When the weather is foul and roads are slick, motorists in North Carolina have a heightened duty to drive carefully. A slick surface can easily cause a car to lose control, which appears to be what happened in a six-vehicle accident along Interstate 40 recently. At least one person suffered injuries in the incident.
The accident happened during a rainstorm, and it appears to have begun when a car began to spin out on the wet surface. The car collided with a white pickup truck while an oncoming car tried to avoid the collision, but it got caught in cable guard-wire. In an attempt to avoid the collision, the driver of a semi truck traveling on the road stopped quickly, but a short time thereafter, a yellow pickup truck collided with the 18-wheeler. A sixth vehicle reportedly hit the guardrail.
Fortunately, it seems that most of the people involved in the accident were able to escape without injury. However, when the yellow pickup truck collided with the tractor-trailer, it caught fire. The driver of the pickup was able to exit the vehicle, but the passenger had to be helped out of the burning vehicle. The passenger suffered minor burns, had a compound fracture in his femur, and there were concerns that his right arm was also broken. He was taken to New Hanover Regional Medical Center for treatment, along with the driver of the pickup.
In a North Carolina accident such as this, it can sometimes be difficult to determine who ultimately caused the accident. In this case, the driver of the first car may have been driving negligently when the car began to spin out. It also may be that other drivers involved in the accident shared some amount of negligence with the first car. Nonetheless, anyone in North Carolina who has suffered injuries because of a car accident may want to consider a personal injury claim if negligence was involved.
Source: Star News Online, “Six vehicles crash, truck catches fire on I-40,” Kate Elizabeth Queram, March 25, 2012
