Articles Posted in Car Wreck

A terrible accident on I-485 last week left five people injured after a tractor-trailer carrying a mobile home crashed into other nearby vehicles. The accident happened just after noon on the I-485 inner loop just past Providence Road.

The Charlotte Fire Department said they were dispatched to the scene to save a person who was trapped in a car. All of the five people injured were taken to the CMC Main Hospital for treatment, three of whom were treated for life-threatening injuries.

An interview conducted by WCNC of several of the victims in the crash revealed that one survivor is suffering from multiple broken ribs, a broken leg and a broken arm. Two others in the same car also had several broken bones and are severely bruised. Despite the terrible injuries, they say they count themselves as lucky just to have survived.

One of the vehicles involved in the crash was a Toyota Prius that was following behind the semi acting as a pilot car. The driver says the crew had just pulled off the interstate to fix some plastic wrapping on the mobile home that had come loose. As they were stopped on the side of the interstate out of nowhere the Prius was smashed into by an SUV driver going at least 65 miles per hour along the shoulder of the road. Evidently the driver was attempting to program his GPS and had drifted out of the lane of traffic, not paying attention. The Prius was hit so hard that the front end was smashed into the back of the mobile home and the back end was smashed into the SUV.

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There’s been discussion among industry insiders about the low auto insurance rates paid by consumers in North Carolina and whether a raise in the rates might actually be a good thing in the long run. This might come as a surprise to drivers in the state given that North Carolinians currently enjoy some of the lowest car insurance rights in the country.

According to a survey by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, drivers in the state pay the eighth lowest amount in the country behind Maine, Idaho and five states in the Midwest. Another survey, from Insure.com, says that the state is doing in even better, coming in at the fifth lowest auto premiums in 2012.

However, the reason for the low rates reveals that it’s not all good news. Some of the reasons are great: good roads, good traffic enforcement and low population density are all contributing factors. However, a bigger reason is that North Carolina is one of only a few states with laws on the book that make it harder to win personal injury lawsuits by evaluating whether an injured person had a role to play.

In North Carolina, the law says that if you are even one percent at fault, you might as well be 100% at fault. That’s because unlike most states, North Carolina follows an old common law rule known as contributory negligence. Under this approach, when a person is found to have any responsibility at all for his or her injuries, that person is then barred from recovering damages for those injuries. That means, that if a person is responsible in the smallest way for an accident, the defendant will avoid having to pay anything for the harm they caused. There are a few ways around this strict rule, including if the defendant acted in a willful or wanton manner or if the defendant had the last chance to avoid an accident and failed to do so. Currently only three other states and the District of Columbia follow the contributory negligence approach.

The vast majority of states use some version of a comparative negligence system where the amount a plaintiff can recover is reduced according to the percentage they are found to be at fault. For instance, if a plaintiff is found to be 10% responsible for an accident and the defendant is found to be 90% responsible, the total damage award will be reduced by 10%.

There have been several attempts to change the outdated system used in North Carolina, including last year’s vote in the House in favor of a bill replacing the contributory negligence system with a modified comparative negligence system. Though the House passed the bill, it failed to get the necessary votes in the Senate due to language inserted by legislators friendly to the insurance industry.

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A heartbreaking drunk driving crash in Charlotte, NC that severely injured a young couple and killed their unborn child and the drunk driver shed light a law that is meant to prevent bars and restaurants from serving alcohol to already intoxicated customers.

The innocent North Carolina couple was driving home in October of 2010 when police say a drunk driver with a blood alcohol level more than three times the legal limit crashed into them going more than 100 miles per hour. The drunk driver had just left a bar in south Charlotte where he had been served at least 10 drinks.

The couple spent more than a month in the hospital and the wife lost the baby and more than 40% of her own blood. Extensive surgery was required for both the husband and wife in addition to many months of rehabilitation after the accident.

Earlier this month a jury in Charlotte returned a $1.7 million verdict against the bar, finding that the restaurant was negligent in serving alcohol to a person it should have known was drunk. Though the bar has not been found criminally liable, saying an investigation by the Mecklenburg County Alcoholic Beverage Control Board found that the bar had not served alcohol to the drunk driver after he was “visibly intoxicated,” the civil standard is less stringent.

The innocent couple sued the bar under North Carolina’s law that makes establishments that serve alcohol to obviously drunk or underage customers who then cause death or injury to others liable. The laws, known as dram shop laws, are on the books in all but seven states. Some have criticized the North Carolina law for being vague; not specifying exactly what owners of such establishments should do to ensure they are not liable for the actions of their patrons.

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According to a report by WCNC, a young woman is in critical condition after a hit-and-run car accident on I-485 occurred late last month. The accident happened near the Providence Road exit.

The North Carolina Highway Patrol has said that a 21-year-old female driver passed an SUV in the right lane and attempted to get back in the left lane when the SUV clipped her car from behind and spun her off the road. Troopers said the SUV did not stop and continued down I-485 toward Pineville. The SUV is described as a light gray or silver with possible damage to the front right side.

The victim in the accident has suffered multiple broken bones, internal injuries and two collapsed lungs. Troopers have said that witnesses report the driver of the SUV may have had road rage issues prior to striking the young driver’s car.

After crashing into another car, the decision to bolt from the scene is not only heartless, it’s also against the law. Now, the driver responsible for the crash is likely to be convicted of criminal charges in addition to the civil penalties he could face. In North Carolina, hit and run accidents are governed by North Carolina General Statutes § 20-166. The law states:

(a) The driver of any vehicle who knows or reasonably should know:

(1) That the vehicle which he is operating is involved in an accident or collision; and
(2) That the accident or collision has resulted in injury or death to any person; shall immediately stop his vehicle at the scene of the accident or collision. He shall remain at the scene of the accident until a law-enforcement officer completes his investigation of the accident or collision or authorizes him to leave; Provided, however, that he may leave to call for a law-enforcement officer or for medical assistance or medical treatment as set forth in (b), but must return to the accident scene within a reasonable period of time. A willful violation of this subsection shall be punished as a Class H felony.

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When shopping for car insurance, many people are put off by not knowing which of the many varieties of coverage they may actually need and which ones are merely there to line the pockets of insurance companies. A recent article by Yahoo Finance analyzed some standard insurance policies to come up with a guide for what kinds of coverage the average consumer needs. The Yahoo article gave each variety of coverage a ranking according to color: red meaning the policy is urgent, orange to signify important and yellow meaning least critical. First things first, liability coverage:

• Liability Coverage
• Urgency: Red
Liability coverage exists to pay for bodily injury and property damage that you or others cause while operating your vehicle. Liability coverage will also cover court costs if you’re sued as a result of an accident. Given the description, the necessity of the policy is pretty obvious. It’s this coverage that is designed to protect your assets and future earning power if you are ever involved in a bad accident. A bit of good news is that it typically doesn’t cost much (less than $50 every six months) to double your current liability coverage, so it’s probably better to be safe than sorry.

• Collision Coverage
• Rating: Yellow
Collision coverage is what pays to fix your car in the event of an accident. The value of this policy depends almost entirely on money; how old and how much your car is worth, how much a repair might cost and whether you’re able to afford the repair on your own without collision coverage.

While collision coverage is important, as your car ages and depreciates, it might not be a bad idea to increase your deductible so that your monthly premiums go down or even consider dropping collision all together. This is an instance where leasing your car will result in a guaranteed purchase as companies will require you to carry collision coverage.

• Medical Payments Coverage
• Rating: Orange
Medical-payments coverage ensures that reasonable medical expenses are paid for those in your vehicle, regardless of who caused the wreck. The importance of this policy depends on your situation, if you don’t have insurance or are lacking, move the color up to red and carry the maximum that your company will allow. If you’re an avid carpooler then you’ll also want increased coverage to ensure that everyone in your car has his or her medical care covered in the event of an accident.

• Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage
• Rating: Red
Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, or UM/UIM, exists to pay for injuries that results from an accident caused by a driver who either totally lacks or does not have enough insurance coverage of their own. The number of uninsured drivers in North Carolina is significant, estimated at 8% who lack proper coverage. Given the risk of running into one of these drivers (pardon the pun), this kind of coverage is absolutely critical for drivers in the state. Even if you’re in an accident with someone who has insurance, a lot of times they might not have enough insurance to cover the injuries you actually sustain.

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In the last few years, traffic safety officials both in North Carolina and at the federal level have been focused on distracted driving, working to educate drivers on the dangers of talking, texting and emailing on mobile devices when behind the wheel. In doing so, however, it seems that many people are no longer focused on some of the more traditional forms of distraction while driving, such as eating and drinking, changing the radio and putting on makeup.

Now, a new study, mentioned in an ABC News article, appears to indicate that it may be time to direct more attention toward some of these other forms of behind-the-wheel distraction. In the study, researchers found that drivers who listen or sing along to their favorite tunes are more likely to get into car accidents than drivers who do not play music in the car.

The study was conducted recently by researchers in Australia, and the results of the study have been published in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention. The researchers were specifically looking at how driving abilities were impacted by singing or listening to music in the car. The researchers attempted to compare how driving abilities were impacted when a person was singing and driving as opposed to when the driver was just listening or had no music on at all.

The researcher put drivers (a total of 21 individuals) through a simulation exercise. They were each tested on how well they were able to concentrate on driving while they were exposed to music. The researchers found that drivers who were listening to music on their car radio, or singing along to the radio, were much slower to respond or react to emergency situations than those drivers who had no music on in the car.

The reason, the researchers determined, is that singing while driving draws attention away from the road. Any activity that draws attention away from the road can be considered a distraction. Drivers, who sing in the car, were much more likely to vary their speeds while driving. These drivers were also found to drive at a much lower speed, compared to drivers who were not listening to any music. The researchers concluded that the most attentive drivers were those who were not listening to any music at all.

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