Commercial truck accident lawsuits: How they differ from private vehicle cases
If you are a frequent driver, then you probably know that a vehicle might hit you at any time. Even if you do not drive often, then you might get unlucky and still have an accident.
You can seldom predict such things, but the most fortunate individuals might go for decades without having another vehicle ever hit them.
If a vehicle does hit you, and you’re in an at-fault state, the other driver’s insurance should cover the damage. However, what about if a commercial truck hits your vehicle instead? Legal challenges in commercial truck accidents cases can pile up quickly. That’s why you will need to hire a skilled truck accident lawyer.
You want an attorney or firm that deals with these cases specifically. If you use a law firm or attorney who does personal injury law, but they’ve never handled a commercial truck accident before, then you’re automatically at a disadvantage in these matters.
Commercial truck accidents and ones with private vehicles differ. In this article, we’ll attempt to explain why.
What constitutes a commercial truck?
If you see a large 18-wheeler rolling down the highway with products inside bound for store shelves in another state, that’s a commercial truck. You should have no trouble identifying one.
You might also see a much smaller truck with a plumber’s logo on the side or something similar. That’s technically a commercial truck as well.
However, in this article, we’ll talk about collisions with the big 18-wheelers that take up so much space on the highway. If one of them hits you, the steps you take and the damage you and your car might sustain will probably look pretty different than if something like a plumber’s truck hits your family sedan.
Why do such accidents often cause devastating injuries and lots of vehicular damage?
If you see a gigantic 18-wheeler on the highway, you should try to keep a safe distance from it. That’s because such vehicles weigh multiple tons.
A truck of that size needs a driver with a special license for its operation. Such truckers can’t get that license without studying for a long time. They must learn the rules of the road that govern these trucks. They must also master the maneuverability skills that such a vehicle requires.
If you think about what could happen if one of these vehicles hits your much smaller car, you shouldn’t have any trouble understanding why these accidents can cause irreparable harm. Frankly, if one of these commercial trucks hits you, and it’s going at a decent rate of speed, you should feel lucky if you walk away from the wreck at all.
These huge trucks have massive blind spots, much larger than what you’ll see with your own vehicle. Trucks of this size and weight have the usual blind spot to the driver’s left around the vehicle’s midpoint. However, they also have one directly in front and one right behind them.
You should try to stay out of those blind spots if you can. Sometimes, though, traffic conditions force you and one of these trucks into close proximity. If that happens, you must hope the trucker driver spotted you. You should also try to get away from the truck as soon as the traffic pattern allows it.
How to pursue commercial truck accident cases vs. private vehicle accident lawsuits
As for how commercial truck accidents and regular car wrecks differ, there’s the fact that there’s often more damage, even if the trucker only nudged your vehicle a little. Something like a gentle love tap from one of these bruisers might send your car over an embankment on the highway.
It might cause complete loss of control. You may hit a concrete divider or jump the median into one of the highway lanes going in the other direction.
Even if you escape serious harm, you must figure out whether you can file a lawsuit. If you broke a few bones, and you feel sure you can blame the trucker’s actions, then you have to determine who you can sue.
Maybe you can blame the trucker if they started swerving erratically. Perhaps you can prove they ingested alcohol before driving if the police show up and give the trucker a breathalyzer at the scene.
However, in other instances, maybe you will not feel sure whether you can sue the truck driver or the company that employs them. Perhaps the trucker’s boss pushed them to get their load to the drop-off site on time, and the trucker put in a 20-hour haul with none of their legally-mandated breaks.
If so, you might sue the trucking company as well as the driver. In other instances, you may sue the mechanic who worked on the truck. You’d need to do that if the truck malfunctioned in some way that a responsible mechanic might have anticipated.
Occasionally, you may even have a situation where you must sue more than one entity. You might sue some combination of the mechanic who looked after the truck, the truck driver, and also the trucking company that owns the vehicle.
How might you win your commercial truck accident case?
That’s how these suits differ from regular car accident cases, but how can you walk away victorious if it seems like you have grounds to file a lawsuit? First, as we mentioned earlier, you need to make sure that you hire the right lawyer. You want one with plenty of experience with these cases who also has an excellent track record.
In addition, you will need to collect as much evidence as you can. Your lawyer and their investigators can help you with this. Maybe you suspect a faulty piece of equipment on the truck, but can you prove it? If you think the trucker ingested drugs and drove under the influence, can you prove that instead? Such cases might challenge you and your lawyer, but hopefully you’ll triumph in the end.
