Benson, NC — Early Tuesday morning of this week, September 29, 2015, there was an accident on I-40 east of Benson that left two men seriously injured. Police said that Jason Smithey and an unidentified passenger were badly hurt when Smithey’s box truck rear-ended a semi-truck that pulled out in front of them.
This was near Exit 334 on eastbound I-40, police said.
Smithey was driving a white box truck along the interstate when he came upon a flatbed semi-truck that was parked on the shoulder of the road. However, the semi-truck decided to pull onto the road at that moment, driving directly into Smithey’s path.
Smithey wasn’t able to brake in time and crashed into the back of the trailer, seriously injuring himself and his unnamed passenger.
The semi-truck driver wasn’t harmed and police identified him as Durham resident Larry Eugene Kelly. It looks like he might face charges.
Map of the Accident Site
Commentary:
A lot of people don’t realize this, but truckers on the road have the same rights as you and I. Just because they’re “on the job” doesn’t mean that they, too, can’t be victims of someone’s negligence. In this case, it looks like this semi-truck driver wasn’t paying attention when he pulled out into traffic — or he seriously misjudged how long it would take him to get up to speed.
The surprising part to me, at least, is the fact that this semi-truck driver didn’t give more consideration to a fellow trucker. Surely as a professional driver, he understood how slowly his vehicle moved and how long it would take to get up to speed. Moreover, he surely understood how long it takes for a big commercial truck to brake, so why did he pull out in front of this other driver?
I think we can only know that after a solid investigation, but my gut tells me that this driver just wasn’t paying attention to the road and was in a hurry.
— Grossman Law Offices
