A man from Graham NC is facing a charge of felony death by motor vehicle and other charges after a fatal wreck on I-85 in North Carolina that closed the interstate for five hours on Tuesday evening.

The driver is also charged with DWI, felony serious injury by motor vehicle, careless and reckless driving, failure to maintain lane control and improper passing, according to the State Highway Patrol.

One person was killed when the van the allegedly drunk driver was driving hit a tractor trailer that was stopped in traffic. He then hit a pickup truck on I-85 near Hillsborough.

The van ran off the right shoulder of the highway and hit the rear of the truck. It then kept going and hit the pickup, which overturned. The passenger in the front seat of the van was killed.

A witness stated that the van operator was driving recklessly before the accident.

Our View

Our personal injury attorneys in Virginia have seen far too many drunk driving accidents that end in serious personal injury or death. My largest verdict involved a drunk driver that hit my client head on. She suffered terrible injuries, with numerous open fractures, and internal fixation of all three bones in her right leg, her left femur, left elbow and hipbone.

She also suffered a collapsed lung, traumatic pancreatitis, respiratory failure, hemorrhagic shock, internal bleeding and removal of the gallbladder, in addition to multiple soft tissue injuries. This plaintiff wanted her day in court, not to settle. We ended up with a $3.5 million verdict*, but we wish that drunk drivers would just stay off the roads when they have been drinking.

In the above case, the family of the deceased may consider suing the allegedly drunk driver for wrongful death. Any money won in a lawsuit might at least help to replace the lost income of the deceased. This is especially important in cases where the deceased has children.

*Please note that the punitive damage portion of this jury award was reduced to the Virginia statutory limits of $350,000.