Compared to car accidents, truck accidents are more complex and hard to settle. While car accident faults are often blamed on driver negligence, vehicle malfunction, or poor road conditions, numerous other contributing factors are involved during truck accidents. Determining liability is made even more intricate by the long list of federal regulations governing the trucking industry. For instance, there are factors unique to the trucking industry that touch on aspects such as the hours logged by a driver, truck maintenance, and more. This makes it imperative to work with a skilled lawyer if you have suffered devastating injuries or losses following an incident. Your personal injury attorney will fight to ensure you receive each penny you deserve in compensation.
Recovering compensation should be your top priority. Absorbing the medical expenses, loss of wages, property damage, and future loss allied with a truck accident can easily throw your life off track. Ideal compensation should cover all current and future expenses and even compensate you for your pain and suffering.
Determining Liability In A Truck Accident; Who Is Liable?
The size and weight of commercial trucks make collisions devastating. Such an accident can be the beginning of your nightmares if you suffer physical injuries or trauma. Moreover, a crash can cause extensive damage, irrespective of whether the truck at fault collides with another truck or a passenger vehicle. Unfortunately, truck accidents lead to a shockingly high number of fatalities each year.
The first step to finding justice is to identify the at-fault party. It is imperative to hold the negligent party accountable by filing a wrongful death or personal injury lawsuit against them.
So how is liability determined during a truck accident?
Unfortunately, pointing out the at-fault party can, in this case, be an uphill task. Unlike car accidents where the person to blame owns the car and has personally had it insured, several parties may be liable during a truck accident.
Often, the person driving a truck is not its owner. Moreover, trucking companies have a range of entities that may be responsible for a collision. There are different parties responsible for various areas of truck safety, including maintenance and operations, and cargo loading, just to mention a few. This means that multiple parties may bear part of the fault, many of whom are typically not on-site at the time of a crash.
Let’s have a look at the possible liable parties during a truck accident:
The Truck Driver
When a truck accident occurs, most people quickly point the blaming finger at the truck driver. After all, they were behind the wheel at the time of an incident. Furthermore, human is to error, and it’s only logical that all or part of the blame should go towards the person operating a truck. Even though blaming the truck driver makes the most logical sense, this is not always the case.
Truck drivers receive intensive training before being issued with a CDL (commercial driver’s license). This, however, doesn’t rule out the chances of such professionals causing an accident because of negligence or a mistake.
Typically, the majority of truck accidents are caused by truck drivers, although there may be secondary liable parties. Sometimes there are other contributing factors to an accident.
A truck driver may be liable for a truck collision because of:
- Driver fatigue
- Distracted driving, e.g., using a cellphone when operating a truck
- Drunk driving or driving under the influence of drugs
- Over speeding, reckless driving, tailgating or failure to observe road signs
- Disregard of warning signs, e.g., in a construction zone
- Failure to take caution during adverse weather
- Failure to adhere to FMCSA’s rules that govern the “hours of service.”
A truck driver may be presumed to be negligent if they drive under the above circumstances. However, determining liability during a truck accident isn’t always clear-cut because some of these errors may be hinged on outside factors.
For instance, a truck driver may cause an accident because of fatigue and failure to only clock in the recommended hours of service. In this case, it could be that the involved truck company demanded that their drivers cover a specific number of miles without fail or offered incentives for putting in long hours. This means that the trucking company in question is also liable for expecting its drivers to cover unrealistic quotas.
When a company puts too much work pressure on its drivers, they may even choose to skip their mandated breaks. Continuous driving causes physical fatigue, although the truck driver and the trucking company may bear partial blame for an accident.
The Trucking Company
A trucking company’s representative can’t be present in all the trucks in a fleet. However, they may still be liable for an accident that causes injuries or property damage. This is more so if a trucking company is negligent or has policies or expectations that are major contributing factors in an accident.
It remains imperative to understand that it’s never simple to implicate the part played by a trucking company during a truck accident. You need an attorney who understands trucking laws and can dig up credible evidence that paints a company as a liable party.
As far as determining cause and liability are concerned, trucking companies are accountable for the drivers they employ. They must ensure that all their drivers are trained, certified and competent. The trucking company must also do a background check on potential drivers before employment and even schedule random alcohol and drug tests.
Furthermore, truck drivers are responsible for ensuring the safety of the fleet. This makes it crucial for trucking companies to have them supervised and subjected to disciplinary action if they violate company policies or state and federal laws. If a trucking company fails to match these requirements and instead prioritizes profits over safety, it could be held accountable for a truck accident.
A trucking company may be liable for a truck accident if it:
- Fails to ensure that all hired truck drivers are qualified and competent
- Encourages drivers to cover long distances without the mandated breaks
- Places unreasonable demands on drivers and disregards their well-being
- Fails to conduct thorough background checks on drivers to unveil their history of drug or alcohol abuse
- Fails to provide supervisors or impose disciplinary action when drivers jeopardize the safety of the fleet
- Fails to provide adequate supervisor training
- Fails to adhere to the recommended truck maintenance schedules
When a trucking company demands its drivers to work under the above mentioned circumstances, it, by extension, puts the safety of the drivers and other road users in jeopardy.
According to FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration), trucking companies must abide by the set state and federal rules and avoid putting unnecessary pressure on their drivers. These state and federal regulations govern the number of hours truck drivers can work before taking mandatory breaks to avoid burnout and keep their minds sharp.
Additionally, federal regulations have strict requirements that govern matters of truck maintenance. Remember, big rigs are complicated vehicles that can pose dangers if not properly maintained. Without regular maintenance, common issues like worn tires and brake failure may lead to avoidable accidents.
Trucking companies have a maintenance crew responsible for ensuring that each truck is in excellent shape before it hits the road. The team takes charge of part replacement and repairs, and the trucking company can be held liable if maintenance duties are not performed as expected.
The Loading Company
To effectively determine liability, all parties impacting the truck, driver and route safety must be considered. This includes the loading company responsible for loading cargo onto a truck. There are industry regulations that stipulate how matters of cargo loading should be handled. These regulations also dictate the recommended weight restrictions and load securing measures that should be taken.
Again, failure to abide by the set regulations can cause devastating truck accidents. Loading companies should have a trained load crew that understands the proper ways to stack cargo in a truck to distribute the weight evenly and still not go over the recommended weight limit. If a loading company fails to enforce safe cargo loading practices or hires an unqualified crew, it could be held liable if a truck accident occurs.
Any cargo imbalance puts a truck at risk of overturning. On the other hand, an overloaded truck can easily tip over while in motion, not to mention that the extra weight can cause the damage or failure of sensitive parts such as the brakes.
A loading company can be held liable for a truck accident if it:
- Hires an unqualified loading crew
- Fails to load and secure the cargo properly
- Overloads the truck causing it to serve or flip over
- Loose cargo falls on the road causing an accident
Unfortunately, establishing the fault of a loading company is never an easy task. You need a skilled personal injury attorney who can carry out the necessary investigations and even scrutinize the records of a loading company to determine whether it is liable for a truck accident.
The Shipping Company
Shipping companies sometimes hire truck companies to have specific cargo shipped from one location to another. If an accident occurs, a shipping company can be held liable if they fail to exercise reasonable care when employing a trucking company.
Negligent hiring of an independent contractor can pose physical harm to others. Under the federal government’s licensing requirements, shipping companies have an obligation to assess the likelihood of “risk of physical harm” when hiring independent contractors.
Moreover, if a shipping company improperly loads a truck leading to an accident, it could be held liable for injuries or property damage suffered. Even though the trucking company is an independent contractor meant to transport specific goods, the shipping company has a duty to ensure the proper loading of the truck. Issues of overloading and improper cargo loading can also be blamed on the shipper.
Under FMCSR Section 390.13, no person should aid, require or encourage employees or a motor carrier company to violate the stipulated safety regulations. If a shipper demands to overload a truck, yet they know or should have known that the vehicle will use interstate highways, they could be held liable for victims injured or property damage. This is because the shipping company in question is in direct violation of FMCSR Section 390.13.
The Truck Parts Manufacturer
When determining liability during a truck accident, the truck part manufacturers must also be considered. This is more so if a recently replaced part was faulty and it played a role in causing an incident. Even minor design defects in commercial vehicle parts can cause catastrophic or fatal accidents.
Some of the aspects that make truck accidents catastrophic include:
-
Size
Commercial trucks are massive in size and weight. A large truck can weigh anywhere between 10,000 and 80,000 pounds. Moreover, big rigs are long and can measure over 65 feet in length. On the other hand, passenger cars are smaller in size and weight. They typically weigh between 3,000 and 4,000 pounds and only measure 12 —18 feet in length. That said, the impact of a commercial truck falling on or crashing into a passenger can be disastrous.
-
Maneuverability
The weight and length of large trucks also affect their maneuverability. Compared to passenger cars, big rigs are more challenging to control and need more space to make complete turns, swerve or make other maneuvers. Even a small faulty part such as a loose trailer hinge (coupling system) or defective brake system can cause the entire rig to jackknife or rollover, causing injuries, fatalities or property damage.
-
Stopping Distance
Again, the weight and length of big rigs mean that the vehicle requires more distance and time to come to a complete halt. A passenger car moving at a speed of 65 miles an hour will only need 316 feet to come to a stop under normal conditions. On the other hand, an 80,000-pound trailer moving at the same speed requires about 525 feet to come to a complete halt.
With the above facts in mind, even one failed part can lead to a complete disaster. Personal injury attorneys and insurance companies often begin by finding out whether a truck with mechanical failure was adequately maintained. If it was and a crash happened because of a defective part, the manufacturer may be held liable.
A few of the most common faulty truck parts include:
- Defective tires that blowout suddenly and for no apparent reason
- Weak load straps that snap and release secured cargo
- Failing power steering
- Faulty brakes (notorious for causing front-end crashes)
- Faulty locks that release the cargo, causing it to tumble and crash on the road
- Trailer and cab hinges or coupling systems (can cause separation of the trailer and cab or lead to jackknifing)
Manufacturing companies have a responsibility to recall parts they discover could be defective after their sale. They should communicate with trucking companies that have purchased the parts and advise them on the best way forward to have the defects addressed. Truck parts manufacturing companies can be held accountable for an accident if they fail to recall the faulty parts.
It is no easy feat to hold a manufacturing company accountable for its faulty spare parts. However, you can manage to achieve maximum compensation with the help of a skilled and competent personal injury attorney. Bear in mind that such companies often have more extensive and more comprehensive insurance coverage or company funds. As such, they often opt to settle genuine claims properly, quickly and quietly to preserve their reputation.
Other Vendors
Companies in the trucking industry sometimes manage extensive operations, making it necessary for them to outsource some of their work. Sometimes, this may mean outsourcing administrative work that involves hiring truck drivers and doing background checks, conducting drug tests, handling dispatching work and even performing maintenance of the truck fleet. If part of the outsourced fleet operations causes a truck accident, any third-party vendor may be held liable.
Government Agencies and Contractors
Roadway hazards are a leading cause of car and truck accidents. For instance, issues like Broken pavements and soft shoulders can be contributing factors in a truck accident. It is the duty of government agencies and contractors hired by the state to ensure the proper maintenance of public roads. Again, you need a competent attorney to help determine that liability lies with the state, and it should compensate you effectively.
Find a Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney Near Me
If you are a victim of a truck accident in Los Angeles, CA, we will stand beside you during these trying times and ensure you receive proper compensation. Truck accidents are catastrophic, which we understand too well at the Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney. We urge you not to fall for the traps of insurance companies who are likely to pressure you into signing an easy and quick settlement. Reach out to us first and let us help you estimate the value of your injuries and property damage accurately. Our focus is on upholding your rights and helping you weather the storm. Dial 424-231-2013, tell us your story, and let us bring home the compensation you truly deserve.
