Big Truck Accidents in North Carolina – Truck Crash Lawyers’ Role Explained –

As we all know, trucks come in many shapes and sizes. We also know that in the case of larger vehicles, say an 18 wheeler, fuel tanker, tractor trailer etc, when a serious highway accident occurs it often involves several vehicles and may even extend to surrounding properties and pedestrians.

Simple or more complex, we strongly recommend the involvement of an experienced truck crash lawyer to help you navigate through the process of making a settlement or heading off a litigation.

As we’ve covered elsewhere, North Carolina is one of a handful of states in the country whose laws include ‘contributory negligence’. Should you be involved in an accident in NC, and assuming the general consensus is that it wasn’t your fault, the insurance company of whomever is the target of the claim or action will work hard to determine that you were at fault in some small way. If this can be determined then you may be faced with a situation where you are not entitled to any financial settlement from the other party.

Even if it can be proven that you bear no percentage of blame for the incident, then you can still be certain that a crash involving a larger commercial vehicle will involve an insurance company with deep pockets and a great deal of experience in minimizing their own financial impact.

So regardless of how benign a case might appear on the surface, we recommend that you talk with no one until you’ve sought the counsel of a reputable law firm with a team of lawyers experienced in handling truck crash claims.

Statistics

1,105,149 – Total number of driver violations cited during truck roadside inspections in 2014.
194,074 – Total number of violations requiring driver be taken off the road for a period of time.
20,507 – Number of drivers pulled off the road in 2014 and cited for driving beyond the 14-hour duty period.
198,673 – Number of violations issued to trucks during roadside inspections in 2014 for brakes out of adjustment.
183,057 – Number of trucks issued violations in 2014 for running on worn tires without enough tread depth.
16,956 – Number of violations issued for truck drivers operating a commercial motor vehicle without a commercial driver’s license.
389,000 – Estimated number of total crashes involving a large truck or bus in 2013.

Source: 2015 Pocket Guide to Large Truck and Bus Statistics, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.