In our ubiquitous quest to catalog better ways to prevent North Carolina car accidents, this blog often goes far a-field to examine diverse ideas about accident prevention and indirect causation.

In a recent blog post, for instance, we discussed the possible positive impact of “power napping.” If drivers napped more, would they improve their capacities to pay attention and avoid crashes?

Here’s another source of potentially hugely useful information — people who have exquisite driving records.

Traffic accidents are in some ways random. If you or someone you love was recently hurt in a crash, you may have done everything right. But what if we could survey the safest drivers in the world — people who have driven for decades without getting into any trouble?

Perhaps we could glean key patterns and wisdom to disseminate to other drivers.

In much the same way that the gerontologists love to study centenarians (people aged 100 or above) for insights into longevity; so, too, could we learn insights about best driving practices by interviewing super safe drivers.

Even if such a survey only yielded one or two useful counterintuitive ideas about how to stay safe on the roads, imagine the power of those secrets. For instance–and this is a totally speculative “bad example” to illustrate the point–but maybe all ‘super safe drivers’ refuse to drive red cars. Owning a red car increases your risk of getting into a crash, for whatever reason.

If this insight could be validated and independently tested, maybe we could then make/buy fewer red cars and thus collectively reduce our lifetime risk of a crash by 0.05% or something. That might not mean much to any one driver. But when you extrapolate such statistics over the entire state or the entire country, we could be talking about saving dozens or even hundreds of people’s lives using this kind of creative, proactive thinking.

Of course, accident prevention is a complicated and dynamic topic. And if you have been injured in a crash, you’re far more interested in getting practical guidance with your Charlotte car crash case. To that end, get in touch with the DeMayo Law firm today at 1.877.529.1222.

Victims in North Carolina truck accident cases are often astonished by the diversity of the responsible driver’s negligence.

In many accidents, stuff “goes wrong” on many levels, setting off catastrophic scenarios. For instance, perhaps the trucker who hit you logged way too many hours (no no #1). Then he compensated by downing over-the-counter legal speed or 10 bottles of Mountain Dew (no no #2). When these amphetamines wore off, he veered out of his lane into your car (no no #3). Finally, he lied to the investigating police officer afterwards (no no #4).

In any event, it is truly astonishing how many bad drivers populate North Carolina’s freeways and surface streets. We all have access to inspired, clearly written, and innovative safe driving tips via the web. On this blog alone, we’ve talked about dozens of strategies for how to reduce your likelihood of getting hurt on the road. If you do even cursory internet research, you can put your high school driving teacher to shame.

So why don’t people retain this safety information?

Or, if they do retain it, why don’t they practice the good safety habits they know?

These two questions are penetrating. They speak to a bigger problem that we have in our information overloaded society. We have access to lots of information — good, useful, powerful information — but our ability to process that knowledge and implement it often lags.

A Quick Fix?

Rather than stress yourself out trying to “figure out what to do,” focus on finding good people to help you achieve your goals. As an accident victim, you must complete various. Although technically, you could try to fix your car yourself, heal your bruises at home with icepacks and homeopathic remedies (or whatever) and fight your own car accident case, why would you do those things?

It’s far better to find a competent doctor, mechanic, and law firm to tackle these projects for you.

To that end, please consider calling the DeMayo Law team today at 1.877.529.1222 to set up your free consultation with us.

We touch a lot on the theme of North Carolina auto accident injury prevention on this blog. Why? Because everyone — injured and non-injured alike — can benefit from insights into what constitutes safe driving.

To that end, new innovations in football helmet technology may portend automobile safety upgrades that could make our world much safer.

If you follow our North Carolina traumatic brain injury blog — or if you follow football news in general — you no doubt know that the NFL has a serious head injury problem. Over 4,000 ex-pros and their spouses are suing the National Football League. They allege, among other things, that the NFL underrepresented the dangers of long-term concussions.

To meet this challenge, helmet manufacturers are racing to develop technology to protect the brains of gridiron warriors. One company based in Sweden has developed a very interesting system called the MIPS system, which redirects torsional forces using a loosely sliding plate to prevent the brain from getting “spun around.”

As any physics major can tell you, force can be broken down into an intensity component and a directional component. Most helmet manufacturers — and automobile safety technology manufacturers — focus on the intensity element. They develop and test materials that blunt forces. But the MIPS system takes a different approach. It tries not only to “de-intensify” forces but also to manage the direction of these forces.

No one knows whether the MIPS system — or any system like it — will become the new standard in NFL headgear. But the implications for North Carolina car accident prevention are pretty interesting. If automotive manufacturers in the future can learn how to harness this technology — that could counter both the direct AND torsional forces that happen during collisions — then perhaps we’ll reduce serious accidents and deaths and injuries.

Of course, we likely won’t see innovations along those lines for years. But if you’ve been struggling to get compensation after your accident, please get in touch with us here at the DeMayo Law for a complimentary consultation — 1.877.529.1222.

North Carolina car accidents are dynamic and unpredictable — even after they “happen.”

Case in point, consider a strange “one-two” wreck that recently shook up the small town of Fayetteville. According to WTVD, a Chrysler 300 and a government vehicle got into a minor collision. Things then took a turn for the weird, when the government worker attempted to swap insurance information. Instead of reciprocating, the Chrysler driver sped off.

Miffed and outraged, the government employee followed. The Chrysler hit a curb on Alexander Street, sending his vehicle spiraling into the parking lot of Fayetteville’s Department of Engineering and Infrastructure. According to WTVD, “It went up and over another car, ending up perched on the hood of the second vehicle. The driver then got out and ran, but was detained.”

The lessons for anyone recently injured in a North Carolina auto accident are pretty clear.

First of all, accidents are inherently unpredictable, as are drivers. As much as you wish that people would “do the right thing,” you can never predict how negligent drivers will behave or what they will say or think. The same goes for every stakeholder that you will encounter, as you go through the North Carolina accident “clean up” process. Insurance adjusters, for instance, may enter your situation with a split motive. On the one hand, many adjusters genuinely want to help and ensure fair compensation. On the other hand, adjusters work for insurance companies. These businesses may seek to minimize your claim or at least limit it.

How can you protect yourself given all the unpredictability?

One effective method is to retain an experienced North Carolina auto accident law firm, like the Law Offices of Michael A. DeMayo. Our team understands the common tricks and strange behavior that adjusters and negligent drivers typically use. We can effective prepare you. We have the staff, systems and legal know-how to help you to prepare a taut, legally sound, and emotionally compelling case. Find out more about what we do online, or email or call us at 1.877.529.1222 to set up your free consultation with us.

Although this blog is officially a North Carolina car accident blog, we do not regularly report on car wrecks in the state for a few reasons.

1.    First, if you want details on a particular accident, you’re better off going to local or national media, which pay reporters to investigate and explain the accidents.
2.    Secondly, it can be somewhat distasteful to discuss tragedies in any kind of marketing context, even if you do so with the best of intentions.
3.    Thirdly, hurt and injured people want help and insight about their problems — not more gloomy news.

All that said, it can be useful to survey what’s been happening in the local news — to that end, here are synopses of three recent NC accidents.

On January 31st, Charlotte TV reporter Caroline Vandergriff, of WSOC News 14, suffered serious injuries, after a car smashed into her at the corner of an intersection in Charlotte. According to reports, Ms. Vandergriff had been reporting on power outages, when two cars collided at Morehead Street and Kenilworth Avenue at around 9:30pm. They hit her during the spin-out. The reporter suffered serious injuries and got treated at a local hospital.

Meanwhile, out on N.C. 150 in Salisbury, five people suffered injuries when a silver Mitsubishi and red Dodge Durango collided near Patterson Road. Emergency workers took the injured people to Rowan Regional Medical Center. Disturbingly, witnesses told the Salisbury Post that accidents along that stretch of N.C. 150 “are commonplace…  It’s just way too fast through here,” Mitch Eidson said of the 55 mph speed limit. “Vehicles going off the road hit mailboxes, trees and fences,” said local resident Kellie Martin, “We have wrecks in our yard yearly.”

Lastly, 36-year-old Bambi Whicker lost her life, when her husband fell asleep behind the wheel. According to a local news report, his car ran off the road and flipped over when he tried to correct. Ms. Whicker was thrown from the vehicle. Although her husband was not seriously hurt, Ms. Whicker died later at the hospital.

These North Carolina car accidents can be really sad and disturbing to discuss, but we need to talk about them from time-to-time to highlight the diversity or crashes and to help victims understand their own problems in a broader context.

For help dealing with the aftermath of your injury and to protect your legal rights and chances of remedy, get in touch with the DeMayo Law team now at 1.877.529.1222 for a free consultation.

It could have been way worse than any North Carolina auto accident we’ve reported on a long time. Instead, only one man died, and that man is being heralded as a hero.

Here’s what happened.

Early one morning, around 5:45 a.m., residents of Sharpe Road in Burlington heard a horrific noise. It sounded like someone was speed racing down the street and turning up the volume of the noisy engine with a massive amp. A local resident, Deloris Burrell, told reporters “I heard a V-r-o-o-o-m! V-r-o-o-o-m! The first thing I thought was ‘why is someone racing their car at 5:30 in the morning’?”

Turns out, it wasn’t a car that was making the noise. It was a plane! A single-engine LabCorp plane piloted by 57 year old David Gamble of Greensboro.

Ms. Burrell ran to her window and saw Gamble’s small plane plummet out of the sky and crash land at an empty ball field near Mayco Bigelow Community Center. The plane erupted in a ball of flame. Investigators believe the plane had over 400 gallons of jet fuel onboard. Loccal residents ran to the scene of the crash and tried to help, but nothing could be done. The plane’s husk was a ball of flame, and Mr. Gamble sadly perished.

The crash is still under investigation, but authorities and local residents believe that Mr. Gamble purposely crash landed on the empty ballpark to avoid hurting anyone. That area is strewn with houses, and he could have easily crashed into a house, killing people literally in their sleep. It was a final act of extreme heroism augmented by a bit of luck. Residents say that people typically are out early walking around that track. But that morning, no one had been jogging or walking dogs. The damage to the facility was remarkably minimal, despite the fire and jet fuel release.

Not all North Carolina auto accidents involve acts of heroism or good luck, however.

If you or a loved one got hurt in a crash in Greensboro, Raleigh or elsewhere in the state, you may be confused about your rights, frustrated by an uncooperative negligent driver, or intimidated by insurance adjusters. There is no need to fight this battle alone. The team here at the Law Offices of Michael A. DeMayo is standing by to help. Talk to us: we can provide a free consultation and help you strategize to make more intelligent decisions about your car crash case.