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Truck accidents can be incredibly frightening for everyone involved. Dealing with insurance-related issues adds even more stress and confusion. Most truck drivers work for a truck company, so who is responsible?
If the truck driver was working for a company at the time of the accident, an Oklahoma truck accident lawyer can help. Knowing the various factors in determining who is at fault for the accident allows you to handle insurance claims more confidently.
Determining Fault
Determining who is at fault for an accident often indicates which party is responsible for paying the costs associated with the accident. Truck accidents are extremely complicated; a truck collision attorney in Oklahoma can help you understand who is liable.
Trucking Company
In many cases, employers are responsible for their drivers’ actions, assuming those actions are within the scope of the job. A trucking company’s insurance will usually cover its driver’s actions. Experienced legal representation for truck crashes in Oklahoma can help you navigate the trucking company’s insurance policies.
The trucking company may also be liable if it:
- Did not provide sufficient training to drivers
- Failed to enforce laws and policies to prevent truck drivers from driving too many hours in a day (if the driver’s fatigue led to an accident)
- Did not provide appropriate maintenance or inspections on the truck (if the vehicle itself failed and caused an accident)
Find an Oklahoma lawyer for truck accidents you can trust to help you understand whether the trucking company was liable for your accident.
Truck Driver
If the truck driver was not working for a company, it may be their individual responsibility to pay. Similarly, if the truck driver was driving outside the “scope of employment” — for example, operating the truck for something not required by or within the responsibilities of their job — it may be the driver’s responsibility.
Alternatively, even if the truck driver was driving for their job, they might be held individually responsible if they acted deliberately (e.g., purposefully causing an accident out of anger). No matter the details, an Oklahoma truck accident lawyer can help.
Truck’s Owner
An Oklahoma truck accident injury lawyer can also help in more complicated cases where neither the truck driver nor the trucking company is at fault. Sometimes, the trucking company doesn’t own the truck, but a third party does. In those cases, it might have been the responsibility of the company that owned the truck to provide maintenance and inspections on the vehicle.
Manufacturer
The truck manufacturer may also be responsible. If the manufacturer designed an unsafe truck and the flaw led to an accident, the manufacturer could be held liable. For this to happen, there typically must be a proven design or manufacturing defect that led to the accident.
Cargo Loader
Our Oklahoma truck accident lawsuit attorneys can also help if the cargo loader is responsible for a truck accident. Sometimes, truck accidents are due to unevenly loaded or distributed cargo that unbalances the truck. If a third party was responsible for safely loading and inspecting the cargo on a truck but failed to do so, they may be liable.
Reach Out Today
With so many factors to consider, having an experienced Oklahoma truck accident lawyer in your corner can make all the difference as you pursue legal action after a truck accident. Reach out to the team at Bryan Garrett, PLLC, at (405) 972-6931 to learn more about how we can support you.
