35°47′N 81°29′W · 7 counties
Injury Attorney for Hickory, Morganton and the Foothills
If you were hurt in a crash anywhere in the Foothills, I can come to you. The first conversation is a phone or video call. After that I meet you in person where you are, and in that meeting we decide whether we will work together.
The Foothills carry I-40 and U.S. 321 toward the mountains, and NCDOT posts steep-grade truck rules on I-40 in McDowell County.
This page covers the highways through these counties, what changes when a crash takes a life and the family lives somewhere else, the designated trauma centers in Morganton and Shelby, the Patrol troop based in Newton, and the first conversation.
01
The McDowell grade on I-40, U.S. 321 and the Shelby Bypass
I-40 across Burke and down the McDowell grade
I-40 is the main east-west road. It runs the full width of Burke County between the McDowell and Catawba county lines, and from Conover east toward Statesville.
In McDowell County, eastbound trucks over 10,000 pounds, other than pickups and vans, have to enter a truck information station so the driver can be advised of steep grade conditions before descending the mountain.
Heavy trucks are also barred from the leftmost lane of I-40 in McDowell between the Buncombe County line and U.S. 70. When a truck crash happens on that stretch, whether the driver followed those rules comes up early.
U.S. 321, U.S. 221 and U.S. 421
U.S. 321 carries traffic between Hickory and Lenoir across Catawba, Burke and Caldwell counties, and NCDOT has funded widening on part of it. NCDOT expected its intersection changes to begin in late 2025, and the two segments from U.S. 321-A north to Southwest Boulevard in Lenoir are not yet funded. In Caldwell, truck tractors with trailers are barred from U.S. 221 between the Avery and Watauga county lines. U.S. 421 runs through Wilkesboro in Wilkes County.
I-85 and U.S. 74 in Cleveland County
In the southern Foothills, I-85 runs past Kings Mountain near Dixon School Road. NCDOT has been building the U.S. 74 Shelby Bypass, a four-lane divided highway from east of Mooresboro to Kings Mountain, and trucks are kept out of the leftmost lane on a stretch of U.S. 74 in Cleveland County that starts at N.C. 226.
Interstate freight routes and two-lane roads toward the Blue Ridge run through the same counties here. Which kind of road a crash happened on changes the evidence that matters.
Which kind of road a crash happened on changes the evidence that matters.
02
Who brings a wrongful death claim when the family lives elsewhere?
A North Carolina wrongful death claim is brought by the personal representative or collector of the person who died, under G.S. 28A-18-2(a). When the family is spread across counties or states, getting that person appointed comes before anything is filed.
An injury claim
Three years under G.S. 1-52(5) and 1-52(16), counted from when the bodily harm becomes apparent or ought reasonably to have become apparent.
A wrongful death claim
Two years under G.S. 1-53(4), and the clock starts on the date of death rather than the date of the crash.
Exception. G.S. 1-53(4) bars a death action when the person who died would have been barred, had he lived, from bringing an action for bodily harm because of G.S. 1-15(c) or 1-52(16).
The wrongful death page explains how those claims work.
03
UNC Health Blueridge in Morganton and Atrium Health Cleveland in Shelby
Two Foothills hospitals are on the designated trauma center list kept by the North Carolina Office of Emergency Medical Services, and both are listed at Level III. UNC Health Blueridge in Morganton received its initial designation in 2025, and Atrium Health Cleveland in Shelby received its initial designation in 1997.
| Hospital, as the state lists it | City | Level, as listed |
|---|---|---|
| UNC Health Blueridge | Morganton | Level III |
| Atrium Health Cleveland | Shelby | Level III |
| Atrium Health's Carolinas Medical Center | Charlotte | Level I |
| Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist | Winston-Salem | Level I |
| HCA Mission Hospitals | Asheville | Level I |
The list has no Level I or Level II center inside these seven counties. The last three rows are Level I centers outside the Foothills, in the metro areas on either side of it.
The list records designation, not destination. It does not say where any one injured person goes after a Foothills crash.
04
Troop F in Newton covers five of the seven Foothills counties
Five of the seven Foothills counties belong to the State Highway Patrol's Troop F, headquartered in Newton. McDowell and Cleveland belong to other troops.
| Patrol troop | Headquarters | Counties on this page |
|---|---|---|
| Troop F | Newton | Catawba, Burke, Caldwell, Alexander, Wilkes |
| Troop G | Asheville | McDowell, grouped with Rutherford |
| Troop H | Monroe | Cleveland |
Troop F gives Burke County a district of its own. It groups Wilkes with Ashe and Alleghany, Caldwell with Watauga, Iredell with Alexander, and Catawba with Lincoln, with substations in several of those counties.
A crash outside city limits typically falls to the Patrol, according to a Patrol first sergeant interviewed by NCDPS. In Morganton, Public Safety takes report requests in person at its headquarters, by mail with a self-addressed stamped envelope to 304 S. College St., and online through Police-2-Citizen.
Name the agency
The Patrol or the town department, depending on whether the crash happened inside town limits.
Get that agency's copy
Use the town records office, or the NCDPS Collision Information search for a crash the Patrol investigated.
Order the certified copy
Send NCDMV form TR-67A with the driver's name, the crash date and the county. G.S. 20-42(b) sets the fee for an accident report at $6.50.
Under G.S. 20-166.1(i), an officer's crash report can come into a civil or criminal trial as the rules of evidence permit. A report made by someone other than a law enforcement officer or a civilian traffic investigator is for the Division's use and is not evidence in a trial arising out of the crash. A crash report written by a law enforcement officer can be used as evidence, as the rules of evidence permit.
A crash report written by a law enforcement officer can be used as evidence, as the rules of evidence permit.
05
Meeting the family in Morganton, Hickory or wherever you gather
The first conversation is by phone or video. After that I come to the family at a home in Morganton or Hickory or wherever you have gathered, and we decide in that meeting whether to work together.
We decide in that meeting whether to work together.
06
Your first conversation from Hickory or Lenoir
Reach the firm's one office, in Graham, at 336-221-8900 or julian@juliandobylaw.com. For a family that would rather talk in Spanish, Lorena Meza on our staff is the Spanish-language contact.
City pages
Foothills cities with their own pages
Each city page names its police department, its courthouse and its newest crash figures, with a page on getting the crash report.
| County | Courthouse | Superior Court district | District Court district | People killed, 2024 | Yearly average, 2014 to 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander | Alexander County Courthouse 29 W. Main Ave., Taylorsville, NC 28681 | 32 | 32 | 6 | 6 |
| Burke | Burke County Courthouse 201 South Green St, Morganton, NC 28655 | 36 | 36 | 19 | 14 |
| Caldwell | Caldwell County Courthouse 216 Main St NW, Lenoir, NC 28645 | 36 | 36 | 24 | 11 |
| Catawba | Catawba County Justice Center 100 Government Drive, Newton, NC 28658 | 19 | 36 | 26 | 25 |
| Cleveland | Cleveland County Courthouse 100 Justice Place, Shelby, NC 28150 | 39 | 39 | 16 | 21 |
| McDowell | McDowell County Courthouse 21 S Main St, Marion, NC 28752 | 41 | 41 | 7 | 7 |
| Wilkes | Wilkes County Courthouse 500 Courthouse Dr, Wilkesboro, NC 28697 | 34 | 34 | 20 | 12 |
Courthouses and districts: North Carolina Judicial Branch, verified October 18, 2026; districts as realigned January 1, 2024. Deaths: 2024 North Carolina Traffic Crash Facts, NCDMV, table "Fatalities by County: 10 Year Trend," the newest edition posted; the printed yearly average covers 2014 to 2023. A case is not always filed in the county where the crash happened.
All 100 counties · from the Graham office
Foothills on the map
Tap a highlighted county for its card, or any county in the state.
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About the attorney
Julian Doby, attorney since 1998
Julian Doby has been admitted to practice in North Carolina since 1998, North Carolina State Bar No. 25407, and he represents injured people across the state. His one office is at 110 W. Elm Street in Graham. He meets clients across the state after a first conversation by phone or video.
More about JulianSources and verification (23)
- NCDOT, I-40 Improvement Contracts Awarded, Burke County repaving, July 10, 2018, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDOT, Smoother ride on I-40 in Catawba and Iredell counties, July 3, 2018, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDOT, I-40 East onramp at Sugar Hill Road in McDowell County, July 7, 2023, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDOT Traffic Safety Unit, North Carolina Truck and Vehicle Restrictions, March 5, 2024, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDOT, U.S. 321 Hickory to Lenoir, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDOT and FHWA, U.S. 421 from N.C. 16 to U.S. 421 Business, Wilkesboro, STIP U-5312, NC Digital Collections, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDOT, I-85 closures near Dixon School Road in Kings Mountain, March 7, 2023, verified October 18, 2026.
- Cleveland County Government, Nightly closures planned on I-85 in Cleveland County, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDOT, U.S. 74 Shelby Bypass, verified October 18, 2026.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 28A-18-2(a), ncleg.gov, verified October 18, 2026.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-53(4), ncleg.gov, verified October 18, 2026.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-52(5) and 1-52(16), ncleg.gov, verified October 18, 2026.
- NC Office of Emergency Medical Services, designated trauma centers list (page updated August 26, 2026), verified October 18, 2026.
- NC Office of Emergency Medical Services, North Carolina Trauma Center Contacts (document dated July 2025), used for hospital cities only, verified October 18, 2026.
- NC State Highway Patrol, Troop F, Newton, verified October 18, 2026.
- NC State Highway Patrol, Troop G, Asheville, verified October 18, 2026.
- NC State Highway Patrol, Troop H, Monroe, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDPS, Safety Scoop transcript, SHP Answers Top Questions from Motorists, Season 4, Episode 2, verified October 18, 2026.
- City of Morganton, Public Safety Records, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDPS, State Highway Patrol Collision Information, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDMV, Form TR-67A, Request for Motor Vehicle Information (Crash Reports), revised July 1, 2024, verified October 18, 2026.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 20-42(b), ncleg.gov, verified October 18, 2026.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 20-166.1(e) and (i), ncleg.gov, verified October 18, 2026.
Talk first. Then I can come to you.
Call or send a visit request. We start by phone or video.