A resident and commercial truck driver from Lincolnton, North Carolina has recently been charged with a DUI in Claiborne County, Tennessee.
Apparently, the charges were to follow after the man was driving his tractor-trailer on U.S. 25E, when he was not able to keep the truck stable while taking a sharp turn. In the midst of the turn, the tractor-trailer overturned; blocking both lanes of the highway and backing traffic up for several hours.
According to the police reports, the Lincolnton man had to be transported to the hospital immediately. It was there that the police had the man’s blood drawn to establish his intoxication.
There was also a passenger in the tractor-trailer at the time of the accident, but only suffer minor injuries and did not need to be hospitalized like the driver.
The police have since charged the man with a DUI, possession of alcohol in a commercial vehicle and failure to maintain due care of his commercial vehicle.
The laws of Tennessee maybe different, but in the state of North Carolina, a person driving with a commercial driver’s license (for example, a tractor-trailer) can be charged with a DUI (DWI in NC) if his BAC reading is anything over 0.4. This is half the amount as the usual .08. Most importantly, commercial truck drivers are held to a higher standard when it comes to driving while intoxicated.
