Highway 70 through New Bern isn’t what people picture when they think of small-town traffic. It’s built to move people around New Bern’s historic and business districts and on toward Kinston and Raleigh. That means higher speeds and more through-traffic. That combination, speed plus volume, is what can cause car accidents.

In town, it’s Martin Luther King Boulevard and Glenburnie Road carrying most of the local traffic, the streets people actually use to get to work, to school, to the grocery store.

James City is dealing with its own headache right now. Construction on Highway 70 has brought detours, street closures, and backups that are affecting commutes and local businesses alike. Construction zones bring their own risks – sudden stops, narrowed lanes, drivers unfamiliar with a detour they didn’t expect to be on.

Havelock has changed too. With the new bypass around town, the traffic backups tied to Cherry Point shift changes and base access aren’t what they used to be. That’s a good thing for drivers but wrecks still happen, and when they do, the same questions come up: who’s paying for the car, who’s paying the medical bills, and what happens next.