A trucking crash that claimed the lives of five people in North Carolina in October has been viewed with additional concern and criticism after it was discovered that the trucking company has had numerous safety citations already this year. Globe Carrier Co. of Illinois has been cited 12 times this year alone for safety violations, including two speeding tickets. Other citations that were handed out include improper lighting and lack of due maintenance on proper systems. In particular, the citations noted improper maintenance done on the company rig’s brakes.
Traveling on North Carolina’s I-26, Globe Carrier driver Roumen Todorov Velkov failed to stop and crashed into a line of vehicles ahead of him. Four people were killed outright, and police charged Velkov with four counts of involuntary manslaughter as a result. Since then, another injured party has died. A sixth injured party remains in a hospital, but fortunately has improved from critical condition to serious yet stable. There is no word, however, on the degree to which his injuries might persist following recovery and discharge from the hospital.
The highway state patrol trooper on the scene said that from the damage, Velkov likely was traveling around 60 miles per hour when he struck the vehicles on the highway. Conditions were clear, the road was not curving and, perhaps most tellingly, troopers found no evidence of skid marks to show that Velkov tried to brake. Either the driver failed to brake for whatever reason or the rig’s improperly-maintained brakes failed to engage.
Velkov’s bond is set at $230,000 while he is being held, with a hearing scheduled for November 12. Officers at the scene say that it’s unclear why Velkov didn’t stop, but they hope to get answers as soon as possible.
The company is listed as having one vehicle and two drivers, so the possibility that Velkov didn’t know about the improper maintenance and citations for his vehicle are essentially nonexistent.
