Highway Accident Lawyer in Gastonia

Highway accidents in Gastonia can shatter your sense of normalcy and leave you facing challenges that seem insurmountable. When serious injuries prevent you from working, enjoying life, or caring for your family, you need legal representation that understands both the law and what you’re experiencing.

Whitley Law Firm provides experienced guidance through our Gastonia car accident lawyer. Why go with us? The Whitley Advantage isn’t just one thing; it’s everything we bring to your case.

Our team provides compassionate, aggressive representation that fights for your rights. Contact us today to learn how our highway accident lawyers in Gastonia can help you pursue the compensation you deserve.

Multi-Vehicle Highway Pileups and Liability

Multi-vehicle pileups on highways create complex liability situations where determining fault requires careful investigation of each collision within the chain reaction. These accidents often begin with a single negligent driver but quickly involve multiple vehicles as traffic cannot stop in time to avoid the initial crash.

Highway pileups typically occur during reduced visibility conditions like fog, heavy rain, or smoke from nearby fires. They also happen when drivers travel too fast for conditions, fail to maintain safe following distances, or become distracted and don’t notice slowing traffic ahead. Each subsequent collision adds more vehicles and victims.

We must examine each driver’s actions and determine who contributed to which collisions. The first driver who caused the initial crash bears responsibility for starting the chain reaction. However, other drivers may share fault. Our Gastonia personal injury lawyers can investigate the entire accident sequence to identify all negligent parties.

Highway Patrol Accident Reports and Evidence

Highway Patrol officers respond to serious highway accidents and create official accident reports that document crash scenes, interview witnesses, and often assign fault. These reports provide crucial evidence in injury claims, though they don’t determine liability conclusively in civil cases.

Patrol reports typically include driver statements, witness accounts, physical evidence observations, and the officer’s conclusions about how the accident occurred. Officers may cite drivers for infractions that contributed to crashes. This information helps establish negligence when pursuing compensation.

However, accident reports have limitations. Officers arrive after accidents occur and must reconstruct events based on available evidence and statements. They may not have access to all relevant information, and their conclusions sometimes prove incorrect when deeper investigation reveals additional facts.

Gastonia Highway Accident Lawyer Near Me (800) 785-5000

Sideswipe Accidents During Lane Changes

Sideswipe accidents occur when vehicles traveling parallel on highways make contact during lane changes or drift into adjacent lanes. While these collisions may seem less severe than head-on or rear-end crashes, they can cause drivers to lose control and trigger secondary accidents with far more serious consequences.

Highway sideswipes happen when drivers fail to check blind spots before changing lanes, misjudge the distance between vehicles, or become distracted and drift from their lanes. Strong winds, tire blowouts, or steering system failures can also cause vehicles to move unexpectedly into neighboring lanes.

Determining fault in these accidents requires examining:

• Which driver was changing lanes at the time of contact
• Whether drivers used turn signals to indicate lane changes
• The position of vehicles within their lanes before the collision
• Evidence of distraction, impairment, or reckless driving
• Whether either driver was speeding or driving aggressively

Hours of Service Violations in Truck Accidents

Federal regulations limit how many hours commercial truck drivers can operate vehicles without rest breaks to prevent fatigue-related accidents. When trucking companies or drivers violate these hours of service rules, exhausted drivers cause highway accidents that result in catastrophic injuries and deaths. Hours of service regulations require:

• Maximum of 11 hours driving after 10 consecutive hours off duty
• No driving beyond 14 hours after coming on duty
• Mandatory 30-minute breaks after eight hours of driving
• Weekly limits on total driving hours to ensure adequate rest
• Electronic logging devices that accurately track driving time

Trucking companies and drivers sometimes falsify logbooks, pressure drivers to exceed hours of service limits, or manipulate electronic logging systems to hide violations. When fatigue causes highway accidents, these violations provide strong evidence of negligence and may support punitive damages claims.

Our highway accident lawyers in Gastonia will obtain the truck driver’s complete logs, electronic data, and employment records that reveal whether hours of service violations contributed to your highway accident.

About Whitley Law Firm

Whitley Law Firm has served North Carolina injury victims for more than 50 years with dedication, compassion, and proven results. Our Gastonia highway accident attorneys bring over 120 years of combined experience to every case we handle, and we’ve secured numerous multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts for clients throughout the state.

We’ll care for you like family because that commitment defines everything we do. Our Super Lawyers-recognized attorneys provide personalized attention from offices across North Carolina.

We offer free consultations and work exclusively on contingency fees—you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for your injuries. This approach allows you to pursue justice without the costs of legal fees.

Contact Our Gastonia Highway Accident Attorneys About Your Case

Time matters after a highway accident. Evidence disappears quickly, witnesses become harder to locate, and North Carolina law imposes strict deadlines for filing injury claims. Don’t risk losing your right to compensation by waiting to seek legal guidance.

Call Whitley Law Firm today for your free consultation. We’ll evaluate your case, answer your questions, and explain your legal options in clear, straightforward terms. Our Gastonia highway accident lawyers are available 24/7.

Let us fight for the compensation you deserve while you focus on healing. With Whitley Law Firm representing you, you’ll have dedicated advocates who treat you like family and fight tirelessly for your rights and your future.