Motorists Narrowly Avoid Severe Injury In Wrong-Way Crash

Seatbelts save lives, but seatbelts plus defensive driving can turn what could have been a fatality crash into one with property damage only.  Not only does staying focused on the road enable you to avoid causing an accident, but it also makes it easier to get out of the way of drunk, distracted, or reckless drivers before they hit you.  It is truly remarkable that, in a frightening incident that happened earlier this month, no one was seriously injured when a man drove the wrong way on I-26 in the Columbia suburbs.  Very often, egregious negligence such as driving eastbound in the westbound lanes of a highway results in injuries or worse.  If you have suffered serious injuries in a wrong-way crash, the path to physical recovery is not simple, but assigning fault for the accident is.  A Columbia car accident lawyer can help you take the first steps toward getting the money you need to cover your accident-related expenses.

Driver Arrested for DUI After Driving the Wrong Way on I-26

Just after midnight on October 10, motorists in the westbound lanes of I-26 saw a frightening sight, namely a car driving east toward oncoming traffic near mile marker 76.  The driver kept going east for more than 10 miles.  South Carolina Highway Patrol conducted a traffic stop near mile marker 89, meaning that the driver traveled more than ten miles in the wrong direction.  Colt Roy, a witness to the incident, filmed the car with his cell phone and posted the video on social media.  Roy wrote that he had first tried to alert the driver that he was going in the wrong direction, and when that didn’t work, he began to focus his attention on alerting other drivers in the westbound lands, so they could get out of the way before the driver could hit them.

By the time of the traffic stop, Deali Meletius Maitland had caused an accident, although he did not crash his own car.  A short distance before the traffic stop, a 2011 Toyota Pickup swerved to avoid Maitland’s vehicle and collided with the cable barrier on the median.  The driver and passenger in the Toyota Pickup were both wearing seatbelts, and neither of them suffered serious injuries.  Maitland, 29, now faces criminal charges for DUI, driving with a suspended license, and open container.  When ABC-4 news published its report about the incident later that same day, Maitland was in the Newberry County Detention Center.  The news report did not contain any details about bail or a plea.

It was a single-vehicle collision, but from a legal standpoint, it was Maitland who caused the accident.  The insurance claim of the driver of the Pickup will most likely reflect this.

Let Us Help You Today

A car accident lawyer can help you recover damages if you were injured in a single vehicle accident that was not your fault.  Contact The Stanley Law Group in Columbia, South Carolina or call (803)799-4700 for a free initial consultation.

Source:

abcnews4.com/news/local/watch-wrong-way-driver-on-interstate-26-arrested-for-dui-after-causing-crash-wciv