Who’s Responsible in Truck Accident Cases?

Most automobiles are driven by the owner of the car or one of the owners. Occasionally, an owner will give someone else (for example, a child) permission to drive the car. When an accident happens, the driver and/or the owners are usually sued so they can be held accountable for the accident.

Truck accidents are often much more complicated. Typically, trucks are owned by an individual or a company. The truck owner then contracts to ship goods/products from a shipping company to a receiving company. When an accident happens, a personal injury lawyer has to determine which defendants to sue and which insurance policies apply.

Typical defendants in a truck accident case include:

• The driver of the truck
• The owner of the truck: This may not be as simple as it sounds. The owner of the truck may be a corporation, partnership, or an individual. If the owner is a corporation, that corporation may be owned by a parent company. Sometimes the truck driver or truck owner leases the truck from another company.
• The company whose products were being shipped: This company may have some responsibility especially if the cargo spilled and causes damage or was improperly loaded inside a closed container.
• The company that was getting the products: Like the shipping company, this company may have some responsibility too, especially if the cargo spilled and caused harm.

A personal injury lawyer will need to check Virginia records for accidents that happened in those states. The attorney may also need to check out-of-state records because the trucking company may be based in other states. There may be contracts between the defendants that dictate who’s responsible. Each defendant may have a different insurance policy. There’s a lot of work to be done.

An Experienced Norfolk Truck Accident Lawyer Can Help

Norfolk truck accident attorney Joe Miller at Joe Miller Law, will target all responsible parties for a truck accident. He knows that often times more than one defendant is responsible for a truck or car accident. His 25 years of experience include lawsuits against individuals and businesses, and he has experience negotiating with many adjusters and trying complicated cases. Don’t try to figure out the insurance and responsibility issues on your own. Get advice and representation from Joe Miller Esq. today by calling (888) 694-1671.