It goes without saying that each auto accident is unique. There are minor yet key differences that effect the assessment of liability, and ultimately responsibility for damages. If, however, you are involved in an accident with a commercial truck or another automobile owned by a business, this will fundamentally change the way your personal injury case is handled and valued. Beyond the usual negligence analysis, there are additional state and federal laws and regulations governing commercial vehicles that must be considered. The collection of evidence and the establishment of liability get more sophisticated with commercial truck accidents. It's important to know the steps to take after being injured in a commercial truck crash.

5 KEY DIFFERENCES OF COMMERCIAL TRUCK ACCIDENTS

 

When it comes to commercial truck accidents . . . size does matter! Federal and state safety regulations specifically target large trucks that weigh between 10,000 and 90,000 pounds because they are more difficult to operate safely and they cause such catastrophic  damage when they contact smaller passenger cars. The government requires commercial trucks to comply with special regulations to keep the general public safe.If a commercial truck is not properly maintained or inspected, it is considered to have been “out of service” and never should have been on the road. In addition to vehicle maintenance records, a drivers' log is the other critical piece of evidence in a commercial truck accident. Long haul drivers must take federally mandated breaks and are only allowed to operate for a maximum set of hours before they must shut the vehicle down and rest. 

 

 

 

Considering the serious nature of these types of accidents and the damages that could result, commercial truck drivers, their employers, and their insurance providers avoid accepting responsibility for their negligence. The mindset here is simple to understand . . .  business income is impacted by accepting liability. It takes a thorough investigation and some hardball tactics to get  truck drivers and their employers to admit fault and disclose regulation violations. Victims of trucking accidents need to be patient and persistent in order to prove the trucking company and its driver caused the negligently caused the crash, either through negligence of operation of the vehicle or in the maintenance of the vehicle. Law enforcement officers will prepare a report and make conclusions on who contributed to the crash, yet this determination by law enforcement is not binding on the insurance companies. Trucking companies and insurance companies will contest the conclusions of law enforcement and actively shield evidence after a crash. Victims of commercial truck crashes who read the  police report are often frustrated to learn that the despite those conclusions, the trucking company and their insurance company continue to deny the claim. 

 

 

Remember earlier when I said size does matter . . . well it is clear to see the physics and the science involved when an 80,000 lb. tractor trailer hits a 4,000 lb. passenger car. Multiply the mass of the truck with its speed, and you begin to see the exponential difference between the force delivered by commercial trucks versus passenger cars. The force delivered by commercial trucks often causes very severe and catastrophic damages to property and to accident victims. Injuries that occur as a result of a commercial truck collision include catastrophic brain injuries, amputations, broken bones, paralysis and even death. 

Example: To demonstrate the force delivered by a fully loaded tractor trailer, lets look at he scientific formula for measuring force. The scientific formula for force is mass of the object multiplied by its acceleration. Therefore, a commercial truck, loaded with cargo, that weighs 80,000 lbs. traveling 10 mph delivers the same amount of force as a 4,000 lb. passenger car traveling at a speed of 200 miles per hour . . . let that sink in for a second!

4. THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE "BUSINESS" IN THE ACCIDENT

One very fundamental and key component to any accident involving a commercial vehicle will be the capacity the driver of the vehicle was acting in at the time of the wreck. Was he on the clock? Was he delivering for his employer? Did the employer do its due diligence in hiring, training and supervising its employee who caused the crash? Did the company properly maintain and service the vehicle? Did the employer encourage the employer to shortcut and bypass safety protocols in order to increase the bottom line? Did the employer look the other way at employee violations of safety regulations such as hours of service and mandatory down time. Generally speaking, when the driver who causes a crash is working at the time, the employer of that driver is usually responsible. 

5. VEHICLES OWNED BY BUSINESSES USUALLY CARRY MORE INSURANCE THAN PERSONALLY OWNED VEHICLES

Unlike privately owned passenger cars, businesses usually carry an umbrella liability policy on all of the vehicles in its fleet. The most common coverages that I see on these umbrella policies is either $500,000.00 or $1,000,000.00 policy limits. These policies serve the businesses in two primary ways. One, from a business perspective, it is cheaper to by a single umbrella high limit policy to cover their entire fleet than to purchase a policy for each individual vehicle. Second, these high limits of coverage on commercial vehicle liability policies acknowledge that accidents involving larger commercial vehicles often have more severe property damage and statistically more likely lead to catastrophic personal injuries. Therefore, the higher limits do more accurately reflect the possible exposure of a business to personal injuries claims arising out of the negligent operation of a commercial vehicle.