A collision between a car and an SUV in Morganton, North Carolina (NC), left a preschooler dead and six other people with injuries that required hospital treatment. The crash happened at the intersection of N. College Street and Collett Street at around 4 pm on December 14, 2017.
Local police found the SUV rolled over onto its side and the young boy who lost his life partially ejected from the larger vehicle. Authorities put the boy’s age at 3 years or 4 years. An infant in the SUV escaped injury.
The car was also heavily damaged, and the most-serious injury among the survivors appeared to be a broken arm suffered by an adult in the SUV. Other injuries included lacerations and possible concussions.
Investigators could not determine which driver caused the deadly wreck in Morganton or how the collision occurred. One factor they will need to consider is the presence of stop signs on Collett Street. If one of the drivers failed to heed the stop sign or entered the intersection without properly yielding right of way, that individual would be at fault and liable for settling insurance claims from the occupants of the of the other vehicle. Passengers in the at-fault driver’s vehicle could also have grounds for filing personal injury or wrongful death claims.
Intersections where stop signs are the only type of traffic controls are particularly dangerous. In its report on the number, locations and severity of crashes in North Carolina during 2015, the state’s Division of Motor Vehicles revealed that 23,543 wrecks involved a driver running a stop sign, leaving a stop sign too early or rear-ending someone else at a stop sign. This made stop sign-controlled intersections the third-most common site for crashes in North Carolina that year.
Further the collisions at or near stop signs resulted in 127 deaths and 8,597 injuries. Obviously, no matter what happened at the intersection of N. College and Collett streets, these statistics indicate that all drivers need to exercise more caution when approaching and waiting at stop signs.
Since the cause of this deadly wreck in Morganton remains unclear, all the people affected could benefit from consulting with an experienced and caring Carolina personal injury and wrongful death attorney. Partnering with a plaintiff’s lawyer will help individuals and families keep up to date with investigators’ findings and to deal with insurance company representatives.
EJL