North Carolina man killed in crash triggered by fallen recliner

It is sometimes said of tragedies that the victim was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. While that saying undoubtedly has some validity in certain situations, in other circumstances it is much too easily on the person whose recklessness makes a particular moment “the wrong time” and a particular spot “the wrong place.”

We need look no further for an example than the recent fatal North Carolina highway crash that was triggered by a recliner that fell from a moving trailer onto the road.

The three-car crash on U.S. 421 happened just past 10:30 Wednesday morning, a trooper with the North Carolina Highway Patrol told the Winston-Salem Journal.

The recliner was initially on a trailer being towed by a black pick-up truck. When the recliner fell onto the highway, the driver of a following red truck came to a stop. A van then slammed into the back of the stopped red truck and then skidded off of the highway and rolled over.

The 53-year-old man behind the wheel of the van was killed in the crash, law enforcement officials said.

Another vehicle also hit the stopped truck. The 35-year-old woman driving that car suffered serious injuries, according to the news report, and was hospitalized. Her daughters suffered minor injuries.

The two men in the stopped truck suffered neck and back injuries in the two collisions they endured.

And what of the driver of the pick-up that lost the recliner and triggered the tragedy? He returned to the scene for his chair, but saw the multiple wrecks and drove off, police said.

Once he is found, he is likely to face not only criminal charges, but personal injury and wrongful death litigation.