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David Gillis Jr
3 years ago
If you have been injured in a trucking accident, you may wonder who, exactly, can be held responsible for your damages. Should you sue the truck driver? What about the trucking company? Is there anyone else who could potentially be on the hook for the damages that you sustained? When a tractor-trailer collides with another […]
Who is responsible for damages?
If you have been injured in a trucking accident, you may wonder who, exactly, can be held responsible for your damages. Should you sue the truck driver? What about the trucking company? Is there anyone else who could potentially be on the hook for the damages that you sustained? When a tractor-trailer collides with another vehicle, there are usually multiple parties who could be held be liable for the damages to the accident victims.
Unfortunately, the involvement of multiple parties makes the process of resolving claims for injuries and damages resulting from trucking accidents more complicated than the claims resolution process for accidents of other types, such as those involving only passenger vehicles. Because of the complex nature of trucking accident claims, trucking accident victims may not receive compensation for their injuries as quickly as accident victims who have simpler claims. Fortunately, trucking accident victims who are represented by skilled trucking accident attorneys can rest assured that their claims for damages are in the hands of people who know exactly how to navigate the complexities of trucking accident claims and obtain financial recovery from the parties who caused their injuries.
Perhaps the most likely party to be found liable for damages in any trucking accident case is the company which owns the truck. There are multiple reasons why a trucking company could be liable for your damages. They purchase the trucks that they use in their business, and they decide which individuals or service providers will maintain those trucks for them. Also, they hire and train the drivers who take their trucks out on the road. They are responsible for supervising their drivers to ensure that they are doing their jobs safely and in compliance with state and federal laws. All of these responsibilities can lead to claims of negligence, or even claims for punitive damages, if it can be proven that the company engaged in acts of extreme recklessness or intentional wrongdoing, such as encouraging their drivers to overload trucks or requiring them to falsify log books or work longer hours than the law allows.
The manufacturer of the truck, which was involved in the accident that injured you, may also be fully or partially responsible for your injuries. Companies that manufacture tractor-trailers must ensure that the trucks they make are safe for use on the highways. The same principle applies to the manufacturers of truck parts, who may also be liable to trucking accident victims if one or more of the parts that they produced was defective and contributed to or caused an accident. Companies that do repair work on tractor-trailers and other commercial vehicles can also sometimes be liable for damages to trucking accident victims. If repairs which were done improperly caused or contributed to the accident in which you were injured, the facility which did the repair work may have to pay for some or all of your damages.
Sometimes, a truck driver can be held liable in his or her individual capacity to the trucking accident victims that they have injured. This often happens in situations where a choice that a truck driver has made, whether it was a choice to drink and drive, a decision to drive too fast, or some other irresponsible choice which caused the accident that injured or killed the victims.
If you or a loved one were harmed in an automobile accident, it is essential that you contact one of our truck accident lawsuit attorneys right away. Call Parker Waichman LLP at 1-800-YOURLAWYER (1-800-968-7529) for your free case review.