car-truck collisions
DESCRIPTION
A guide to accidents involving trucks.TRANSCRIPT
CAR-TRUCK COLLISIONSA Guide to Accidents Involving Cars and
Trucks
Car-truck Collisions Are Different In Many Ways
Car-truck collisions differ from standard car accidents
involving two passenger-vehicles
These collisions are different because:
There may be more potential defendants
to blame
1
Special rules apply to truck drivers that don’t apply to most drivers
2
Truck accidents often cause more serious injuries
2
These collisions are different because:
Multiple Defendants in Truck Accidents
In a traditional car accident, a driver who breaks the rules of
the road or who drives negligently is held legally
liable for the accident
In car-truck collisions, the truck driver can be liable but
the trucking company can also be
held legally responsible and made to pay damages
The trucking company can be held liable because the driver of the truck is its employees and acts as the company’s
agent
The driver’s actions are the company’s actions,
so a negligent driver means the company was negligent
The trucking company can also be
held legally liable for its own negligence if it failed to have proper safety policies in place
Special Rules in Truck Accident Cases
When a driver breaks a safety rule, this creates a presumption of negligence,
making it easier for a plaintiff to prove liability in an accident case (proving
negligence is necessary for victims to be compensated for a crash)
There are many more safety rules that apply to truckers
that don’t apply to drivers of passenger cars
If a truck driver violated any rules set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) including rules related to maximum hours-of-
service or rules related to truck maintenance, then
this can be used to show that the trucker and trucking company were to blame
for the resulting crash
Truck Accidents Can Cause More Serious
Injury
Truck accidents can cause more serious injury because trucks are much bigger than
passenger cars
Their larger size means there is more kinetic energy produced in
a crash
Trucks can have a maximum weight
of as much as 80,000 pounds
Car usually weigh between 3,000 and 5,000 pounds
A car-truck collision can also result in a car sliding
underneath the truck (an underride collision), which can
cause brain trauma and other serious injuries to those in the passenger car
Having an Attorney Is Important
Having an attorney is important in car-truck collisions because it can be complicated to
know who should be named as a defendant in a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit
The more serious the injuries, the more potential compensation
you should receive and the higher
the stakes of your case
Your attorney can help you to prove negligence by showing a violation of trucking laws, or by showing that the
driver was unreasonably careless
Carey, Danis & Lowe Attorneys at Law
Personal Injury LawyerPracticing Nationwide
Content provided by Best Legal Practices
Carey, Danis & Lowe Attorneys at Law
Personal Injury Lawyers