The family of Gary York Kirkman, a patient killed in an April 14 golf cart accident at Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, plans to take legal action against the hospital.
Mr. Kirkman, 87, and his wife Ruth Kirkman were visiting the hospital for a routine appointment.
The couple was sitting on a bench when the golf cart crashed into them, breaking both of Mr. Kirkman’s legs and injuring Ms. Kirkman.
“It broke both his legs,” son Timothy Kirkman said. “It put a big gash in his left leg.”
Attorney Adam Linett of Greensboro is pursuing a wrongful death claim on behalf of the family of Gary Kirkman, and a 3rd claim for Ruth Kirkman, who suffered bruising and possibly other complications, the son said.
Mr. Kirkman was taken to the emergency room to stop the bleeding and was admitted for surgery. He died from complications of his injuries two days later.
It is unclear why no one was in control of the golf cart or why it started moving, according to Timothy Kirkman, who heard the accident take place while waiting to pick up his parents.
“The cart was probably 20 feet away from where they were sitting on the bench,” he told the Journal. “Mom said she saw it taking off, but she thought somebody was going to stop the thing. It was coming right at them. She just happened to move her legs out of the way so it wouldn’t crush her legs.”
The family is pursuing a wrongful death claim on behalf of Mr. Kirkman and a personal injury claim for Ms. Kirkman.
“While we have every indication this was a tragic accident, we are conducting a thorough investigation to learn exactly how this occurred, and, most importantly, to ensure an event such as this does not happen again,” a spokesperson for the hospital said on April 19.
The hospital has declined to comment further due to the ongoing investigation and federal privacy laws.
IN GOD WE TRUST
CLICK: PARK LANE by Rebecca Taylor
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Clever Journeys 
Odd story. Apparently there was no operator? Electric Vehicles will have a propensity to self move if the Electronics Fail. I don’t know if it was Electric. I have seen compilation videos of near miss incidents, and Motorcycles in Asian Videos seem to take off on their own in these videos, maybe they were left idling, maybe they were Electric.
Only superficially related, but my wife and I use Power Strips with Mechanical On/Off Switches, and before going to bed, turn them off, that in turn takes the power away from the USB Style Transformers, Lights, etc., that are plugged into them, and I turn off the Power to the Laptop and Remove the Charging Cord, lest the Computer Back Feed the Transformer and cause a fire.
Mechanically blocking Electrical Appliances (Mechanical On/Off Switch) is safer than having a Switch that comes on just by touching it without a Mechanical Movement. I suspect these incidents will become more frequent with newer vehicles, utility or otherwise.
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