Does the Truck Accident Law Cover Personal Injuries?
Trucks are massive gigantic vehicles that are used for commercial purposes. The sizes of these motor vehicles are much larger than your average personal cars. Therefore, you can be pretty sure about the deadly catastrophes that truck accidents bring.
You need to have a thorough knowledge of the trucking accident laws and repercussions because it will help you in case you and your loved ones face such ill circumstances.
Pointing to the idea of personal injury
It is a legal expression of damage to the emotions, mind, and body as opposed to property injury. Personal injury lawsuits are usually filed against an entity or a person who are the reasons for the harm via reckless conduct, irresponsibility, gross negligence, or intentional delinquency. Various jurisdictions relate the damages in different manners.
The costs commonly involve the victim’s pain and sufferings (physically and mentally), medical bills, and diminished life quality.
What are the common types of personal injury?
Standard personal injury claims involve work accidents, assault accidents, road traffic accidents, tripping accidents, product liability accidents, etc.
The term ‘personal injury’ also assimilates the dental and medical accidents caused due to negligence, industrial issues like peritoneal mesothelioma, asbestosis, chest diseases like pneumoconiosis, emphysema, asthma, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive airway disease, silicosis, occupational deafness, repetitive strain injury, vibration white finger, contact dermatitis, occupational deafness, toxic torts and much more. The most common is automobile crashes.
Light on claims and payments
Based on the negligence and intent of the responsible party, the victimized party is entitled to monetary compensation from the former via judgment or settlement. Most of the personal injury claims depend on the negligence theory. Four elements are required to prove a person responsible for the damages:
- Breach of duty
- Duty to act reasonably as per the circumstances
- The victim has suffered monetary losses due to the harm caused due to the liable party’s breach of the duty of care.
- The duty breach is the main reason for your harms
So, the compensation amount for personal injury depends on the injury’s seriousness. Severe injuries such as brain damage, limb amputations, and broken bones cause intense pain and agony gets the highest amount of injury settlements.
Does the truck accident law cover personal injury?
The truck accident law covers personal injuries caused due to a crash with a commercial truck like a big rig or an eighteen-wheeler. The doctrine of negligence premises the liability. Multiple sources of law can be applied to the negligent party like the professional truck driver.
The act involves the civil liability rules, traffic laws, DOT (Department of Transportation) regulations, and FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration).
A comprehension of the causes and the subscribing factors
A semi-truck weighs around 80,000 lbs. An average passenger car is approximately 4,000 lbs. If we take the stopping distance, ride height, and driver’s field of vision into consideration, we can easily understand the reasons for the problems on the roadways. The truck drivers are offered monetary incentives for driving quick to reach the destination. Therefore, they do not care about the safety of fellow motor passengers.
Massive truck accidents can happen if the driver doesn’t stop and take enough rest at the proper intervals. Many times, the drivers are found to be under the influence of methamphetamine that is asleep- suppressing drug.
Another factor is that the truck drivers often put other people in danger by aggressive driving, fast merging, sudden full turns, overloading, unsafe loading, fast driving, over speeding, etc.
Again unintentional accidents occur due to the adverse road conditions because even if the driver is driving within the posted speed limit, it is the severity of the lane that triggers the mishap.
The trucking company saves money by not repairing the body parts and the internal parts. The truck may have been released with ample cargo and the lights, tires, brakes, engines, etc. are not working smoothly. The catastrophes are sure in these cases.
What are the effects of multiple defendants regarding the settlement?
In a specific lawsuit, when multiple defendants are involved, they may be equally liable for the payment of the complainant’s damages. They may also be responsible for the mere damages that they have generated. In this case, it is very unclear how much each defendant owes the plaintiff.
The drawback
- The settlement may be much more difficult to receive.
- The trials may be more extended and critical.
- The defendants may not agree to their proportions of the damages that they are supposed to pay.
- The defendants may bring an argument regarding who owes what.
- The plaintiff can settle with anyone defendant and sue the other one for balancing the damages at the trials.
Thus, an injury caused by a truck accident has got unique issues. The truck mover should follow state and federal regulations. They must carry insurance with higher limits than that of car operators. The parties involved in the trucking case other than the driver may have to share the financial liability. Therefore, the plaintiff has the chance to progress for personal injury covers that more or less match his/her damages in case of a trucking collision.
