Trucks travel on roads and highways across the United States every day of the year. It is no surprise, then, that sometimes trucks get in accidents. Unfortunately, the sheer mass and size of commercial trucks mean that serious injuries are nearly guaranteed for victims of truck accidents. These injuries can be incredibly expensive and time-consuming to treat.
If you were in a truck accident and do not know what to do next, our lawyers can help you. We can work with you all the way through the legal process so that you have the best possible chance of getting financial compensation for your injuries.
Reach out to Rice Law’s truck accident lawyers for help with your case by calling (410) 694-7291.
Causes of Truck Accidents in Elkridge, MD
Truck accidents can happen for a lot of different reasons. It goes without saying that no two truck accidents will happen because of the exact same set of circumstances. However, certain truck accidents are more likely to be caused by certain factors than others. More importantly, our truck accident lawyers need to know the specific things that caused your truck accident because knowing that helps to find the right party to sue. In law, you can only get damages from parties that actually caused your injuries, so you need to file a lawsuit against the right people who actually caused your truck accident to be successful in court.
Driver Mistakes
A lot of truck accidents are the result of the trucker messing up. The legal term for a truck driver messing up is called “negligence.” Negligence is when someone is careless, and that carelessness causes someone else to get injured.
Truck drivers can be negligent in the same ways that ordinary drivers can be negligent. If a truck driver gets in an accident because they were speeding, driving drunk, ran a red light, or aggressively switched lands and maneuvered, they are negligent.
However, there are other ways that truckers can be negligent in addition to things that apply to other drivers. For example, sleep deprivation is a major problem in the trucking industry. Tired driving is a serious problem in the trucking industry. This is because truckers are incentivized to deliver things as fast as possible so that they get paid more and done with their job quicker. Accordingly, truckers may want to stay driving for longer than is safe. Because of this, the FMCSA has rules in place about hours of service. For example, truckers cannot drive more than eleven hours after previously being off-duty for ten hours. If truckers ignore these regulations to try and get done faster, they may be responsible for any accidents they are involved in.
Trucking Company Negligence
Although you may think of the trucker as responsible for an accident first, something a trucking company did can also be behind a truck accident.
One way that a trucking company can be liable for a trucker’s conduct is through improper training. Most trucking companies are expected to either train their drivers to be responsible and safe truckers or otherwise make sure that they are already trained in this manner. If the company has not made sure that its truckers are properly trained, it could be held liable for any accidents the trucker causes.
Another way that trucking companies can be liable is through negligent hiring. This is similar to improper training but refers to the hiring process rather than on-the-job training. For example, truckers cannot have recent DUIs on their record and must have a commercial driver’s license. If a trucking company decides to overlook these things when hiring a trucker, they will very likely be liable for your injuries.
Design or Manufacturing Negligence
Sometimes, truck accidents are caused by a problem with the truck. When a truck has a dangerous problem, it is considered “defective.” In law, there are two main kinds of defects: design defects and manufacturing defects.
Design defects are problems that are inherent in a truck’s design. In essence, the problems are “baked in” the design of the truck. This means that, even if the truck is assembled and built exactly as instructed, there will still be a dangerous problem when it is used in an ordinary way. An example of a design defect in a truck would be brakes that are not designed to stop a vehicle of the truck’s weight and mass.
Manufacturing defects, on the other hand, are deviations from the design that cause problems. These problems come about when the specifications and instructions are ignored rather than followed. Examples of manufacturing defects include improperly installed airbags that will not deploy, faulty electrical wiring and the use of substandard metals and materials when building the truck. Manufacturing defects can also come about when the truck undergoes maintenance or repair. They do not have to happen in the initial construction of the truck.
If you are suing because of a suspected design defect, you may want to include the company that makes the truck in your lawsuit. Whereas, if a manufacturing defect is a culprit, you may want to look into any truck maintenance company or repair location involved with the relevant vehicle.
How Our Elkridge, MD Truck Accident Lawyers Can Help You
Our truck accident lawyers can help you all throughout your case. If you retain us as counsel, we can start working on your case right away.
In the early stages, we can collect evidence and piece together your case so that you can focus on recovering from any injuries you may have received in the accident. We can talk to medical providers, witnesses, and trucking companies to get all of the information they have that can bolster your case.
When a case goes to court, we can fight for you and make sure that legal proceedings are done fairly so that you have the best shot possible at getting financial compensation for your injuries.
Talk to Our Elkridge, MD Truck Accident Lawyers
Call (410) 694-7291 and get a free case review from Rice Law’s truck accident lawyers.