Ocean Isle Beach, NC (August 26, 2022) – Troopers with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol responded to the scene of a deadly accident involving a pedestrian in Ocean Isle Beach. The accident happened around 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 25th.
According to a report. officials arrived at the scene in the southbound lanes of North Carolina Highway 179. Troopers report that a Jeep SUV was traveling the wrong way when it collided with a pedestrian who was walking near the roadway. The pedestrian, later identified as David Vandenberg, suffered critical injuries in the accident. He was later pronounced dead as a result of his injuries.
The driver of the Jeep was identified as Rogelio Petatan. Following an investigation, Petatan was arrested and charged with driving while impaired. There are further charges pending the outcome of the investigation.
No further information has been released.
We would like to offer our condolences to the family of David Vandenberg following this deadly pedestrian crash in Ocean Isle Beach.
Fatal Pedestrian Accidents in North Carolina 
Pedestrian accidents in North Carolina have a high chance of resulting in catastrophic consequences for the victim. According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, 10.1% of all pedestrians involved in crashes in 2019 were killed as a result of the accident. Also in 2019, there were a total of 231 pedestrian deaths on our state’s roadways, an increase of nearly 3% from the year before. In addition to fatal accidents, a large percentage of pedestrians will suffer life-threatening and major injuries in the crash that will require weeks and months of medical treatment beyond the accident.
If you or a loved one have experienced an Ocean Isle Beach pedestrian accident, our thoughts are with you. We understand the difficulty that you are facing during this time as you try to make sense of a sudden tragedy and are going through a grieving and recovery process. Certainly, the loss of a loved one in such a sudden manner is one of the most difficult things for a family to experience. It is important to keep in mind that you may have valuable legal rights as you move forward during your healing and recovery process.
North Carolina law allows a victim’s family member or next-of-kin to file a wrongful death claim against a negligent driver to recover damages caused by the crash. Under this law, the personal representative will have up to two years to file a claim. Only an experienced attorney can handle this process and make sure that you receive the compensation that you deserve.
Here at Burton Law Firm, we fight for the rights of injured victims and their families. Our Ocean Isle Beach personal injury lawyers are here to help during your time of need. We will fight to make sure that you receive the maximum compensation allowed by law and we will help to ensure that the negligent driver is held accountable for their actions. To speak with a member of our team, please reach out to us using the link on our website or give us a call at (833) 623-0042.
Note: Burton Law Firm utilizes a variety of outside sources in the creation of these accident news posts. These sources include news bulletins, police reports, first-hand accounts, news stories, as well as additional outside sources. For this reason, the details surrounding this accident have not been independently verified by our office or writing staff. If you find information that is not correct about an accident that we have written about, please contact our firm as soon as possible so that we can promptly correct the information. If you would prefer that we remove the story, contact us directly and we will make every effort to remove the story in a timely manner.
Disclaimer: Our team of personal injury lawyers at Burton Law Firm has taken pride in being active members of our local business community for more than 8 years. We are always striving to improve the quality of life for our community members and improve the overall safety and well-being of all North Carolinians. We hope that by providing this information about the dangers of driving that we will bring added awareness and drivers will use increased caution when operating a motor vehicle. Our thoughts are with everyone who may have been affected by this incident. This post is not a solicitation for business. None of the information in this post should be misconstrued as medical or legal advice. The photos in this post are not a depiction of the actual accident scene.