Anderson, IN Truck Accident Lawyer

Truck accidents can have devastating consequences in Anderson. Fortunately, our lawyers can help you get compensation for both your financial losses as well as your psychological harm.

Our team prides itself on helping clients take on trucking companies and their negligent drivers. Many victims fear to file a claim because they do not believe they have much chance of winning against these interests. Our firm’s job is to even the playing field by using our tenacity and experience to get you the compensation you deserve. Trucking companies are legally responsible for their drivers’ actions, meaning you will have several paths to recover damages. However, we might name other defendants if we find they contributed to causing your accident.

For a free case evaluation with our truck accident lawyers, contact Wruck Paupore at (219) 322-1166.

Determining the Truck Driver’s Liability After an Anderson, IN Truck Accident

The truck driver is usually the first person our truck accident attorneys will look to sue following an accident. When we investigate your claim, we will look for evidence of how the driver caused your accident. In some cases, there is more than one cause. Our team has years of experience handling these cases, allowing us to discover the cause of even the most complex truck accidents. The following are the most common ways truck accidents happen in Anderson:

Distracted Driving

Many truckers cause accidents because they are distracted while driving. Most modern commercial trucks have numerous distractions, from the company radio to the GPS. However, a truck driver could also cause an accident if they are eating while trying to steer or using their phone. Trucks need more time to react to changes on the road, so one moment of distraction could result in devastating injuries.

Driver Fatigue

Drivers who are overworked and fatigued are another common cause of truck accidents in Anderson. With strict delivery schedules, many truckers are required to travel long distances, spending several hours on the road without rest. Some truckers cause catastrophic accidents when they try to overcome their drowsiness.

Other drivers might use substances to help keep them awake. But stimulants and other drugs can seriously affect a driver’s focus, distracting them from others on the road. Our lawyers can obtain travel logs and other records to see if the driver in your case violated the restrictions on travel time.

Speeding

Speeding truckers cause some of the most devastating accidents in Anderson. Speeding can complicate every other action a truck driver takes. For instance, a trucker might not have enough distance to stop for traffic they fail to notice if they are speeding. Trucks are much larger vehicles, requiring more time to stop the faster the truck is going.

Jackknife accidents can also happen if the driver is speeding with unsecured cargo. Speeding and hard braking can cause the cargo to slide around, shifting the truck's weight. A trucker can easily lose control if the trailer's weight pushes it out of alignment because they brake at a high speed. Our team might be able to obtain the black box information, which might have recorded the truck’s speed when the accident occurred.

How to Determine the Trucking Company’s Liability After a Truck Accident in Anderson, IN

The truck driver will usually not be the only one named in your claim. In most cases, our lawyers will also file a claim against the trucking company the driver works for. Sometimes, a trucking company is directly liable for your injuries, like when it fails to have its trucks routinely serviced. More often than not, a trucking company will be held vicariously responsible for the negligent acts of its driver. Our team can help you gather the evidence you need to show how the trucking company violated its duties.

Direct Liability

A trucking company is directly responsible for your accident if they violated a duty the state and federal government placed on them. For instance, if you were injured because the truck’s brakes failed, our team will look for evidence that shows the brakes were not serviced before the accident. We can do this by obtaining service records and other company documents to see where the gaps in service are.

Trucking companies must also train their drivers adequately. That means training them on proper daily maintenance, travel restrictions for the distance they cover, and hauling the type of materials the company’s trucks carry.

In other cases, a trucking company might not even check if a driver is safe before allowing them on the road. Trucking companies are typically required to conduct background checks and drug tests on potential drivers. For example, a simple criminal history check would reveal whether a driver had a DUI in the past. If the company did not bother to check or knew a driver was dangerous and hired them anyway, our lawyers can help you hold them accountable.

Vicarious Liability

In most situations, our attorneys can usually file a claim against the trucking company under the legal theory of “vicarious liability,” also known as respondeat superior. This rule allows you to pursue compensation against the trucking company even if they did not directly cause your accident.

Vicarious liability holds employers liable for the acts of their employees. However, the driver must be working when the accident occurs for this rule to apply. For instance, if the driver caused your accident because they were speeding to complete a delivery, we can likely hold their employer liable. The rule does not apply, though, if the driver acted alone during company time, like running a personal errand between deliveries.

Determining Other Parties’ Liability in an Anderson, IN Truck Accident

Of course, the truck driver and trucking company might not be at fault at all or, at least, only partially. Many others are responsible for the truck’s maintenance and storing its cargo. Our lawyers can determine if any of the following contributed to your accident in Anderson:

Cargo Loaders and Shippers

Loading and shipping cargo can be quite dangerous if the driver loads their truck improperly. If the driver overloaded their car or did not properly secure the cardo, it can reduce a truck’s handling and make it unstable, potentially causing crashes. Everyone involved in the cargo's lifecycle, including originators, shippers, and loaders, bears responsibility for complying with federal and state regulations regarding cargo transport. When they fail to adhere to these standards, our attorneys can help hold them liable.

Manufacturers and Parts Suppliers

In rare cases, a defective truck part or mechanical failure could cause your accident. If the defect is not one the driver could detect, our team can investigate to see where the malfunction occurred.

Many defects happen either in the design or manufacturing phase, so we might need to file a claim against the part manufacturer or truck itself. Other times, we will need to sue the designer if the flaw is inherent in how the truck is made.

Maintenance Providers

Trucking companies and drivers are typically responsible for their truck’s maintenance. Sometimes, though, they get outside help from independent mechanics or ones working for the truck’s dealership. If our attorneys discover that an outside mechanic serviced the truck in your accident before you were injured, we can add them to your claim with any other defendants.

Our Anderson, IN Truck Accident Lawyers Can Help

Call Wruck Paupore today at (219) 322-1166 for a free case review with our truck accident attorneys.