Thursday, June 4, 2015

1 DRIVER KILLED IN DUPLIN CO., NORTH CAROLINA WHEN ANOTHER DRIVER RUN A STOP SIGN AND T-BONED HIS CAR

JUNE 4, 2015

BEULAVILLE, N.C.

A 19-year-old driver was killed after a wreck in Duplin County.
According to North Carolina Highway Patrol, Hunter Kennedy, of Deep Run, was killed when another driver ran a stop sign.

It happened Wednesday afternoon around 12:30 near Beulaville.

Troopers say Kennedy was traveling on NC 241 when 28-year-old Jan Willard Friis, III, of Pink Hill, ran a stop sign on Sarecta Road.

Friis' Ford F250 hit the left side of Kennedy's Toyota Tacoma.

Troopers tell WNCT Friis is charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicles and failure to stop at stop sign.


There are two types of car accidents that involve impacts to the side of a vehicle. A car involved in a side-impact collision – also known as a broadside accident – involves another vehicle crashing either head-first or rear-end into your car. When the crash resembles a “T” or a right-angle, this is more commonly known as a “T-bone” collision. A T-bone collision often happens in an intersection when one driver runs a red light or stop sign and hits the right-of-way vehicle’s side.

A sideswipe accident takes place when the vehicles are traveling in the same direction and one or both vehicles hit the side of the other car.

Both types can result in very serious injuries or death. As with any car accident, particularly one with injuries, it’s recommended you enlist the help of a qualified personal injury attorney to help you recover financially and address the pain and suffering experienced after the collision.

Causes of a T-Bone or Sideswipe Collision

In addition to a vehicle running a red light or stop sign, another T-bone scenario is when a vehicle makes an unsafe left turn in front of you, causing you to hit the side of his car. It is not always the impacting vehicle that is at fault. A driver could be backing out of a driveway or alley and impact the side of a car driving on the intersecting street.

In a sideswipe accident, two cars are traveling in the same direction but in different lanes. One vehicle drifts into the other’s lane, or one driver makes an unsafe lane change and collides with another vehicle.

Determining Fault
When another driver is at fault for causing an accident, you have the right to make a claim for damages and bodily injury. While it may seem at first glance that a T-bone collision in an intersection is clearly the fault of the driver that hit the other car, there can be instances of comparative liability too. 

For example, driver A makes an unsafe left turn on a two-lane street and is broadsided by driver B coming straight. However, it has been determined driver B was also speeding. It could occur that driver B is determined to be 40% at fault. That means that any recovery for driver A will be the amount of damages minus 60% (as driver A was 60% at fault).