Tired or inattentive truck drivers can cause hazards on roads throughout North Carolina and the rest of the country. This may be true even on highways that are designed to keep truckers off main roads as much as possible. In North Dakota, the Highway 23 bypass was constructed to reduce commercial truck traffic on the main street in New Town. It was touted as a way to increase roadway safety when it was completed in 2014 at a cost of $25 million.
However, there have been multiple fatal accidents on the Highway 23 bypass. The first one occurred in 2017 when two commercial trucks collided with each other and caused a fiery explosion after one of the trucks crossed the center line. In October 2018, a commercial truck collided head-on with a passenger truck when the commercial driver also went over the center lane of traffic.
Both accidents occurred in almost the same location on the highway. A former member of the North Dakota Highway Patrol said that safety is always a top priority for trucking companies. Furthermore, new rules have been put in place to help drivers operate their vehicles in a safe manner. Among the new rules is a limit to the number of hours truckers can be on the road in a given day. They must record their hours data into an electronic logbook.
If a person is hurt in a collision with a truck, legal action may be warranted. An injury claim could lead to compensation for crash-related damages. Legal counsel may provide insight into how to proceed with a claim. Options include settling out of court or taking a case to trial.