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North Carolina state police reported May 12 they had filed charges against a driver in a four car wreck that killed a mother and her three year old son. 

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police stated that the 27 year old woman and her son were killed when a van that was sideswiped by another vehicle hit their car head on.

Police stated the 22 year old driver was going northbound on Eastway Drive in the Charlotte area when she attempted to change lanes and struck the van. That impact sent the van across the center line and into the woman’s car head on.

The driver who hit the van was charged with two counts of misdemeanor death by vehicle.

Our View

Changing lanes without being aware of the presence of other vehicles can lead to very serious and sometimes fatal accidents. Whether it is due to lack of attention, failure to check a blind spot or distracted driving, changing lanes without ensuring it is safe is a big mistake.

As North Carolina car accident attorneys, we know it is common when people are distracted or tired to change lanes without looking. After one has driven for many hours on a highway, it is possible to ‘zone out’ and to not look before changing lanes. But all drivers must do so or they risk a serious accident.

One of the common reasons lane change accidents occur is vehicles have blind spots. No matter how good the mirrors are on a vehicle, there are still areas to the driver’s left and right that cannot be seen without looking over the shoulder. Any time you are going to change lanes left or right, you MUST look over your left or right shoulder to be certain there is not a vehicle there.

One of our recent Virginia car accident cases settled for $1 million involved a woman who failed to yield right of way to our client on Virginia Beach Blvd. Whether the woman did not see our client or proceeded anyway after seeing her, there was a violent collision between the two vehicles. Our client suffered serious lower body injuries, including a femur fracture, loeft open ankle fracture and a right calcaneus fracture.

Our car accident client was in a wheelchair for weeks and could only walk with a walker for months after the accident. This crash was another example of how a moment’s inattention behind the wheel can cause a very serious crash.

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