We’ve said it before and, sadly, we’ll likely need to say it again: a truck in negligent hands is a dangerous and lethal 10 ton weapon.
The danger for the rest of us who must share the roads with such negligence is made worse by the fact that the trucking industry frequently cuts corners in order to increase their profits. Making profits at the expense of workers and the public is nothing new, but that doesn’t mean that those responsible for the ensuing mayhem should be spared from accountability.
Thoughts of negligence in the context of a truck wreck typically lead to fingers being pointed at negligent truck drivers for actions such as driving while drowsy, drug use, inattentive driving, speeding, and reckless driving. Don’t get us wrong; the pointed fingers have certainly been earned by the percentage of truck drivers who act like knuckleheads. However, their bosses shouldn’t be left off the hook. After all, it’s the big trucking and transportation companies that are happy to fill our highways with weaponized tractor-trailers while they sit back and count their piles of cash.
Numerous safety violations such as speeding, exceeding hours limits, and taking drugs to stay “alert” are driven by the demands trucking companies place on their drivers. Time is money and they want to maximize the amount of time their vehicles are on the road so they can fill their coffers as efficiently as possible. This goes directly against the State and Federal regulations that are in place to limit the number of hours drivers can drive without taking rest breaks.
Whether an accident was caused by a distracted truck driver, a drowsy or inebriated truck driver, or “deferred” truck maintenance, all roads lead back to one place: the trucking company responsible for hiring the drivers and maintaining the vehicles. The victims of trucking accidents in North Carolina need aggressive representation from personal injury attorneys with a proven track record of holding powerful transportation companies accountable for their greedy negligence.