North Carolina Personal Injury Lawyers Blog

"I'm going to crash!" were the last words Kelsey Raffaele ever said. She was talking on a cell phone while driving when she clipped a snow bank, spin out of control and right into the path of oncoming traffic. An SUV T-boned her vehicle. She later died at the hospital, according to the Citizen-Times.

Local police simply chalked up the accident as a mistake that's commonly made by newly-licensed drivers. Later, they found out that she was on the phone when the accident happened. They credited the accident to distracted driving after finding her cell phone in the back of the car. Distracted driving is unfortunately also a common cause for novice driver accidents.

Our Asheville car accident lawyers understand that the paperwork was already filed when officials discovered that it was a distracted driving car accident. Because these accidents aren't oftentimes discovered in a timely manner, if they're ever discovered at all, the statistical risks are well under reported.

According to the National Safety Council (NSC), the problems associated with these kinds of accidents appear less serious because of this discrepancy. This discrepancy impedes efforts to win passage of tougher laws.

Currently, drivers under the age of 18 are prohibited from talking on a cell phone. That's not stopped most of them though.

Unfortunately, drivers don't see the risks involved in this behavior and they're not deterred by current laws. According to the NSC, close to 200 fatal accidents were reviewed from 2009 to 2011 in which a cell phone was probably the cause of the accident. Unfortunately, only about half were recorded as distracted driving accidents.

Even in many cases where drivers openly admitted to using a cell phone in the accident, officers many times don't record them as distraction related.

According to the latest statistics, there over 32,000 roadway fatalities recorded in the U.S. in 2011. Less than 400 were listed as distracted driving accidents involving cell phones. Yet other sources report that close to 4,000 people were killed in distracted driving car accidents.

It's no secret. We've all been behind the wheel on a cell phone at least once in our lives --whether we were making a phone call, answering a text message or even checking out email. But it's these dangerous behaviors that can cause a deadly accident -- in a matter of seconds.

Now is an important time of the year, with summer break approaching, to talk to our younger drivers about the importance of attentive driving. Make sure they understand the risks involved with texting or calling behind the wheel. Make sure they're pulling over and coming to a safe stop before attending to business. It's a move that could wind up saving their life.

Continue reading "North Carolina Traffic Safety: Uncovering Distraction Not Unusual in Accident Investigations " »

If you asked a people to guess the most dangerous aspect for Americans of being involved in severe weather, you'd probably hear answers that ranged from being swept up by tornado-force winds to being crushed by hurricane-strewn debris.

Certainly, those things tragically happen, and they get a lot of media attention when they do.

However, our Charlotte personal injury lawyers have learned that in fact the deadliest aspect of severe weather is seen on the roadways.

That's according to meteorology researchers at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire.

News stations will cover multi-car pile-ups, especially when they are serious. There have been quite a few of them so far this year - 19 on U.S. highways, and they've left 700 wrecked cars and 8 fatalities in their wake.

However, it's the everyday, bad weather wrecks that actually cause the most wrecks. In most cases, it's a single or two-car crash on wet roads.

In an average year, an estimated 7,000 people in the U.S. die in highway crashes that are caused by weather such as heavy rain, sleet, fog or snow. Most of these incidents involve one, maybe two deaths at a time, so they tend to receive very little coverage. They aren't catastrophic or sometimes even dramatic, so you won't see the kind of attention paid to deaths caused by flash floods, tornadoes, hurricanes or heat.

There is one group that is paying closer attention.

A recent gathering in Washington D.C., the American Meteorological Society's Washington Forum, was primarily focused on how to reduce or prevent this glut of weather-related crashes across the country.

The group said that until recently, even the National Weather Service didn't include weather-related vehicle crashes into its weather death tolls. The reason was that the standard was whether the weather played an active role in the person's death.

So for example, if a huge pile of snow falls from a tree and crushes a person, the NWS would consider that a weather-related death. However, if someone crashes in a snowstorm, officials would have said that the person was driving too quickly in the elements, and therefore it wasn't the snow that killed the driver but his or her own actions.

The meteorological group said the recognition of these deaths as legitimate, weather-related deaths will help them formulate informational releases to the public to help reduce these kinds of incidents.

One of the options being explored is something called a Vehicle Data Translator, which would provide motorists with real time information on atmospheric and road conditions. This technology would get information to people faster than roadside signs, and could warn of conditions such as wildfire smoke, fog, black ice, hail or blizzard whiteouts.

You can't necessarily prevent drivers from speeding or not paying attention or driving drunk. However, the idea is to cut down on the surprise element that so often contributes to weather-related crashes.

Ultimately, the goal is to make sure everyone makes it home safely.

Continue reading "Charlotte Car Crashes Top Weather-Related Fatalities " »

We all know we're supposed to wear seat belts. Not only do we know it's the best way to save our life in the event of an accident, but we also know that it's the law. According to buckleupnc.com, all drivers and passengers, in the rear seat as well as in the front seat, ages 16 and older must wear their seat belts. Children less than age 16 are covered by the NC Child Passenger Safety law.

Still, roughly 20 percent of people are not slapping on that seat belt, according to the latest statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In 2011, close to 21,500 occupants of passenger vehicles (passenger cars, pickup trucks, vans, and SUVs) died in motor vehicle traffic crashes. Of those fatalities, only about 9,500 were restrained. Restraint use was not known for 1,634 occupants. Looking at only occupants where the restraint status was known, more than 50 percent were unrestrained at the time of the crash.

Our Winston-Salem car accident attorneys understand that our young ones are some of the worst offenders when it comes to seat belt usage. In 2011, 64 percent of the passenger vehicle occupants ages 21 to 24 killed in traffic crashes were not using restraints -- the highest percentage out of all age groups.

So how serious was it in North Carolina? According to the statistics from the NHTSA, of the close to 900 occupants who were killed in traffic accidents in the state in 2011, only about half of them were belted at the time of the accident. This seems a little funny considering that officials report a seat belt usage rate of close to 90 percent.

For children, a properly used child restraint device (CRD) is required if the child is less than 8-years-old and weighs less than 80 pounds. Most parents and caregivers will be able to comply by using belt-positioning booster seats for children between 40 and 80 pounds. The child must be within the weight range for the child restraint/booster seat and it must meet Federal standards in effect at time of manufacture.

Seat belts work and the proof is in the numbers. Among passenger vehicle occupants age 5 and older, seat belts saved an estimated 12,000 lives in 2011. If all passenger vehicle occupants age 5 and older had worn seat belts, close to 15,500 lives could have
been saved in 2011.

If you don't want to buckle up to save your life, you might as well do it to save some money. If you're pulled over and busted for not wearing a seat belt. For a first-time violation, you'll be slapped with a $25.50 fine. You're also going to have to dish out more than $135 in court costs. Lucky for you, no driver's license or insurance points are assessed with this violation.

If you're busted with someone in the back seat who isn't properly buckled in, you're looking at a monetary penalty.

Continue reading "Carolina Traffic Safety - Stats Show Seat Belts Still Best First Line of Defense" »

We've been talking a lot about the risks associated with distracted driving -- and rightfully so considering how big of a problem this actually is. According to officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), drivers aren't hanging up the phone despite the large number of injuries, fatalities and warnings. Now, officials are giving it another shot by releasing new information during National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.

Our Anderson car accident lawyers understand that these distracted driving car accidents take the lives of thousands of people each year. In 2011, there were more than 3,000 people killed because drivers weren't paying attention behind the wheel. According to distraction.gov, there were another 415,000 people injured in these accidents, too. Even with repeat of these statistics and all of the warnings from safe driving advocates, drivers continue to take their eyes off the road and place them onto needless and dangerous distractions.

To help to get the message across, officials with the NHTSA rounded up statistics from a number of federal sources and released them in the premier issue of "SAFETY 1N NUM3ERS" online monthly auto safety newsletter.

According to the 2011 National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS), at any given daylight moment across the nation, there are about 660,000 drivers who are using a cell phone or manipulating an electronic device while driving. That's a number that has stayed put for the last several years. And officials believe that more drivers are talking and texting now than ever. With the increase in the popularity of mobile devices, they're more easily accessed by drivers. But with the convenience comes danger!

The truth of the matter is that there is no way to text message and drive at the same time safely. Many drivers think that their brains can multitask efficiently and they'll be okay. However, multitasking is a myth. What our brain actually does is switch back and forth to and from each activity, never fully focusing on both.

Although a large majority of drivers say that they support legislation to keep drivers off their phones, not everyone is listening. Drivers are even reporting, in the 2012 National Survey on Distracted Driving Attitudes and Behaviors survey, that the fines for breaking these kinds of laws should be at least $200.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), only drivers under the age of 18 are prohibited from using a cell phone in the driver's seat. All drivers are banned from text messaging. We're asking you to follow these regulations, not only because it's the law but we're asking you to do it to stay alive.

North Carolina's text messaging and cell phone laws are considered "primary" laws. A primary law means that an officer can pull you over for the offense without having to witness some other violation. That is, the officer sees you texting and issues a citation.

Continue reading "Drivers Blatantly Disregarding Safety on NC Roadways" »

When you get into your car, it takes a split second to buckle your seat belt. Unfortunately, it also takes just a split second to get involved in a car accident. If you've taken the time to buckle up, you're likely to fare a lot better if your vehicle is involved in a crash.

Yet, despite how easy it is to take the steps to save your own life, there are a surprising number of drivers who make the choice not to buckle up.

In fact, according to Health Canal, around 15 percent of drivers and passengers who sit in the front seat of a car do not regularly buckle their seatbelts. Our Greenville accident attorneys know that drivers tend to buckle up more for longer trips than they do for shorter ones. Unfortunately, this isn't good enough and drivers need to buckle up every single time they get into a car if they want to keep themselves safe.

Drivers on Shorter Trips Often Neglect to Buckle
Health Canal reported on a recent study conducted by researchers at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. The study was focused on the factors that affect a driver's decision about whether to buckle up. Buckling a seat belt can decrease the risk of becoming involved in a fatal car accident by 45 percent, so it is surprising that there are so many drivers who refrain from putting their seat belt on every time. Researchers wanted to learn more.

The study attempted to identify why occasional seat-belt wearers didn't buckle up every time. A total of 100 cars were studied, with 108 primary and 299 secondary drivers. The driving of those in the study was monitored over the course of a year and data was collected from 150,000 driving trips.

The results shouldn't come as that big of a surprise. For example, the study revealed that drivers tend to buckle up for longer trips and/or trips on high speed roads at greater frequency than they do on shorter trips on local roads. When the trip had an average speed of 30 miles per hour, for example, 72.7 percent of occasional bucklers (someone who buckles up sometimes but not all the time) would have their seat belt on. However, when the trip had an average speed of 50 miles per hour, a much higher percentage- 89 percent of occasional bucklers- would have their seat belts on.

Researchers believe road type was the primary factor in this difference, not speed limits. Data from a GPS sensor was used to confirm that theory and the GPS Information did show that occasional belt users buckle up more on interstates, regardless of speed, when compared with secondary roads.

Unfortunately, many crashes happen not on long trips on highways but on the local roads that are traveled most frequently. Drivers, therefore, should be sure to buckle up for any trip even if they are just going up the street. While it may seem inconvenient at first to have to buckle every time, the inconvenience is nothing compared to the hardship that can occur in situations where you get into a crash and get seriously hurt because you have no seat belt on.

Continue reading "Buckling Up a Lot Less Trouble Than Coping with Injury" »

Our Rock Hill accident attorneys know that car accidents are a leading cause of death for children. While teen drivers often put themselves in bad situations when they get behind the wheel, younger children are at risk of dying or being seriously injured in a car accident when traveling with parents or other adults in the car.

While kids are supposed to be in car seats and booster seats to ensure they are safe, the CDC indicates that as many as 72 percent of car seats may be misused in a manner that makes kids more likely to get hurt. Some parents aren't even aware of the requirement for car seat use nor of other important safety rules intended to avoid injuring children in auto accidents.

To help parents become better informed about how to keep their children safe in cars, Safer Car.gov provides many resources including informative tips on child safety seat use. The information is available in the Parent's Guide to Playing it Safe with Kids and Cars.

Parent Safety Tips for Children in Cars
Safer Car provides four basic pieces of advice that every single parent should be sure to follow. This advice includes:

• Always using a car seat for every trip even for short ones when you are just going down the street. Most car accidents happen not on long trips but instead when you are close to home. An unrestrained child could be seriously hurt in an accident that occurs anywhere, including when you are running routine errands very close to where you live. In general, kids should be in car or booster seats until around age eight but this will vary depending upon the requirements of your state as well as the height and weight of your child.
• Selecting a car seat appropriately sized to your child. You will need to take both age and size into account when shopping for the right car seat. Directions provided by the manufacturer should also be followed carefully both in terms of size/weight limits as well as in terms of use.
• Ensuring the car seat is compatible with the car that you drive. The manufacturer of the car seat should be able to provide this information to you and the information is often found in the instructions for the carseat.
• Ensuring that children sit in the back until they are age 12 or older. A front air bag is designed for an adult-sized person, not for a child. If an accident were to happen with a child in the front seat, then the child could be seriously hurt by the airbag, which inflates at a rate of around 200 miles-per-hour.

Safer Car also provides links to additional resources that parents can use to learn more and to provide even better protection for their kids. For example, there is a link that offers guidance in what to look for when buying a vehicle. Information on child car seat installation (including a video) is also available. This information can be invaluable in arming parents with the tools they need to ensure that the car is a safe place for their young passengers.

Continue reading "Car Safety Tips Every Parent Should Know to Avoid Accident Injuries" »

According to Washington Post Sports, Denny Hamlin flew home to North Carolina on Monday March 25th to be evaluated by a specialist at Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates.

Hamlin had been eagerly awaiting his return from a Southern California hospital where he was airlifted after an accident at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana sent him careening into the inside wall on the last lap of Sunday's event. In fact, the Post reports that he tweeted his desire to just go home several days ago. The Nascar driver was in the hospital awaiting his return to the Carolinas because he had suffered a serious back injury after a car accident while racing. Our Carolina car accident attorneys know that Hamlin, like many other accident victims, may have a lengthy recovery period as a result of the damage to his back.

Hamlin Suffers Back Injury
Hamlin is the driver of the No. 11 Toyota and was participating in Sunday's Auto Club 400 at the Auto Club Speedway. His car came into contact with Joey Logano as both were exiting the fourth turn of the two mile raceway. Unfortunately, Hamlin's vehicle then struck the inside wall and Hamlin was injured.

Hamlin's injuries consisted of a compression factor of his L1 vertebrae. This is one of the vertebrae (bones) along the spinal cord. A compression fracture is a collapse of the vertebrae caused by trauma. There was concern that the back injury would necessitate surgery. However, after the Nascar driver was evaluated in North Carolina, it was determined that no operation would be necessary.

While he does not need surgery, Hamlin will still have a lengthy recovery period. According to the Nascar website, he may be out for as long as six weeks and could miss at least five races as a result of the injuries.

Back Injuries from Car Accidents
Hamlin's back injury occurred under unique circumstances as part of a NASCAR race. Unfortunately, the sad fact is that even people who don't drive for a living are at risk of getting into car accidents and could suffer serious back injuries as a result.

Car accidents typically result in pressure and impact traveling from the car into your body. You may be abruptly thrust forward or backward in the crash and, in many cases, your back absorbs the force of the impact and/or is bent out of position.

Some of the common car accident back injuries that occur include lumbar sprains and strains; fractures of the lumbar or thoracic vertebrae, and herniated discs. Soft tissue and spinal cord injuries are also common results of auto accidents that can necessitate expensive recovery and impose significant limitations on your mobility.

The accident involving Denny Hamlin underscores how long the recovery process can be when a back injury happens. Unfortunately, ongoing medical care and treatment over a six week period can be very expensive. Those who aren't NASCAR stars and who are hurt in auto accidents during a regular drive will need to ensure they can cover their costs during recovery. A lawsuit against the driver who caused the crash can be the best way to ensure the bills get paid.

Continue reading "Back Injuries Common After Car Accidents - NASCAR's Denny Hamlin Suffers Compression Fraction" »

The National Safety Council (NSC) launches many education initiatives and efforts to try to keep drivers safe in the Carolinas and throughout the U.S. Many agencies are promoting Distracted Driving Month, to remind motorists of the danger throughout the month of Apirl.

Distracted Driving Month begins on the 1st of April, but unlike April Fools Day pranks, distracted driving is a deadly serious problem. Our Charlotte accident lawyers know that almost 33,000 people were killed in crashes in the U.S. in 2010 and NSC indicates that approximately 24 percent of all crashes occur due to drivers using cell phones. Other distractions can also make roads dangerous, but NSC calls out cell phone use as worthy of special concern, so the use of phones is a major focus during distracted driving awareness month.

NSC Efforts to Educate the Public on Distracted Driving
National Safety Council has many different types of educational and informational material available on its website to help people to learn of the dangers of distracted driving during the April awareness month. For example, posters are available and there is a white paper that helps to explain the distracted brain.

One of the most important tools on the website, however, is the pledge to drive cell free . Every driver should take this pledge and make up the decision to give up using their cell phones when they are driving. NSC's reasons for focusing on cell phone use include:

• Risk: NSC points out that the dangers of cell phone use are just as bad whether you're using a cell phone or a hands free device. Either way, you're four times as likely to crash.


• Frequency: NSC says that around 9 percent of all drivers on the road at any one time are on a cell phone. More drivers are on their phones than doing any other type of distracting behavior.


• Prevalence: Greater than two out of every three drivers reported in a survey that they'd talked on their cell phone while driving in the past month.

NSC believes the combined risk of a crash coupled with the frequency of cell phone use in cars makes this behavior especially deadly. Yet, as the Governor's Highway Safety Association reports, only 10 states have imposed a statewide ban on all handheld cell phone use by all drivers. This means lots of people are likely going to continue to drive and talk as long as it is legal- even though it is still really dangerous.

With efforts like April's Distracted Driving Awareness Month, however, hopefully fewer people will decide to talk on their phones once they have been made aware of how risky it is. However, NSC cautions that education alone can only go so far and encourages both tougher laws as well as visible enforcement efforts of distracted driving laws.

Past public service campaigns have made a difference on action but people are far more likely to make the safe and smart choice when forced to do so by laws. As NSC points out, for example, only about 14 percent of people regularly wore their seatbelts in 1981 (and this was after 15 years of effort). In the last two decades, though, enforcement and stronger laws have resulted in about 84 percent of people wearing seat belts today.

Hopefully states will toughen up their distracted driving laws and the laws as well as public education efforts will make a difference in the number of people on cell phones. In the meantime, you can sign the pledge and vow not to be one of the people making the roads more risky for everyone.

Continue reading "Distracted Driving Awareness Month Aims to Prevent Car Accidents" »

On February 22nd, 2013, the Wall Street Journal tackled an important question. The question was whether medical residents are dangerously exhausted. Our Winston-Salem injury attorneys were very interested in the analysis and information presented in the article because we know that medical residents are often overworked and not given sufficient time to sleep. Sleep deprivation can compromise your faculties and cognitive abilities, and these overtired residents may, therefore, be dangerous if they are not equipped to provide reasonable patient care due to their fatigue.

The Rules on Medical Residents and Rest Periods

Before the year 2003, there were no laws, rules or regulations in place that set limits on the number of hours that a medical resident could work. This means that residents could theoretically work straight through all night and into the next day and could be kept working even as they grew more and more tired. The author of the Wall Street Journal article indicated he had experienced this himself, remaining awake for as long as 36-hours-at a time as a medical resident and becoming so tired by the time he left work that he fell asleep at stop lights on his ride home.

This situation was, of course, untenable since a doctor who is falling asleep on his feet is unlikely to provide the best quality of patient care. In 2003, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education took action and imposed an 80-hour-per week work limit for residents. Because this Accreditation program is in charge of determining which U.S. medical residency programs are accredited, this essentially created a de facto industry standard rule imposing a maximum 80-hour work week.

In 2011, the Accreditation Council decided that the 80-hour limit wasn't sufficient to protect the public from an overtired doctor. As such, they mandated that first year interns/residents could not work overnight or 24-hour shifts.

All of these limitations are, hopefully, going to help save lives. It is very clear that being awake for too long can be seriously impairing (in fact, this is why truck drivers have maximum drive time limits and why drowsy driving has become such a major concern). If limits are imposed on other professionals like truck drivers to avoid fatigue, it stands to reason that limits should be imposed to ensure that those who perform life-saving medical treatments don't do so after getting no sleep.

Unfortunately, as the Wall Street Journal author points out, there are costs to imposing limits like this as well. One issue is that handoffs from one doctor to another can be dangerous as crucial information vanishes in each shift. In some cases, it is even possible that the actual patient will become lost in the shuffle and may not get the necessary care.

The Wall Street Journal author also argues that the residents who are limited in their work time may not get sufficient exposure to the medical procedures they are expected to perform and the concepts they are expected to learn.

These are very valid concerns, and should be dealt with through appropriate policy adoptions including having strict guidelines on the handoff procedure and taking concrete steps to ensure that residents get real hands-on experience. It is clear, however, that having an overtired hospital worker is not good for anyone and could put the patient at risk. Every solution needs to be considered in light of what it takes to keep a patient safe from medical negligence or medical malpractice that causes harm.

Continue reading "Dangerously Exhausted Medical Residents and Patient Safety" »

Auto accidents remain one of the top causes of death for teen drivers, and younger drivers face a significantly greater risk of becoming involved in a car wreck than their older peers. This is why our South Carolina personal injury attorneys were so happy to read the recent data indicating that young teen driver deaths had fallen in the state in 2012.

While it is great news that fewer teenage drivers died in 2012, however, the decline in deaths was only a small one. We still have a long way to go in making the roads as safe as they can be for young drivers and we encourage all teens and parents to remain vigilant about driver safety.

Teen Car Accident Deaths Declines in 2012
On March 5, 2013, The State published an article highlighting the good news from the Office of Highway Safety about the decline in the teen car accident death rate. According to The State, the number of deaths among drivers ages 16 and 17 declined slightly in 2012 as compared to 2011.

The change was in keeping with the long-range South Carolina trends on teen accident deaths. The number of young drivers ages 17 and 18 being killed in auto accidents has been on the decline since 2003.

The change is not an insignificant one. In 2003, there were 29 deaths among those ages 16 and 17 in the state. By 2012, there were only 13 deaths within the same age group over the year.

The ongoing decline in South Carolina teen car accident fatalities is at odds with the national average. Throughout the United States as a whole, the number of teen deaths has been rising. Predictions were also made that the death toll of young drivers was expected to go up for all of 2012.

South Carolina beat these expectations and had fewer drivers die for many reasons, but some of the most important include:

• The mandatory seat belt law, which became effective in 2006. Today, almost 60 percent of teenagers who are killed in wrecks are not wearing seat belts but The State indicates this number used to be much higher.


• The Alive at 25 Program, which is a 4 ½ hour course that is taught at eleven high schools and reaches 3,511 students. The program was started in 2007 and works to connect with students emotionally to foster safe driving habits.


• Putting onto tickets clearly displayed traffic safety information dealing with the issues of texting and driving; drunk driving; speeding and seat-belt use.


• Rollover simulators and driving simulators, which an estimated 15,000 people used last year. The simulators show teens how easy it is to become distracted and become involved in a wreck.


• The Families of Highway Fatalities Program, in which parents of teens killed in avoidable car wrecks speak to students. This program reached over 15,000 students last year.

The laws and outreach efforts are clearly working as the rate of car accident deaths continues to decline among South Carolina's youth.

Continue reading "Death Rate of Teen Drivers Down in South Carolina" »

Sheets of pouring rain stretching from Anderson to Augusta were reported to be a factor in numerous serious accidents along U.S. 278 and across both states.

Our Anderson personal injury lawyers understand that authorities are attributing about five back-to-back crashes on low visibility and slick roads caused by the inclement weather. In truth, the responsibility lies with those drivers who failed to respond appropriately to the conditions.

The bottom line is that while no one controls the weather, we can control our reactions to it. Every single person who gets behind that wheel must take this responsibility very seriously, not only for their own personal safety but for all of the rest of us who share the road.

According to the South Carolina Highway patrol, a recent Thursday morning saw at least five crashes along the rain-soaked expressway. One was reported on Silver Bluff Road just after 6 a.m. As crews were responding to that scene, another wreck was reported on Herndon Dairy Road about a half hour later. Then a third accident followed on U.S. 278 around 7:30 a.m. By 8 a.m., there was a fourth crash on Sudlow Lake Road, and then a fifth crash was reported a short time later at Pear Orchard Road.

Morning commuters were left to cope with major delays, but we don't have any immediate word on the extent of the injuries.

In March, the weather table in South Carolina indicates that we see anywhere from 3.8 to 5.3 inches of rain, depending on the location.

We hear an awful lot about safe winter driving hazards, but rain doesn't get as much attention, even though it's equally perilous. In particular, teen drivers need to be educated about how to operate and control their vehicles in poor conditions - especially when they crop up unexpectedly.

SmartMotorist.com officers a long list of rainy safe driving tips that we have found to be especially on point:

• Slow down. This is a good idea anytime you face an altered road condition. In the rain, it's going to take you longer to stop or adjust gears. Play it safe by lowering your speed.


• If you can, stay in the middle lanes. We know that rainwater has a tendency to pool along the edges of the roadway, and this can cause you to skid (especially if you're going fast!).


• Keep a fair distances from big tractor trailers or buses, which have a tendency to have the propensity to kick back visibility-reducing spray.


• Try to avoid slamming on the brakes. In wet conditions, it's usually more effective to ease your foot off the accelerator if you need to slow down.


• Flip your headlights on, even if there's only a light rain. It helps you see and it helps other drivers to see you.


• Prepare for potentially rainy weather by replacing old wipers.


• If you can, try to avoid off-road driving. Puddle depth can be tough to judge from inside a vehicle, and you risk potentially getting stuck.


• If you find your visibility is significantly reduced - especially at night - pull over and wait it out. This might seem an inconvenience, but consider that in these conditions, wildlife, pedestrians and sometimes even other cars, can be difficult to see.


• If you approach a puddle, do so slowly. If the rainwater is higher than the bottom of your doors, turn around and find another route.

Continue reading "South Carolina Car Accidents: Blame it on the Rain" »

A Greensburg man who was in the middle of moving to North Carolina was killed in a recent one-vehicle accident. According to TribLive, the man died on scene on Route 17 right by River Bend. State Highway Patrol reports that the man was a passenger in the vehicle.

Media reports indicate the vehicle was heading south just before 4:00 a.m. when the accident happened. The vehicle reportedly veered off the road, into the median and the driver lost control. After traveling in the median, the driver completely lost control, flipped over and slid sideways into lanes of oncoming traffic. The passenger was ejected from the vehicle and was pronounced dead on scene. The driver was taken to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville. Officers say that the driver was speeding when the accident happened. Charges are currently pending.

Our Greensburg car accident lawyers understand that the faster a driver is traveling the higher their risks are for an accident. Speed is actually considered a factor in about a third of all accidents. According to Smart Motorist, exceeding the speed limit by only 5 mph in the wrong place can be dangerous. Local governments and traffic engineers have spent plenty of time working on creating appropriate speed limits for roadways across the nation. The speed limits are not there to slow you down, but they're there to help to keep you safe. Still, about 90 percent of drivers admit to speeding at least once during their driving career. About 75 percent of drivers say that they commit this offense regularly.

Traffic engineers maintain that speed limits should be established according to the 85th percentile of free flowing traffic. What this means is that the limit should be set at a level at or under which 85 percent of people are driving. Numerous studies have shown that the 85th percentile is the safest possible level at which to set a speed limit.

Drivers who speed are more likely to engage in other dangerous driving habits, too. Some of the most frequent dangerous driving behaviors include tailgating, horn honking, Frequent or unsafe lane changes, light flashing, deliberate obstruction, failure to signal, drunk driving and more.

Speed Limits in the state of North Carolina:

-Rural Interstates: 70 mph

-Urban Interstates 70 mph

-Other Limited Access Roads: 70mph

Just because these are the speed limits on interstates and other fast-traveling roadways, that doesn't mean it's the speed limit everywhere. You're urged to remain aware of speed limits on all roadways that you travel. In residential areas, remember that the speed limit is usually 30 miles per her. Keep an eye on your speed and help to improve your safety! When traveling on high speed limit roadways, make sure you're keeping your distance from other vehicles. The closer you're traveling to another vehicle the less time you have to react to a roadway danger. Travel cautiously, travel the speed limit and travel with safety in mind.

Continue reading "Speedy Mover Accused of Killing Passenger in NC Traffic Accident" »

A tour bus crash in California has claimed eight lives and resulted in dozens of hospitalizations, with more than 40 people injured.

Our North Carolina personal injury lawyers are heartbroken for the families of those lost, and will continue to hope for a swift recovery for those who were hurt.

Perhaps the most disturbing thing about all of this is that the crash was likely entirely preventable. The investigation is ongoing, but initial reports are beginning to paint a picture revealing the company that owned the motor coach may have prized profits over people - underscoring the critical importance of thoroughly researching any transportation firm when planning your next road trip.

According to local news reports, the passengers on the bus were on their way back to Mexico, following a daylong trip to a ski resort in Southern California. The driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle, potentially due to a brake failure, and the bus careened down the hill at a high rate of speed. The vehicle allegedly slammed into a car heading the same direction before swerving into the opposite lane and striking a pick-up that was towing a trailer. The bus ultimately flipped over in a complete 360, ejecting passengers and crushing in portions of the roof.

Making matters worse was the fact that the mountainous terrain where the crash occurred made it difficult for rescuers arrive quickly and transport the injured.

At least one passenger who survived told investigators that people inside began to panic when the brakes began smoking and the driver screamed for someone to call 911. However, the remote location of the roadway meant no one could get a clear signal on their cell phones.

Investigative reporters have discovered that the company that owns the bus - one of just three in its entire fleet - had a somewhat spotty safety record. While the Department of Transportation reports that the national average for motor coach inspections resulting in out-of-service actions is 21 percent, this company's rating was 36 percent. This was in addition to the fact that the company had been flagged on the DOT's safety watch list, primarily due to ongoing problems with vehicle maintenance.

And yet, the company was still given a safety rating of "satisfactory" by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration - which goes to show more improvements are needed in federal oversight.

The FMCSA advises all persons planning bus or motor coach trips to verify the following before purchasing tickets:

• Review the company's safety performance history;


• Check the company's FMCSA safety rating, noting that firms with a "conditional" rating could be higher risk and those with an "unsatisfactory" rating shouldn't even be operating;


• If you're traveling out of state, make sure the company has federal operating authority and if it carries more than 16 people at a time, make sure it carries a minimum of $5 million worth of insurance.

Continue reading "NC Motor Coach Safety Driven Home By Fatal Crash in CA" »

On New Years Day this year, a car with three teens was traveling on Brevard Road in southern Buncombe County, North Carolina. According to reports, the car with the teen driver was going much faster than the 45 miles per hour permitted on the road, and much too fast for the wet conditions on the road. Unfortunately, the speeding teen lost control of the vehicle as they were going around a sharp curve and they collided with a tractor-trailer.

This devastating accident shows the incredible dangers of driving too fast, especially on slippery pavement. Our Asheville injury attorneys urge every driver in the state to remember this tragic accident and to make a decision never to drive at an unsafe speed -- particularly when weather conditions are already poor.

Speeding Leads to a Devastating Crash
According to the Asheville Citizen Times, the three teenagers involved in the New Years Day accident on Brevard Road were going much too quickly. They entered a sweeping rightward curve and their vehicle went out of control, crossing over the center line. On the other side of the road was a tanker truck driving northbound and hauling milk. The tanker truck was driven by a 53-year-old Mills River man who was hurt in the accident but whose injuries were not life threatening.

The three teenagers died at the scene of the crash. Although it was raining, early reports on the cause of the crash provided by Highway Patrol troopers indicated that the main cause of the wreck was not the bad weather but the excessive speed around the curve. While there are no indications that there was alcohol involved in the accident, the teens were not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. The absence of a safety belt put them at significantly greater risk.

Speeding is Always a Risk, But Especially for Teen Drivers
The accident shows just how dangerous speeding can be, especially in less-than-optimal weather conditions. Drivers who prioritize staying safe and avoiding a crash should always drive not only under the speed limit but also at a speed that is safe given their location on the road and given the state of the road. This means that when drivers are going around a curve, especially a sharp curve, they should slow their speed. Drivers should also slow their speed when it is necessary to go more slowly in order to be safe on slick pavement or in times of low visibility.

Unfortunately, teen drivers often fail to drive at a safe speed or fail to recognize the dangers involved in speeding. Teen drivers are less capable of driving safely when they are going too fast since they have limited driving experience. The fact that most teens don't know how to respond to dangerous driving conditions coupled with the fact that teens are likely to make riskier choices behind the wheel, helps explain why the number one cause of death for young people is auto accidents.

While this accident is a terrible tragedy that has shattered three young lives and forever changed the lives of the family members left behind, it is also an important reminder that it is never ever safe to drive too fast and that the risks of speeding just aren't worth the nominal gains.

Continue reading "Excessive Speed Leads to Three Deaths Near Asheville" »

The Toyota Camry is the most popular car in America, but unfortunately a new crash test performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) indicates that the Camry may not be a very safe car. CNN.com reported on the problems that the Camry faced in a recent article on December 20, 2012.

Our Asheville injury attorneys urge everyone in the market for a new car to consider the results of the crash test when making their purchasing choice. While avoiding auto accidents is always the best way to stay safe, having a car that protects you in case of a crash is essential to avoiding serious injury.

The Toyota Camry and the New Crash Tests
According to CNN, IIHS recently tested 18 different models of vehicle in a new type of front impact crash test. The cars included the Camry, the Ford Fusion and the Honda Accord. Each vehicle was crashed into a barrier going 40 miles per hour. However, unlike many other front crash tests, only a small portion of the front bumper on the driver's side hit the crash barrier. This meant that the force of the impact was concentrated in a small area.

This is a new type of test that the Camry hasn't yet been subject to. A group of luxury cars were also tested in the same way by IIHS back in August and only eleven of those cars got top marks on the test. The Camry was tested along with other mid-priced cars and performed worse than others in the group. Another of the vehicles that tested very poorly was also a Toyota: the popular and environmentally friendly Toyota Prius. Cars that did the best included the Accord sedan by Honda and the Kizashi, by Suzuki. The Accord is a close competitor of the Camry and often ranks second in sales.

The Problem with the Camry
The Camry performed poorly because the front wheel of the vehicle was pushed back by the impact of the accident. As a result, the passenger compartment footwell was pushed inward.

Even worse, the impact forced the steering wheel very far towards the right. Since the air bag is mounted in the steering wheel, the airbag was also pushed sharply rightwards so it provided little protection for the head of the crash test tummy. Since the side airbags didn't extend far enough forward to make up the difference, the driver was essentially left underprotected in the crash.

The results prompted IIHS's president to indicate that Toyota engineers had a lot of work to do in order to make their car as safe as the similarly-priced models offered by their competitors in the moderate-priced market.

Monitoring Crash Test Results
These new crash test results are important because they show a weakness in the safety features of the Toyota Camry. It is important for drivers to consider all crash test results and safety ratings when making their purchasing decision so they do not put themselves and their families at unnecessary risk in the event of a crash.

Continue reading "Toyota Camry is a Failure in New Crash Tests" »