Truck Accidents and Who is Liable?

By  //  April 7, 2022

Truck accidents don’t happen that often on a city road, but they sometimes occur. Even on the highway, the risk of coming across a truck accident may be relatively higher than your average accident. However, since truck accidents are immense and massive and cause a lot of damage, it is necessary to keep in mind that the first thing to be determined is who you should hold responsible for the accident.

There is a high risk that quite a lot of property damage may have been caused, and hence, the guilty party will have to step up and pay damages.

The Responsibility of the Truck Driver

Determining who is genuinely responsible for the accident is an integral part of the procedure. First and foremost, the truck driver will be questioned. The law officer will ensure that the truck driver was following the traffic rules and not doing anything illegal. In some cases, these truck drivers may be consuming alcohol and driving which may be why they crashed into another vehicle. The truck driver may also have been driving in a state they shouldn’t have been driving  if they were ill or hadn’t gotten enough sleep.

In some cases, however, it may be the truck driver’s fault, even if a part of the truck was faulty. This can be due to lack of maintenance or ignoring signs that the vehicle may not be appropriate for use. Not fixing the vehicle and driving it regardless puts lives at risk, and if the truck driver chooses to ignore that, they may be held liable.

The Responsibility of the Truck Company

On the flip side, it may also be the fault of the truck company for making a faulty vehicle. In this case, it may not be the truck driver’s fault at all. Instead, if they were not aware of the issue and it was reasonable of them not to pay heed, the truck manufacturing company may be held responsible for the fault and pay damages. A faulty engine or a lousy tire may be something that the driver was unaware of. 

The Responsibility of the Person that Owns the Truck

There are situations where a third party may rent a truck and drive it but be unaware of what the truck is truly like. The truck may have faults in its parts. In this case, the owner was negligent if they did not get those parts repaired in the appropriate amount of time. In this case, the liability will be on the truck owner and not the truck driver. The owner will be held responsible for paying damages to the victim party. 

According to Jan Dils from Jan Dils Attorneys at Law, there can also be more than one person responsible for the accident. This is the result of a chain of causation or events that happened simultaneously, all of which led to the accident. The truck driver may be drunk while driving and at fault while the owner also hadn’t repaired the car. This chain of events is why a lawyer is necessary to deduce who exactly should be paying damages. Sometimes, people don’t consider that it can also be the fault of a third party. All of these reasons can be determined by a certified lawyer.