A car accident can cause serious injuries or fatalities, depending on the circumstances. But if one of the vehicles involved happens to be a large truck or tractor-trailer, the consequences are likely to be severe due to the vehicle’s massive size and weight.

Graphic about the number of truck accidents involving deaths In many cases, the truck driver is at fault for the accident, but it’s the people in the passenger car who suffer the most severe injuries. The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) reports that nearly 200 people were killed in collisions involving large trucks in North Carolina in just one recent year. In Wake County alone, out of nearly 2,500 large truck wrecks, 7 were fatal.

According to the National Safety Council (NSC), 70 percent of large truck accident fatalities in the United States are occupants of other vehicles, followed by only 17 percent of truck occupants.

If you or someone you love has been injured in a truck accident, you may be entitled to compensation. The Raleigh truck accident lawyers at Hardison & Cochran can help.

We recognize that you need to focus on recovering from your truck accident injuries, not confronting trucking companies and their insurers. That’s why we’re ready to fight for you.

At Hardison & Cochran, we’re committed to holding all responsible parties accountable for the injuries they cause. Our goal is to attain full and fair compensation to cover your medical bills, lost income, regular expenses and pain and suffering.

Don’t delay getting the justice you deserve after a North Carolina truck accident. Call us toll free at 800-434-8399 or fill out our online contact form. You’ll get a response within 24 hours, and your initial consultation is always free.

Causes of Truck Accidents in North Carolina

Graphics on the number of registered large trucks

If you think there are more big trucks on the highways these days, you’re right! There were more than 14 million large trucks registered in the United States in a recent year, an increase of over 80 percent in 20 years.

As a major distribution hub, many of those trucks are driving alongside us in Raleigh as they navigate their freight routes along the I-40 and I-440 corridor. While commercial trucking growth is good news for the trucking companies and the nation’s economy, it is bad news for the cars, vans, and SUVs that share North Carolina’s roads with these potentially lethal giants.

Truck accidents, including wrecks involving tractor-trailers, 18-wheelers, big rigs, semi-trucks, and dump trucks, are most often caused by:

Aggressive drivers
Unrealistic delivery schedules that encourage speeding and fatigued driving
Poor maintenance of brakes, tires, and couplings
Tailgating
Impaired driving (drugs, alcohol, or medications)
Distracted driving, such as cell phone use
Failure to install and check blind spot mirrors
Jackknifing
Speeding or ignoring reduced truck speed limits.

Facts About Truck Collisions

In North Carolina, more than 17,000 collisions involving large trucks occurred in a recent year, including nearly 180 fatal crashes and about 3,500 injury crashes, according to NCDOT. That means a person was killed or sustained injuries in a large truck accident roughly every 2 hours.

Large trucks are more likely to be involved in fatal accidents than normal passenger vehicles. NCDOT reports that passenger cars were involved in almost 50 percent of all traffic accidents across the state but only about 34 percent of all fatal crashes in one year. In comparison, large truck accidents made up about 3 percent of all traffic collisions but over 6 percent of all fatal accidents, making them roughly 2.5 times as deadly.

We will never know how many motorists have been lucky enough to escape a catastrophic encounter with a tractor-trailer on North Carolina roads.

Unfortunately, truck accidents are common

How many passenger vehicles are confronted daily by aggressive, fatigued commercial truck drivers putting in a 13-hour shift in order to make a professional wage and meet tight deadlines? Which 18-wheeler drivers have cheated on their hours-of-service logbooks?

Even with these frightening scenarios and statistics, powerful trucking industry lobbyists continue to call for the weakening of truck safety rules and regulations to reap a higher profit.

What Are the Hours of Service Rules?

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) sets regulations for interstate trucking companies and their drivers. To combat truck driver fatigue, a leading cause of truck accidents, the FMCSA limits how long truckers can be on the road.

Those hours of service rules state that commercial vehicle drivers:

Cannot drive more than 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty
Cannot drive after 14 consecutive hours on duty following 10 consecutive hours off duty
Must take a 30-minute break after driving for 8 cumulative hours
Cannot drive after 60 hours on duty in 7 consecutive days or 70 hours on duty in 8 consecutive days

Raleigh Truck Accident Lawyer

Causes of Truck Accidents in North Carolina

Truck accidents, including wrecks involving tractor-trailers, 18-wheelers, big rigs, semi-trucks, and dump trucks, are most often caused by:

Facts About Truck Collisions

What Are the Hours of Service Rules?

How Truck Accidents Claims Are Handled in North Carolina

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