Truck Driver Negligence
Truck driver negligence can turn an 80,000-pound vehicle on New Jersey highways into a dangerous road hazard. Operating a commercial truck is a complicated business and requires extensive training and strict adherence to safety regulations. When these safety measures are skipped and drivers speed, drink, or otherwise engage in careless or reckless behavior, other motorists and passengers on NJ roads can suffer serious injuries.
What exactly is truck driver negligence and how can it be proved? Let’s look.
What is Truck Driver Negligence?
Truck driver negligence is when a truck driver fails to drive safely, resulting in harm to another person. This failure can manifest in multiple ways, from actions like driving under the influence (DUI) to failing to conduct a proper pre-trip inspection. Proving such negligence is important in a successful personal injury or wrongful death claim following a truck accident
What are the Four Pillars of a Driver’s Negligence?
To legally establish truck driver negligence, four key elements must be proven:
- Duty of Care: The individual (plaintiff) must first demonstrate that the truck driver owed them a duty of care. This is generally straightforward in traffic accidents, as all drivers have a legal obligation to operate their vehicles safely to avoid harming others on the road. For truck drivers, this duty is elevated due to the inherent danger associated with large commercial vehicles.
- Breach of Duty: The next step is to prove that the truck driver breached this duty of care. This involves showing that the driver’s actions or inactions fell short of the accepted standard of care for a professional truck driver.
- Causation: It is not enough to show a breach of duty; the plaintiff must also prove that this specific breach was the direct and proximate cause of the accident and the resulting injuries. This means establishing a clear link between the driver’s negligence and the harm that occurred.
- Damages: Finally, the plaintiff must demonstrate that they suffered actual damages as a result of the truck accident. These can include medical expenses, lost wages, property damage, pain and suffering, and other losses.
Examples of Trucker Negligence
Trucking accidents represent a disproportionate amount of fatal accidents on our highways. The large size of tractor-trailers, semis, and other 18-wheelers makes them more difficult to maneuver and turns them into a deadly weapons in a crash with a passenger vehicle. Drivers must be extremely careful when operating commercial trucks and avoid at-risk driver behaviors. Even in the best of circumstances, an 18-wheeler can cause extensive damage in any collision.
Most truck drivers follow the rules and drive safely, but others choose to skip important safety precautions in the interest of meeting a delivery deadline. A study by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration of causes of large truck crashes said that 88 percent of the time that a large truck caused a crash, the truck driver’s actions or behavior was the critical factor leading to the accident.
Truck driver negligence can come in many forms, but some of the most common include:
- Driving too fast for conditions;
- Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol;
- Speeding;
- Following too close/tailgating;
- Make illegal driving maneuvers;
- Failing to properly inspect the condition of the vehicle;
- Failing to secure the load properly or overloading the vehicle;
- Not paying attention to the highway, traffic or weather conditions;
- Tired or Drowsy Driving – skipping mandated sleep breaks in order to meet a deadline.
- Falsifying driver logs to exceed permitted hours of driving.
When truck driver negligence contributes to an accident involving injuries, both the driver and the trucking company may be held liable – particularly when driver negligence is also attributed to pressure from the company to deliver the load on time.
The tractor-trailer accident attorneys of Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. have three decades of experience in representing persons who have been injured or killed in trucking collisions throughout the State of New Jersey and New York. We know the importance of gathering and evaluating all of the available evidence after a trucking accident to ensure documentation isn’t destroyed.
The trucking company’s insurance investigators and their lawyers will often arrive at an accident scene as quickly as the police and emergency personnel, collecting evidence to help their case against any injury claim. An experienced lawyer from the New Jersey office Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. can deal directly with the insurance carrier to ensure that your rights are protected. We consult with crash reconstruction experts and medical personnel to build an effective and accurate picture of what went wrong and why. Our experience in presenting trucking accident cases has helped recover damages for our clients that help pay for medical care and rebuild their lives – and those of their families.
Experienced New Jersey Truck Accident Assistance
The New Jersey truck accident lawyers at Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., have been helping people who have been injured in New Jersey accidents since 1981. We have handled thousands of accident injury claims, obtaining excellent results for our clients in many instances. Each case and the results vary, so we invite you to contact an accident lawyer at our New Jersey or New York offices to discuss the specifics of your situation. If we take your case, you can be assured we will use all the resources of our law firm to develop a strong argument for monetary damages and other compensation for you.
To speak with a personal injury trial lawyer with many years of experience, contact our New Jersey or New York offices at 1-800-LAW-2000. We do not charge attorney’s fees unless we are successful in your case and our initial consultations are free.
