Lawmen warn drivers about being too nice on the road

KINSTON - On June 19, a Kinston man was taken to the hospital after the small truck he was driving turned across two lanes of traffic on Vernon Avenue and into the path of a sport utility vehicle, flipping his truck and badly damaging the Toyota Highlander. The driver of the truck, 60-year-old Willie Morris, was treated and released.

He told police he was waiting to make a left-hand turn when a stopped vehicle in the oncoming lane waved him through, causing him to cross paths with the Highlander, whose driver didn't see him making the turn.

Local law enforcement officers said these situations - where drivers try to be courteous but cause hazardous situations - are frequent, problematic and avoidable, especially along roads like Kinston's four- to five-laned Vernon Avenue.

"We see that happen a lot," Cmdr. Jenee Eubanks of the Kinston Department of Public Safety said. "People think they're being courteous by stopping to let somebody go through - that's fine on a two-lane road, but when you've got a four-lane, you can't be responsible for what that other person's going to do.

"You allow somebody to go and it leads them right into a blind spot that they can't see."

Legally, drivers are responsible for themselves, Sgt. C.L. Johnston of the State Highway Patrol said. "If somebody is telling you to go across or make a turn in front of them and a collision happens, it's not going to be the fault of the person who told you to go," Johnston said. "If you're driving the car, you're responsible for any maneuver you make." Johnston also applied this advice to passengers, who will sometimes tell drivers it's safe to make a maneuver when it is not.

In cases involving pedestrians, charges can go to walkers in the roadway illegally if they get hit by a car.

"But if there's a crosswalk provided, you're supposed to yield to the pedestrian," Johnston said. 

Johnston also said there are instances where being polite can be dangerous on the highway. This can occur when a car slows down to allow a vehicle to merge in front.

"If somebody's going to change lanes, the person who's changing lanes or merging has the responsibility to make sure he can do so safely," he said. "You'll see that on interstates around an on-ramp or an off-ramp. You don't see it a lot, but it does happen."

Johnston also said that the left-hand lane of a highway is not designed to be used by drivers travelling below the speed limit and can cause cars to get "bunched up," increasing the probability of a crash. He urged drivers not to take matters into their own hands when they think someone was being discourteous.

"Any time you think somebody cuts you off or you think somebody should allow you in, you don't want to escalate some kind of situation on the highway," he said. "It might be that you're trying to ‘get back at them,' so to speak, it's best just to avoid it. You never know what somebody has in their vehicle as far as a weapon or what not - always report it (by calling) *HP or local law enforcement."

Justin Schoenberger can be reached at (252) 559-1075 or jschoenberger@freedomenc.com.