North Carolina Injury Attorney Blog

On Saturday afternoon, a pick-up truck driver failed to see an oncoming motorcycle before making a left hand turn and caused a severe collision. The pick-up truck driver, Doris Collins, 70, of Nicole Lane, in Rockingham, North Carolina was headed southbound on U.S. Highway 220 in Richmond County just before the crash.

A motorcycle driven by Doug Franklin, 35, of Greenfield Road, in Hamlet, North Carolina was headed northbound on U.S. 220. Also on the motorcycle was a young juvenile passenger.

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The northbound motorcycle had the right of way, but the southbound truck crossed into the oncoming lane and struck the motorcycle.

Continue reading "Truck Strikes Motorcycle Near Rockingham, North Carolina on US 220" »

On Thursday morning around 9:50 a.m., a motorcycle driven by Bruce Offenbacker, age 24, rocketed down NC Highway 10 at over 100 mph. On the back of the motorcycle was Offenbacker's 20 year old girlfriend, Jasmine Shope of Newton.

As the motorcycle approached the intersection of Bethany Church Road, Isaiah Edgell, 44, was stopped in his 1989 Mazda pickup truck facing west on NC Highway 10, waiting to make a left hand turn into the Country Market. Iredell County Trooper C.M. Trouille just happened to be sitting in his marked State Highway Patrol vehicle behind the stopped pickup truck. When the pickup truck began to make its left hand turn, the motorcycle collided with the passenger side of the pickup truck at a high speed and with substantial force. Trooper Truoille stated he never even saw the motorcycle before impact. This crash was orignally covered by the Hickory Daily Record. The following video is a good example of how this crash happened:

Continue reading "Two Critically Injured In Claremont Motorcycle Crash " »

A sport utility driver turned left across a motorcyclist's lane of travel causing him to crash last Friday afternoon. Joseph Cross, 32, of Brunswick County died at the scene following the collision. The North Carolina Highway Patrol concluded that the SUV broadsided Cross as he was traveling along Kirby Road.

The State Highway Patrol charged driver of the SUV, Dorothy Hewitt, 51, with failing to yield the right of way. At the time of the crash, Hewitt was attempting to turn left into her driveway. She stated that she did not see any oncoming traffic until the motorcycle collided with her vehicle. Unfortunately, this scenario happens all too often.

The most common type of motorcycle accident involves another vehicle causing the collision by violating the right of way of the motorcycle at an interesection, usually by turning left in front of the oncoming motorcycle because the car driver did not see the motorcycle.

From ahead or behind, a motorcycle's outline is much smaller than a car's, and if a car driver is not paying attention, the car driver can miss seeing a motorcycle. Most often, car driver's are not looking for motorcycles, and even if a car driver does see a motorcycle, the driver often perceives the motorcycle to be further away, or traveling slower, than it actually is. Fortunately, there are many things the motorcyclist can do to increase his/her visibility.

Continue reading "Asheville - Motorcyclist Killed By Sport Utility Vehicle" »