Charlotte North Carolina Legal Blog

The good news for Charlotte's construction industry is that business is booming. The bad news is that some construction firms are struggling to find enough skilled workers to keep job sites humming along.

The more inexperienced the workers on a construction site, the more likely it is that a construction accident and injuries will take place. However, high-tech firms are racing to provide a solution with 3-D printed architecture in which entire buildings are "printed" with little to no risk of injury.

A short drive west of Charlotte will land you in Gaston County, site of a recent deadly car crash. According to the North Carolina Highway Patrol, a 16-year-old has been charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle and careless and reckless driving and booked into jail.

On a recent evening, the teen was allegedly speeding Patrick Road near Union Road. His vehicle was estimated to be going up to 80 mph in a 45 mph zone. The excess speed apparently contributed to his loss of control of his Ford Focus, which crossed the center line and slammed head-on into an oncoming vehicle.

According to a recent article in the Charlotte Observer, Tesla says that one of its vehicles in a fatal crash last week in California was on autopilot. The news is the latest setback for companies developing driverless car technologies.

The company said that the driver did not have his hands on the steering wheel for six seconds before the crash in which he was killed. The vehicle had issued several warnings to the driver, Tesla said. Proponents of autonomous vehicle technologies say that driverless cars have the potential to eliminate motor vehicle crashes caused by driver error such as distracted driving, drunken driving and more.

In recent years, one of the safest, easiest places for Congress to make budget cuts was at the Social Security Administration. A recent Reuters column points out that the cuts have made it difficult for customers to get information, help and services. Who are Social Security's customers? Mostly the retired, and workers with serious, long-term health problems that prevent them from continuing their careers.

The first hint of relief for customers was buried deep in the recent budget passed by Congress. Lawmakers ignored the administration's request to keep spending at the federal agency flat, and instead increased its budget by $480 million.