71-Year-Old Motorist Charged with Felony Hit-and-Run in North Carolina Pedestrian Accident Death
In Pender Couny, North Carolina, a senior driver has been charged with felony hit and run in the death of a 30-year-old substitute teacher. According to the North Carolina Highway Patrol, Amy Suzanne Kornegay was struck by a pickup truck on February 9 while walking along a road.
The driver of the truck, 71-year-old Amon Hall, was charged with failing to file a police report and leaving the scene of the accident site. Hall reportedly did go back to the scene later because he thought he struck a dear.
Amy’s husband, volunteer firefighter Jamie Kornegay, rushed to the scene after he heard on his pager that a pedestrian accident had happened in the area where he knew his wife had been walking. He was off-duty at the time the call came through.
NHTSA 2007 US Pedestrian Fact Sheet:
• There were 4,654 pedestrians that died in US traffic accidents.
• A pedestrian dies in such accidents every 113 minutes.
• A pedestrian gets hurt in traffic crashes every 8 minutes in this country.
• 70,000 pedestrians were hurt in traffic collisions in 2007.
• 73% of pedestrian deaths took place in urban areas.
• 90% of pedestrian fatalities occurred under normal weather conditions.
• 67% of pedestrians were killed at night.
• 77% of the pedestrians that died were killed in traffic accidents that took place at non-intersections.
• 48% of deadly pedestrian accidents happened on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
• Of the 1,675 North Carolina traffic deaths that occurred in 2007, 171 of these fatalities were pedestrians.
• Of the 1,066 South Carolina traffic fatalities that occurred in 2007, 106 of the people that died were pedestrians.
If you are driver who has accidentally struck a pedestrian in a North Carolina traffic accident, you must stop at the accident site, contact local authorities, and make sure that the injured person gets medical help. Failure to do so could result in criminal charges against you.
If you are a pedestrian who was injured in a motor vehicle accident caused by another party’s reckless, carelessness, or negligent behavior, you may have grounds for filing a North Carolina personal injury lawsuit.
Familiar scene, unique tragedy for widowed firefighter, StarNewsOnline.com, February 13, 2009
Charges filed in hit-run death of firefighter's wife, WRAL.com, February 12, 2009
Pedestrian Traffic Safety Fact Sheet, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Related Web Resources:
North Carolina Pedestrian Crash Statistics, University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center
Contact the North Carolina Pedestrian Accident Law Firm of the Law Offices of Michael A DeMayo, LLP to discuss your case.
