A tractor-trailer driver who operates out of his hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina (NC), was forced to take an unexpected and uncomfortable layover in Culpeper, Virginia (VA), on June 30 and July 1, 2011, after a woman who had been driving in the opposite lane of U.S. 15 crossed the center line of the rural highway and collided with the cab of this semi.
Police identified the at-fault driver as Kristie Jo Finchim and have charged her with being under the influence of drugs at the time of the wrong-way, head-on collision. That time was 7:30 am.
The commercial truck driver is expected to make a full recovery, but the fact that he was hurt at all in the Thursday morning accident illustrates the dangers all drivers face when they share the road with drunk or drugged drivers.
As a Virginia and North Carolina personal injury attorney who has represented dozens of victims of crashes caused by DUI drivers, I have seen time and again how people impaired by drugs or alcohol can turn lives upside down, and all too often kill, when they make the negligent and irresponsible decision to drive. In reporting on the Culpeper car-truck wreck during the Fourth of July weekend, which usually proves the deadliest on America’s highways, I can only hope against hope that the accident in central Virginia proves to be an isolated incident.
EJL