Trucks Accidents Are Complex Cases
Michael Babboni
Trucking Accidents
In an auto accident where injuries are involved, the role of the participants is fairly straightforward. There’s usually one person at fault, or more at fault, and there is an assessment of the damage to both vehicles and people that the insurance companies are responsible for handling. This type of personal injury case is overseen by an auto accident lawyer, and the only challenge is in proving the extent of the damage inflicted by the other party’s negligence.Trucking accidents on the other hand, can be much more complicated to handle in court. One of the chief reasons for this is that in these accidents, the fault may not be that of the driver, and that means more work to get at the truth and assign blame to the right party.
Many Hands In The Cookie Jar
A typical auto accident case is about the injuries inflicted by one driver in his own vehicle. The driver may have been traveling for work or personal purposes, but what doesn’t change is that there’s only one driver, one vehicle, and that vehicle is owned by the driver.
A truck driving situation is very different. In some cases, a truck may be owned by the truck driver, or it may not, it may belong to another company entirely. The truck driver is on the job, fulfilling a contract to haul cargo from one location to the next so the content of that cargo does not belong to the driver. In many cases, even the trailer or other apparatus that is used to carry the cargo itself does not belong to the driver. Even the maintenance of equipment such as the truck or trailer may not be the responsibility of the driver, or even the company the driver is working for, but another contracted vendor entirely.
Blame & Circumstance
Because of so many different parts and different companies involved, assigning responsibility for an accident in which injuries are involved may not be as simple as “It’s the driver’s fault.”
For example, an accident occurs with the actual cargo itself spilling out onto the road, this may be because the trailer itself was defective, and the blame may then lie with either the company the driver was working for, the owners of the trailer, or even the manufacturers of the trailer. If an accident with cargo occurs because the cargo itself was volatile, the blame may lie with the shipping company for not informing cargo haulers of the volatile nature. If there’s a failure in the truck itself, such as brakes no longer functioning that lead to an accident, and the driver does not own and maintain the truck, then the fault lies with either the company, or the contracting truck mechanic that is responsible for maintaining the condition of the vehicles.
Of course, in cases such as distracted driving or drunk driving, the only person responsible is the truck driver. But if that’s not the case, assigning blame in a trucking accident can be complicated and costly. The St. Pete lawyer specializes in vehicular accidents, including cases of trucking mishap. Contact us today if you need help in this area.