The Cassidy Law Firm Blog

Sunday, August 25, 2024

I Was in an Accident With a Truck That Was Privately Owned by the Driver & Not the Company He Was Hauling For. Can I Bring a Claim Against Him?

Getting in a traffic accident can be a very stressful situation, especially if it involves a truck. These commercial vehicles weigh more than passenger cars, and can inflict more damage on you, your vehicle and your passengers. Complicating matters is when you have an accident with a privately owned truck that is working for a company. The relative liability will often turn on questions of truck ownership and usage. This is why it is important to retain an experienced traffic accident attorney when you are injured in a collision with a truck in New Jersey.

Who is liable for the accident?

When bringing a lawsuit in an accident with a commercial truck, a great deal will depend upon the ownership of the truck, and the relationship of the driver to the company. This is why it is important to get as much information as possible from the driver of the truck at the scene of the accident. Obviously, if you are incapacitated by your injuries, this may not be possible. In this situation, you or your attorney can find out the information later.

If the truck involved in the accident is owned by a company and the driver is an employee, then you can hold the company liable for your injuries. This may be complicated if the employee was using the truck outside of his or her scope of employment, but this is something that the company will have to prove. Trucking companies are responsible for the training of their employees, as well as ensuring that the drivers they employ have the proper commercial license. In addition, these companies are required to keep their trucks in proper working order, and must inspect the cargo beforehand to make sure it is secure. Failure in any regard can lead to a claim for negligence.

The situation is different if the truck is owned by the driver and not the company. In this case, the driver is probably an independent contractor of the company, as opposed to an employee. An independent contractor is someone who is self-employed and works for the trucking company on a contract basis often using his or her own vehicle. Here, the driver is personally liable. This person has the responsibility of making sure the truck is properly maintained and that he or she holds the proper license and experience to operate the vehicle in question. Only in limited situations can you hold the trucking company liable as well as the driver, such as if the trucking company loaded the cargo on the truck, and this cargo was the proximate cause of the accident.

What kind of insurance do drivers and companies carry?

In addition to special licenses, truck drivers and trucking companies operating in New Jersey are required to hold commercial vehicle insurance policies. These have high liability coverage limits, such as the $1.5 million for commercial motor vehicles weighing more than 26,001 pounds, and $300,000 for those weighing between 10,001 and 26,001 pounds. These will often exceed the limits set for passenger car drivers in the State. As such, you should be able to get compensated for most of your injuries and damages from the commercial insurance carried by the truck driver or company, depending on the circumstances of truck ownership and employment. The New Jersey commercial insurance limits are currently higher than the minimum amounts set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

What happens if I was partially at fault?

In many accidents, both drivers contributed to the causation of the accident. New Jersey operates under the modified comparative negligence rule. This will not stop you from receiving compensation for your damages and injuries, as long as you were not more than 50 percent at fault for the accident. Rather, this rule will reduce the amount depending on your contribution to the fault of the collision. So if your actions or negligence were 40% of the fault, then you will still be able to collect up to 60% of compensation for your injuries.

If you have been injured in an accident with a truck in New Jersey, call our firm today

New Jersey is a very busy trucking route and accidents occur all of the time. There are complexities to a traffic accident with a truck that don’t exist when you are involved in a collision with another passenger vehicle. This is why you should call the Cassidy Law Firm so our team of experienced accident attorneys can help you with your case.


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