When someone is hit by a truck, the sustained injuries can be more catastrophic and lifelong than those caused by average sized vehicles. Brain damage, paralysis and death often result when a large truck strikes a much smaller vehicle or a person directly. Often the victim, if he or she survives, is faced with exorbitant medical and therapy costs. Liability laws recognize that victims injured by trucks should not have to bear the costs where the vehicle owner and/or operator is at fault. Improperly maintained trucks and equipment as well as negligent drivers give rise to actionable suits whereby injured victims can recover both economic and non-economic losses.
Duty of Care
Truck liability cases are often difficult to prove. First, a person injured by a truck must show that the defendant - whether the driver, owner/company or third party - owed the plaintiff a duty to exercise a reasonable degree of care to prevent the sustained injuries. As drivers, by legal default, owe fellow drivers, passengers, and pedestrians a duty of reasonable care, this first element is automatically met. The plaintiff must then show that the defendant failed to exercise this reasonable duty of care and that this breach is the primary cause of the injury suffered by the plaintiff.
Who is Liable?
Even though the truck driver may be directly responsible, often the owner - whether an individual or a business entity - can be held liable under the theory of "respondeat superior." This doctrine relates the negligence or other tort of an operator back to those who have control of the operator. In many cases, this will be the truck company that hired the driver. The plaintiff will have to show that the company had control over the driver and that the negligence occurred while the driver was acting within the course of his or her prescribed duties.
In the case of a driver who is an independent contractor, a company owner may try to argue that the driver has no employment relationship with the company and therefore liability does not accrue to the company. The burden of proof is establishing that there was some supervisory relationship between the company and driver. However, where the accident occurred due to improper equipment maintenance and not the driver's direct negligence, the liability will go to those responsible for equipment maintenance and this is usually the company owner.
Another possible defendant may be the third-party manufacturer of the truck. If the accident occurred because of a truck malfunction due to a faulty design, a cause of action may be brought against the truck manufacturer. In these cases, evidence of physics and mechanics will be required and an attorney must be able to sufficiently argue how the defect led to the accident. Additionally, if the injuries sustained resulted from hazardous materials carried by the truck, the plaintiff may be able to bring suit against the manufacturer of the materials if the shipper failed to advise the driver or trucking company that the freight load contained the material.
Damages
An individual injured in a commercial trucking accident may recover compensation for economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages include medical costs, costs for present and future therapy, lost income and loss of earning capacity. Because truck liability cases often involve devastating injuries, juries have to determine just compensation for injuries such as disfigurement, paralysis and too often, death. Non-economic damages include pain and suffering as well as emotional distress.
Find an Attorney
Because of the complexity of commercial truck liability issues, a person hit by a truck will have to present a strong case. Find an attorney knowledgeable about truck liability laws to successfully represent your interests.
