The southbound lanes of I-95 near Benson, North Carolina were closed on the afternoon of August 6 while the highway patrol investigated and cleared a fatal accident.
According to WNCN.com, a man driving a GMC SUV hit a woman driving a Hyundai when he tried to merge lanes on northbound I-95. The accident caused the man to lose control of the SUV. He crashed into the median and the SUV started to roll over. It came to a stop clear across the freeway in the southbound lanes.
The SUV driver was pronounced dead at the scene, and Sandra Farrington, the passenger in his car, was airlifted to WakeMed in Raleigh. Fortunately, the Hyundai driver and her husband and two children were uninjured in the crash.
I-95, and all of the interstate highways that connect the Southern Virginia/Northeastern North Carolina region are filled with on-ramps that closely follow off-ramps. This exacerbates already dangerous driving conditions because vehicles must quickly change lanes, crossing between other vehicles in a high speed dance of sorts. While some vehicles are equipped with blind spot detection systems, older cars are not. In the end, there’s no substitute for visually checking your vehicle’s blind spot.
In this accident, the driver may not have checked his mirrors or blind spot before merging. Whatever the reason, his action (or inaction) caused a crash that could have injured an entire family and did severely injure the driver’s passenger.
I sincerely hope Ms. Farrington will make a full recovery. I can only imagine the sheer terror of being a passenger in such a violent accident, helpless to stop a massive SUV from rolling into oncoming traffic.
A passenger who is seriously injured in an accident may be entitled to compensation for their injuries through the at-fault driver’s insurance company. If you were a passenger who was seriously injured in an accident, consider talking to our experienced personal injury attorneys about your potential claim. Recovering from a serious injury takes time and energy, and our firm will deal with the insurance company so you can focus on finding your new normal. While every case is different and no lawyer can guarantee a particular outcome, our firm has a track record of negotiating with insurance companies to get victims the compensation they deserve.
AM
