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Spartanburg Man Charged in Drunk Driving Crash

A Spartanburg man has been charged in a drunk driving crash that killed a man from Asheville in June.

Joshua Marcell Meadows, aged 32, has been charged with felony driving under the influence involving death and two counts of felony DUI resulting in injury.

The accident happened on June 8 when Meadows was driving in Spartanburg. He was at the intersection of Michael and Wofford streets when he lost control of the vehicle and began to spin. The car ran off the road, hit an embankment and went airborne before hitting another vehicle. According to police, at the time of the incident he was driving at 70 mph in a 35 mph zone and smashed into another vehicle. Fifty seven year old Harold Dean Fields of Asheville died at the scene and four other people, including Meadows, were injured and taken to Spartanburg Medical Center.

Meadows was booked into the Spartanburg County Detention Center.

If your loved one has been injured in an auto or motorcycle accident in Asheville, please call the Dan Pruitt Injury Law Firm accident attorneys (864) 280-7660 or contact us online today.

Lawsuit Filed in Wrong Way Driver Claim

A lawsuit has been filed against a strip club in Greenville in relation to a fatal accident which happened in 2013 involving a wrong way driver.

The lawsuit alleges that the Lust strip club served too much alcohol to Andrew Glasier and subsequently its limousine service, which should have taken him home, took him to his pickup truck. He then took a wrong turn and began driving the wrong way down Interstate 385 in Greenville County with nearly three times the legal limit of alcohol and collided with a car driven by 27 year old Shauntia Jackson and her three children, aged 3, 8 and 9. Shauntia was killed in the crash and her children were critically injured.

Glasier was sentenced to 25 years in jail having pleaded guilty to felony driving under the influence resulting in death and other charges. He must serve 10 years with the remainder suspended.

The lawsuit maintains that the limousine should not have dropped Glasier at his vehicle as it was obvious he was drunk and the bar tender should not have continued to serve him alcohol.

If your loved one has been injured in an auto or motorcycle accident in Asheville, please call the Dan Pruitt Injury Law Firm accident attorneys (864) 280-7660 or contact us online today.

Death of Man Killed During Police Pursuit Ruled an Accident

Taylor Miller, the young man who died following a police pursuit, died of blunt force trauma to the head, according to his autopsy.

Miller, aged 22 from Simpsonville, died shortly after 5 p.m. on Friday, about 17 hours after the SUV in which he was a passenger collided with a state trooper pursuing another vehicle. The driver of the SUV, 23 year old Lauren E. Rowe, of Mauldin, was charged with felony DUI with great bodily injury and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle. However, hers was not the vehicle being pursued and it is still not known exactly how the vehicle collided with the trooper’s patrol car. According to the Highway Patrol the trooper involved in the collision had been chasing a different vehicle that sped through a safety checkpoint on State 124 near Woodside Avenue.

As required by law, the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office accident reconstruction team was investigating the incident and the death of Miller has been ruled to be an accident.

If your loved one has been injured in an auto accident in Asheville, please call the Dan Pruitt Injury Law Firm accident attorneys (864) 280-7660 or contact us online today.

Three Men Died After Police Chase

Three men who were pursued by police officers, died in a single car accident in Anderson County.

The men were all from Anderson and were identified as the driver, 34 year old Brandon Charles Franks, 45 year old Alex Reyna Garcia and 54 year old Jose Medrano Castillo, 54.

On Friday evening, an Anderson County deputy began following Franks having seen him speeding in a 2005 Hyundai Sonata. When the deputy checked the tag number it was for a different vehicle. The officer then tried to stop Franks near 28 Bypass and Michelin Boulevard, but he continued on Michelin, driving at up to 70 mph. Other officers then joined the pursuit and tried unsuccessfully to disable the vehicle.

Franks was pursued for several miles throughout the west side and south end of Anderson, before returning to 28 Bypass. He then turned onto Monitor Road where the deputies lost sight of the vehicle and called off the chase.

The wrecked Sonata was later discovered on Jasmine Drive at about 6 p.m., in a neighborhood just west of Anderson city limits. The car had left the road and hit a tree resulting in the deaths of all three men.

An autopsy revealed Franks tested positive for alcohol and several drugs.

If your loved one has been killed in a fatal accident in Asheville, please call the Dan Pruitt Injury Law Firm accident attorneys (864) 280-7660 or contact us online today.

A Useful Checklist for Winter Motoring

Driving in winter weather is stressful and never easy, but a few simple tips can make it less stressful.

You should firstly make sure that your vehicle is ready for the winter by checking all of the important elements for winter driving such as the tire, the battery, the oil, radiator and the lights.

Secondly make sure you have all the equipment you might possibly need in the trunk of the car. This would include a shovel, a torch and batteries, jump leads, food and water, a warning triangle, a tow rope and a blanket.

Check the weather forecast before you leave and tell someone where you are going. Make sure your cell phone is charged and have a charger in the car.

When driving, drive more slowly than usual and avoid all distractions such as loud music. Turn your cell phone off while driving as well.

Don’t pass sanding trucks and snow plows as the road in front of them will be worse than behind, but make sure you stay well back from them to avoid your windscreen becoming covered with salt and sand.

If you do get stuck in the snow, do not spin your wheels as this will make it worse but turn them from side to side to move some snow out of the way and then gently press on the accelerator. If this does not work then use a shovel to move the snow and put sand or salt under the wheel to help you drive out.

If your loved one has been killed in a fatal accident in Asheville, please call the Dan Pruitt Injury Law Firm accident attorneys (864) 280-7660 or contact us online today.

Strange Time to Suspend Truckers’ Sleep Requirements

Since new regulations were introduced last year, restricting the number of hours that truck drivers could work in a day and over a week, as well as mandating rest periods, the trucking industry has been looking to change them.

Even in the light of the recent high profile accidents involving trucks, Sen. Susan Collins from Maine has proposed a measure to suspend the regulations, albeit temporarily.

Although the recent accidents, such as that which critically injured comedian Tracy Morgan and killed his friend, have yet to be confirmed as being caused as  the driver was over tired, it appears to be an insensitive moment for the rules to be suspended to allow truck drivers to spend even more time behind the wheel and with even less rest.

Road safety organizations are highly critical of Collins’ stance, saying that any increase in drivers’ hours or decrease in their rest time will only lead to more fatal accidents involving these large vehicles.

Trucker Sleep

If you have been injured in truck accident which resulted from a drowsy truck driver, please call the Asheville accident attorney of the Dan Pruitt Injury Law Firm at (864) 280-7660 today to schedule your free consultation, or contact us online. We have the skills and experience needed to get you the compensation you deserve. Call now.

GM Recalls Million More of its Vehicles

GM has made the announcement this week that it will be issuing yet another recall, this time of more than 3 million defective vehicles around the world. This comes on the heels of a similar recall that was issued in February of this year of more than 2.5 million vehicles. The problem that prompted both recalls stems from a defective ignition switch that causes the engines of the vehicles to shut off while the car is being driven and for air bags to deactivate.

The initial recall in February came after more than 10 years of consumer complaints about the defective switches. The problem is believed to have caused at least 13 deaths and several serious injuries resulting from more than 50 crashes directly related to the issue. A House subcommittee investigating the defect will pose questions to GM chief executive Mary Barra, the bulk of which will be centered around the company’s plans for addressing its myriad safety issues.

If you have been injured in accident which resulted from a defective or recalled vehicle or part please call the Asheville accident attorney of the Dan Pruitt Injury Law Firm at (864) 280-7660 today to schedule your free consultation, or contact us online. We have the skills and experience needed to get you the compensation you deserve. Call now.

Car Accidents Involving Teenage Drivers Increase During the Summer

With school out for the summer in the vast majority of school districts across the United States, high schoolers are out on the roads in records numbers. With this increase in teen drivers on Americas roads comes an increase in the number of car accidents and consequently the number of resulting injuries and deaths. Car accidents have long been the leading cause of death among teens regardless of the time of year but that fact is amplified during the summer months.

In recent years teenagers have become the number one culprit of accidents caused by texting while driving. This epidemic has become so widespread in the US that it has spurned several national ad campaigns warning teens about the dangers of being distracted by texts when they are behind the wheel. With people out and about in higher numbers during the summer months, the danger only increases.

Parents are strongly advised to talk to their teens about these dangers and to tell them to be extra cautious when driving during the summer. Children in particular are outdoors more during the summer season and that is one of many reasons teenagers need to maintain focus on the road when driving during the long mid-year break.

If you have been injured in an Asheville accident please call the Asheville accident attorney of the Dan Pruitt Injury Law Firm at (864) 280-7660 today to schedule your free consultation, or contact us online. We have the skills and experience needed to get you the compensation you deserve. Call now.