North Carolina Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

In effort to reduce the number of North Carolina car accidents that involve newly licensed teenage drivers, a new law recently went into effect which requires that a driving log with evidence of at least 60 hours of driving be presented by teens between the ages of 16 and 18 when applying for their provisional license.

The new provision requires that all teens who obtain their limited learner's permit on or after October 1, 2011, maintain a logbook detailing at least 60 hours driving, with at least 10 of those hours being nighttime driving. The supervising driver is required to sign the log, and the log book must be presented to the Division of Motor Vehicles at the time of the applicants road test. But beware-if the clerk thinks you have falsified your log book, you will not be permitted to take your road test, and will have another 6 months in which to complete a legitimate logbook.

Additionally, teens between the ages 16 and 18 who obtain their limited provisional license on or after October 1, 2011 will be required to keep a logbook detailing at least 12 hours, with at least 6 of those hours being at night, and must be signed by the supervising driver for the nighttime hours. As with the limited provisional license requirements, if the Division of Motor Vehicle thinks your logbook has been falsified, you will not be eligible for your full provisional license for another 6 months, during which you must complete a legitimate logbook.

Continue reading "New Law Aims To Reduce North Carolina Car Accidents Involving Teen Drivers" »

The North Carolina truck accident attorneys at Auger & Auger are please to advise you that effective January 1, 2012, interstate truck drivers and bus drivers will be prohibited from using hand-held cell phones while driving. The rule was implemented in effort to prevent distracted driving, and was promulgated through a joint effort from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

Drivers who violate the rule are subject to fines up to $2,750 per offense and potential prohibition from operating a commercial motor vehicle for multiple violations. Two or more violations involving cell phone use may result in state suspension of their commercial driver's license.

Trucking companies and commercial bus companies that allow their drivers to use hand-held cell phones while driving can be fined up to $11,000. Trucking companies tried to fight the new rule, arguing that interstate commerce would be impeded if drivers had to pull over and stop in order to make a call. The Department of Transportation rejected that argument because alternatives are available other than stopping to pull over, such as use of hands free devices.

Continue reading "Use of Hand-held Cell Phones Now Banned For Interstate Truck And Bus Drivers" »

North Carolina State Senator Bob Rucho of Mecklenburg County recently introduced Senate Bill 33 which seeks to limit the amount of money that can be awarded for pain and suffering to victims of medical malpractice to a mere $250,000, and make emergency medical providers, such as the emergency department in a hospital, immune from liability unless found guilty of "gross negligence, wanton conduct, or intentional wrongdoing." Under the present law, the medical malpractice victim must show that the medical provider did not meet the standard of care among medical providers with similar training and experience.

This bill comes on the heels of a recent study which found that a person has a 20% chance of being harmed by medical care in a North Carolina hospital. The study, which was conducted by Harvard Medical School and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, was reported in the New England Journal of Medicine on November 25, 2010. In addition to reporting a significant risk of becoming injured as the result of medical care, it also found that almost 14% of the injuries resulted in life-threatening injury or death. Most significant, however, was the finding that over 63% of the injuries caused by medical care were preventable.

What does this mean to the North Carolina hospital patient? It means that if you or a family member becomes one of the more than 4,000 deaths are preventable each year, or suffers one of the 6,000 preventable permanent injuries, your North Carolina lawmakers want to prevent you from recovering anything, if the medical malpractice was committed by an emergency medical provider, or limit your recovery to $250,000 if malpractice was committed in a non-emergent situation.

What can you do about it? The injury attorneys at Auger & Auger, and urge you to contact your North Carolina State Senator as well as your Representative, and tell them to vote "NO" on Senate Bill 33.

How do I know who my senator and representative is? Go to North Carolina General Assembly . Scroll to the bottom of the page and enter your zip+4 zipcode. This will bring up links to your North Carolina State Senator, Representative, and our Congresswoman. From there, you can email, call or write your elected officials and tell them to vote "NO" on Senate Bill 33.

The federal Pool and Safety Act went into effect in December 2008, yet hundreds of pool owners in North Carolina have still not complied with the law, and are at risk of having their pool closed. The federal law applies to public access pools, and state regulations that mirror the federal law have also been enacted.

These laws apply to public pools as well as those in hotels, gyms, apartment complexes, and subdivisions. They provide safety guidelines that require, among other things, that said pools be equipped with drain covers that prevent jewelry, hair, fingers, and toes from being sucked into a drain.

According to the NC Division of Environmental Health, as many as 1,000 pools statewide might be closed. Mecklenburg County has already received more than 1,000 public pool permit applications. While most have already been approved, some permits that were granted are now being revoked and pools are being closed, as random inspections are finding that the required changes were not actually made. Mecklenburg County Health Department will continue to conduct random inspections, and will close pools where necessary.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission reported 83 entrapments involving swimming pool drains from 1999 to 2008. Of those entrapments, 11 were fatalities, most involving children under the age of 15.

Continue reading "Is Your Local Swimming Pool Safe?" »