Lucius Jones Killed in Robeson County NC Logging Truck Accident
A gentleman named Lucius Jones of Fairmont, NC was traveling to work early Tuesday morning when he was tragically killed because a logging truck had backed across the roadway.
The accident happened on N.C. Highway 20 in Robeson County at about 5:31 am. According to reports, Mr. Jones was traveling east on NC 20 when he struck the logging truck operated by Henderson & Son Logging Co. in Shannon, NC. Apparently, the driver of the logging truck was attempting to back the truck into a dirt road and had positioned the trailer across the road. Worse yet, the cab of the trailer was in the westbound lane and was facing west.
The positioning of the cab is critical in a situation such as this because the headlights on the cab would likely have given Mr. Jones the impression that the tractor-trailer was actually traveling in the westbound lane and that Mr. Jones, traveling in the eastbound lane, was in a safe position. In these conditions, Mr. Jones would not have been able to see the logging truck due to the blinding effect of the headlights. Our firm has handled cases virtually identical to this case, including a recent fatal logging truck accident in Wayne County, where a truck had backed across the road in the dark.
In this case, the driver of the truck has been charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and improper backing which certainly seems appropriate under the circumstances.