Shreveport Injury Lawyer > Blog > Truck Accident > Can Another Party Be Liable for a Single-Vehicle Truck Crash?

Can Another Party Be Liable for a Single-Vehicle Truck Crash?

When single-vehicle collisions occur, many people assume that the driver of the vehicle bears sole liability for the crash and any resulting injuries. As a result, many people who are injured as vehicle occupants in a single-vehicle crash mistakenly believe that they cannot file a civil claim against another party to seek damages. However, there are many reasons that single-vehicle motor vehicle crashes can occur that do not involve the driver’s negligence, and this is particularly true in single-vehicle wrecks involving large trucks or 18-wheelers. A truck driver who has been injured in a single-vehicle collision should get in touch with a personal injury attorney to find out about options for seeking financial compensation.

While many truck accident claims involve an injured party filing a claim against a truck driver or a party connected to the truck driver, it is important to know that truckers can also be injured because of the negligence or carelessness of another party, too, and may be able to obtain damages by filing a lawsuit.

Common Causes of Truck Crashes

Parties other than truck drivers may be liable for injuries in a trucking collision, even when it is a single-vehicle crash involving only the 18-wheeler. To understand how other parties could be liable, it is essential to learn more about common causes of trucking crashes. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), the following are common causes of truck collisions, including causes of single-vehicle truck wrecks:

Driver negligence, meaning a truck driver or another motorist;
Defective truck parts, such as a defective braking system or defective tires;
Improperly loaded trailer;
Negligent maintenance of the truck; and
Inclement weather.

Not All Trucking Crashes Result from Truck Driver Negligence

Some crashes involving large trucks certainly do happen because of the truck driver’s negligence, whether the trucker is too fatigued to be on the road, intoxicated, distracted, or behaving aggressively. Yet there are many other causes of truck collisions, as well, including single-vehicle truck crashes. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), about 13 percent of all truck crashes are caused by factors other than a driver’s negligence, including vehicle issues and environmental factors. Yet even in cases where a driver’s negligence causes the wreck, the truck driver might not be the one at fault. To be sure, a negligent automobile driver may have swerved in front of the trucker erratically in a manner that caused the truck to drive off the road, for example.

Liability for Single-Vehicle Truck Collisions

When a trucker is not responsible for a single-vehicle truck crash, who may be liable? The following parties could bear some or all responsibility for the wreck, depending on the facts of the case:

Motorist in a car or another vehicle on the road with the truck;
Designer or manufacturer of a defective truck part;
The mechanic who negligently maintained or repaired the truck;
Truck owner who failed to have routine maintenance performed on the vehicle; and
Owner of the property where the crash occurred if a hazard existed on the property.

Contact Our Shreveport Truck Crash Attorneys Today

Do you need help seeking compensation for injuries in a single-vehicle crash? An experienced Shreveport trucking collision attorney at Rice & Kendig, LLC can speak with you about your case and your options for moving forward with a claim.

Sources:

fmcsa.dot.gov/safety/research-and-analysis/large-truck-crash-causation-study-analysis-brief

iihs.org/topics/large-trucks#:~:text=In%202021%2C%204%2C714%20people%20died,were%20pedestrians%2C%20bicyclists%20or%20motorcyclists

By Rice & Kendig, LLC | Posted on April 16, 2024

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