A very serious tractor trailer accident occurred near Andrews and Bryson City NC on Tuesday, February 7, 2012.  The accident occurred when a pickup truck, occupied by Charles Owneby and Andrew Owenby, both of Andrews, NC, had slowed on U.S. 19 to execute a left turn into a private drive.  As the Andrews' vehicle slowed, a tractor trailer approaching from behind attempted to pass in a no-pass zone and struck the pickup truck on the driver's side.  The collision spun the pickup truck causing it to leave the roadway and come to rest on it's side.

The driver of the tractor trailer was operating the commercial truck under DOT Authority for Santa Fe transportation out of Norcross, Georgia.  North Carolina truck accident lawyer, Carl Nagle, who is also licensed to practice law in Georgia, noted that "it appears that the truck driver failed to notice the truck had slowed and likely merged into oncoming traffic to avoid a direct rear-end impact.  The decision to cross into oncoming traffic proved to be more dangerous than maintaining the proper lane of travel".

The truck accident resulted in personal injury to driver Charles Owenby, to his passenger Andrew Owenby.  We hope the family is recovering swiftly from all injuries and effects of this accident.

N.C. State Trooper J.J. Brinke handled the accident investigation and cited the tractor-trailer driver, Jose Aviles of Lilburn, Ga., with improper passing.  Eye witness testimony confirms that the driver of the pickup truck had no reason to expect that he would be passed in this area, especially by a large truck traveling at approximately 55 m.p.h.  The truck left 82 feet of tire impressions before impact which, according to attorney Nagle, "confirms that the truck driver was not paying attention to traffic conditions ahead, and that the pass was simply a last minute effort to avoid the crash which was the result of inattention".

For legal information about truck accident cases and the benefits of having the assistance of an experienced NC truck accident lawyer, visit www.carolinatrucklawyer.com.   For the news account and photos of the crash scene near Bryson City, NC, visit http://www.theandrewsjournal.com/articles/2012/02/15/news/doc4f3bf41d5a3c9104170349.txt