One North Carolina Truck Accident: Three Radically Different Outcomes
Prosecuting a North Carolina truck accident case is complicated — both by the inherent trickiness of truck accident forensics and by the diversity of potentially liable parties.
To understand why, consider a hypothetical crash. Let’s say that you were driving on I-95 South, when a commercial big rig jackknifed in front of your car. The ensuing crash totaled your vehicle and caused you severe injuries, including broken ribs, internal bleeding, and a concussion. Who should be blamed for the accident, and how should you strive to collect compensation from that party?
Here are three possible outcomes:
1. The driver was to blame.
Investigative work reveals that the truck driver was way over his allotted hours. He had also ingested a cocktail of alcohol and over the counter amphetamines. His negligence/carelessness clearly contributed to his bad driving, and thus he should be targeted. You might also target the trucking company that hired him for failing to screen/supervise its drivers.
2. The state/local municipality was to blame.
Imagine, instead, that the investigation reveals poor road upkeep on that stretch of I-95. The trucker jackknifed because he hit debris in lanes. Thus, the ultimate responsibility should be traced to the municipal organization(s) responsible for keeping junk off the highway.
3. Another driver should be to blame.
Perhaps the investigation reveals that another driver had cut off the trucker a tenth of a mile before the truck jackknifed. The proper outcome in this case should be to apportion blame/legal responsibility to the driver of that third vehicle and/or that driver’s insurer.
These examples are radical oversimplifications — in real life, cases are more complicated, and multiple parties can be simultaneously sued for damages.
The point is that you need an experienced, intelligent North Carolina truck accident law firm to help you investigate exactly what happened in your crash and help you come up with a battle plan to get fair compensation.
