Three students from a local high school in Cary, North Carolina (NC) were hurt Sept. 16 in a crash that involved a dump truck and an SUV.
Two boys and a girl from Panther Creek High School in Cary were taken to nearby Duke Hospital, and one of them was critically injured.
One of the boys was driving the SUV, and the dump truck was driven by a 64 year-old man who was driving south on Highway 55. The truck slammed into the SUV, which was making a left turn onto 55.
Cary police stated that the accident required the road to be closed at McCrimmon Parkway after the crash.
All drivers would be well served to remember to use extreme caution when making left turns. According to federal data reported in the Washington Post, 53% of crossing path crashes with pedestrians involves left hand turns, but only 5.7% involve right turns. A study by transportation planners in New York City concluded recently that left hand turns are three times more likely to lead to crashes with pedestrians as right hand turns.
If you must make a left turn, please make sure that the road is clear, and keep in mind that when you make a left turn on a highway, traffic is moving at a high speed. An error in judgment could be fatal.