Car Accident Attorney for People Hurt in Raleigh and Wake County Crashes

I represent people hurt in car crashes in Raleigh and in the other towns of Wake County. The first work on any of these cases is reading the insurance policies and the crash report. Those two documents shape most of what happens next.

My office is in Graham. There is no Raleigh or Wake County office, so the first meeting with a client here is by phone or video. I was admitted to practice in North Carolina in 1998, and I represent injured people across the state.

What does a car accident attorney do on a Wake County case?

The most important function of a personal injury attorney is to review insurance policies and current legislation to determine what policies could be stacked to provide maximum coverage for the client. On a car case the work runs in a set order.

• We get the crash report along with the photos and witness names behind it.
• We read every policy that could apply, starting with the client's own UM and UIM coverage.
• We collect medical records and bills while treatment goes on.
• We handle the calls from adjusters once we represent the client.
• We negotiate the liens that health insurers and medical providers assert.
• We file suit when a claim does not resolve.

The adjuster is hired to pay the injured person as little as possible to settle the claim. Questions in the first few weeks usually point toward one defense in particular. That defense has a name in this state.

Why does contributory negligence matter so much in North Carolina?

Any fault on the part of the injured person bars recovery in North Carolina. The UNC School of Government describes the state as one of a handful of jurisdictions that still follow this rule. It comes from the common law and not from a statute.

In North Carolina, insurers look for any opportunity to raise contributory negligence. A recorded statement is where it usually starts. One sentence about glancing at a phone can become the whole defense.

The defense has limits. G.S. 1-139 puts the burden of proof on the party asserting it. Last clear chance can also defeat it when the other driver discovered the danger, or should have discovered it, and had the time and ability to avoid the crash. I go through the rule and its exceptions on the page about contributory negligence in North Carolina.

How do UM and UIM coverage work under G.S. 20-279.21?

Uninsured motorist coverage pays when the driver at fault carries no liability insurance. Underinsured motorist coverage pays when that driver has insurance but not enough of it. Both are bought on your own auto policy.

Coverage	What the current statute says
Liability minimum	$50,000 for bodily injury to one person, $100,000 for two or more people and $50,000 for property damage in one accident. G.S. 20-279.21(b)(2)
UM bodily injury	Set equal to the highest bodily injury liability limit on any one vehicle on the policy and capped at $1,000,000 per person and per accident. A named insured can choose other limits down to the minimums. G.S. 20-279.21(b)(3)
UIM	Equal to the UM bodily injury limits purchased, with the same $1,000,000 cap. G.S. 20-279.21(b)(4)
When UIM applies	After the at-fault driver's liability coverage is paid out by judgment or settlement. It applies to the first dollar of the UIM claim and is not reduced by a setoff other than workers' compensation. G.S. 20-279.21(b)(4)

The changes Session Law 2023-133 made to this statute apply to policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2025, and the General Assembly amended the statute again in 2024 and 2025. We read the declarations page and the policy language in force on the date of the crash rather than assume. Policy limits are the first thing I check because they usually bound what an insurer pays.

What does the crash report do, and how do you get one in Wake County?

G.S. 20-166.1(a) requires the driver in a reportable crash to notify law enforcement immediately. Inside a city or town the call goes to that town's police department. Outside town limits it goes to the State Highway Patrol or the county sheriff's office.

Wake County has twelve municipalities. A wreck on a Cary street is a Cary Police Department report. A wreck on a county road outside Zebulon belongs to the Highway Patrol or the Wake County Sheriff's Office.

The investigating officer has 24 hours to write the report. A local agency then has 10 days to forward it to the Division of Motor Vehicles.

For a Raleigh crash the report comes from the Raleigh Police Department Records Division at Police Headquarters, 6716 Six Forks Road. The city says crash reports are free at the records counter and also available online to people involved in the crash and those representing them.

The officer's narrative and diagram do not decide fault. We check them against the photos, the vehicle damage and what witnesses saw. A report filed by someone other than an officer cannot be used as evidence at trial under G.S. 20-166.1(i).

What do Wake County crash numbers and courts look like?

NCDOT's 2024 crash profile for Wake County counts 33,284 reportable crashes that year. Of those, 7,818 were non-fatal injury crashes, and the profile records 12,050 injuries in them.

Raleigh alone had 69,538 reported crashes from January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2025, according to NCDOT's 2025 city ranking. More detail on how we handle cases from across Wake County sits on its own page.

A car case filed here is a District 10 case: the North Carolina Judicial Branch places Wake County in District Court District 10 and Superior Court District 10. Civil matters are heard at the Wake County Courthouse, 316 Fayetteville St. Mall in downtown Raleigh. I am prepared to go to court for the client when a claim does not resolve.

How long do you have to file a car accident claim?

G.S. 1-52 sets a three-year period for a personal injury action. Subdivision (16) says the claim does not accrue until the bodily harm becomes apparent or ought reasonably to have become apparent. The details and exceptions are on the page about how long you have to file an injury claim in North Carolina.

Evidence does not wait for that period. Video gets recorded over and witnesses move. The steps worth taking in the first days are on the page about what to do after a car accident in Raleigh.