3 Dead and 3 Injured in North Carolina Motor Vehicle Crash involving Truck and Car
A tragic North Carolina motor vehicle accident involving a tractor-trailer and a compact car at the NC 16 and NC 10 intersection has left three people dead and three others injured. The large truck collision happened on Wednesday morning when a Suzuki Aero ran a red light on NC 10 to collide with a semi-truck on NC 16. The large truck, which was carrying 55-gallon drums of oil, jackknifed.
The car’s driver, 56-year-old Joyce White, and passengers 11-year-old Cody Storey and 66-year-old Ruby Leatherman died from their injuries. Two other passengers, 12-year-old Tyler Trivette and 10-year-old Isaiah Trivette, were taken to the hospital with serious injuries. The driver of the semi-truck, 63-year-old Gastonia resident Paul Brown, was also taken to the hospital.
Jacknife Truck Crashes
A big rig truck can jackknife when the truck driver has to suddenly step on the brakes or when the brakes fail or malfunction. This can cause the truck to skid and the tractor and trailer to form a 90-degree angle with each other. This type of truck crash prove catastrophic for other motorists, who may find themselves in a collision with the large truck that is now obstructing the road.
In some North Carolina large truck cases, the liable party is the truck driver and/or trucking company. If a truck defect contributed to the semi-truck crash, then the truck manufacturer or the manufacturer of a truck part could be possible truck crash defendants. There are also tractor-trailer crashes that occur because another motorist was negligent, his or her vehicle was defective, a road was poorly designed, or a highway construction zone was not properly designated.
3 dead in crash, Hickory Record, November 12, 2009
Semi T-bones Compact Car in N.C.: Three Die, Two Injured, EMS Responder, November 13, 2009
Related Web Resource:
Large Truck Causation Study, NHTSA (PDF)
