Liability in Truck Accident Cases

Experienced Lawyer Who Holds Truckers Accountable

If you have been injured in a truck accident, you will need to prove the other driver's liability in order to win your personal injury case. The term "liability" refers to who is at fault for an accident. In a tractor-trailer accident case, more than one party may be ultimately responsible for your injuries. Determining who is liable, and building a strong case that proves their liability, is essential in order to recover the compensation you deserve.

Proving why your truck accident happened can be very complicated. Even if it seems clear to you why a truck crashed into your vehicle, you need evidence to prove your point. Otherwise, you might have a hard time obtaining the compensation you rightfully deserve for your crash.

Attorney Stuart L. Plotnick understands how the legal system works in Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. when it comes to truck accidents. That's because he and his legal team at the Law Offices of Stuart L. Plotnick, LLC have worked on truck accident cases for decades - and we have the case results to prove it.

A former insurance company attorney, Stuart L. Plotnick also brings an insider's knowledge to such complicated cases as he worked them from the other side. That's why so many people injured in truck accidents turn to him when they need to establish why their truck accident happened. He knows how to win tough cases.

How Is Liability Determined For Trucking Accidents?

Determining and proving who was responsible for your truck accident can be extremely complicated. Some of the ways we often prove that a truck driver caused your crash include:

Data collected in black-box-type device onboard truck
Careful analysis of the accident report
Physical damage to vehicles
Skid marks on the road
Eyewitness testimony
Consulting with accident reconstruction experts
Records pertaining to the driver's background
Truck maintenance records

Many other legal avenues often exist. And we're prepared to explore every single one of them.

Parties That Can Be Liable in a Truck Accident

The trucking industry is one of the largest and most competitive commercial businesses in America. Many different parties are involved in making sure a delivery is made as quickly and safely as possible from one side of the country to another. When any one of these parties fails to perform their duties with reasonable care, they can be held responsible in a truck accident case.

Some of the potentially liable parties may include:

The truck driver
The motor carrier company
The trucking agency (responsible for hiring and setting schedules)
The truck's manufacturer
The freight or loading company

In some rare cases, government road authorities may also be held responsible if they have left a stretch of highway in disrepair, or if the road has design defects that led to the truck accident.

Evidence Used to Prove Truck Accident Liability

In order to effectively prove who is liable for your injuries, Attorney Stuart L. Plotnick will work with investigators to recover important documentation about the truck accident, such as:

The truck accident report - The initial report made by the lead police officer at the scene of the truck accident is an important first step in determining liability.
The truck driver's log - Federal law regulates how many consecutive hours a trucker is allowed to drive without resting. Truckers must record all of their drives, stops, and significant breaks in a log. Since these logs can be legally destroyed after six months, it is important to act quickly to recover this information.
The "black box" - All tractor-trailers are equipped with special electronic modules called ECMs, more commonly known as "black boxes." These modules record key data about the speed of the truck, braking patterns, and more.
Fuel receipts - By examining a truck driver's fuel receipts, our attorneys can verify their routes and the speed recorded in the driver's log. If there is a discrepancy, we can prove that the truck driver falsified their log.
The truck driver's record - A truck driver's history may reveal previous violations, which can lead to the trucking company behind held liable for negligence.
The truck's maintenance records - These records will be examined to see if maintenance on the truck was deferred, or if maintenance records show a recurring problem in the vehicle.
Compliance with federal and state trucking laws - Truck drivers and trucking companies are charged with various tasks and duties as to their operations wherein they must keep records verifying compliance with these laws. In many cases these records or lack thereof hold key evidence.

What We Can Do To Help You

Establishing liability after a truck accident can be extremely complicated. And the longer you wait to contact a truck accident lawyer, the harder it becomes to find the evidence you need to build the strongest possible legal case.

It's also important to realize that the trucking company and its insurance provider are probably not waiting to respond to your accident. In most cases, such companies begin investigating truck accidents almost immediately afterwards and will do all they can to manipulate critical evidence in their favor or make it extremely difficult to get compensation without a fight.

Don't miss out on your opportunity for justice. Contact our law firm and schedule your free case evaluation right now. Best of all, you only pay us if we win your case. That's because we work on a contingency fee basis. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.