NC Court of Appeals: A Recent Look at the "Last Clear Chance" to Prevent Calamity
North Carolina is one of just a few states in the United States that adheres to the contributory negligence doctrine, meaning that a plaintiff who's own negligence (failure to use due care to prevent a foreseeable injury) was at least partly to blame for his injury. However, an injured plaintiff's contributory negligence can be excused if he or she can establish that the defendant had the "last clear chance to avoid the injury.