After an accident involving a semi truck is it possible to claim damages from more than just the driver involved?
In some cases it's possible to recover damages from an employer and numerous other potential defendants.
In most car accident claims the at fault driver can often be the loan person responsible for an accident, but when a crash involves a semi truck or other commercial vehicle there are often multiple other parties a victim could pursue damages from.
Possible Defendants After A Semi Truck Accident
- The Driver: Anytime an accident is caused by another driver they will be viewed as the first and most straightforward path toward recovery as their involvement and negligence that resulted in the collision will be the primary basis for any additional claims brought against other parties.
- Trucking Company: When a trucking company does not effectively train, monitor, or discipline their drivers, or even encourages dangerous behavior that could have resulted in a crash they can be held responsible.
- Safety Inspectors: If the failure of some part of a vehicle resulted in the accident occurring or the vehicle had not been recently inspected, or even had been but was cleared to driver with known issues, the inspectors responsible for ensuring every vehicle in their fleet is safe. If an accident or extent of injuries sustained in an accident are in part due to a mechanical failure with the truck or its cargo, they may be liable for damages.
- Truck Manufacturer: If an accident was caused by or injuries made worse by failures in key components of the truck, it's manufacturer could be held liable for any failures or defects that may be discovered to have been a result of the vehicles original design or production.
- Trailer Manufacturer: Similar to the truck manufacturer, if a trailer designed to hold a load fails under regular circumstances resulting in an accident or contributing to injuries in an accident, then the manufacturer of the trailer may be held liable for its failure.
- The Truck Dispatcher: Dispatchers who send truckers on drives who should not drive either due to too many hours driving in a day already or not enough time off between drives can be held liable in accidents where a truck driver falls asleep at the wheel or is even simply fatigued leading to an accident.
- The Loading Company: If a truck is loaded improperly leading to an accident or causing further injury in an accident, those responsible for the safe and proper loading of the trailer could be held liable.
How Do You Decide Who To Pursue After A Truck Accident?
After a trucking accident, accident victims trying to handle their claim are faced with a long and complicated road filled with questions that will have a major impact on their ability to make a fair and complete recovery from the accident.
Charting the best path for any personal injury claim is a difficult process that takes time and expertise to handle correctly, dealing with the higher steaks and greater complexities of a trucking accident claim make handling a claim yourself even harder.
Understanding the intricacies of your particular claim can make a difference of millions of dollars for an accident victim, and having the right people handling your claim can make a long and stressful recovery process easier.
Davis Law Group supports accident victims of all kinds through our free accident, books, legal recourses like this page and free case evaluations for accident victims and their family members.
If you or a loved one have been injured in a trucking accident Davis Law Group is here to help, call 206-727-4000 or use the chat or contact options on this page to request a free case evaluation from our expert team of trucking accident attorneys.
