Macon, GA Truck Accident Lawyer

Truck accidents are known for being catastrophic. These are extremely heavy vehicles capable of severe destruction in a collision. If you are injured in a truck crash, contact our attorneys to discuss how you can get financial compensation.

Truck accidents are often large events involving multiple drivers, passengers, and passersby. While people are often quick to place blame on negligent truckers, there might be others who share some of the blame. Trucking companies or even manufacturers of defective truck parts should be investigated. Proving negligence can be tricky, to say the least. We need evidence that shows how the defendant breached a legal duty of care owed to you, among other things. The more people we wish to hold responsible, the more evidence we need. We also need evidence to prove your claims for damages. Medical bills, the cost of vehicle repairs, pain, suffering, and more must be shown in court for you to get fair financial compensation.

Get in contact with our truck accident attorneys at Rice, Murtha & Psoras for a confidential case review for free by calling (470) 287-3070.

People Who Might Be Responsible for Your Truck Accident in Macon, GA

Truck accident cases often happen on busy highways along trucking routes. Highways tend to be heavily trafficked, and many other cars and drivers are often involved in the crash. Determining exactly whom to hold responsible can be difficult, and more than one party might be at fault.

The Truck Driver

A lot of truck collisions are the direct result of trucker negligence. As such, truckers are often the primary defendants in truck accident cases. Maybe the trucker in your case was dangerously speeding. Trucks are too heavy to stop on a dime. If the trucker had to slam the brakes for some reason, they could have easily caused the accident. Other examples of trucker negligence might include traffic violations like failing to signal, failing to check blind spots, and loading cargo into the trailer in an unsafe or unbalanced way.

The Truck Company

Under certain circumstances, the trucking business the truck driver works for may also be held responsible for the accident. Often, an employer may be held liable for injuries caused by a negligent employee if the employee was acting in the scope of their normal work functions when they caused the injuries. This may include any number of negligent acts by a truck driver.

Another possibility is that the trucker was not fit to drive, and the trucking company knew it. For example, suppose a truck driver has a history of driving while drunk. Next, suppose the trucking company knew about this history because they ran a background check and found multiple DUIs on the driver’s record. The trucking company might be held liable for negligent hiring or entrustment.

Additional Parties

Truckers and their employers tend to be at the heart of many truck accident cases, but they might not be the only ones. Depending on how the accident happened, other parties might be involved. Maybe another driver cut off the speeding trucker, and their combined negligence caused the collision. Alternatively, maybe the accident occurred because the truck’s brakes were defective. Our truck accident attorneys can sue the trucking company for failing to inspect the truck and the manufacturer of the defective brakes.

How to Prove Negligence in a Truck Accident Case in Columbia, SC

Proving negligence is hard work, to say the least. We must prove each element of negligence with whatever evidence we can gather. In some cases, evidence is scant, and meeting our burden of proof is harder. Our team can help you build the strongest case possible on whatever evidence we can get.

Elements of Negligence

In order to convince a jury to find the defendant liable for the accident, we need to prove the defendant’s negligence. Negligence is a legal concept comprised of four elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages.

Duty refers to the legal obligation of care or safety owed to the plaintiff from the defendant. People often wonder how a total stronger might owe someone a duty of care. On the road, all drivers, including truckers, have a duty to drive with reasonable safety under the circumstances while obeying the traffic laws.

The breach is whatever the defendant did or failed to do that violated their duty of care. For example, running a red light may be considered a breach of duty. Even something as seemingly minor as speeding or texting while driving is a breach.

Causation is what connects the breach to the accident. In short, we must show how the defendant’s breach of duty is the direct and proximate cause of the truck accident.

Finally, we need to show the court that your injuries and damages are real. You cannot recover compensation for hypothetical or imagined damages.

Evidence

We need evidence to establish the defendant’s negligence. The exact source of our evidence depends on the various factors surrounding the accident.

We can begin with the truck itself. Some trucks are equipped with their own cameras for safety reasons. It is possible that video footage of the accident exists, and we can demand access to it.

The truck might also be equipped with a black box recording device, similar to those often found on planes. The device records all sorts of data about the trucker’s driving, like how many stops they made, speed, brake times, and more. This data might shed much light on how the crash happened.

We should also talk to witnesses. Truck accidents often involve multiple drivers, and there is a good chance someone saw something important. Multiple witnesses can help us paint a clear and accurate picture of the accident.

Contact Our Macon, GA Truck Accident Attorneys for Legal Help Now

Get in contact with our truck accident attorneys at Rice, Murtha & Psoras for a confidential case review for free by calling (470) 287-3070.