North Carolina Trucking Accident Law

December 1, 2021

Tractor units and other large commercial vehicles travel the highways and our local roads every day to deliver consumer goods across the country.

With so many trucks including 18-wheelers, articulated trucks, flatbed trucks, dump trucks and panel vans, accidents happen on the roads. Hundreds of thousands of large truck accidents occur each year in the United States, with approximately 510,000 reported in 2019 alone. These accidents resulted in 114,000 injuries and nearly 4,500 deaths in the same year. Tragically, the incidence of fatal large vehicle accidents across the country has only increased over time – increasing from 29% from 2010 to 2019.

A single moment is enough for an 18-wheeler to collide with another vehicle. A truck driver may experience a moment of distraction or fatigue from the long journey. The tractor trailer can have defective brakes, incorrect safety equipment or a defective tire. The truck driver can travel at high speed in bad weather and dangerous driving conditions.

The physical, mental, and emotional effects of these catastrophic accidents can last a lifetime for survivors and their families. For this reason, it is important to be aware of the legal issues if you or a loved one gets into the unfortunate situation of a truck accident.

Liability and Compensation

As with other personal injuries, an injured party is only entitled to compensation from a truck driver or a shipping company if the driver or the shipping company is responsible for the accident. The driver or the forwarding agent must have caused the accident “negligently” and this negligence must have “directly caused” the injury to the person.

Of course, an accident is sometimes more than one party to blame. North Carolina is one of the few states that still recognizes the common law rule of “contributory negligence”. This rule provides that if the injured party negligently contributes to the collision – even if only 1% – the injured party cannot recover from the other party at all. This is a tough rule that most other states have abolished. However, North Carolina also recognizes exceptions to the rule, such as the “last clear chance” doctrine (evidence that the other driver had the last chance to avoid the accident) and possibly when the other driver was “grossly negligent” is .”

If the rule of contributory negligence does not apply or one of the exceptions to the rule applies, the injured party can claim compensation for all damage that was “directly caused” by the negligence of the truck driver (or haulage company). Such damage may include the cost of repairing or replacing damaged physical property, medical bills, future medical costs, lost wages, decreased future income, pain and suffering, scarring or disfigurement, loss of use of a body part, or the longevity associated with any of them persistent injuries.

The aim of personal injury is to make the injured party “whole”. Obviously, after a serious or catastrophic damage, this is not possible, but the law does its best to compensate for the damage of an injured party as much as possible. Thus, the culpable truck driver, the driver’s employer, his insurance company or any other liable party may be liable for any such loss.

Topics related to truck cases

Trucking cases can be particularly complicated given both the specific real issues and the legal issues that may be applicable.

First, there may be more parties involved in a truck accident than in a typical car accident. The truck driver is, of course, to blame. Truck drivers can be self-employed, self-employed contractors who work for a specific company, or employees of a company.

If the truck driver is an employee, the driver’s employer can also be legally responsible for the driver’s actions according to the concept of vicarious liability, as the respondeat superior doctrine. It is also possible that in some situations other than employees, vicarious agent liability may apply.

The freight forwarding company may also have its own legal responsibility if it hired an unfit driver or allowed that driver to continue working for the company after the company knew the driver was unfit. In the case of serious facts, the injured party can be entitled to punitive damages (additional damages to punish the driver and / or the employer).

It is also important to identify the owner (s) of the truck, trailer and cargo. (These may be different from one another and differ from the driver or the carrier.) In addition, it is important to analyze whether other parties may be liable – including other drivers on the roadway at the time of the accident or even state and local governments who may be dangerous Allowed road conditions that also led to the accident.

There may be laws that apply to trucking cases that don’t apply to car accidents. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA”) regulates the trucking industry and sets specific rules for the condition of trucks, their load, inspections, driver qualifications, the number of hours a driver can be on the road, and other matters . State or local laws governing commercial vehicles may also apply (provided federal laws do not pre-empt such laws).

When litigation arises from a truck accident, the litigation can be complicated. There is a large amount of paperwork and electronic information that must be frequently requested and analyzed during the “discovery” process. This can include property information, system / tracking data (including GPS), daily logs, alcohol and drug test results, inspection reports, maintenance and repair records, state records, freight and cargo records, employment documents and records, internal policies, and other documentation. It may also be necessary to call in experts such as accident reconstructors.

In addition, time is really of the essence in these cases. As soon as a truck comes back on the road after an accident, the electronic accident data can be compromised. Therefore, it is important to hire an attorney as soon as possible so that the attorney can call in the rest of the necessary experts to locate and hold the most important electronic evidence.

As with other personal injuries, liability insurance also plays an important role. Federal law requires that freight forwarding companies take out certain levels of insurance, which are usually much higher than the amounts insured required for motorists and owners. However, if the existing insurance is insufficient to cover the damage suffered by the injured party or does not cover a certain type of damage (e.g. punitive damages), the person responsible is individually liable. In addition to liability insurance, there may be no-fault short-term health insurance (“med pay”) to settle medical bills.

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If you are involved in an accident involving a commercial vehicle, including but not limited to an “18-wheeler” vehicle, you may have a viable legal claim depending on who “caused” the accident. If you are entitled to a claim, the monetary value of your claim will depend on the injuries involved and the damage that may be legally recoverable.

An experienced attorney who knows how to deal with these matters can help address these issues and navigate through such a difficult situation, especially when time is short. This can help you or your family member compensate for the full amount of damage available if the truck accident was caused by someone else.

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© 2021 Ward and Smith, PA For more information on the issues described above, please contact Taylor B. Rodney or Jeremy M. Wilson.

This article is not intended and should not be relied upon as providing legal advice in any particular circumstance or fact. No action should be taken in reliance on the information contained in this article without the advice of an attorney.

We are your established legal network with offices in Asheville, Greenville, New Bern, Raleigh and Wilmington, NC.

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