North Carolina Car Accident Lawyer Blog

Albert Arnott is dead. The Plymouth local, who couldn’t walk but was able to ride a bicycle across the US, sustained fatal injuries when he was struck by a pickup truck while riding his recumbent machine on US Highway 61. The North Carolina truck accident happened on July 31.

Arnott, 60, became disabled during a work accident nearly two decades ago when he fell from a tree while landscaping. He sustained a traumatic brain injury and lost his ability to walk. However, that didn’t stop him from training himself to walking on crutches and cycle.

The driver of the pickup truck, 30-year-old Justin Mark Keaton, says he did not see Arnott. This week, Keaton was charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle.

North Carolina Pedalcyclist Accidents
It is so important for drivers to remember that they share the road with pedalcyclists. North Carolina bicycle accidents do claim lives and often, the motorist that struck the rider can be charged with a crime even though he/she never intended to hurt anyone. He/she can also become the defendant of a North Carolina personal injury case.

In another recent North Carolina bicycle accident, Linda Sink is charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and failure to reduce speed because she accidentally struck two cyclists with her car last month in Stokes County. Police say that she wasn’t paying attention—an allegation that she disputes.

Killed in this North Carolina traffic crash was 62-year-old Donald Sunday. The other rider, 62-year-old Barry Leonard, suffered a broken pelvis.

How drivers can avoid hitting bicyclists:

• Obey traffic laws
• Don’t speed
• Don’t drive drunk
• Don’t talk text while driving
• Watch out for cyclists
• Be carefully when passing a bicyclist

Truck driver is charged in cyclist's death on U.S. 601, Winston-Salem Journal, August 6, 2010

Native cyclist killed in N.C. wreck, Citizens Voice, August 4, 2010

Driver Charged In Fatal Wreck Involving Bicyclists, Digitriad, July 28, 2010

A bicyclist's death, Winston-Salem Journal, July 28, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation, North Carolina Department of Transportation

Bicycle Safety and Access, University of NC Highway Safety Research Center

Continue reading "Disabled Plymouth Cyclist Killed in North Carolina Truck Accident" »

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants to remind US motorists to drive safely during the summer driving season. Millions of Americans are expected to take to the roads over the next few months. To prevent these excursions or vacations from turning tragic, the NHTSA wants to remind motorists to:

• Avoid distracted driving, including texting or talking on a cell phone while behind a steering wheel.
• Stay up-to-date on auto maintenance.
• Make sure to inspect your tires and ensure that they are properly inflated.
• Obey the speed limit.
• Make sure everyone in the car is wearing an appropriate seat belt or child safety seat.
• Don’t leave children unattended near or in a vehicle.
• Don’t drive while exhausted or drowsy.
• Don’t drink and drive.

The NHTSA is reminding parents of teen drivers that there are preventive measures that they can take to prevent their teenagers from becoming involved in a deadly traffic crash this summer. Because many of them have more free time now that school is out, drivers in the 15 to 20 age group are at higher risk of being involved in an auto collision—already the leading cause of teenager deaths. The number of teen drunk driving fatalities are also known to go up during the summer months.

Our Charlotte, North Carolina car accident lawyers are committed to discouraging teens from driving drunk. Every year, we select a number of high school students as winners of the Michael A. DeMayo Scholarship Program. The recipients are selected based on their SAT scores, grades, community involvement, and original presentations that teach other kids about how dangerous it is to drive while under the influence. This year, winners each won a $2,500 college scholarship.

Teen driver risks in high gear over summer, USA Today, June 21, 2010

Consumer Advisory: Make Safety Your Constant Companion This Summer Driving Season, NHTSA, June 22, 2010

Related Web Resources:
North Carolina Department of Transportation

70 Rules of Defensive Driving, Road Trip America

Continue reading "Avoid Charlotte, North Carolina Car Accidents By Adhering to NHTSA Advisory on Safe Summer Driving " »

Was the driver that struck two pedestrians in Wrightsville Beach early Sunday morning text messaging while driving? Police say that they found a partially composed text on the screen of driver Jedediah Woodcock’s phone.

Woodcock, 32 , is accused of driving drunk when he struck Lindsey Casey and John Marc Miller. Casey, who was thrown 22 feet during the Wrightsville Beach traffic accident, broke her pelvis in six places, tore ligaments in her knee, suffered internal bleeding, and damaged her vertebrae. Miller, who was thrown 14 feet, had to have a rod inserted in his broken left leg. Witnesses say Woodcock was speeding in his car and “barely hit his brakes” when he struck the two pedestrians.

Following the North Carolina pedestrian accident, Woodcock blew .09 on a Breathalyzer test. Police also found marijuana in his vehicle. The 32-year-old motorist is charged with two counts of aggravated serious injury by a motor vehicle, driving while impaired, driving during revocation, and possession of marijuana. He has a prior DWI conviction.

Negligent Driving
Drivers must not only obey traffic laws, but they also must refrain from doing anything that would distract them from paying attention to the traffic around them or impair their reflexes and judgment in any way.

Drunk driving, distracted driving, texting while driving, talking on the cell phone, drowsy driving, driver inattention, driver inattention, and reckless driving are some of the more common reasons why North Carolina traffic crashes occur. A motorist who engages in careless or reckless driving can be held liable for North Carolina personal injury or wrongful death.

2 pedestrians hospitalized after being hit by driver Sunday in Wrightsville Beach, StarNewsOnline, June 3, 2010

Unfinished text found in car that hit pedestrians, WWAY3, June 4, 2010

Related Web Resources:

Distraction.gov

Injury Prevention & Control: Motor Vehicle Safety, CDC

Continue reading "Distracted Driving?: Unfinished Text Found in Vehicle Involved in North Carolina Car Accident that Injured Two Pedestrians" »

According to a Charlotte Observer/WCNC-TV Poll, 47% of respondents want the state to ban drivers from any kind of cell phone use while operating their vehicles in North Carolina. 40% of the poll’s respondents think cell phone use should still be allowed but that hand-held devices should be banned.

Current North Carolina legislature prohibits all motorists from texting, but only school bus drivers and motorists younger than 18 are not allowed to talk on a cell phone while operating their autos. Meantime, there are a number of US States that only allow drivers to talk on hands-free devices.

Our Charlotte, North Carolina car accident lawyers believes that the fact that so many people are now realizing how dangerous it is to talk on a cell phone while driving is progress toward preventing distracted driving accidents from happening. However, there are still drivers in North Carolina and South Carolina who text and it is still legal for most motorists to talk on a phone while driving. As a result, people are continuing to get hurt in cell phone driving accidents.

Cell phone use and texting inevitably distract the driver, taking his/her eyes and mind off the road, and slowing down the motorist’s reflexes. These distracted driving habits also increase the risk that the driver might accidentally strike a pedestrian or another car.

Hopefully, we are fast approaching the day when there will be a stigma attached to distracted driving the way there is with driving drunk.

Poll: Driving and phoning shouldn't mix, Charlotte Observer, February 22, 2010

Cell Phone Laws, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

Related Web Resources:
Distracted Driving, National Safety Council

FocusDriven

Continue reading "North Carolina Distracted Driving: Voters Want Tougher Laws Restricting Cell Phone While Driving Restrictions, Says Media Poll" »