What Are the Most Common Causes of Truck Accidents in North Carolina?

Numerous truck accidents occur in North Carolina each year, despite traffic laws intended to prevent them. Accidents involving 18 wheelers and other commercial trucks result in serious injuries and fatalities, usually to the occupants of smaller vehicles involved in the collision. Truck crashes may be caused by driver error, speeding, distraction, or a trucking company’s lack of vehicle maintenance.

If you’ve been hurt in a crash caused by a commercial truck in North Carolina, you need experienced legal representation to help you pursue full compensation for the injuries you’ve suffered. For three generations, the attorneys of The Law Offices of John Drew Warlick, P.A., have been fighting to protect the rights and interests of accident victims in North Carolina.

Our firm is committed to serving our Eastern North Carolina community. We provide our clients with the responsive legal representation they need during challenging times. We’ll take the time to get to know you and understand your needs. If you require further medical treatment, our law firm can help you get a referral to a specialist to treat your injuries and arrange vehicle repairs and car rentals. We will deal with the insurance companies, so you can focus on your health. We want to take the stress of recovering from a serious truck accident off your shoulders.

Contact our law firm today for a free, no-obligation case evaluation with one of our experienced Jacksonville truck accident lawyers. We’ll review your rights and the best course of action to hold the trucking companies or other at-fault parties accountable for your injuries and losses.

The Top 7 Causes of Truck Accidents in North Carolina

1 – Driver Error

Truck driver error represents the most common cause of truck accidents.

Driver error covers a wide range of negligent behaviors such as speeding, tailgating, failure to reduce speed when traffic conditions require, weaving in traffic, failing to check mirrors before changing lanes, or driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Any error by a commercial truck driver while on the road puts the drivers and others sharing the road at risk for an accident and serious injuries

2 – Driver Fatigue

Driver fatigue poses one of the biggest risks in the trucking industry. Truck drivers spend many hours a day behind the wheel, often for days in a row. Although drivers are limited in the number of hours they can spend on duty, the long hours required to make deliveries on schedule can still cause drivers to become fatigued.

Drivers who exceed their hours-of-service limits are especially at risk of causing drowsy driving accidents. Fatigue can impair a driver’s reaction times, perception, and judgment. Fatigue puts drivers at risk of falling asleep while behind the wheel.

3 – Poor Vehicle Maintenance/Mechanical Failure

Trucking companies are required to perform regular maintenance on the vehicles they own and operate. Unfortunately, mechanical issues may go unrecognized because the trucking company chooses to defer maintenance in an effort to save or cut costs. Even if maintenance is performed on a truck, mechanics may make mistakes that create conditions for a potential mechanical failure while the truck is on the road.

4 – Cargo Imbalance

Cargo that shifts while a truck is on the road can change the vehicle’s center of gravity and cause an accident.

Freight companies and truck drivers are obligated to ensure that trucks and cargo trailers are properly loaded. This includes ensuring that the weight of the cargo is evenly distributed. Cargo should be secured so that it does not shift while the truck is moving.

Proper balancing of cargo will help keep a truck steady while on the road. When cargo is not properly balanced, or if a truck is loaded past its hauling capacity, it creates a risk of the driver losing control of the vehicle, potentially causing a jackknife accident, rollover accident, or some other accident or collision.

5 – Speeding

Speeding represents another leading cause of truck accidents in North Carolina. Truck drivers may speed to try to meet unrealistic delivery deadlines or to make up time after being delayed by heavy traffic, adverse weather, or road construction.

Large commercial trucks are more challenging to maneuver than smaller passenger vehicles. Trucks need a lot more distance to slow down or come to a stop. If a truck driver is speeding, the truck requires even more distance to stop.

As a result, speeding may cause a truck driver to have insufficient time to react to a road hazard or other situation on the road and avoid an accident. As with all other vehicles, speeding increases the risk that a truck driver may lose control of the tractor-trailer, particularly on slippery roads or if the truck needs to stop suddenly.

6 – Truck Defects

Sometimes a truck may get into an accident due to a mechanical failure that results from a manufacturing defect in the truck or in a part used in the truck. Common truck defects include brake defects, tire defects, or defects in the engine or transmission.

If an investigation reveals a defective truck part, the manufacturer of the faulty truck part may be held financially liable for the truck accident.

7 – Poor Hiring Practices from Truck Companies

Some truck accidents in North Carolina can be attributed to the fact that trucking companies hire drivers who lack the training and experience to operate a commercial truck safely or keep a driver on the road who has a record of unsafe driving practices.

With North Carolina and other states experiencing a shortage of qualified truck drivers, some trucking companies may be willing to overlook potential red flags in a prospective hire’s record or may employ drivers who don’t have the necessary training or experience.

Trucking companies may also fail to train and supervise truck drivers properly, leading to situations where drivers may commit errors or negligent acts that could have been avoided with proper supervision and training.

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Contact Our North Carolina Truck Accident Lawyers Today

If you’ve been involved in a truck accident in Onslow County or elsewhere in North Carolina, call or contact The Law Offices of John Drew Warlick, P.A., today. We offer a free initial consultation with our knowledgeable Eastern North Carolina truck accident attorneys to discuss the details of your accident. We have the experience and resources to take on the most challenging truck accident cases and help you seek a just financial recovery from those at fault for the crash.