North Carolina Injury Attorney Blog

Last Friday afternoon just after 4 pm, a 2004 Nissan Maxima driven by Temikia Gooding, 23, of Kinston, hydroplaned on a rain slick highway near New Bern, crossed the center-line, rotated counter-clockwise, and was struck by a large dump truck driven by Charles White, 49, of New Bern.

The front of the dump truck impacted the Maxima on the passenger's side of the vehicle. The driver of the Maxima and her passenger, Alsheen Wooten, 27, of Vanceboro, were killed in the crash. The truck driver reported that the Maxima suddenly crossed into his lane of travel, and that he did not have time to avoid the collision.

The Maxima was traveling north on NC Highway 43, and the dump truck was traveling south.The investigating North Carolina State Trooper concluded that the driver of the Maxima was driving too fast for the rainy conditions. The investigating Trooper indicated that no charges would be filed against the driver of the dump truck. Knowing what to do if your vehicle hydroplanes is critical for safe driving on wet roads.

Continue reading "Fatal Crash On NC Highway 43 Near New Bern Blamed On Hydroplaning" »

Evan James Burchell, 18, died early last Sunday morning in a single vehicle car crash. Neither Burchell nor either of the other two occupants of the vehicle were wearing a seat belt. Burchell was riding as a rear seat passenger in a Mitsubishi driven by his friend Bristol Anderson, 19, of Leicester.

The accident happened when Anderson lost control of the car on Bear Creek Road off of Leicester Highway. First Sgt. Pat Staggs of the State Highway Patrol said the vehicle crossed the center line, ran off of the left side of the road and struck a tree. One of the other passengers is still in critical condition. Staggs said that the Highway Patrol is investigating whether excessive speed played a role in the crash, and criminal charges may be filed against the driver. Additionally, the driver may also face a civil lawsuit for wrongful death.

As I have discussed in prior postings, a wrongful death lawsuit is often brought by the deceased person's family against an at-fault driver. The motivating force behind such lawsuits is to deter the at-fault driver from committing such an act in the future, thereby preventing a similar tragedy from striking another family, and to act as a reminder for other drivers to act reasonably and not recklessly.

Continue reading "Seatbelt Might Have Saved Asheville Teen's Life" »

The leading cause of death for teenagers, ages 16 to 19, in North Carolina is motor vehicle crashes. This unpleasant statistic applies across the U.S. as well. In 2008, 9 teenagers died every day from injuries in car wrecks. More teens are killed in car crashes than in any other way. Thus far, almost all states have taken some action to try and reduce teen crashes. But the restrictions vary greatly from state to state.

In North Carolina, the state legislature implemented a graduated driver's licensing (GDL) law that restricts teenagers' right to drive. The law places more restrictions on younger drivers and eases those restrictions as the driver increases in age.

A recent study analyzing the hospitalization rates for teen drivers in North Carolina shows that the GDL system is working. Since the GDL program went into effect, the hospitalization rate for teenagers between 16 and 19 years of age has decreased. The study concluded that the decrease was due to reduced exposure to dangerous situations (e.g. several teenagers in a single vehicle) than to improved driving skills.

Continue reading "Motor Vehicle Crashes Are Top Teen Killer In North Carolina" »

With the recent death of an Asheville teen caused by texting while driving, more attention is being focused on this extremely dangerous activity. Thus far, 25 states have passed laws banning texting while driving. In North Carolina, the ban went into effect on January 1, 2010, and the penalty if you get caught texting while driving is $100.00. So far, few North Carolina citizens have been caught breaking the new law, but, as anyone who is on the road knows, the illegal activity is rampant on our roads and highways.

Given the difficulty of enforcing the new law, the North Carolina Highway Patrol has taken a new strategy aimed at educating teen drivers when they are first learning to drive. The Highway Patrol is encouraging teen drivers to text while driving a golf cart around a parking lot full of orange cones. The results are eye opening for the teen drivers as they run over multiple cones while trying to navigate sharp turns and stop at stop signs. The golf cart experience is gaining popularity across the state and the nation. Each student in Lenoir and Duplin County will get behind the wheel of the golf cart before the end of the school year.

Continue reading "Teen Texting Responsible For Increase in North Carolina Crashes" »

A serious crash closed Interstate 40 for over an hour Monday evening when a westbound Lincoln Town Car crossed the median and went under the rear wheels of an eastbound tractor-trailer. The collision happened just east of the Radio Road bridge that crosses I-40 near Mile Marker 150. Emergency workers and the North Carolina Highway Patrol shut down all 4 lanes of Interstate 40 while they attempted to rescue the occupants of the car.

Trooper Marty Liles of the State Highway Patrol (SHP) investigated the crash and reported that the car, driven by Rashad Whitner, 32 of Hickory, originally went off of the right side of the westbound lanes, re-entered and crossed the westbound lanes, entered the median and went under the median cables, and then entered the eastbound lanes at which time the car went under the rear of the tractor-trailer and was run over by the trailer's rear axles.

Continue reading "I-40 Tractor-Trailer Accident: Truck Runs Over Car" »

On Friday, Asheville Police disclosed that they had accessed the information stored in Ashley Johnson's cellphone. Police investigators who examined the Arden teenager's cellphone stated that the information showed that Johnson, 16, was retrieving a text message just seconds before the BMW she was driving crossed the center line and struck an MB Haynes pickup truck head-on. Investigators also retrieved data stored in Johnson's vehicle's airbag module to determine her pre-impact speed. The airbag module showed that the she was traveling 52 mph. The posted speed limit for Long Shoals Road is 45 mph. The driver of the pickup truck suffered injuries, but he is expected to recover.

Emergency workers airlifted Johnson to Mission Hospital's Trauma Unit, and she remained in the Intensive Care Unit for several days before she eventually died from her injuries. This is a terrible tragedy that should never have happened.

The 10th grader was an exceptional and popular student. She attended Buncombe County Early College, where she was working toward earning her associate degree.

I have several prior posts about the deadly dangers associated with texting while driving. Unfortunately, many people feel that, if they are careful, they can safely text while they are driving. This is impossible. Several studies have shown that if you text while driving your attention level is worse than that of a drunk driver. In fact, a texting driver is 23 times more likely to have a deadly accident that a non-texting driver.

Several mobile applications (apps) are on the market to help us restrict our, and our teenage children who drive, impulse to text while driving. Applications that can deactivate a phone's ability to send or receive texts while in motion are quite effective.

Continue reading "Teen Texting While Driving Caused Deadly Asheville Accident" »

This shocking image illustrates the potential dangers of trying to use a cell phone while driving. The young driver of the Volkswagen failed to see the motorcycle when he pulled out into the highway. Records showed that the Volkswagen driver was texting at the time of the collision. Not surprisingly, the driver of the car, his passenger, and the motorcyclist were all killed instantly.

As I have discussed in a prior posting, driving while texting is illegal in North Carolina, but the new law has not stopped many drivers from continuing to text as they drive down the road. Recently, Oprah Winfrey decided to use her fame for yet another great cause - stopping people, and particularly teens, from using their cell phones while driving. Oprah calls it the "No Phone Zone Pledge." Basically, it is a way for people to promise to themselves and their loved ones that they will stop texting while driving. Oprah has asked that everyone take the pledge.

Our nation's Congress has also been evaluating ways to prompt each state to enact legislation to ban texting while driving. Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, asserts that, if it were up to him, he would ban texting while driving immediately.

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Continue reading "Asheville No Phone Zone Pledge" »

If you have less than $100,000 in car insurance on your vehicle, you are rolling the dice and risking financial ruin every time you drive your car. In North Carolina, the minimum amount of insurance coverage required by law is $30,000. But what most insurance agents fail to tell you is that unless you purchase more than the minimum limits of coverage, you are really not protecting yourself or your family from irresponsible drivers, particularly younger drivers. Here's why.

Last week, one of our new clients was on her way home from work, and the traffic in front of her slowed to a stop because a car had stopped to make a left hand turn. She also slowed down and stopped. Ten seconds later, she looked up just in time to see a large SUV barreling down on her. She recalls starting to yell, but the next thing she remembers is waking up in a hospital bed 3 days later. After 2 weeks in the trauma unit and 3 surgeries later, she is trying to figure out how to pay for her hospital bills. Unfortunately, the young girl who did not see her because she was texting and driving has the minimum limits of insurance coverage - this means that the most the young girl's insurance company will ever pay is $30,000. The client's medical bills are over $100,000 already, and she still has months of rehab to complete before she can return to work. There is a way to protect yourself from this very real risk.

You should tell your insurance agent that you want to have at least $100,000 in Uninsured Motorist (UM) and Under-Insured Motorist (UIM) coverage. The increase in your premium should be less than $50 every six months. If you are able, you should ideally purchase a $1 Million umbrella policy that also provides you with UM and UIM coverage. This is the best way to make sure that, if you or a loved one is seriously injured in a car accident, you have the insurance coverage to compensate you for your losses, such as medical bills and lost wages.

Continue reading "Why Everyone in North Carolina Needs More Than The Minimum Limits of Car Insurance" »

North Carolina State Troopers have charged a Brevard man for driving the wrong way on Interstate 26 between Asheville and Hendersonville. The wrong way driver, James Mint Barton, age 65, apparently traveled at least 15 miles in the wrong lanes before he was apprehended by State Troopers. He told Troopers that he was on his way to the Asheville Airport.

Not surprisingly, Troopers charged Barton with Driving While Impaired. Trooper RE Baker stated that Barton was also charged with reckless driving and driving the wrong way on a dual lane highway. Barton ran several cars off the Interstate during his extreme drunk driving, but fortunately no accidents occurred and no one was injured.

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The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has received more than 60 reports from Toyota owners who claim they have experienced sudden acceleration events after having their cars fixed for the very same problem. The safety agency is in the process of contacting each of the owners to gather more details about the reports. Many safety experts and those in the industry believe that Toyota's problem is electronic and not mechanical as the largest automaker in the world has claimed. The recall involves installing a metal piece the size of a postage stamp and shortening the length of the accelerator. As I have mentioned in prior posts, Toyota so far has recalled over 8 million vehicles.

Many of those who have been seriously injured or killed in sudden acceleration events have sued Toyota for selling a dangerous and defective vehicle. Click here to see a copy of one of the complaints. One hot issue in all of these lawsuits has been the information contained in each vehicle's black box. Each Toyota has a black box, like those on airplanes, that records various data when the vehicle is in a crash - such as speed, whether the accelerator was depressed or whether the brake pedal was depressed. Toyota has fought tooth and nail to keep from having to turn over any of the specifics about the black boxes in these cases. Toyota has settled most of these cases out of court, but several are pending. This author thinks Toyota is afraid to have their black box information made public for a very good reason.

Continue reading "Toyota Recall Not Fixing Some Vehicles In North Carolina" »

As I suggested in an earlier post about the Toyota recall, if you own one of the recalled models, you should not wait for the gas pedal to start sticking before having the problem fixed. Millions of Toyota owners are making dealership appointments to have the gas pedal problem fixed, and many owners are considering whether they are due a refund on their car insurance.

National Public Radio recently aired a piece about the potential effect of the massive recall on insurance companies. During the radio news program, NPR spoke to the manager of the NC Rate Bureau. The Rate Bureau is responsible for setting the rates that insurance companies can charge for car insurance. Ray Evans (the general manager of the North Carolina Rate Bureau) suggests that you contact his office if your insurance rates increased after being in an accident or receiving a ticket that you believe was caused by a sticking accelerator pedal.

Making such an appeal to the Rate Bureau could result in a substantial refund from your insurance company. If such an appeal is successful, then your insurance company would look to Toyota to cover the loss of revenue.

You may contact the North Carolina Rate Bureau at (919) 783-9790.

A young mother and her child were recently driving west on US Highway 74 from Lake Lure to Asheville to visit relatives for the holidays. As the young women rounded a sharp curve about half-way into her trip, she encountered a tractor-trailer headed in the opposite direction. US Highway 74 is a restricted road, and it is illegal for tractor-trailers to travel it.

While the tractor was completely in its lane, the wheels of the trailer were more than half way across her lane. She braked immediately, and because of her low speed for the curve, she stopped in an instant, but it was not soon enough. The trailer tires rolled right over the front of her small compact car. This phenomena is commonly known as "off-tracking," and it happens on a regular basis in Western North Carolina.

The tractor-trailer did not slow down, nor did it stop, and it was gone before the young driver really knew what had happened. Fortunately, there was an eyewitness behind her, who turned around and followed the dangerous trucker until he was apprehended by the State Highway Patrol in Lake Lure. The trucker denied any knowledge that he'd run over the small car, but his companion in the truck told a different story. The trucker was charged with hit and run, operating a commercial motor vehicle on a restricted road, as well as other charges.

Continue reading "Tractor Trailers Still Off Tracking In Western North Carolina" »

Early Friday morning, a Wake County school bus ran into and over a pick-up truck driven by a veteran Raleigh firefighter. Another vehicle was involved in the wreck, and all three drivers were injured. Thankfully, no children were injured. The collision happened in North Raleigh on Ligon Mill Road near the intersection of Louisburg Road. The damage to fireman Lt. Harry P. ("Flip") Kissinger IV's truck was so severe that bystanders were unable to get him out.

When the firefighter's colleagues arrived on the scene, they quickly used the jaws of life to pry off the driver's side door of the truck. EMS workers then began working on the critically injured fireman. About 45 minutes later, EMS workers got Kissinger onto a backboard and transported him to the trauma center at Wake Med. The City of Raleigh reported in a "press statement" that Kissinger had suffered a significant head injury in the crash.

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol came to the scene but have not yet released the results of their investigation. In serious injury cases, where it is difficult to determine exactly how and why a collision occured, we recommend hiring an expert accident reconstructionist. Such experts are engineers and scientists who have special education, training and experience in the reconstruction of accidents. They start with the end result (the crash) and work backwards to determine such things as point of impact, pre-crash speeds, line of sight, and other factors that are critical to determining why a crash occurs and who is at fault.

Continue reading "Raleigh Firefighter Critically Injured in Bus Crash" »

Many of us have done it or have seen other drivers texting while driving. In North Carolina, as of December 1st, texting or reading emails while driving is now illegal and will get you a pricey ticket and points on your insurance.

The reason for the prohibition on texting and driving would seem obvious - if you are driving your eyes should be on the road in front of you, but there are many drivers on the road who think they can drive and text at the same time. State Troopers, in North Carolina and across the US, say the practice is unsafe and leads to many wrecks, serious injuries and sometimes even death.

Several national studies have found that texting and driving is very dangerous. A recent study at Virginia Tech found that drivers are 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash when texting on their phones. A Car and Driver Magazine study found that texting while driving is more dangerous than driving while impaired.

http://www.wral.com/news/state/video/5399126/

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A recently released police report indicates that the woman who caused a fiery crash on the Taconic State Parkway in Mount Pleasant, NY looked ill on at least two occasions shortly before the wreck.

Police say that Diane Shuler was severely intoxicated and high on marijuana at the time of the crash that killed eight people, including herself. Toxicology reports show that Shuler's blood acohol content (BAC) measured .19 and that she had ingested marijuana during the hour prior to the wreck. The crash occurred as Shuler drove her minivan down the wrong-way of a scenic four-lane parkway.

Shortly before the crash, witnesses observed Shuler sitting on a guardrail beside her red minivan with her head down, looking sick. Another group of motorists described seeing Shuler driving down the middle of two lanes, staring straight ahead, both hands on the wheel, with a look of sheer panic on her face.

Tragically, Shuler's 2 year old daugher, her 8 and 7 year old nieces, and a 5 year old little girl were in the vehicle with Shuler and died in the crash. Three other adults were also killed as a result of the wreck. Shuler's son was the only survivor in the minivan.

Continue reading "Asheville - Wrong-way Driver Looked Sick Before Fiery Crash" »