A 27-year-old Sunbury, North Carolina (NC), man died earlier this week after the driver of a pickup truck struck him and drove off. The fatal hit-and-run accident occurred early in the evening of December 21, 2010, and the man behind of the wheel of the Nissan pickup faces charges of causing death with a vehicle, fleeing the scene of a deadly accident and driving despite having his license revoked.
When the truck’s driver returned to see what he had hit, he was arrested. He told police he thought the victim was a deer. News reports do not record the driver’s reaction upon learning he had caused a pedestrian to lose his life.
The photos on the left and right show how even a truck going just 25 mph can seriosuly injure a pedestrian. People walking across or standing on the side of roads have no protection from the cars, motorcycles, trucks, SUVs or buses that pass. This places great responsibility on the people operating vehicles to look out for pedestrians. This responsibility becomes even greater on rural and neighborhood roads without sidewalks or crosswalks and streets known to have heavy foot traffic.
My strongest sympathies go out to the family of the man killed in Tuesday’s accident and to his girlfriend, who witnessed the tragedy while walking alongside him. My main hope is that are able to cope with their sadness and sense of life-altering loss. I also want anyone reading this post to take away the lesson that they hold pedestrians’ lives in their hands while they drive and act like it.
EJL
About the Editors: The Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm, whose attorneys work out of offices in Virginia (VA) and North Carolina (NC), edits the injury law blogs Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, Eastern Shore Virginia Injury Attorneys Blog and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as pro bono services.
Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
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