Every day, most people successfully travel to and from their destinations without becoming involved in a traffic accident. However, not every commute has such a favorable outcome. Although it is unfortunate for those involved, crashes do occur.
Any traffic accident can have a catastrophic outcome, but a collision involving a truck has the potential to be more severe.
Colliding with commercial trucks
Compared to a typical car, a commercial truck is much heavier and requires a greater amount of time to come to a stop. Therefore, if a truck is one of the vehicles involved in a crash, the risk of serious injuries or fatalities increases.
Trucks can pose additional risk due to the freight they carry. If trucks are transporting industrial waste or gasoline or other types of flammable or hazardous materials, such cargo can cause secondary injuries in the event of a crash.
Needing to prove negligence
A person who becomes injured due to a truck accident must prove negligence to win the lawsuit. He or she needs to demonstrate that the defendant, who could be the trucking company or the driver, owed other drivers a legal duty of reasonable care to avoid injury.
The injured person also needs to show that the defendant breached this duty and failed to exercise reasonable care. Finally, the plaintiff must establish that the defendant’s failure caused damages, such as the injury that he or she suffered.
Reporting a truck accident
Those involved must report a truck accident to law enforcement if the accident led to death or injury. They must also report any accident resulting in over $1,000 in property damage.
The city police department represents the appropriate law enforcement agency for an accident that took place in the city. If the crash occurred outside the city limits, then those involved should report it to the sheriff’s office or highway patrol.
