Powerful Piece in New York Times Highlights Why It’s Vital to Reduce North Carolina Car Crashes

November 1, 2012, by Michael A. DeMayo

Whether you’ve recently been injured in an auto accident in Charlotte or elsewhere in North Carolina; or you know or care for someone who has been hurt or killed, you are not alone.

According to rough estimates, over 7,630 people died in the United States in the first quarter of 2012 due to motor vehicle accidents. Compare that number to the number of military servicemembers killed in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001 – 6,591 is the official total. In other words, more people died in car accidents in North Carolina and the other 49 states in just the first three months of this year than died in all of our military action in Afghanistan and Iraq since we began prosecuting those wars.

An Astonishing Comparison — And Historical Revelations

As New York Times writer, Cynthia Wachtell points out in a compelling new article in the New York Times, almost all of our recent high profile politicians have been touched significantly by auto accidents:

•    Mitt Romney nearly died in France when he was 21-years old, when he was involved in a head-on collision. He suffered a concussion, while one of his passengers died.
•    John McCain, meanwhile, returned from Vietnam only to find that this wife had been horribly disfigured in auto accident.
•    Bill Clinton lost his father in a car accident in May 1946 – three month before the future president was even born.
•    Likewise, Barack Obama lost his father in a car accident in 1982.
•    Laura Bush, wife of ex-president George Bush, killed a fellow high school student in 1963, when she ran a stop sign.
•    Vice President Biden lost his wife and daughter in a car crash four decades ago.
•    Al Gore nearly lost his six-year old son in 1989 in a horrific crash.
•    Both former Vice President, Dick Cheney, and ex-president, George W. Bush, collected DUIs.

In other words, car accidents in North Carolina and beyond have powerfully defined the lives of our nation’s most powerful politicians.

Ms. Wachtell goes on to ask a pointed question: why haven’t these leaders more actively demanded improved auto accident safety?

Perhaps they have. But clearly, we need to do more to reduce our road fatality and injury rates.

On a more practical and personal note, you may find it hugely useful to discuss your situation with the team here at Law Offices of Michael A. DeMayo. Get in touch with us today to understand what legal rights and options you might have to collect compensation and to ensure that the responsible driver, insurance company, or other party will remunerate you fairly.