An accident that takes place with a commercial truck may be more of a calamity than an accident that takes place between two personal vehicles. A commercial truck that is transporting an average size load for this type of vehicle (like a big rig or dump truck) can weigh over twenty-five times as much as a regular car. Due to this great difference in weight and the basic laws of physics, the outcome of the majority of big rig truck accidents with other vehicles is people being injured badly, and sometimes even passing away from their injuries.
If you or someone you love is in an accident with a commercial truck, you may have the right to get compensation for your injuries by filing a lawsuit against the people that are responsible for the accident. This article is going to give you a basic outline of this type of claim. However, you should meet with a truck accident attorney whose specialty is accident claims for more information or to be your legal representative in your lawsuit.
See Truck Accident FAQ’s And Typical Causes of Truck Accidents to Learn More
The One-of-a-Kind Dangers of Commercial Truck Accidents
While statistics show that truck drivers are typically a lot more careful while driving than people who drive cars, large truck accident deaths and injuries in 2006 were quite high. The U.S. Department said in that year 4.995 deaths and 106,000 injuries were the result of commercial truck accidents. Truck drivers were not at fault for these accidents. Instead the cause could have been road hazards that the truck drivers did not have advance knowledge of or other drivers not paying attention to what was going on around them.
Also, the intensity of the truck accident depends a lot on what type of load a truck is carrying. An example of this if a truck is carrying a load that is flammable and/or full of hazardous chemicals (for example gasoline or industrial waste), are a party to an accident, there may be additional injuries as a result of the dangerous chemicals that are being transported.
Corroborating Your Case
As it is typical in the majority of personal injury cases, the cause of most commercial truck accidents is “negligence.” For this reason, a person that gets hurt in a commercial truck accident has to prove that:
The defendant (the driver, trucking company, etc.) owed the plaintiff the duty to exercise a reasonable degree of care to prevent them from getting hurt. The defendant has this responsibility just like all drivers do to drive safely in order to protect their fellow drivers, their passengers, and pedestrians as well.
If the defendant fails to exercise that form of reasonable care, or in legal terms “breached” the duty of reasonable care; and this lack of reasonable care resulted in the plaintiff getting hurt.
Possible Defendants
In order to be compensated for injuries that were a result of a truck accident, it is critical to have as many potential defendants as possible. This may not only be the driver of the truck. In most cases, the defendants include the trucking company, contractors, employees, and insurance companies may have to compensate the injured party for their injuries.
If the truck driver is employed by a trucking or shipping company, then the company could be responsible for their driver’s negligence. Your truck accident attorney or big rig accident attorney will have to prove that the company has some kind of control over the driver. They also have to prove that the accident took place while the driver was transporting product for the trucking or shipping company.
This may be a problem if a truck driver is an independent contractor of a bigger company. The main factor in this case is how much the company supervises the truck driver. The possible liability of trucking companies, employees, and contractors is a key factor in obtaining compensation from the trucking companies insurance company, due to the fact that all of these parties have their own insurance policy.
Damages
If you are a party to a truck accident and the driver of the truck is the cause of the accident, you may be entitled to receive damages from a los angeles truck accident attorney. You can be compensated for your physical, emotional, and monetary losses that were a result of the accident.
Special Considerations in Truck Accident Cases-
Jackknifing- Bigger vehicles like eighteen wheelers may jackknife under certain conditions, especially when they are braking or turning. The trucker driver that could have jackknifed (or other possible defendants) may not be held liable if the jackknifing was a result to unknown slipperiness of the road or having to turn abruptly to avoid another motorist or a broken down vehicle.
Turning Accidents- A commercial may be difficult to turn and they may require two lanes to properly turn. It is not always a clear-cut case of negligence. However, some courts of law have determined that driving a big rig in that fashion is all the evidence that is needed to prove that the truck driver is at fault.
Obtain Free Assistance With Your Truck Accident Claim Today
Accidents that involve large commercial often result in people being hurt badly and property damage as well. If you or someone you love has been hurt as a result of a truck accident, you really should think about getting a free consultation from a big rig accident attorney. You are not obligated to employ them as your attorney, but this consultation could make all the difference in the world for you being compensated for your injuries and damage to your vehicle.