WHAT SORT OF TRUCKING ACCIDENTS HAVE YOU SEEN?
Statistically, personal injury lawyers don’t see a significant number of trucking accidents, but when they do, they’re usually significant cases simply by their nature; the size and weight of a large truck versus a car or motorcycle makes the damage caused by such accidents devastating. Whenever there is a trucking accident in which the trucker is at fault and operating the truck for their employer, because of the master/servant relationship, which is a doctrine of shared and shifted liability, the employer will almost always be considered liable for the acts of their trucker.
The way claims come about is to name the trucker and state whatever they may have done, such as running a red light or frequently driving for too many hours, if they’re long-haul truckers. Most states have a period of time that a trucker can drive before they have to stop and get a certain amount of hours for sleep and rest, and in Virginia, the time limit is 12 hours. Many trucking accidents happen because drivers are tired, so they drift off and their truck goes out of control.
Because truckers are professional drivers, there are not a lot of trucking accidents, but when they do occur, they are usually quite devastating, whether they hit another vehicle from behind, or while in an intersection or when changing lanes on the Interstate when a vehicle is driving in their blind spot. The injuries and damages are usually significant, but you have to establish that it was a trucker’s fault and not that of the other driver’s but when it is established that the driver was negligent in their operation of the vehicle, they are held to a higher standard because they are professionals and they have to take extra care with regard to the operation of their truck, which is really a dangerous instrument.
There aren’t many trucking accidents, but of those that occur, they’re usually the fault of the trucker in some way, in exceeding the hours that they drive, the way that they drive, the chances they take and the speeds they go and the effect is usually devastating.