Truck accidents are common occurrences that often have devastating effects due to the significant size and weight difference between them and most other cars. If you have been injured because of a truck accident, it can be difficult to determine who is liable.
To identify who’s at fault and protect your rights to appropriate compensation, you need effective legal support. At Farah Law, we will investigate carefully to find out who can be held liable in a truck accident case.
The Cause Often Influences Truck Accident Liability
You cannot determine who is responsible for an accident without understanding the cause, and when it comes to a truck accident, there can be many causes. Several components, including the truck’s maintenance, driver’s experience, cargo loader’s skill, and more, can fail, leaving you with serious injuries.
Some of the more common truck accident causes we see include:
- Sideswipes from failure to check blind spots
- Malfunctioning lights causing rear-end accidents
- Driver fatigue, distraction, or unfamiliarity with the route or equipment
- Unbalanced or unsecured freight
- Insufficient maintenance and inspections
- Defectively manufactured vehicle components
Identifying the cause can direct us to the person or people responsible for negligence that caused your crash. Your truck accident attorney can use many sources of evidence to demonstrate where individuals or companies failed in their duty of care to you and others on the road. Police reports, training logs, maintenance records, photos, videos, and medical reports can establish who was negligent and how.
Potential Points of Liability in a Truck Accident
Depending on the cause of the accident, any number of people can be responsible. Texas follows a modified comparative negligence model regarding liability, which means the damages paid should be divided among the responsible parties according to their proportionate responsibility.
Driver
The driver is responsible for ensuring they follow traffic and labor laws. If the driver’s action or negligent inaction caused the accident, they may be liable for damages. One of the primary concerns our truck accident lawyer may address is whether the driver is abiding by the hours of service guidelines set forth by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration or the Texas DOT.
Trucking Company
We expect that businesses are making efforts to ensure that the drivers they hire or contract with are qualified and safe. However, if the trucking company fails to ensure its drivers meet state or federal requirements for licensure or training, it may also face liability for your truck accident injuries.
Truck Owner
The owner of the vehicle is responsible for ensuring the truck is maintained on an ongoing basis. This includes things like brake pad changes, tire alignment and replacement, or oil changes. The owner of the vehicle may be responsible if poor maintenance caused the accident. The owner or party responsible for the truck may be the logistics company or the driver.
Mechanic
If the owner was diligent about maintenance on the truck, but the mechanic was negligent in their duties, then the mechanic may face liability for damages related to the accident. For example, if they failed to safely replace critical safety components on the brakes, leading to the driver’s inability to stop in time. If this was a factor, the mechanic could be held liable in part for your losses..
Cargo Loaders
Individuals who move freight onto the trailer, such as warehouse staff and dock workers, are integral to ensuring a safe trip. If they fail to load or secure the cargo effectively, this can lead to shifting, which can cause the driver to lose control of the trailer. In cases where oversized freight is traveling on a flatbed trailer, the cargo could come loose and fall onto other vehicles.
Third-Party Contractors and Sub-Contractors
Logistics or shipping companies facilitate or manage cargo shipping and transport. If a contractor or subcontractor is negligent in their duties, resulting in an accident, they may assume a portion of the responsibility. This group may include contractors that handle maintenance, training, or even construction and landscaping in the area of the accident.
Municipalities and State Agencies
Our governing bodies have a duty to keep our local public roads and areas safe for use. The local government (or the Texas government if it is a state road) is responsible for addressing safety concerns on roadways. This may mean repairing road surfaces or pruning landscaping that affects the visibility at an intersection.
Farah Law Will Help Break Down Barriers to Determining Liability in Your Truck Accident
Truck accidents can be complicated because you must be able to provide convincing evidence of liability to recover damages, but that requires a very detailed and thorough investigation. If you are trying to investigate the situation yourself, you may miss things that an experienced truck accident lawyer would know to examine. Our team knows how to ask the right questions and secure the needed evidence.
In addition to identifying the necessary evidence, many injury victims are overwhelmed by the claim and lawsuit process. Unfortunately, insurance companies often intend it to be this way, but we are well aware of their strategies to delay or diminish paying a claim, and we’re ready to push back. This includes bringing your case to court if that’s what it takes to get the compensation you deserve.
Call a Houston Truck Accident Attorney Today to Fight for Your Rights to Compensation
When you are injured in an accident, you may feel you’re at an unfair disadvantage when you’re already vulnerable. Our goal is to handle the heavy lifting, leaving you to focus on your physical and mental recovery, knowing that we are fighting for you. Working with a personal injury attorney should make your life easier, and that’s what we do.
At Farah Law, we offer services in English and Spanish to accommodate your preference. If you are unsure whether you have a case, we offer free consultations to discuss your situation and determine your legal options. We operate on contingency, which means you don’t owe us anything until we recover compensation. Call us today to fight for the compensation you deserve
