Who Is To Blame In The Commercial Vehicle Accident That Injured You?
To submit your lawsuit, you must determine who actually caused the accident that hurt you. In most commercial vehicle trucking accidents there are more than one party at fault, at least partially, and assigning degrees of responsibility may be a complex process. In the state of Texas, there is the legal concept of respondeat superior that holds employers liable for acts of their workers. Therefore, in cases of commercial vehicle accidents, there are generally at least two defendants – the driver and the commercial vehicle firm that employs him. If the commercial vehicle driver suffered a momentary lack of concentration and caused a wreck, the commercial vehicle firm is also liable.
However, responsibility is rarely limited to these two parties. The firm that loaded the commercial vehicle could have failed to secure the cargo correctly, causing a load shift, which causes an accident. The firm that planned the route could have sent the commercial vehicle on a street that is not designed for commercial vehicles. If a mechanical challenge caused the accident the mechanic who maintained the commercial vehicle could be liable. And it’s also possible that the driver of another car drove hazardously, that the commercial vehicle swerved to hit another car. Very rarely is the question of responsibility in an accident involving a commercial vehicle easy to establish. To complete your lawsuit, you need a knowledgeable commercial vehicle accident attorney who knows how best to investigate the exact cause of the accident, if you know who is liable for damages.
Commercial Vehicle Drivers Will Lie
Do not expect a commercial vehicle driver who caused the accident to admit their responsibility. What happens to a commercial vehicle driver who is negligent in an accident? He will most probably find this hard to find a commercial vehicle driving job with another firm, as he now has a black mark on their driving record. With the state of the job market and the economy, many who are otherwise reliable will lie to protect their jobs and the ability to provide for their families.
By way of example, a client once engaged the firm to deal with a lying commercial vehicle driver. Our client was hurt in a commercial vehicle accident one night and the commercial vehicle driver asserted our client was driving without headlights at the time of the accident. Our investigators diligently searched the scene and saw a security camera at a nearby store pointing directly at the point of impact. After obtaining a copy of the video, we had a clear picture of our clients with their lights shining. When the commercial vehicle driver has repeated their lies during the deposition, he was caught. Dishonesty and deception are common in commercial vehicle accidents. Our commercial vehicle accident attorneys know how to find the critical physical evidence through a thorough examination and how to ask the right questions to catch people lying.
