Charlotte Personal Injury And Workers' Compensation Blog

Anyone who has driven on an Interstate highway has undoubtedly wondered about the horizontal bar on the rear of semi-trailer trucks. Why is it there? What does it do? The bars are called underride protectors or rear guards, and they are supposed to prevent passenger vehicles from sliding under the truck in the event of a rear-end collision. As a recent accident in Charlotte demonstrates, they do not always fulfill their function.

Sometimes, underride bars do not accomplish their intended purpose. According to reports, a 23-year old woman was recently killed in an underride collision in Charlotte when her car slid under a semi-trailer that was stopped in traffic. Police attributed the accident to failure to reduce speed, but other data shows that the blame for the death may be shared by other parties. Tests of underride bars conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have demonstrated that underride bars do not always prevent serious accidents, even if they are designed to withstand speeds up to the legal maximum of 35 mph.

Buses often appear to be very safe, because they are larger than most vehicles that share the roads and strongly built to withstand crashes. Unhappily, buses can experience accidents caused by driver error, lack of proper maintenance and, of course, collisions with another vehicle. A recent bus accident near Uptown Charlotte tragically demonstrated the risks faced by bus passengers.

A bus owned by Victory Christian Center was traveling south on I-77 when the driver lost control of the vehicle. According to the state highway patrol, the bus struck a concrete retaining wall as the driver was attempting to change lanes. The impact ignited a fire in the bus's engine. The bus came to a halt, and most of the passengers were able to escape the burning vehicle. Unfortunately, an 87-year old woman could not extricate herself from the burning bus and passed away. Four other individuals suffered injuries that required hospitalization. The driver is facing criminal charges in the incident.

Most people worry about car accidents when they are on the freeway. However, you face just as much of a risk of a car crash when you travel through a standard intersection anywhere throughout North Carolina. 

Raleigh, as one of the largest cities in the state, is particularly prone to these types of collisions. Certain intersections can become incredibly busy, especially during rush hour. You need to be aware of the most dangerous intersections in this city, according to data collected in 2015. 

Getting enough compensation after a motor vehicle accident can be important to the recovery of a car crash victim. If a victim does not have the financial resources they need to get proper medical care and rehabilitation, they may be forced to live with the injuries from their accident for the rest of their lives. Therefore, when it comes to pursuing compensation in a motor vehicle accident case, victims in North Carolina can benefit from having the best possible evidence to prove liability.

Evidence from street cameras and police reports can be very useful to victims who wish to recover their damages through an insurance claim. Law enforcement officials often prepare detailed assessments of how accidents happened and the factors that contributed to the causation of the crashes. Those reports and any supporting video evidence may clearly demonstrate that the responsible party in an automobile accident case was at fault.