When most Triangle residents look up at the canopy of foliage above them, they are grateful for the shade, oxygen and natural beauty that the region's abundance of trees provides.

But two recent tree-related tragedies have highlighted the dangers, however remote, that can result when diseased or dead trees are neglected or not dealt with carefully.

On Aug. 19, Dejuan Green, 21, was killed and two people were injured when a falling tree crushed the car he was riding in on Old Stage Road in southern Wake County. And on Aug. 25, a Cary man, Adam Young Hughes, 39, was killed when the tree he was cutting down in his yard fell on him.

Arborists and tree trimmers say these incidents should not prompt residents to conclude that their trees are more prone to falling unexpectedly this year.

"We have to watch out for this fear factor," said Sally T. Thigpen, Raleigh's urban forester. "Trees don't always have to be removed."

But late summer is the time when residents worry most about trees, as they contemplate what might happen to their property if a major hurricane blew through the Triangle. And this year, the recession is causing some to put off trimming or cutting down dead or diseased trees.

"The tree estimates we are making, a lot of people don't call us back," said David Moss, owner of Moss' Const. Co. "I guess it's just a money issue. I drive by and see the tree still there."

Moss, who advertises tree-cutting services along Old Stage Road, said the recent fatal accident resulted in a few more phone calls.

"They're looking up at their limbs a little closer after that," he said.

No safety cutbacks

By any measure, what happened along Old Stage Road was a freak accident. It's a state road, which means the N.C. Department of Transportation is responsible for safety along the right-of-way.

Like most local governments, the DOT looks for trees that pose an imminent threat and responds to complaints from residents about hanging trees. Greer Beaty, director of communications for DOT, said the department had received no complaints about the tree, which was on private property.

She said recent cuts at the department have not resulted in less attention to dangerous overhanging trees.

"We're not going to scrimp on safety," Beaty said. "Anything that the public reports that is of a safety concern is going to receive the very same attention that it received two or three years ago."

Freak accidents happen

North Carolina doesn't break out the number of people killed specifically by falling tree limbs. The state did have 249 people die from being struck by a thrown, projected or falling object between 2000 and 2008, according to the State Center for Health Statistics. Those figures include falling rock, stone and trees.

Just in the past several months there have been two reports of falling trees killing or injuring unsuspecting pedestrians elsewhere. A 23-year-old teacher was jogging in a Philadelphia park recently when she was struck by a tree limb and killed. And in July, a 33-year-old man was critically injured when a tree branch fell on him while he was walking in New York City's Central Park.

Joseph Sala, a scientist who investigates the risk of injury and death associated with products and activities, said certain causes of death -- being struck by lightning, bitten by a dog, stung by an insect -- occur rarely, yet they do happen every year.

"As odd or surprising as the timing between similar accidents may be, this may simply be coincidence and alone can't be taken that the risk of being fatally struck by a falling tree limb has increased," said Sala, who works for the consulting firm Exponent.

Phil Crump, owner of Hunter Tree and Landscape in Raleigh, said there are many more instances where a tree limb falls and narrowly misses somebody.

"I get a call every year on this subject," Crump said. "What we need to do is get people to look up. That limb ... just didn't die yesterday."