A pair of North Carolina tractor trailer accidents claimed several lives on June 30.
Thursday, June 30 was a deadly day on North Carolina's highways. The first North Carolina truck accident occurred just before 10am on I85 in Orange County and actually involved 2 separate truck accidents. The first tractor trailer accident occurred when a tractor trailer was speeding along I85 south and lost control and flipped. As the result of that accident, traffic on I85 was backed up for nearly 1 mile. It was at the end of the traffic pile-up where the second, and ultimately fatal, accident occurred. Another tractor trailer traveling southbound on I85 did not slow for traffic and slammed into the rear of a tanker truck causing the tractor trailer truck to burst into flames. The driver of the tractor trailer truck was killed. The impact also caused the tanker truck to crash into 2 other vehicles, causing non-life threatening injuries.
The second fatal North Carolina truck crash of the day occurred on I40 and claimed 3 lives. Similar to the I85 wreck earlier in the day, this wreck occurred when traffic on I85 was heavy and moving at 5mph. A tractor-trailer truck traveling 65mph, caused a chain-reaction rear-end collision. The driver of the big rig, Ronald Graybeal, hit a pickup truck, a small SUV, and a passenger vehicle. The drivers of all 3 vehicles were killed. Graybeal also struck a box-truck, sending that driver to the hospital with serious injuries.
Graybeal has been charged with felony death by vehicle, misdemeanor death by vehicle, DWI, and possession of drugs paraphernalia. A judge has recently increased his bond to $1,00,000 and prosecutors are considering amending the charges to include second degree murder.
Both North Carolina truck accidents will likely result in wrongful death claims being filed on behalf of the victims who lost their lives, and victims of the second accident may also be entitled to punitive damages since Graybeal was driving while impaired.
