Right of way

Twitter
Facebook
Share



















Email
Print
-
A
A
A
+



Written by
Devetta Blount
FILED UNDER
Local & State



Triad Teenager Dies After Car Crash On I40 In Raleigh





Marcus Bridges


WRAL.com






Raleigh, NC -- Raleigh police charged the driver of the car that caused a deadly accident Saturday afternoon on I-40.

The wreck happened at the I-40 East, I-440 split. Morgan McKenzie, 17, of Trinity, was killed in the crash. Two others in the car with her were injured.

According to police, the crash happened after a Chevy Malibu driven by Emily McKenzie swerved to avoid hitting a car merging onto I-40 from I-440. Emily McKenzie lost control of the car, went across two lanes, ran off the highway and hit a tree.

The driver of the merging car, Marcus Bridges, pulled back onto I-440 and left the scene, according to police. He was later caught and charged.

Police charged Bridges with felony hit and run, misdemeanor death by motor vehicle, and unsafe lane change.

The other passenger in Emily McKenzie's car was Donella McKenzie. All three women in the Malibu were taken to WakeMed, where Morgan McKenzie died from her injuries.

Police confirmed that all three were from Trinity.

Friends have setup a facebook to remember Morgan McKenzie, click here to access it.

WRAL/WFMY News 2


I think too many people believe that when they are merging onto an interstate that they have the right of way and the raffic on the interstate is supposed to change lanes to allow them to merge. That just isn't so.

Other common driving errors I see a lot of is on city streets, especially in Greensboro, there are sometimes two lanes for traffic to turn left at an intersection. Often cars in the inside turn lane (the one closest to the center line or the lane on the far left if one a one way street) will cross over in front of the other car turning left.

There is such an intersection on Tate and Friendly, another on Spring and Friendly, on on Elm and Friendly, and I believe it is Pembrook and Brian Blvd where a fourth one is located.

Sometimes it is better to take the direct hit than swerving to avoid an accident. A more experienced driver, or at least on that is more skilled in defensive driving, would not just be concentrating on keeping their car going in s straight line but weatching other traffic, playing over in their mind potential hazards and planning escape routes and manuevers to avoid an accident.

Failure to yield when merging caused the incident I was involved in in Morganton, NC when the SUV trying to merge onto I-40 assumed I would change lanes to allow them onto the interstate. I could not do so but I anticipated their merge point and slowed to allow them to move in front of me.

But instead on merging, the SUV slowed and put itself back onto a collision course so I had no choice but to push the accelarator to the floor and speed ahead of the merge point to avoid a collision. I did everthing right to avoid a wreck but the people in the SUV wanted to take their anger caused by their bad driving out on me.
Still, no one died or was injuredwhich is the point of defensive driving.

I'm sad the young lady was killed and sad that the young man didn't stop to render aid or accept responsibility for his actions but if he had been a responsible person he would have know the rules of the road before getting behind the wheel.