If you have been injured in a truck accident, one of the first steps toward recovery of damages is identifying prospective defendants in your case. In other words, who was responsible for causing the accident and who will be sued by you and your Los Angeles truck accident attorney?
While there may be multiple parties that can be held liable for your injuries and damages arising from a truck accident in California, it is critical to understand that both small and big-name trucking companies employ certain dishonest tactics to shield themselves from liability and prevent victims from filing a personal injury lawsuit against them.
Today, our best truck accident attorney at the Compass Law Group, LLP is going to outline a non-exhaustive list of parties that can be held liable in your claim or lawsuit:
- The at-fault truck driver who was responsible for causing the accident;
- The truck driver’s trucking company and the owner of the truck involved in the crash;
- Party(ies) responsible for maintaining, inspecting, and servicing the truck involved in the accident (a rule of thumb is that the trucking company handles repairs, maintenance, inspections, and everything that has to do with keeping the trucks in good condition);
- Parties responsible for training the driver and/or supervising his/her behavior, if any;
- Other drivers and motorists (other than the truck driver) who may have contributed to causing the accident.
- The manufacturer of the equipment, components, and parts of the truck, and the manufacturer of the truck involved in the crash if it was defective or inherently dangerous;
- Repair shops and/or mechanics who were responsible for repairing or replacing damaged or worn-out parts of the truck;
- Parties responsible for hiring and supervising truck drivers, especially those who have a prior history of truck or car accident-related convictions or have violated traffic rules or trucking regulations in the past;
- A passenger in the truck who was with the at-fault truck driver at the time of the collision. It is not uncommon for truck drivers to bring along someone else to be their passenger in the truck. If that person somehow contributed to causing the truck crash, he or she may be held liable as well;
- A government entity or municipality that was responsible for the accident. The most common example is a dangerous condition on the public road (a pothole, cracked surface, and other poor road conditions).
Who is responsible for causing your truck accident?
Only an experienced Truck Accident Attorney in Los Angeles can identify all liable parties in your particular case, determine liability, and evaluate the cost of your injuries and damages.
In most truck accidents, the at-fault truck driver and his/her trucking company are held liable, though it may not always be possible to file a lawsuit against the trucking company if it shields itself from liability by using third party logistics companies.
This is a common practice in Los Angeles and all across California that prevents victims of truck accidents from recovering damages, as independent contractors are given protections against liability in trucking accidents in California. Time and time again, our skilled lawyers at the Compass Law Group, LLP, have succeeded at holding trucking companies accountable for their negligence, recklessness, and violations of laws and trucking regulations.
