To hold a truck driver, trucking company, or other party responsible, our Virginia truck accident lawyers have to establish fault and liability. Below, we detail the process of determining fault and liability in Virginia truck accidents.
Determining Fault in a Virginia Truck Accident
When determining fault in a truck accident in Virginia, a Virginia personal injury lawyer need to prove that the party’s negligence caused your accident. Proving negligence requires us to establish the following:
- The other party owed you a duty of care. Truck drivers have a duty to operate their rigs safely. Trucking companies have a duty to hire experienced and safe drivers.
- They breached that duty. For example, the truck driver violated hours of service laws and drove while fatigued. The trucking company failed to do a background check and hired a driver with a history of intoxicated driving.
- The breach of duty caused your accident and injuries. For example, a fatigued driver ran a red light and T-boned your vehicle.
- You suffered damages, such as medical bills, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and “pain and suffering” and inconvenience.
These same criteria apply regardless of whether you were injured or lost a loved one in a truck crash.
Fault and Liability Are Not the Same
Many people use fault and liability interchangeably, but they are not the same thing. Fault can make a person liable for an accident. However, some parties may be liable, even if they are not at fault for an accident. Let’s continue with our fatigued driver example from above.
A fatigued driver who causes an accident while likely be liable for any injuries and losses that occur. However, a trucking company can also be liable. Whether it is directly liable or vicariously liable depends on the specifics of the case.
A trucking company is almost always liable if its employees act negligently within the scope of their employment. However, a trucking company can also be directly liable if it forced or pressured its drivers to violate hours of service regulations.
Factors that Could Leave a Person At-Fault for a Truck Crash
In most cases, the at-fault party will have demonstrated some sort of negligence. To determine the factors that could leave someone liable for a truck accident, we’ll break it down by potentially liable parties:
The Truck Driver
Negligent actions that could leave a truck driver liable for an accident include:
- Driving under the influence (The legal limit for truck drivers is 0.04, half the legal limit for passenger car drivers.)
- Driving while fatigued (To prevent truck drivers from operating their rigs while drowsy, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration created hours of service regulations that limit how long a truck driver can drive and how long they can work without taking a break.)
- Texting and driving (Federal laws prohibit truck drivers from texting and driving. They also cannot make a phone call if it requires them to press more than one button.)
- Otherwise driving while distracted
- Speeding or driving too fast for conditions
- Failing to check blind spots
- Failing to obey traffic signals
- Tailgating
The Trucking Company
As we discussed above, the trucking company is likely liable if the driver acted negligently and caused an accident. However, an employer can be directly liable if anything they did caused or contributed to the crash, such as:
- Hiring a driver without a commercial driver’s license (CDL)
- Hiring a driver with a history of reckless driving
- Failing to train a driver
- Forcing drivers to speed or drive through required rest breaks
- Failing to perform regular maintenance on their fleet
The Maintenance Company
Trucks require regular maintenance. If a maintenance company’s failure to maintain a vehicle (e.g., failure to change worn brakes or replace bald tires) causes or contributes to an accident, the company can share liability.
The Cargo Company
Cargo must be loaded in a specific way to keep the truck balanced. If cargo is improperly loaded, the truck trailer could be unstable. This could cause the driver to swerve or even cause the truck to jackknife.
What Parties Might Be Liable for a Truck Accident?
Several different parties can share liability for a Virginia truck crash, including:
- The truck driver
- The trucking company
- The maintenance company
- The cargo or shipping company
Determining who is liable for a truck accident is difficult and not something you want to handle on your own. However, you don’t need to. Our team will investigate the accident, determine who shares liability, and identify any insurance companies that may cover your losses.
How does a Lawyer Determine Fault for a Truck Accident?
A Virginia personal injury lawyer will establish fault by investigating the accident and obtaining evidence. Evidence your attorney gathers may include:
- The driver’s hours of service logs
- The driver’s alcohol and drug test results
- The truck’s maintenance records
- The truck driver’s personnel file
- Data from the truck’s black box or electronic data recorder
- Any recordings from the truck’s dashcam
- Eyewitness testimony
- The police report
- Testimony from expert witnesses, such as an accident reconstruction expert
Most of the evidence we need is with the trucking company. That means much of the evidence could be “lost” or destroyed. Our team knows how to ensure this doesn’t happen. We will send a spoliation letter that asks the trucking company to preserve and hand over the evidence we mention.
We will then use this evidence to establish how the liable party(s) caused or contributed to the accident.
Get Help Determining Fault and Liability in a Virginia Truck Accident Claim
The Parrish Law Firm, PLLC has 20 years of experience handling truck accident claims and proving liability. Let us help you do the same. We’ll fight to hold all liable parties accountable for your injuries and losses.
Call today for a FREE claim review.
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