Charlotte Injury Lawyers Blog
Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matt Arnold answers the question: “What if the accident was my fault?”
A large percentage of auto accidents in North Carolina occur at or near intersections. Every motorist is taught to exercise due care when driving through an intersection. Unfortunately, not everyone understands the importance of practicing hyper-vigilance when approaching an intersection, which is why you can routinely see drivers who speed through intersections and fail to give up the right of way, putting themselves and others in danger.
There is one intersection in Charlotte in particular that stands out from the crowd and might be the city’s most dangerous intersection. Regardless of where your vehicle crash occurred, you need a detail-oriented and knowledgeable Charlotte car accident attorney.
Charlotte’s Most Dangerous Intersection
A recent report by WCNC centers on what might be Charlotte’s most dangerous intersection. The intersection of West Boulevard and Wallace Neal Road has seen over 50 car accidents and contributed to many motor vehicle injuries in the past five years.
The intersection is located near I-485 and Charlotte Douglas International Airport, with local drivers complaining that it can be practically impossible to turn left onto West Boulevard. The report cited Wake Up Charlotte viewer Todd Day saying he uses the intersection when commuting to and from work every day.
Locals say traffic can back up several miles in the area during rush hour because it lacks traffic lights that would allow drivers to make left turns safely. The report specifies that the intersection of West Boulevard and Wallace Neal Road is not the only dangerous intersection in Charlotte, as many two-lane roads around the interstates can be just as deadly.
The Charlotte Department of Transportation said it is planning to install a traffic light in the area and add a left turn lane to eastbound West Boulevard. Adding a traffic light and a left turn lane would help address the problem.
Determining Fault in an Intersection Car Accident
Establishing fault in a car crash that occurred at an intersection is no easy process because it requires you to prove that you had the right of way at the time of the collision.
If there were traffic surveillance cameras at the intersection, your Charlotte car accident attorney could obtain access to the footage.
Taking photos and videos also helps preserve evidence in an auto accident where the right of way is not easily established. Accident reconstruction experts can reconstruct the crash based on those photos and videos.
Generally, you have the right of way before the crash if you:
- Obeyed stop signs and lights at the controlled intersection
- Yielded to vehicles that were already there at an uncontrolled intersection
- Yielded to the car on the right if both of you arrived at an intersection at the same time
- Gave up the right of way to cars already on the highway upon entering a highway on an onramp
- Gave up the right of way to vehicles already on the access road upon exiting the highway on an off-ramp
- Treated a controlled intersection where the lights were temporarily turned off as a two-way stop
- Yielded to cars on the throughway when on a dead-end road with a T-intersection
Speak with a Charlotte auto accident attorney from Arnold & Smith, PLLC, to file a personal injury suit proving that you had the right of way during your intersection vehicle crash. Call us at 704-370-2828 for a consultation or fill out our contact form. Now taking cases throughout North Carolina with offices in Uptown Charlotte, Mooresville and our new location in Monroe.
The skilled personal injury attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC are dedicated to maximizing the financial recovery and obtaining justice for every personal injury client injured by another party’s negligence. The issues our personal injury clients may be facing include, but are not limited to, slip and fall injuries, wrongful death, product liability, catastrophic injuries, dog bite claims, car and truck accident injuries, motorcycle injuries, traumatic brain injury (TBI), nursing home negligence, spinal cord injury, boating accidents, and defective medical device injury. Our personal injury attorneys understand the devastating impact such an injury can have on a person’s life, and that the effects so often go beyond physical pain and suffering. The personal injury attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC are dedicated to helping clients determine the strength of their claims, and to aggressively pursuing the means necessary to achieve the best possible end result for each client’s particular situation.
Source:
Image Credit:
https://www.freeimages.com/photo/ready-set-go-1-1178201
See Our Related Video from our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/ArnoldSmithPLLC/videos
See Our Related Blog Posts: