Who Is Liable for a Truck Accident in New Jersey?

It’s no easy task to control a truck. When truck drivers head onto the highway, several parties must work in tandem to avoid catastrophic failures. When one or more of those parties behave negligently, you and your family can suffer the consequences.

Who, though, is liable for a truck accident in New Jersey? The answer to that question varies based on your circumstances. If you want to pursue legal action in the wake of a truck accident, you can rely on our attorneys to help you find the evidence you need to establish liability.

Evidence Assigns Liability After a Truck Accident

While you can sometimes follow your gut in the wake of a truck accident, it’s always best to rely on evidence to help establish accident liability. You do not have to gather evidence of liability at the scene of your accident, particularly not while seeking essential medical care. Instead, you can work with the professionals in your area to revisit the scene as necessary.

Our office collaborates with medical professionals, expert witnesses, and accident recreationists to better understand how your accident took place. We can also gather physical debris and bystander accounts to determine what behaviors resulted in your losses.

Using Evidence to Elaborate on a Violated Duty of Care

When determining who to hold liable for a truck accident in New Jersey, evidence helps you establish the duty of care owed to you by an allegedly liable party. This duty of care represents the responsibility a truck driver and other affiliated parties have to other drivers on the road. 

Truck drivers, in particular, must take reasonable care to protect other parties from harm, given the size of their vehicles. If you want to pursue compensation for your truck accident’s losses, you need to indicate liability, losses, and a violated duty of care. This is easier to do when you have a personal injury lawyer on call. 

We can establish your relationship with the liable party and use the aforementioned evidence to claim negligence and/or unreasonable behavior.

Who to Hold Accountable for New Jersey Truck Accidents

While truck drivers are often the first people blamed in the wake of an accident, there are other parties that can be held accountable for vehicular failures. That’s why it’s important not to jump to any conclusions about liability in the wake of an accident. Instead, work with an attorney to better assess the circumstances that led to your losses.

The parties most often brought forward in civil truck accident claims include:

Truck Drivers

Truck agencies can require their drivers to work under dangerous conditions. Weather, lack of sleep, and distracted driving can all impact a driver’s performance behind the wheel. That’s no excuse for negligent behavior, but these conditions can result in accidents that you can then take to civil court.

Of course, you can only file a suit against an individual truck driver if that driver operates as an independent contractor. Independent contractors do not benefit from their employer’s legal teams and must defend themselves in civil court. Similarly, any compensation you receive will come from that driver’s individual insurance.

Trucking Agencies and Their Staff

If the truck driver who hits you is on duty at the time of the accident and operates as a full-time employee with an agency, your circumstances change. You can then take up a complaint against that individual’s company. In these cases, you’re likely to negotiate a settlement offer with a company’s legal team – or take the whole of the company to civil court.

Some companies will try to deny a staff member’s role within their company if they want to get out of paying reparations, though. You can work with our team to challenge a company’s attempt to remove an employee from its roster. 

A Truck Manufacturer or Mechanic

Contending with a truck’s mechanical failure can be tricky, particularly when considering accident liability. On the one hand, you need to look at the role the truck’s manufacturer may have played in your accident. If the truck wasn’t inspected appropriately or properly made, you can take up a complaint against that manufacturer.

Alternatively, the fault for a mechanic failure may lie with an automotive mechanic. Mechanics can overlook common truck problems due to their tight schedules or lack of knowledge. In these cases, their oversight and/or refusal to address a problem can give you the right to take them to civil court.

Of course, there’s a chance that a mechanic or manufacturer may have a deal with a trucking agency. If the agency holds some manner of authority over these aforementioned parties, you should bring your complaint up against the agency. You can communicate with an attorney about the specifics of your circumstances if you’re not sure how to proceed.

Third-Party Associates

There’s always a chance that a party not on the scene at the time of an accident contributed to your losses. Government representatives, for example, who fail to take care of their roads can be held accountable for truck accidents. So can truck packers who ineffectively loaded a vehicle.

Again, the heart of your complaint needs to be evidence. If you suspect these parties contributed to your losses, you can work with our team to begin building your case.

Talk to Our Attorneys About Your Truck Accident Today

Distinguishing who you can hold responsible for your truck accident losses isn’t always easy. You don’t have to gather evidence from your accident on your own. Instead, you can contact the personal injury lawyer with Morelli Law Firm. Our New Jersey representatives can work with you to assess the circumstances that contributed to your losses.

For more information about who you can hold liable for an NJ truck accident, request a case evaluation with our New Jersey representatives. Let’s schedule your consultation online or over the phone.