3 Killed, 6 Injured in Crash Near Whiteville, NC | Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp

According to a report published in the Tabor-Loris (NC) Tribune. on the night of April 265, 2014, two young girls and a 78-year-old man lost their lives in a head-on collision caused by an illegal lane change by the driver of a third vehicle. The chain-reaction accident occurred on U.S. 701 near the intersection with Gaston Sellers Road outside of the city of Whiteville, North Carolina.

 

 

A 17-year-old who does not have a valid driver’s license has been charged with causing the deadly wreck. He was reportedly attempting to speed past vehicles ahead of him on the two-lane rural highway despite traveling through a no-passing zone. When he pulled back into his own lane to avoid one collision, he clipped the car being driven by the elderly man. That struck car swerved into the path of the oncoming car in which the deceased girls were passengers.

In addition to the three people killed, a total of six people suffered injuries serious enough to require hospital treatment.

Double yellow lines and no passing signs must be respected. Federal and state highway officials study road safety closely before putting down lane markers and posting traffic signs. Restrictions on speed, merging, turning and passing exist to prevent fatal accidents just like this one.

It is unclear whether the at-fault, unlicensed teen driver ever had driving instruction. Regardless, his ignorance of traffic regulations and road markings provide no defense against his liability for the deaths and injuries his disregard of basic rules of the road caused.

EJL