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Unfortunately, serious accidents happen daily. As a service to the local community, we post news articles about North Carolina and South Carolina accidents. If you have been injured in a car, truck or other type of accident, contact a Carolina injury lawyer from our office for answers to your questions.Car & Motorcycle Accidents
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Toyota Admits Sudden Acceleration Problems Still Remain in Cars
Feb 25, 2010My colleague Rick Shapiro wrote about the continued problems with Toyota Motors. Executives admitted that the massive recall, involving over 8 million cars, and the metal shift "fix" may not actually solve the problem. This means there are still Toyota cars on the road that could suddenly accelerate leading to a major car wreck and serious injury. - 1 - 10
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Attorney Discusses "Dnt Txt & Drv" Program
Jan 22, 2010Jim Lewis wrote a blog about an important safe driving program known as "Dnt Txt & Drv" which is being promoted throughout North Carolina schools. It emphasizes the importance of staying focused behind the wheel and not texting while driving. To learn more, check out the texting and driving awareness program here. - 2 - 10
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Blog on Motorcycle Accident Claims
Jan 08, 2010John Cooper wrote a new blog about motorcycle injury claims. Often, the severity of the motorcyclist's injury will far exceed the amount of auto insurance coverage. In those cases, the best personal injury lawyers look at the possibility of a products liability case as a way of making the client whole.
To learn more about motorcycle injuries and filing a claim, check out the blog here. - 3 - 10 -
Attorney Examines Rise in Holiday Car Accidents
Dec 31, 2009Emily Mapp Brannon wrote about the increase in car accidents during the holidays in Virginia on the Norfolk, Portsmouth, & Hampton Injury Board blog. At least two of these accidents featured drivers who were intoxicated.
To learn more about the holiday car accidents, check out the blog here. - 4 - 10 -
SC Driver Charged With Felony DUI After Fatal Car Crash In Greenville County
Dec 21, 2009In Greenville, South Carolina, the South Carolina Highway Patrol has charged a man with a felony DUI resulting in death and with leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
Police say that 25-year-old James Michael Duck was driving drunk in Greenville County on State Route 11 (Tugaloo Road) when he lost control of the vehicle, left the roadway, drove into an embankment, and landed the car in a field. After the accident occurred, Duck, of Lyman, left the scene of the accident and his seriously injured passenger. The accident happened just before 8 pm.
When Duck arrived at Greenville Memorial Hospital after midnight to seek medical attention for his own injuries, police were there to arrest him.
Twenty-five-year-old Kandys Darlene Batson, also of Lyman and Duck’s cousin, died at the scene of the accident of multiple injuries to her chest and blunt force trauma. The County Coroner’s office said that Baston was partially ejected from the car and that the vehicle landed on top of her. Neither Duck or Baston was wearing their seat belt.
During his bond hearing, Duck said that he was not sure what happened because he was drunk – just that he woke up in a field and tried to flag people down for help. He is currently in the Greenville County Jail. - 5 - 10 -
Duke Basketball Star’s Sister Killed In Car Wreck
Dec 17, 2009Duke, North Carolina, and the college’s freshman guard’s Andre Dawkins are all mourning the death of the basketball rising star’s sister, who died in a car accident while trying to attend one of her brother’s games.
After the fatal car accident, which occurred on Saturday afternoon as Dawkin’s sister was driving to the Duke v. St. Johns basketball game in Durham, North Carolina, Dawkins left school and the team to mourn with his family in Virginia.
Police say that 21-year-old Lacey Dawkins was part of a three-vehicle car accident in I-77 while on her way to the game. Although emergency crews rushed her to a nearby hospital, she died on her injuries on Saturday night. Her mother, Tamara Hill, was also in the car at the time of the accident and suffered injuries – emergency responders rescued both women using the jaws of life. At least two other passengers were injured in the accident and brought to area hospitals.
Police say that snow was a factor in the car accident.
Andre Dawkins graduated from high school a year early from Atlantic Shores Christian School in Chesapeake, Va., and began school at Duke in the fall. The freshman has played for an average of ten points per game since the season begun and has hit more than half of his three-point shots. In addition to his older sister Lacey, Andre has three younger siblings.
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Tragic Church Van Accident Kills Pastor And Injures Others In Lancaster
Nov 30, 2009On the Saturday before Thanksgiving, a South Carolina church pastor was killed in a tragic church van accident on the way home from a golf retreat in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The van accident, which occurred on state highway 903 at around 4:30 in the afternoon, involved one 15-passenger van as well as two pickup trucks.
South Carolina Highway Patrol officers reported that 64-year-old Pastor Ronnie Wilson of the South Point Free-Will Baptist Church died at the scene of the multiple car accident. The other four van accident victims included 44-year-old Reggie Morris of Belmont, 40-year-old Michael Waters of Mount Holly, 27-year-old Chad Clemmer of Cramerton, and 57-year-old Donald Shaver and of Clover.
All four of the men were injured in the South Carolina van accident, with two in fair condition as of today. All four were transported to the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte by emergency workers following the accident.
SC police say that Wilson, the driver of the van, was driving behind a pickup truck when he spotted a tire in the roadway. When he swerved to miss the road obstacle, he ran head-on into a pickup truck traveling east down the highway, causing at least one of the vehicles o burs into flames. The pickup truck ahead of the van was also involved in the accident and was towing a long trailer. It is unclear whether the tire in the road fell of the truck.
The two men riding in the eastbound pickup truck were also seriously injured. Driver 60-year-old Moses Waiters, of Darlington, South Carolina, and 51-year-old Charlie Taylor of Effingham, South Carolina, were both airlifted to CMC to be treated. Neither man was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the accident. - 7 - 10 -
New Study: South Carolina Third Most Dangerous For Pedestrians In Nation
Nov 30, 2009What are the nation’s most dangerous states for pedestrians? A new study’s findings on the rate of pedestrian accidents might surprise you. The third most dangerous state for pedestrians in the country is not a state of rife with bustling metropolises or high-density population areas – it is South Carolina.
According to a new study called “Dangerous By Design” and published by Surface Transportation Policy Partnership and Transportation for America, South Carolina has some of the most dangerous pedestrian areas in the United States – and more than 200 people were killed on the streets of South Carolina in 2007 and 2008.
Among the most dangerous areas cited in the pedestrian accident study, Sumter, North Myrtle Beach, and Conway topped the list. Sumter recorded 8 pedestrian deaths in 2007 and 2008 while Myrtle Beach saw 22 pedestrian deaths over the same time period. The pedestrian danger indexes for the two areas were 328.8 and 250.8 respectively. Other cities with high pedestrian danger indexes included Spartanburg, Florence, Anderson, and Charlotte, all of which had a danger index of above 100.
South Carolina officials argued that the numbers in the study did not reflect the large number of tourists who visit the state each year and who are often involved in pedestrian accidents along the coast and in Myrtle Beach, where they are likely on foot. They also pointed out that just 77 people have been killed in pedestrian accidents so far this year – a significant improvement.
However, the Danger By Design study argues that the areas of pedestrian accidents in South Carolina suffer from poor pedestrian safety measures.
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Head-On Crash Kills Wilkesboro Mother And Daughter
Nov 24, 2009Traffic accidents increased in frequency last week after a long bout of inclement weather left highways and other roads slick with rain and water. In Wikesboro, North Carolina, a mother and her young daughter were killed after the mother lost control of her sedan during a rainstorm. Her car left her lane and struck an oncoming car head on.
Emergency workers say that 22-year-old Brittney Dancy and her daughter, five-year-old Makayla Birch, both of Davis Memorial Church Road, were on their way to Makayla’s kindergarten classes at Mount Pleasant Elementary School on the morning of November 10 when the accident occurred. The North Carolina Highway Patrol said that Dancy was driving the posted 55-mile-per-hour speed limit, but should have been going slower because of the rainy road conditions.
According to the driver of the second car, 24-year-old Sarah Huffman of Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the other car, a Honda Accord, hydroplaned, crossed the double yellow centerline, and smashed head-on into Huffman’s car. Although Huffman tried to avoid the accident by moving to the right shoulder, she could not prevent the NC car accident.
Huffman, a nurse, removed the small child from the wreck and preformed CPR on the girl until emergency services arrived. However, both the mother and child died from their car accident injuries. Huffman was taken to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Police said that Huffman did everything possible in the situation and the road conditions were the main culprit. No traffic citations were handed down.
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Teenager Killed After Motorcycle Hits School Bus
Nov 03, 2009Emily Mapp Brannon wrote about a tragic motorcycle accident involving an 18-year-old boy who hit a school bus and suffered major head trauma.
Learn more about this terrible accident. - 10 - 10
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