Southern Pines, NC — Two people were injured in an accident involving a logging truck in Southern Pines, North Carolina, on Monday, March 16, 2015. The accident happened on Highway 1, just south of Midland Road, around 3:30 in the afternoon.
According to local reports, the load being carried by a logging truck driven by Larry Crabb shifted, which caused the truck to overturn. The accident spilled about 1,000 lbs. of logs onto the road and tore down about 300 feet of guardrail.
Crabb was thrown from the vehicle as it crashed. Larry Martin, a motorcyclist, was riding behind Crabb and was thrown from his bike as a result of the accident.
Both were injured and taken to local hospitals. The extent of their injuries was not clear.
Scene of the Accident
View from the Road
Commentary
Whenever I hear about an accident like this, I have to wonder if the load being carried by the truck was properly secured. Often, if a load is secured properly, it can shift, which often causes accidents just like this one. There are two things to keep in mind here. The first is that the loading of trucks like this is often handled by third parties. If that’s the case here, then the driver of the truck — and the motorcyclist — are going to have claims against whoever was responsible. For the truck driver, an accident like this would typically be handled by a workers’ comp policy. And the fine print of workers’ comp law forbids an employee from suing an employer (except in rare conditions). However, the protection afforded an employer is not afforded a third party.
The second thing to keep in mind is that, the motorcyclist was, against his will, swept up in all of this. That means that he, also, is going to have a claim against whoever was responsible for it. If a third wasn’t responsible for the loading of the truck, his claim would be against the trucking company.
— Grossman Law Offices
