North Carolina Car Accident Lawyers Blog

According to newspaper reports, three residents of Dillon, South Carolina, all members of one family, were killed in a North Carolina car crash in Nash County on Saturday. Three of the victims were apparently not wearing seat belts when the driver drove off the road on I-95 and slammed into a tree. According to witnesses, the car was driving at over 80 miles per hour, and the driver did not attempt to break. One report cited a North Carolina Highway Patrol Sergeant stating that the driver might have fallen asleep.

An NHTSA expert panel on driver fatigue and automobile crashes determined that typical crashes that involved driver drowsiness occurred on high-speed roads, most likely during late night or in the middle of the afternoon. In such accidents, the driver was often alone, and did not attempt corrective measures to avoid the crash.

The expert panel also noted that motorists were more likely to get into such accidents during long drives during which they did not take enough breaks. The use of some medications, including some antihistamines in response to allergies, was also found to contribute to driver drowsiness.

All of this is particularly relevant on long weekends like the Memorial Day one, during which people tend to travel and enjoy outdoor activities. Outdoor activities might aggravate people's allergies, making it more likely that they will take antihistamines. Having fun outdoors also tends to make us tired. Finally, long weekends often also mean long drives. The cumulative effect of all those facts is an increased danger of crashes caused by driver fatigue--crashes that can lead to serious injury or death.

Continue reading "North Carolina Crash Kills 3 Family Members" »

Columbia's WIS Channel 10 reports that a driver died yesterday afternoon in a car crash in Lee County. According to the report, the man lost control of the vehicle after a front tire blew as he was driving on I-20. The car then crashed into the median and overturned. The driver had been wearing a seatbelt.

Despite taking all the precautions they can, people are sometimes injured or killed in car crashes due to defects in the manufacturing or design of parts of their cars, tires, or other driving-related products. If an injured person can show that the product defect led to his or her injury, the victim can receive financial compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering related to the injury, wages lost as a result of the injury, and any property damage caused by the defective product.

In addition, relatives of people whose death was caused by a defective product may sue the manufacturers and sellers of that product for "wrongful death." In such situations, family members can claim compensation for loss of love and companionship, lost income, the loss of services that had been provided by the deceased to the family, and more. Although no amount of money can fully compensate a family for the death of one of its members, the law recognizes the fact that those bereaved are left to face very real economic consequences, beyond the emotional aftermath of their loss.

Continue reading "Fatal Crash After Tire Blows in Lee County, South Carolina" »

Last Monday, The South Carolina Highway Patrol (SCHP) and the South Carolina Department of Natural resources (DNR) announced the beginning of the annual "100 Deadly Days of Summer" campaign.

According to media reports, at a press conference that also included representatives of the Greenwood Police Department and the Greenwood, Abbeville, and Newberry County Sheriff's Offices, SCHP Captain Mark Gosnell noted that 281 people died on highways in South Carolina during last year's "100 Deadly Days." However, the number of South Carolina traffic fatalities overall declined last year.

In an effort to diminish the number of fatalities even further, the agencies announced that more safety checkpoints will be deployed throughout the state, both on roadways and on South Carolina waterways. The South Carolina Department of Resources stressed the importance of designating a sober "designated operator" whenever people plan to drink while on a boat. According to Charleston's ABC News station, 15 people have been killed in South Carolina boating accidents to date this year--more than the number killed in such accidents during the entire 2009.

Checkpoints throughout the state will focus on the enforcement of safety belt laws as well as all the laws related to boat safety, including the requirement of Coast-Guard approved life jackets for every person aboard a boat.

Continue reading "South Carolina Highlights the "100 Deadly Days of Summer" on Roads and Waterways" »

Tragically, yesterday, a car crash involving a North Carolina trooper claimed the lives of two people. According to media reports, a 56-year-old woman and an 11-year-old girl died in Guilford County after their vehicle was hit by a patrol car driven by a trooper who was chasing another driver. Two other children who had also been passengers in the woman's car were injured and required hospitalization.

Last week, Raleigh's ABC11 News reported that in 2009, North Carolina Highway Patrol troopers were involved in an average of 7 North Carolina car crashes a week. According to the report, that number represented a 44% increase over the number of similar crashes reported for 2008. ABC News also noted that 3 people had been killed in car crashes involving troopers in 2009; many more were injured, and some of them sued the Highway Patrol, arguing that the troopers' negligence was responsible for their injuries, property damage, or emotional distress.

In a recent study, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia evaluated 334 parents whose children had been injured in traffic accidents and had been hospitalized as a result. The study found that one month after the injury, 37% of the parents were experiencing what the study called "significant traumatic stress symptoms." The study's lead author emphasized the fact that a traumatic injury to a child impacts the entire family, and stressed the need for the other family members, especially the parents, to find support for themselves as well, as they help the children recover. A website set up by the Children's Hospital, www.AfterTheInjury.org, offers tips for parents whose children have suffered traumatic injuries, as well as other resources to help families handle the consequences of such accidents.

Continue reading "North Carolina Child and Woman Killed, Two Others Injured, in Collision with Highway Patrol Car" »

The American Automobile Association today released a forecast of Memorial Day weekend travel for 2010. According to the forecast, more than 32 million Americans will be traveling over the long weekend this year --an increase of more than 5% from last year's Memorial Day weekend. 87% of the vacationing travelers (28 million people) will travel by car.

More surprising, perhaps, is AAA's forecast that the average distance that will be traveled by vacationers during the Memorial Day weekend will be approximately 620 miles. Clearly, many of those mini-vacations will not be "staycations" but quite extensive trips.
Many of the cars on the road over the weekend will be filled with families with kids. For the safety of such families (and focusing in particular on preventing injuries to children), Parents Magazine offers a list of useful tips, including:

• getting a tune-up for your car (you still have plenty of time to do this before the Memorial Day weekend!)


• making sure that you get a good night's sleep before setting off (so don't put off packing until the night before the trip...)


• preparing an emergency kit, including first-aid supplies


• planning ahead where you will stash heavy objects and how to secure them, so that they won't fly around the car and injure anyone in case you have to stop abruptly.

Continue reading "In the Carolinas and throughout the U.S., over 28 Million People To Travel by Car over the Memorial Day Weekend" »

According to news reports, a car crash in South Carolina killed a 60-year-old man who allegedly drove his car into the path of another car as he was pulling out of a driveway yesterday afternoon.

Most of us tend to think of driveways as places of relative safety. If asked to envision a car crash, we are likely to picture it happening on a multi-lane highway with vehicles speeding on, or at a busy intersection where drivers may fail to pay attention to the right of way.

In reality, according to a study released by Progressive Insurance in 2005, most car accidents occur close to the crash victim's home. And "close" really means close: 52% of the crashes reported in that study happened within 5 miles of home. Almost a quarter of the reported accidents occurred within one mile of home.

Especially when pulling out of their own residence's driveway, drivers may be less alert than in other driving situations. Seeing the same surroundings, they may be lulled into a false sense of security, and not pay as much attention to what is happening around them.

Motorists, pedestrians, or cyclists injured in Carolina car accidents caused by another person's negligence have the right to file a civil suit in order to be compensated financially for their medical bills, for any wages they may have lost as a result of the accident, as well as for the pain and suffering they experienced. In addition, when people are killed as a result of someone else's negligent behavior, their estate or their surviving family members may bring a wrongful death suit against the person responsible.

Continue reading "South Carolina Man Dies in Car Crash While Pulling Out of Driveway" »

According to various news reports, the AAA Carolinas Foundation for Traffic Safety has begun broadcasting a 30-second public service announcement video about the dangers of texting while driving. Designed to shock viewers, especially teens, the video will be shown in parts of South Carolina--a state that apparently rated worst in the nation in one survey on texting while driving.

North Carolina law now prohibits texting while driving. Similar legislation has been introduced in South Carolina, but has not been passed yet.

The Pew Internet Project for American Life has released a study showing that last year, 54% of American teens aged 12-17 used text messaging on a daily basis. Girls between the ages of 14 and 17, in particular, sent and received approximately 100 text messages a day. Most parents of teenagers can attest to what the study showed--that teens can become completely absorbed in their text-messaging, oblivious to everything around them.

The dangers of texting while driving are very real. In response, the AAA video message directed at South Carolina teens is apparently quite graphic. (A longer version of it, produced by a police department in Wales, was used to deter texting while driving in Great Britain.) It aims to drive home, in an emotional way, the fact that a device that teens may see as an intrinsic part of their daily activities, a source of fun and a way to connect with friends, must not be allowed to lead to injuries to the teens themselves, or to others who may share the road with teen drivers.

Continue reading "Graphic Video Aims to Shock South Carolina Teenagers into Safer Behavior" »

On Thursday afternoon, two York County Sheriff's deputies were hurt in a car crash near Charlotte. According to media reports, the two had stopped to help the driver of a truck that had stalled in traffic on I-77. As one of the deputies was outside the patrol car and the other still in it, an SUV rammed the car from behind. Both of the deputies, as well as the driver of the SUV, were transported to area hospitals for treatment.

Law enforcement officers are always concerned when they have to stop on a road, or even on the side of the road, with traffic flowing by. Other motorists find themselves in that same dangerous situation if their car breaks down or an accident forces them to stop. If their car can manage it, motorists are generally told to pull over to the side of the road before stopping. Once parked on the side of the road, some people believe that the safest course is to remain in the car while waiting for help. However, the "Highway Road Tips" posted by the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety advise otherwise: if motorists are involved in a crash or have other problems that force them to pull over to the side of a road, the driver and any passengers should all leave the car though the passengers' side, move off the road, and stand away from the car. That way, they would be out of the path of drivers who might veer onto the shoulder and hit the stationary car.

Continue reading "South Carolina Deputies Injured While Helping Stalled Driver" »

The "Personal Finances" section of MSN.com published an article about the recent rise in car-crash scams in North Carolina and around the country. The article included the story of a North Carolina man who had been involved in 42 accidents in 9 years. The man was filmed ramming his truck into a car in a parking lot--after which he accused the car's driver of running into him.

The article also cites statistics from the National Insurance Crime Bureau, which show that questionable claims related to crashes that may have been staged have risen by 46% between 2007 and 2009.

Innocent drivers are apparently getting caught up in crashes in which the other people involved either make inflated claims about injuries afterward, or try to steer the innocent accident victim to particular doctors, chiropractors, or attorneys who would make inflated claims of their behalf. Such staged crashes can obviously be very dangerous to the drivers who are caught up in them unaware, and who may suffer very real and unrehearsed injuries.

The MSN.com article includes a list of tips designed to help drivers avoid being victimized by a staged crash (though they would probably be beneficial in avoiding any type of crash and/or limiting the possible post-crash repercussions). Among them are advice not to tailgate, so that you'll have time to stop if the car in front of you stops abruptly; and, in case you do get involved in an accident, to count how many people were in the other vehicle, and ask for their names, phone numbers, and drivers' license numbers. You should also be wary of anyone who tries to approach you at a crash site and suggest a particular doctor, chiropractor, or lawyer for you to consult.

The Coalition Against Insurance Fraud warns that innocent people are injured, terrified, sometimes even killed by staged crashes that didn't go according to the scammers' plan.

Continue reading "Staged Car Crashes Lead to Real Injuries to Innocent Victims" »

According to news reports, six census workers were killed in car accidents last week--one of them following a crash in South Carolina. The South Carolina census worker, a 73-year-old woman, died on Friday. The Washington Post reports that she had just finished a training session and was on her way to be fingerprinted (census workers are required to pass a background check). As she was riding with her husband and a co-worker, one of the tires on her car lost its tread, and the car crashed into a tree. While the driver died at the scene, her husband and the co-worker survived with minor injuries.

According to The Washington Post, 13 census-takers died in car accidents during the 2000 Census.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that hundreds of thousands of census-takers will be hired on a part-time, temporary basis this Spring, to help conduct the 2010 census. Most of those workers will be required to have a driver's license and the use of a vehicle. In South Carolina, as elsewhere, most of them will be driving in the evenings and on weekends, in an effort to reach and interview members of households who failed to fill out and return the census forms mailed to their address.

In the process, like the rest of us who drive to work, they will risk being killed or injured in car crashes. The magazine Road & Travel reports that the fatality rate in night-time crashes is three times higher than that in daytime accidents, in large part because most people have difficulty perceiving stop signs, road conditions, exits, or pedestrians on the road at night.

Continue reading "Six Census Workers Die in Car Crashes in One Week" »

For the second time in two weeks, a school bus in Charlotte collided with another vehicle, causing injuries (which luckily appeared minor) to some of the children on the bus, as well as to people in the other car. Last week, six Charlotte children were injured in a similar collision.

Any parent would worry when reading about such repeat incidents. However, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, school buses are generally an extremely safe mode of transportation. Rather than the danger posed by crashes with other vehicles, the main danger in the interaction between children and school buses occurs in the "danger zone" that surrounds the bus. The "danger zone" is an area of approximately ten feet all around the bus; in that area, children may not be seen by the bus driver, who is seated high up at the front of the bus.

A recent article entitled "School Bus Safety" suggests several steps that parents should take to prevent school-bus related injuries to their children:

• Don't allow the child to wear clothing with drawstrings when riding on the bus; drawstrings sometimes get caught in the bus door, and children end up getting dragged. For the same reason, check that your child doesn't have long scarves, or long straps dangling from a backpack, which could also get caught.


• Make sure that your children arrive at the bus stop in plenty of time, so they won't have to rush across the street to catch it.


• Teach your children to avoid the "danger zone" discussed above.


• Remind your children to stay seated and facing forward while they are on the bus; the bus seats are designed to protect them in case of a crash.
  

  Continue reading "Steps that Help Prevent School Bus Injuries in North Carolina" »

A recent report by Raleigh-Durham's WTVD station notes that the number of North Carolina's tractor-trailer truck accidents places the state in sixth place in the nation. According to the report, of the trucks inspected in North Carolina in 2009, more than half presented violations of maintenance or safety. More than 12% of the trucks that were inspected and found to be in violation of laws and regulations had to be taken off the road immediately because of the severity of the danger they posed, whether due to faulty equipment, insufficient maintenance, improperly secured loads, or other concerns.

The report also briefly details the story of a 21-year-old man who was killed while riding his bicycle in Goldsboro when a speeding truck crashed into him. The driver of the truck had been working for 23 hours straight when his vehicle crashed into the man.

The trucking industry is heavily regulated; among the rules that apply to truck drivers in North Carolina (as elsewhere) are limits imposed on the number of hours that the driver can be on the job. In addition, truck drivers must conduct a safety inspection before they set off; they must check their breaks; and they must secure the truck's load so that it will not fall off during driving, becoming a major hazard to other people on the road.

A person injured in a crash with a tractor-trailer in North Carolina might decide to sue the driver and the driver's employer in order to recover compensation for pain and suffering, medical bills for the treatment of the injury suffered, and any wages lost due to the accident. In such a lawsuit, a driver who was found to have violated any safety rule would be more likely to be considered negligent and be held responsible for the harm that resulted from his negligence.

Continue reading "North Carolina's Incidence of Tractor-Trailer Truck Accidents" »

For the following two weeks, North Carolina's Highway Patrol will conduct an operation aimed at educating teenagers about the dangers involved in driving. State troopers will be showing up in force to enforce traffic laws around schools, from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday; in addition, they will be conducting educational programs at high schools throughout the state. Dubbed "Operation Drive to Live 2010," the program hopes to curtail the number of teenagers injured and killed in traffic accidents.

According to the North Carolina News Network, traffic accidents are the primary cause of deaths of teenagers in North Carolina. The North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety suggests that parents should draw up a Driving Agreement with their teenagers, in the hope that, by signing, the teen drivers will become more conscious of the risks and responsibilities they are undertaking by driving. A sample Driving Agreement can be downloaded here. However, parents may want to customize their "contract" to ensure that it matches the specific circumstances of their own family.

Currently, South Carolina is considering a bill that would prevent teenagers from getting a drivers' license or would revoke the drivers' licenses of teens (up through the age of 18) if the teens drop out of school, get expelled, or amass more than 7 unexcused absences in one school year. That bill would also underscore the fact that driving is a privilege and that teenagers must prove their reliability before they are allowed to undertake an activity that could lead to serious injuries to themselves and others.

Continue reading ""Drive to Live" Operation in Raleigh and Throughout North Carolina" »