When you are involved in an accident with a commercial truck, you may sustain serious property damage and injuries. Understanding your legal rights to compensation is crucial in ensuring that you can recover damages for both your economic and noneconomic losses. Depending on the details of the accident, you may be able to hold the trucking company responsible for your damages. To learn more about your legal options, continue reading and contact a Washington, D.C. truck accident lawyer to schedule your complimentary case evaluation today.
Can I Hold the Trucking Company Responsible for My Accident?
After being involved in a truck accident, you may wonder about your legal options and who can be held responsible. While the first person who comes to mind might be the truck driver themselves, it is important to understand the trucking company’s liability.
Trucking companies have a variety of responsibilities when it comes to the safety of their drivers and vehicles. Some of the most important duties include the following.
- Hiring competent and qualified drivers
- Adequately training workers in safe driving, loading, and other techniques
- Mandating regular inspections of vehicles
- Performing regular maintenance and upkeep of vehicles
- Enforcing hours of service laws to ensure drivers do not operate while fatigued
- Following weight limits, loading and unloading procedures, and securing cargo
If the trucking company violated any of these standards (or one of the many others they are responsible for), their negligence could have directly or indirectly led to your accident. In that case, you can hold them accountable for your damages.
Even if the trucking company did not outright contribute to the accident, they can also be held responsible for their driver’s behavior under the legal concept “respondeat superior.” This allows employers to be held liable for the behavior of their employees when they are on the job. Even if the driver was negligent or reckless, you may be able to file a claim or lawsuit against the trucking company.
How Can I Prove Negligence in My Truck Accident?
Regardless of who is at fault in your accident, proving negligence is the most important aspect of a personal injury case. To establish negligence and successfully hold the trucking company responsible, you must be able to prove the following.
- Duty of care: The trucking company had a duty of care to ensure the safety of their drivers and vehicles to prevent unnecessary accidents and damages
- Breach of duty: The trucking company breached this duty of care in some way
- Causation: The breach of duty directly caused the accident and your injuries or losses
- Damages: You sustained economic and/or noneconomic damages as a result
Proving negligence can be challenging, but it is vitally important to ensure you can recover compensation during your claim or lawsuit. A personal injury attorney can help you gather and organize evidence to build a strong case for your trucking accident.
Reach out to an experienced attorney at Trombly & Singer, PLLC today to discuss your case.