Crash Leads to Closures on Interstate 40 in Buncombe County, North Carolina (NC)

BUNCOMBE COUNTY, NC- Foxcarolina.com writes that officials closed down part of Interstate 40 following a collision that occurred in the evening this week. The incident took place in the eastbound traffic lanes close to the border with Tennessee.* 

The shut down left traffic at a standstill for several hours, heading into the late evening. The North Carolina Department of Transportation later reported that lanes were reopened but stated that delays continued into the night. 

Traffic congestion is a problem not only because it creates an inconvenience for drivers, but also because it increases the chances of additional wrecks taking place on the road. For instance, collisions may occur because of the densely packed traffic, or because drivers fail to slow down when they approach stalled traffic on the road. 

According to one study, more than nine percent of crashes are secondary to an earlier incident. Many collisions are, in fact, tertiary to another wreck. 

The risk of a secondary accident rises the longer that the congestion persists following the first collision. The danger of a secondary collision rises on average about one percentage point for every two to three minutes in which traffic is slowed down because of the earlier crash. 

Secondary crashes may also take place because of disabled vehicles, car fires, or other issues that lead to slow traffic flow. 

The results of the study indicate that the number of collisions that occur on the road could be greatly reduced if responders were able to clear the scene of earlier incidents more quickly. The state has worked to incentivize the rapid clearing of truck crashes as a way to prevent congestion and related accidents on its highways. 

Accident News is a safety and education initiative from Montlick & Associates, designed to help people better understand and thereby avoid common accident causes.  To learn more about our injury prevention programs, including iridesafe.com - click here. We hope you are never in an accident, but if you or a family member are injured, call Montlick & Associates 24/7 for your free consultation at 1-800-LAW-NEED (1-800-529-6333) or use our live chat at Montlick.com.

Sources:

https://www.foxcarolina.com/news/collision-shuts-down-eastbound-lanes-of-i-40-near-nc-tn-state-line/article_2c9f9126-d394-11ea-88cc-670f03944405.html

http://people.virginia.edu/~njg2q/secondary.pdf

http://timetaskforce.com/time-initiatives/trip/

https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/gdot-tackles-truck-accidents-metro-atlanta-highways/ZXuwYCvFpBb9aaJihOixjL/