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The size and weight of commercial trucks are substantial, especially in comparison to passenger vehicles. While all motor vehicle accidents can be serious, truck accidents are more likely to have serious consequences for the victim, including medical complications that can last the remainder of the victim’s life, and even death.
Liability Considerations
Liability in Carlsbad trucking accident cases can be frustratingly complex to those that are unfamiliar with the process.
Trucking companies are savvy; in part, because trucking accidents are commonplace, and those working for trucking companies understand that their goal is to protect the company’s profits. Moreover, if the accident was the result of the company taking shortcuts, employees are often skilled at willful ignorance.
In many accidents that are caused by truck drivers, the truck driver may not be the only person that is responsible for injuries that the victim sustains. Often, the injuries stem from choices made by the owner of the commercial truck or the business for whom the truck driver drives.
Truck Accident Negligence
The business that employs the truck driver may liable for injuries caused by the driver if hiring the truck driver was a negligent business decision. Negligence in hiring may include failing to verify a driver has a valid license or failing to comply with Department of Transportation requirements and verify the driver’s license status annually, among other requirements.
Additionally, a commercial entity may be liable for injuries that were caused by the truck being overloaded, which could impact the vehicle’s braking system, or if the driver failed to follow federal regulations for commercial drivers.
Other causes of liability include allowing the truck driver to operate the vehicle when the equipment was not checked or when the entity did or should have known the equipment was unsafe.
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Statute of Limitations
In California, all personal injury victims, including truck accident victims, are required to file a claim prior to the statute of limitations ending to avoid being barred from doing so. In most cases, injured victims have two years from the date of an accident to file a lawsuit against the entity or people that are responsible for causing the injury.
If the truck accident was caused by a government employee that was acting in their official capacity at the time of the accident, the victim has only six months from the date of the accident or injury to file a truck accident lawsuit in Carlsbad.
The statute of limitations, which begins tolling immediately after the accident occurs, is not extended because the victim did not have a legal representative and/or was unaware that it existed. Accordingly, it is always in a truck accident victim’s best interest to contact a Carlsbad truck accident attorney as soon as possible following an accident to ensure that they are aware of the legal requirements to file a claim.
How a Carlsbad Truck Accident Attorney Can Help
If you or your loved one has been involved in a truck accident and would like to get the compensation that they are entitled to, it is important that you hire a Carlsbad truck accident lawyer who is knowledgeable of state laws and truck regulations in the area that the accident occurred. This is crucial for obtaining a positive verdict.
