of June 2011, more than 196 billion text messages were sent or received in the U.S., up nearly 50 percent from June 2009."

The relevance of that should be immediately apparent to motorists in North Carolina and elsewhere across the country. More texting means more distracted drivers, and drivers in such a state are responsible to a remarkable degree for causing car accidents and fatalities.

Brett Morgan, a 47-year-old executive with Wells Fargo, was struck and killed by a dump truck while crossing South College Street on his way to work early yesterday morning. Based on the investigation, Mr. Morgan had the right-of-way and Phillip Boone, Sr., the driver of the dump truck, has been charged with death by motor vehicle and failure to yield right of way. The intersection where the incident occurred was previously identified as a "chronic location" for pedestrians such as Mr. Morgan, meaning the intersection has had a high rate of pedestrian collisions.

The law firm of Warren & Kallianos has handled numerous cases involving pedestrian accidents and commercial motor vehicle negligence, including dump truck cases. Unfortunately, these case often involve catastrophic injuries or wrongful death. The negligence of the drivers in these cases has included inattention, fatigue and excessive driving hours, improper training and supervision, and disqualifying driving history. If you or a loved one has been injured by a dump truck or other commercial motor vehicle, contact the attorneys at Warren & Kallianos for a free consultation to discuss your legal rights and options.

Finally, our thoughts and prayers are with the Morgan family at this very difficult time.

Emergency rooms are becoming increasingly busy and crowded. National emergency room visits have risen from 90 million patients in 1990 to a staggering 136 million in 2009.

Unfortunately, emergency rooms are becoming more and more infrequent. Since 1991, hospitals have shut down more than one quarter of all emergency rooms in the United States. The combination of fewer emergency room facilities with more and more patients is creating an overcrowding problem in North Carolina and across the nation.

Overcrowding can lead to carelessness in care, and that can lead to medical malpractice. Potential problems such as surgical errors, improper diagnosis, wrong medications, hospital-induced infections and inadequate supervision are going to increase as the problem of overcrowding grows.

Although the evidence is far from conclusive, it is building and it does suggest this: Ever-greater reliance by doctors and other medical staff members on new-generation smartphones, iPads and other technologies can be detrimental to patients' health.

Stories are beginning to surface with regularity regarding the role played by mobile devices in physicians ultimately committing medication errors, making surgical mistakes and engaging in other acts or omissions that lead directly to patient harm.