A 53-year-old motorcycle rider in North Carolina died after being struck by a vehicle on June 14. The motorcycle rider had been traveling straight on Wendover when he was hit by a woman who was trying to turn left from Wendover onto Providence toward Uptown. According to a police sergeant, the motorcycle rider had a green light, and the woman in the SUV was turning on a flashing yellow light.
The police added that the woman never saw the motorcycle rider before she hit him. After striking the Harley, the SUV went on to hit the front of a truck that was stopped at a red light. A news source did not report any injuries amongst anyone riding inside the truck. According to a witness who lives in the neighborhood, the woman behind the wheel of the SUV was visibly shaken and in a panic after causing the car accident.
The neighbor also said that accidents frequently happen at the intersection where the SUV fatally struck the motorcycle rider. The woman was able to hear the SUV-motorcycle collision from her home, and she came outside to try to render aid. The woman said that she has assisted victims in other accidents, but by the time she got to the motorcycle rider, his heart had already stopped beating. The woman was unable to revive the victim’s pulse.
The driver who caused the accident was not under the influence of alcohol or speeding at the time, but she will face criminal charges for failing to yield and for misdemeanor death by vehicle. Drivers do not need to face felony charges in order to be found by civil courts as negligent and responsible for causing death or personal injuries in auto accidents.
Source: WSOCTV, “Driver charged after fatal south Charlotte accident“, June 14, 2014