High Point, NC — Joyce Ashburn, a woman from Randolph County was killed on March 19 when her vehicle was hit by a commercial truck and pushed into a utility pole. She was turning off of E. Kivett Drive when she was struck by Ronald Ray Dunn, a driver traveling in the opposite direction.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary
I’ve said before that, while driving, we all have a responsibility not only to not cause accidents with those around us, but to make it harder for others to get into accidents with us. That’s another way of saying that we should always make sure we’re leaving enough space between ourselves and those around us. We all understand that emergencies happen, and if a car slams on its brakes, we need to give ourselves enough room to maneuver in order to avoid an accident. So on the surface, and if news reports are to be taken at face value, this seems like a very open and shut case. A woman misjudged the amount of time she had to cross in front of oncoming traffic, to tragic results. My question is, why should we take the story at face value? When someone is making a turn to cross in front of oncoming cars, they do so under the impression that those oncoming cars are traveling at reasonable speeds. We have no reason to believe that Ronald Dunn’s — who was in the driver’s seat — judgement was in any way impaired. When looking at the situation, the first thing I would ask is, was the truck speeding? Until we know all of the facts, it would be unfair to lay the blame at anyone’s feet.
–Grossman Law Firm