North Carolina Injury Attorney Blog

A new national study by the Pew Research Center finds that adults are just as likely to have sent text messages while driving as teenagers, and adults are much more likely to have talked on their cell phone while driving when compared to teenagers.

While much attention has recently been focused on teen texting while driving due to several fatal crashes, it appears that adults are just as deserving of similar attention and education. The study's statistics are startling, and it makes this author think that we adults need to look in the mirror before we are so quick to judge our teenagers.

Continue reading ""Do As I Say & Not As I Do" - Adults Are Texting & Driving Too" »

Most adults recognize the dangers associated with texting while driving, but many teens do not appear to appreciate how serious a danger it can be. The facts about distracted driving are startling:

1. Using a cell phone while driving decreases the amount of brain activity connected with driving by 37% (source: Carnegie Mellon);

2. More than 6,000 people were killed by distracted drivers in car accidents in 2008, and more than 500,000 people were seriously injured (source: NHTSA);

3. Drivers under 20 years of age are responsible for the vast majority of distraction related fatal collisions;

4. Texting drivers are five times more likely to cause a car accident serious enough to put themselves in the emergency room (source: Insurance Institute For Highway Safety); and

5. Using a cell phone while driving decreases a driver's reaction time to the same degree as having a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08% - the legal limit in North Carolina (source: University of Utah).

Continue reading "Stopping Asheville Teens From Texting While Driving" »

A distracted tractor-trailer driver ran-over and killed a North Carolina Department Of Transportation (NC DOT) worker on Tuesday morning. The crash occurred as several NC DOT workers were beginning to place Work Zone signs and cones in preparation for a lane closure on I-40 West in Duplin County. North Carolina DOT was closing the lane so that workers could perform maintenance on a bridge at the intersection of NC Highway 24 and I-40 West. This is a rural area where Interstate 40 is straight and level, and the line of sight for approaching drivers is at least one-half (1/2) mile. Click here for 27 photos taken at the scene.

ABC News Channel 11 (WBTV) out of Raleigh dispatched a helicopter and crew to the scene and obtained areal footage of the crash site:

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Continue reading "Reckless Truck Driver Kills North Carolina DOT Worker On I-40" »

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" »

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" »

The North Carolina Highway Patrol has found the Wake County school bus driver at fault for causing the collision that critically injured a Raleigh firefighter last Friday. The bus driver has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the investigation.

A Highway Patrol spokesman said that the bus driver, 52 year old Sheila Wimbush Hall, crossed the center line and side-swiped an oncoming station wagon on Ligon Mill Road near the intersection of Louisburg Road. The bus brushed off of the station wagon and continued into the oncoming lane and struck a pickup truck driven by off-duty Raleigh fireman Harry "Flip" Kissinger. After the collision, the bus landed on top of the pickup truck, pinning the driver inside. The Highway Patrol says that charges are pending.

As I reported in a previous post, Kissinger suffered a serious head injury in the wreck. He is stil in the intensive care unit at Wake Medical Center. He has undergone several medical procedures related to his brain injury, and he is still not out of the woods. The waiting room at WakeMed is packed with Kissinger's fireman colleagues and family members.

Continue reading "Raleigh Bus Driver Causes Wreck with Firefighter - Was She Texting?" »

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/

Continue reading "In North Carolina, Texting and Driving is Now Illegal" »