If you have never been in an accident with a commercial vehicle, you may not realize that pursuing a car accident lawsuit can be very different than pursuing a case against a truck driver. Truck accident lawsuits involve a number of factors that often do not apply to standard accident-related personal injury lawsuits, such as:
- The status of the truck driver’s license. Did the driver have a commercial license when he/she hit you? Depending on the type of commercial vehicle that a driver is driving, the vast majority of truck drivers are legally required to carry a particular type of commercial driver’s license. This is particularly true for larger, heavier vehicles like semis. If the driver who was responsible for your accident was not a licensed commercial driver, your personal injury case against the driver’s employer can change quite a bit.
- The status of the truck. Was the truck that was involved in your accident properly maintained? Were there faulty vehicle parts that may have caused the collision? Was the truck overloaded or improperly loaded? Depending on these factors, you may not only have a suit against the driver, but you may have cause to sue the driver’s employer or even the company that manufactured the commercial vehicle involved in your accident.
- The status of the truck driver. Was the driver who hit you intoxicated? Overly tired? Overworked? Texting when he/she hit you? There are federal regulations in place that limit how many hours truck drivers can work in one sitting, and if the truck driver involved in your accident was working long hours that violated these standards, he/she may have broken the law.
Truck accidents can be devastating, but a successful personal injury lawsuit can help you reclaim damages. If you have been involved in an accident with a truck, call personal injury attorney Karl Gebhard today for your free consultation. All personal injury services are offered on a contingency basis.