If you get involved in a crash with an 18-wheeler, you may feel that it is the driver’s fault. That truck driver made some sort of mistake and caused the accident. You know that you didn’t do anything wrong, so the fault has to lie with them.
But it may not. There are situations in which the truck driver may have done everything in their power to drive safely and avoid a crash, but those efforts were undermined. The actual responsibility lies with the trucking company itself. How could this happen?
The truck was poorly maintained
One issue may be if the truck is owned by the company, not the driver, and that truck has not been properly maintained. It’s very important to do routine maintenance simply because large trucks spend so much time on the road. With their weight and the size of the loads that they carry, these miles put a lot of stress on the vehicle.
But the trucking company may be more focused on productivity than on doing maintenance on the right schedule. If something like the brakes aren’t working properly, this could mean that the driver is desperately trying to stop while still being involved in an accident that they can’t avoid. This is just one way that maintenance could lead to a crash.
The driver was asked to avoid safety protocols
In some situations, the trucking company may pressure the driver to do something that doesn’t seem safe. For instance, drivers are only supposed to stay behind the wheel for a certain amount of hours before taking mandatory breaks. But this slows down the transportation of goods. If the trucking company pressures the driver to drive for too long, that driver could become overly fatigued and cause an accident. But they may not have wanted to drive that long in the first place, and it could be the company’s policy – whether it’s official or not – that caused them to do so.
What options do you have?
Determining who was at fault is a very important part of seeking financial compensation for your injuries. Make sure you know exactly what options you have and what steps you need to take.