In a J.B. Hunt lawsuit, a man says he was injured in a car crash caused by a semi-driver working for the transportation company.

Plaintiff Michael W. says that he was driving a 2015 Ford Van in Warren County, North Carolina, on Sept. 19, 2018, when was involved in a collision that he says was caused by defendant James Pratt driving a five-axle tractor-trailer allegedly owned by defendant J.B. Hunt Transport, while Pratt was doing work for the company.

Michael says that the weather that day was sunny, dry, and had good visibility and that there were no there circumstances that made driving or seeing particularly difficult at the time of the crash that led to the J.B. Hunt lawsuit. 

Michael’s J.B. Hunt lawsuit claims that he was driving on Interstate I-85, on a stretch of road that is straight. He claims that he noticed that traffic ahead of him was coming to a stop, and so he “lawfully came to a complete stop in the roadway behind the stopped vehicles in front of him.” Allegedly, Pratt was driving the J.B. Hunt Inc. semi many car lengths behind Michael in the lane of the road, traveling with a passenger in the front of his vehicle with him.

According to the J.B. Hunt lawsuit, Pratt failed to keep a proper lookout and failed to heed the signs that warned drivers that traffic was contested and could be slowed or stopped. Michael says that Pratt failed to slow down appropriately, and hit his car, going approximately 55 miles per hour.

Michael says that because of this initial impact, his body and head were “violently slung about within the interior of [his] vehicle. He says that because of the force of the first impact, his vehicle then spun out of control, across the second lane of travel, and slammed into the metal guardrail on I-85.

The J.B. Hunt lawsuit alleges that Michael’s head and body were again “violently slung about within the interior of [his] vehicle” because of the force of the second impact. He goes on to claim that because of the force of the first and second collisions, his vehicle continued to spin in a circular motion and collide with the same guardrail again in a third impact, causing his body and head to be “violently slung about,” once again.

Michael goes on to argue that his vehicle continued to spin in a circular motion down the roadway, colliding into the rear of a separate tractor-trailer, eventually coming to rest over 100 feet from the initial impact.

Michael’s J.B. Hunt lawsuit aims to hold Pratt and J.B Hunt Transport Inc. accountable for his injuries. Michael argues that because of Pratt’s negligence, he suffered serious physical injuries that are possibly permanent. He also argues that he suffered serious emotional damage and financial damage because of the damage to his vehicle, medical costs he incurred to deal with his physical injuries, and loss of wages caused by his inability to work due to his injuries.

The J.B. Hunt Lawsuit is Case No. 5:18-cv-00548-FL, in the General Court of Justice, Superior Court Division.