Baltimore Amazon Truck Accident Lawyer

Amazon is one of the largest companies in the U.S., and its 2-day delivery means that nearly every single day there are hundreds – if not thousands – of vehicles on the road making deliveries for Amazon.  With a production this large, there are bound to be accidents involving Amazon delivery trucks and other commercial drivers working on contract for Amazon.

If you or a loved one was injured in a crash with an Amazon truck or you were hit by an Amazon delivery truck in the Baltimore area, contact Rice, Murtha & Psoras today.  Our Baltimore Amazon truck accident lawyers represent injury victims and their families and fight to get them compensation for the harm they suffered in truck accidents.  For a free legal consultation on your potential case, call us today at (410) 694-7291.

Suing Amazon for Truck Accidents in Baltimore

If a truck driver or an issue with the truck’s equipment caused a crash that left you with serious injuries, you may be entitled to sue the truck driver and their employer.  In many cases, truck drivers delivering cargo for Amazon are not hired by Amazon directly, but they instead work as independent contractors.  This may seem like a minor distinction, but it can greatly affect whom you sue and how you get compensation in a truck accident case against an Amazon delivery truck.

In any case, you can sue the driver who caused the crash directly.  Drivers – especially commercial drivers – are required to carry car insurance that can cover accidents they cause.  This ensures that there will always be some source of money to pay for damages for victims of auto accidents.  Your attorney can help you file your case against the driver and their insurance company to get you the compensation you need.  However, there might be an opportunity to sue their employer as well, even if it is not Amazon.

If the truck driver works for a delivery company as an employee, you can often sue the company they work for as part of the lawsuit.  Trucking companies can be held accountable for their workers’ mistakes and errors under vicarious liability rules.  Companies are made up of people, and those people sometimes make mistakes that the company as a whole should be held liable for.  To prove that the company should pay damages for the injuries their driver or other worker caused, you typically need to show that the worker was working within the scope of their duties for the company’s benefit at the time of the crash.

If the driver was hired directly by Amazon as an employee – not a contractor – then you may be able to sue Amazon for these injuries.  However, Amazon usually contracts delivery work out to third-party trucking companies, meaning that those companies would be responsible for their drivers’ errors instead of Amazon.  Typically, an independent contractor is seen as a separate business, and third parties that the contractor injures cannot sue the contractor’s client for injuries like they can an employer.  However, there is usually a company to hold liable for negligent truck drivers, even if it isn’t Amazon.

Proving Truck Accident Claims in Baltimore, MD

When you sue a trucking company or a truck driver for an accident, you must prove that they were negligent.  This negligence involves a breach of a legal duty that they owed you as another driver on the road.  If you can prove that they were speeding, driving under the influence, or committing another traffic violation or trucking regulation violation when the accident occurred, you can typically prove that the driver was at fault for the accident.

Many trucking regulations apply specifically to truck drivers to help keep other drivers on the road safe.  These regulations require truck drivers to take certain mandatory breaks and limit their driving hours.  They also require drivers to follow certain certification requirements for health and safety behind the wheel.  Violating these regulations can mean the truck driver was at fault for the crash.

Trucking companies must also follow certain regulations.  Many truck accident lawsuits have unveiled that trucking companies violated hours of service rules by forcing their drivers to drive beyond their limited hours and withheld paychecks until drivers falsified driving logs.  While flagrant violations like this are rare, trucking companies may violate these hours requirements, overload vehicles, violate equipment safety standards, or hire drivers without proper certifications.

If the trucking company was directly responsible for problems with the truck or the driver, they may be held directly liable for the injuries in the crash.  Though the trucking company might already be held vicariously liable for their drivers’ mistakes, their own errors may further entitle you to compensatory damages and punitive damages against the trucking company for their safety errors.

Your attorney may be able to subpoena the truck driver and the trucking company for records and depositions related to your case.  This can help uncover falsified logs, problems with maintenance or truck service, and issues with driver certifications.  Moreover, a record of prior mistakes behind the wheel, drunk driving, or serious accidents might also show the trucking company was negligent by failing to fire a dangerous driver.

Call Our Baltimore, MD Amazon Truck Accident Lawyers for a Free Legal Consultation

If you were hit by an Amazon delivery truck or delivery van in the Baltimore area, call our law offices today.  Rice, Murtha & Psoras ’s Baltimore Amazon truck accident lawyers fight to get our clients the compensation they need for serious injuries after a truck accident.  Our attorneys can help you or a loved one get compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages to help you move on with your life after a serious accident with an Amazon truck.  For your free legal consultation, call (410) 694-7291 today.