Legal Question in Workers Comp in North Carolina
In 2007, I was involved in a one vehicle accident, that resulted in combusting my T12 vertebrae and chronic back pain that I have been battling for years. At the time of the accident, I was working in the capacity of a street gang investigator, and was driving my personal vehicle home- after an 8 hour shift. Because I was not in a marked patrol vehicle- and I was "Off duty" on the way home- this was never treated as a workman's comp report. When the accident occurred, I lived approximately 45 minutes away from my place of employment. At the time- no one, with the exception of K9 officers were allowed to drive there marked or unmarked vehicles home- if farther then 30 miles from the station. The reason for my accident- I fell asleep driving, from several days of irregular long hour shifts. The only lapse of time between my accident- and when I left work- was the time that it would take to drive from point A to point B. Do I have a claim? And what can a Claim help me with now- so many years later. Because of the Chronic pain- I am considering seriousely applying for disability.
1 Answer from Attorneys
There are a couple of issues here. First, you must file a claim for work comp benefits with the NC Industrial Commission in Raleigh within 2 years of your accident, or your claim is barred forever by the passage of time. You can call the Commission and ask if a Form 18 was ever filed. If not, find out what forms are filed.
Secondly, accidents during the time when one is "coming and going" to and from work are usually not covered. Here, you fell asleep due to long work hours, so perhaps we can argue that your work precipitated the accident. That is a long shot but if a claim was filed within 2 years it may be worth pursuing.
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