North Carolina Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

A tractor trailer truck accident on I85 close to the Gaston county line has left one person dead and another person injured. North Carolina Highway Patrol closed all southbound lanes of I85 near the exit for Sam Wilson Road for several hours in order to investigate and to clear the wreck.

Larry James Grier was killed early this morning when the Budget Rental truck he was driving crashed into the rear of a disabled tractor trailer truck. The other truck driver was transported to Carolinas Medical Center.

According to witnesses, the front end of Grier's truck crashed squarely into the rear of the other truck. WSOC-TV reports that the driver of the disabled tractor trailer truck did place warning cones behind the truck. Troopers believe that Grier did not see the tractor trailer truck, which was actually in a travel lane, and not on the shoulder. Budget Rental does not require that renters of its moving truck possess a commercial drivers' license, and anyone with a valid drivers' license, regardless of experience, can rent a 24 foot moving truck.

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The North Carolina truck accident attorneys at Auger & Auger are please to advise you that effective January 1, 2012, interstate truck drivers and bus drivers will be prohibited from using hand-held cell phones while driving. The rule was implemented in effort to prevent distracted driving, and was promulgated through a joint effort from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

Drivers who violate the rule are subject to fines up to $2,750 per offense and potential prohibition from operating a commercial motor vehicle for multiple violations. Two or more violations involving cell phone use may result in state suspension of their commercial driver's license.

Trucking companies and commercial bus companies that allow their drivers to use hand-held cell phones while driving can be fined up to $11,000. Trucking companies tried to fight the new rule, arguing that interstate commerce would be impeded if drivers had to pull over and stop in order to make a call. The Department of Transportation rejected that argument because alternatives are available other than stopping to pull over, such as use of hands free devices.

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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.

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