Due to the heavy size of trucks, every truck accident has the potential to become serious for the victims. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to recognize that any object or car for that matter that collides with a commercial truck or big rig can easily get crushed beyond recognition.
If you are injured in a truck accident, your medical bills and property damage will no doubt be expensive. You, therefore need to make sure that you get the maximum compensation for all your damages against the party at fault.
Usual Causes of Truck and Big Rig Accidents
The causes for truck accidents are the same as for any vehicle accident, whether it be car accident, motorcycle accident or bus accident. The only difference is that trucks are usually driven for commercial and industrial work and, hence, drivers are sometimes worked to exhaustion resulting in truck collisions. Some of the general causes of truck accidents are:
- Driver exhaustion as mentioned truck drivers usually driver for extended hours over long stretch of roads which lead them to get very tired and sleepy resulting in accidents;
- Overloading of cargo trucks, as means to haul large quantities of goods are oftentimes loaded in excess of capacity to save on gas, time and manpower.
- Negligence in maintenance trucks should always undergo periodic check up to make sure that the brakes, engine, wheels and other parts are in good working condition.
Persons Liable for Truck Accidents
Truck drivers are not the only liable party in case he or she happens to be negligent in driving the truck. In case of commercial and industrial trucks, the owner of the trucks, whether it be a person or a corporation is also liable for the damages caused by his or its employee driver.
The legal concept for this is “respondeat superior” where the owner or employer is liable for the acts or omissions of his employees.
Seek Legal Help From Expert Truck Accident Lawyers
Considering that truck accident claims can reach in the hundreds of thousands or even millions and the fact that you will be going against corporate owners of these big rigs, you will be out of your element if you will try to negotiate your claims on your own.
The best thing to do is seek legal help from expert personal injury law firms who are experienced in dealing with corporations and their insurance companies in litigating truck accident claims.