If you have a personal injury or wrongful death claim against a truck driver who caused an accident, you can sue that driver and most likely a trucking company and others. The possible negligent parties you can sue for truck accident injuries and wrongful death include…
- The owner of the commercial vehicle. When there is an accident involving a commercial truck or van, the owner (trucking company, waste management company, construction company, UPS, FedEx, etc.) is usually liable. Semi-trucks generally have a cab and a trailer. Sometimes one company owns the cab and another owns the trailer. Both may be liable.
- The owner of the freight. Attributing liability to the owner of the freight involves excellent legal skills.
- The driver of the truck. The driver of the truck generally has little money. It is critical in truck accident cases for the truck accident lawyer to find as many companies as possible that may be held liable for injuries and death.
- The employer of the driver. Employers are vicariously liable for any accidents caused by their employees while they are acting within the course and scope of their employment.
- A parent company of the owner of the truck or employer of the driver. Your truck accident lawyer will need to analyze corporate documents to determine all of the parties that may be held liable.
- The manufacturer of the truck, cab, trailer, or any vehicle part. If there is a defect in the design or manufacture of any part of the truck, tractor-trailer cab, or trailer, multiple manufacturers may be liable for injuries or death.
- A third-party maintenance company. If a third-party maintenance company was responsible for maintaining any part of the vehicle, that company may be liable for injuries or death if your lawyer can prove that inadequate maintenance contributed to the accident (either caused the accident or made the injuries more serious).
- The driver and owner of another vehicle. When truck accidents involve multiple vehicles, it may be possible to sue for damages under the auto liability policies of the drivers and owners of those vehicles. This may involve determining fault.
- The manufacturer of another vehicle. Any time a defective vehicle or part of a vehicle (tire, airbag, etc.) causes an accident or worsens the injuries, the manufacturer may be liable.
Truck Crash Lawsuit Information
With truck accidents, it is important to determine every person and company that can be sued, the possible defendants in a lawsuit. This is because one party may not have enough insurance to cover the accident victim’s medical and other expenses. We dig through corporate documents and other evidence until we are certain we have found all of the possible defendants.
Other complex, time-consuming aspects of a truck accident case include:
- Obtaining the driver’s log and relevant corporate documents for purposes of determining if there was a violation of a truck accident law or the truck accident regulations.
- Reconstructing the truck accident – this may require the use of expensive technology that our legal team has the resources to utilize.
- Determining the extent of the injuries involved and how much the compensation should be – this requires getting you to the best medical specialists and using technology to record how the injuries are affecting your life.
Truck accident liability is complex and involves an enormous amount of investigation and analysis. Our law firm has experience sorting out these complex liability issues and the resources to get the job done.
Contact an Experienced Truck Crash Lawyer
If you or a loved one was injured or killed in a semi-truck accident, you need the help of an experienced truck crash lawyer. At Pritzker Hageman, our semi-truck accident lawyers represent injured people and their families in truck crash lawsuits nationwide. When a death is involved, our legal team will help your family file a wrongful death lawsuit against the negligent companies that caused your loved one’s death. If you would like to talk to our truck crash legal team about your case, please call 1-888-377-8900, text 612-261-0856, or fill out the form below.