Judge’s ruling could lead to payday for some Charlotte drivers
Judge’s ruling could lead to payday for some Charlotte drivers
Plus: Walking pneumonia infections on the rise; Poll shows worries about N.C. medical bills; More than 1/2 of Mecklenburg voters cast ballots; Davidson theater closes; Hemp pizza in Ballantyne
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Court rules CMPD improperly shared personal information with ‘ambulance chasers,’ who sent unwanted marketing letters; certifies class-action covering 6,000 local drivers involved in wrecks
A federal lawsuit alleges Charlotte-Meckleburg Police improperly released confidential information of drivers involved in vehicle accidents. A judge agreed and granted class-action status affecting around 6,000 local drivers. The city is appealing. (AI-generated photo illustration/Grok)
By Tony Mecia
Thousands of Charlotte drivers could be in line for a big payout, following a recent ruling by a federal judge that said the city’s release of motor vehicle accident reports violated the law.
In a 43-page decision, federal district court Judge Robert Conrad sided with a Charlotte woman involved in an accident in 2017 who said she received marketing letters from personal injury lawyers after her wreck and alleged that the city improperly released her confidential information on accident reports.
A federal law prohibits the release of motor vehicle records to unauthorized people. But the evidence showed that until 2020, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police routinely placed information from the Division of Motor Vehicles on accident reports and allowed the release of those reports to the public — including to a company that sold the information to law firms that police regarded as “ambulance chasers,” the judge wrote.
In a rare move, the judge ruled that the evidence against the city of Charlotte was so clear that he sided with the woman without ordering a trial, known in legal terms as granting summary judgment. And he certified the suit as a class-action lawsuit, meaning that others whose information was similarly disclosed can be included as part of the case.
The law says that courts can award damages of $2,500 per occurrence. The suit says there were approximately 6,000 people involved in Charlotte vehicle accidents between 2014 and 2018 whose records were released and meet the eligibility criteria for a payout. That could mean an eventual judgment against the city of $15M or more.
Those additional people have not yet been notified that they could be included in the lawsuit, a lawyer involved in the case told The Ledger. The city of Charlotte is appealing the ruling, which was released in late September.
“Potentially, it is a big deal,” said David Stradley of the Raleigh law firm White & Stradley, who is representing the Charlotte woman who received the marketing materials after her wreck. “… It’s certainly not an insignificant amount of money.”
Asked if it was common for cities to release accident reports that contained DMV information, Stradley said: “It was until we started suing people for it.” He said his firm has filed other cases against law firms that used information from accident forms.
The city of Charlotte, in its appeal filed last month, says Conrad’s ruling is “unprecedented in any court.” In its appellate brief, the city argues that the information released does not constitute “motor vehicle records” as defined by the federal law, which it says also doesn’t apply to municipalities.
A city spokesman declined to comment on the case on Friday, citing ongoing litigation.
The suit says the information that was impermissibly released consisted of the names, addresses, driver’s license numbers, dates of birth and phone numbers of people involved in accidents. It says the city previously knew that personal injury lawyers, chiropractors and auto repair shops would use the reports to target potential customers with direct mail.
When the plaintiff received marketing letters after her December 2017 wreck, for which she was not responsible, “she was shocked and upset that advertisers could so quickly learn that she had been in a wreck and so quickly get so much relevant personal information about her, and she questioned how that could possibly be legal,” according to court documents.
Nowadays, CMPD requires that people seeking to access crash records complete a form and show ID to prove that they have a legal right to obtain the reports, which are mostly limited to people involved in wrecks. Previously, anyone could receive a printed accident report from the CMPD records desk, and the requests were not tracked.
The case, which was filed in 2021, could continue for months or years before there’s a final resolution.
Walking pneumonia cases are on the rise among kids in the Charlotte area, but most cases are treatable without hospitalization, healthcare systems say
Parents, here’s something to be on the lookout for if your kids start coughing: Walking pneumonia infections among children are on the rise in the Charlotte area and nationally, experts from Atrium Health and Novant Health say.
The respiratory tract infection, often caused by a bacteria called Mycoplasma pneumoniae, can include symptoms such as fatigue, cough, sore throat and fever.
It spreads easily, experts say, because it travels by airborne respiratory droplets from an infected person who’s coughing, sneezing, talking or singing, according to a news release from Novant Health. A person with walking pneumonia is contagious for up to 10 days unless antibiotics are started.
Doctors advise parents to take their kids to their pediatrician or urgent care if they have a cough or fever that lasts longer than two or three days, so they can be screened for walking pneumonia. Doctors make the diagnosis by listening to the lungs or through an X-ray.
Data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows an uptick nationally in the last six months of this strain of pneumonia in emergency rooms. The highest increase was among children, rising from 1% to 7.2% of pneumonia-related diagnoses among those ages 2-4 years and from 3.6% to 7.4% among those ages 5-17.
“The increase in children ages 2-4 is notable because M. pneumoniae historically hasn’t been recognized as a leading cause of pneumonia in this age group,” according to the CDC.
Parents have been lighting up Charlotte-area parenting social media accounts in recent days about the rising number of pneumonia infections. Posts on the Charlotte Moms and Fort Mill Moms Facebook pages have dozens of commenters saying their kids have been recently diagnosed. —Cristina Bolling
Today’s supporting sponsor is Landon A. Dunn, attorney-at-law in Matthews:
Poll: 3 out of 4 N.C. families worry about unexpected medical bills
As North Carolina prepares to roll out a program aimed at easing the burden of medical debt, a new survey from four universities reveals that many N.C. families are feeling the strain of rising healthcare costs.
The survey of 601 adults from across the state shows that nearly two-thirds (61%) find it difficult to afford healthcare costs, with about 1 in 5 describing it as “very difficult.”
The survey also found:
Nearly one in three respondents (32%) said they have had to put healthcare costs on a credit card because they couldn’t afford to pay the bill outright.
Almost three out of four North Carolinians are worried about being able to afford an unexpected medical bill, with 36% saying they are “very concerned.”
Those financial worries can have real-world impacts, prompting families to skip or delay seeking health care they need because of the cost — a choice that can lead to more serious health issues down the line.
David Lazer, a political science and computer sciences professor at Northeastern University who directed the survey, said the high level of financial insecurity revealed by the survey related to health care costs was “stunning.”
“It highlights that although the economy, by many metrics, is doing very, very well, most people are vulnerable to unexpected bills, and healthcare is probably the biggest single source of unexpected bills,” he said.
He added that the same survey found that the economy, inflation and healthcare are the issues people consider most important in Tuesday’s election. (Note: Ledger partner NC Health News covers statewide and congressional races in its health care voter guide.)
The survey also asked about errors on medical bills.
About 43% of respondents said they have received a medical or dental bill they thought contained an error.
Of those, about 9 out of 10 said they disputed the bill, according to the survey, and more than three-quarters (78%) said they were able to resolve the issue in their favor.
North Carolina’s healthcare costs and rates of medical debt are some of the highest in the nation. A 2024 analysis from Forbes Advisor ranked North Carolina as the state with the most expensive health care, while an Urban Institute analysis shows one in five North Carolina residents has medical debt in collections, among the country’s highest rates.
The state’s new medical debt relief program requires hospitals to forgive medical debt dating back to 2014 for low- and middle-income patients and to beef up their charity care policies — in return for billions of dollars in federal money.
The poll was conducted Aug. 30-Oct. 8 by the Civic Health and Institutions Project, a joint project of Northeastern University, Harvard University, Rutgers University and University of Rochester. It has a margin of error of +/- 5 percentage points. It was supported in part by the Knight Election Hub, a national effort to support election coverage funded in part by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. —Michelle Crouch
➡️ Read the full N.C. survey results here.
More than half of Mecklenburg’s registered voters have already voted
Nearly 55% of Mecklenburg’s registered voters cast ballots during early voting, which ended Saturday, according to figures from the county board of elections.
Records show nearly 461,000 people in Mecklenburg have already voted. But that’s still below the 500,000 or so who cast ballots early in 2020’s presidential election, in which many voted early and absentee because of Covid.
That year, 72% of registered Mecklenburg voters cast ballots, less than the 75% statewide.
Election Day details: Polls are open tomorrow (Tuesday) from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
How to watch the results: Political junkies in Charlotte will be hitting “refresh” on the State Board of Elections website starting around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, when the polls close. The early voting results will be released first, which will provide clues on how things are going in North Carolina.
State and local races: Don’t forget that in addition to the presidential race, there are plenty of other races, too. We break them all down, in 5 Charlotte-area counties, in our easy-to-use Charlotte Ledger Election Hub, which has all the resources you need to cast an informed vote. It is available to all (no paywall) and is ad-free.
Quick pitch: Researching and writing biographies of 200 candidates is time-consuming and costs money, and The Ledger is not backed by big foundations or deep-pocketed corporations. If you appreciate having that information available — by local people, for local people — consider …
We’d love to be able to provide this community resource in the future.
Many thanks also to those who worked on the Election Hub, led by Sucharita Kodali, and assisted by a talented team of interns: Morgan Boonshaft, Zach Kahn, Meha Khanna, Anish Vedantham and Ginevra Voltolina. Ledger business manager Brie Chrisman designed its attractive web page. —Tony Mecia
➡️ Go to the Charlotte Ledger Election Hub
You might be interested in these Charlotte events: U.S.-Africa ambassador speech, K-8 open house
Events submitted by readers to The Ledger’s events board:
WEDNESDAY: “World Affairs Council of Charlotte Distinguished Speaker Series with Ambassador Herman J. Cohen,” 2-3 p.m., virtual. Retired Ambassador Herman “Hank” Cohen, one of the most experienced U.S.-Africa diplomats, will speak to World Affairs Council of Charlotte members and guests. As a veteran of the foreign service and senior advisor to presidents, Ambassador Cohen will cover a range of topics, which will include an analysis of current geopolitical trends, including Russia’s rising influence in Africa, opportunities for economic development in Africa and more. Free for members, $15 for non-members, Zoom link provided upon registration.
THURSDAY: “Trinity Episcopal School K-8 Open House,” 9:30-11 a.m., Trinity Episcopal School, 750 E. 9th St. Register for an open house for the 2025-26 school year and learn more about the K-8 advantage at Trinity. Free.
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🎥Coming up at the Independent Picture House: Community Impact Film Series event on Nov. 9
Join fellow community members for an event dedicated to homelessness awareness on Nov. 9 starting at 11 a.m. at The Independent Picture House. This free event will feature film screenings, a panel discussion, hands-on activities and a resource fair. This program is supported in part by North Carolina Humanities the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, with additional funding from Kathryn & Luke Kissam, and Hood Hargett Associates. Registration and information here.
➡️ List your event on the Ledger events board.
In brief:
Uptown shooting death: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police are investigating a deadly shooting near Romare Bearden Park uptown just after 10 p.m. on Saturday. (WSOC)
Final election sprint runs through Charlotte area: The two leading presidential candidates spent part of their weekends in the Charlotte area. Donald Trump held a rally at the Gastonia Municipal Airport, while Kamala Harris held a rally at PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte. (WFAE)
Davidson movie theater closes: The only movie theater in the town of Davidson, Our Town Cinemas Cafe & Taphouse, has closed. Its landlord said it is renovating the shopping center where the cinema was located. (Observer)
Pizza that gets you high: A pizzeria in Ballantyne has developed a pizza infused with hemp-derived THC, which contains a small and legal amount of the psychoactive component in marijuana. An Axios reporter who tried it says she ate a third slice while leaving the restaurant and that “by the time I got home, I was zooted.” (Axios Charlotte)
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Business manager: Brie Chrisman