Odd North Carolina Auto Accident News: Banana Truck Explodes 18th Century Building (No, Not A Monty Python Sketch!)
Some North Carolina truck accident cases sound absurd when you first read about them.
Case in point: An out-of-control 18-wheeler carrying bananas flipped over just outside Providence, Rhode Island last Sunday and slid into the Old Grist Mill Tavern, an 18th Century building, causing a gas main to explode ,which in turn consumed the landmark in flames.
Fortunately, no one was in the tavern when the accident happened, although the truck driver suffered injuries and got treated at a Providence area hospital. An area resident who heard the crash rushed down to see flames soaring above the street utility poles. David Elderkin told The Sun Chronicle in Attleboro, MA: “It sounded like a jet engine…this is a sad day. This is a very popular restaurant.”
The owner of the Old Grist Mill, Greg Esmay, told the Providence journal “[the 18-wheeler] slid along the ground and took out the main gas line and the electrical lines…there was a pretty good explosion, and it started a fire.”
The truck accident is currently under investigation, and who knows what will be found.
The scary/weird truck crash illustrates the profound dangers that trucks pose not only to people and vehicles but also to standing structures, like buildings and bridges. We all intuitively understand that trucks are “more dangerous” than cars. There is an actual reason for this intuition, however. Big trucks – especially 18-wheelers carrying lots of cargo – have enormous amount of mass. As any elementary physics student will tell you, when you accelerate mass to high velocity, you set a lot of force in motion. A truck weighing 20 tons going 30 miles per hour that crashes into you will impart as much force as a two-ton car traveling at 300 miles per hour. A ridiculously large amount of force, in other words – capable of creating instant catastrophes.
If you or someone you care about was hurt in a truck accident in North Carolina, the DeMayo Law team is available for a free, thorough, and compassionate case evaluation to help you make sense of your options to get a recovery.
