Truck accidents are often devastating for multiple drivers, and many people are left badly hurt or worse. By taking legal action, you can begin to pick up the pieces and put your life back together.
Liability for truck accidents is often complex, and multiple parties might share some degree of blame. Often, truck drivers are to blame for accidents, but the trucking company that hired them might also be held liable. Other drivers and certain third parties should also be investigated. Damages tend to be very high, as injuries, property damage, and overall losses can be life-changingly significant. Gathering evidence sometimes presents a problem, as truck accident scenes are often heaps of twisted wreckage. Even so, physical evidence, witness testimony, and various records about the crash may be helpful. Truck driver negligence, equipment failures, or poor road conditions cause many truck accidents.
Schedule a free review of your case with our truck accident attorneys by calling Legal Care New Jersey at (732) 838-9769.
People Who Might Be Liable for a Truck Accident in Lakewood
Liability for truck accidents comes down to multiple complex factors that should be discussed with an attorney. While truck drivers are often at the heart of the accident –they are usually the primary defendant – other parties might share liability in some way or otherwise be implicated.
The Truck Driver
The truck driver was behind the wheel of the big rig when the accident occurred, so it stands to reason that they played a big role in how the accident occurred. Truckers are often the first person our truck accident lawyers look to when determining liability, and for good reason. Truck driver negligence is a common cause of many accidents and crashes.
While it might be easy to pin the entire accident on the trucker, the situation might be more complicated than that. Even when truckers are the direct cause of the crash, other parties and factors might have played big parts in the overall collision.
The Trucking Company
The legal doctrine known as respondeat superior holds that employers may be held vicariously liable for injuries caused by an employee’s negligence. Since negligent truckers are often the employees of big trucking companies, these companies may also be held liable for truck accidents. However, certain conditions must be present for vicarious liability to kick in.
Generally, the employee’s negligence must have happened within the scope of the employee’s job. This means that the employee should have been working in furtherance of their normal job duties when they acted negligently. In truck accident cases, this usually means the trucker should have been driving cargo, making a delivery, or performing standard job functions when they caused the accident. If they were doing something outside their normal job duties (e.g., unauthorized driving, running a personal errand, unlawful activity), their employer might not be vicariously liable.
Another way to hold the trucking company liable for your injuries is under the theory of negligent hiring. This theory might apply to your case if the truck driver caused the accident because they were too incompetent to do the job. The trucking company might be liable for negligent hiring, even if respondeat superior does not apply, if they knew the truck driver was incompetent but hired them anyway.
A theory of negligent hiring is common in cases where the truck driver was intoxicated when they caused the crash. Often, these drivers have a history of alcohol abuse, and the trucking company might have hired them despite DUIS and DWIs showing up in employment background checks.
Other Drivers and Third Parties
Sometimes, the truck driver is not the only negligent driver on the road. For example, another driver, perhaps in a standard vehicle or something else, might behave negligently on the road and contribute to the accident. It is not uncommon for other negligent drivers to recklessly cut off speeding trucks, swerve into different lanes of traffic, or otherwise drive recklessly around trucks. This is incredibly dangerous because trucks are too heavy to stop quickly, and it is much harder to avoid a collision when others are reckless.
Other third parties that were not directly involved in the accident might also be at least partly to blame. For example, if the accident occurred partly because the truck was equipped with defective brakes, the manufacturer of those brakes can be sued for product liability. Identifying what parts of the truck might have been faulty might take some time, and this kind of information usually comes to light after an investigation by the authorities.
Damages You Can Claim After a Truck Accident in Lakewood
Identifying and evaluating your damages is a key component of your claim. Your compensation might be reduced or insufficient if your calculations are inaccurate or certain damages are left unaccounted for.
Your damages are rooted in your injuries, losses, expenses, and experiences during and after the accident. Some injuries may be calculated by adding your total monetary losses and expenses. For example, you can claim the value of medical bills, damage to your vehicle, and income lost from missing work.
Other damages are rooted in experiences rather than actual costs or tangible losses. Pain and suffering from the physical pain from injuries and the mental anguish and trauma might be subjective, but they can be quite considerable in severe accident cases.
Typical Causes of Truck Accidents and Collisions in Lakewood
Traffic violations like speeding, failing to signal, and driving while using a phone are some of the leading causes of not just truck accidents but accidents in general. These acts of negligence are especially dangerous when trucks are involved because the sheer size of a truck makes it catastrophically dangerous in a crash.
Since trucks are so dangerous, they are maintained and monitored with various pieces of safety equipment. An accident might be more likely if any of this equipment fails or malfunctions. For example, if the trailer coupling that hitches the trailer to the truck malfunctions and comes undone, the trailer could break away and cause a major highway disaster.
Road conditions are important for any driver to be aware of, but especially truckers. If the roads are icy or wet, it would be reasonable to slow down to avoid accidentally sliding or hydroplaning into other vehicles. Because trucks are so huge, these risks are extraordinarily larger.
Call Our Lakewood Truck Accident Attorneys for Help
Schedule a free review of your case with our truck accident attorneys by calling Legal Care New Jersey at (732) 838-9769.
