A pair of eyes reveals one big difference between a commercial truck crash and the collision of two cars. In the latter case, both vehicles are of a small to moderate size. Yet that factor does not cause the statute of limitations to be decidedly shorter, following a car collision. In fact, the victim injured by a commercial truck has only 120 days in which to file a lawsuit.
Comparing the costs associated with each incident
The person that has been injured by a commercial truck can expect to be held responsible for a large number of medical bills. Some will reflect the amount of time that the accident victim spent going to doctor’s visits or time staying in the hospital. Others will represent charges for diagnostic tests, medications or therapy.
Normally, someone that has been involved in a car crash does not suffer such terrible injuries. At least, any acquired injury heals relatively quickly. Few such injuries force the affected victim to undergo a period of rehabilitation. Sometimes the nature of medical problems caused by a truck-related accident forces the injured driver to miss many weeks, possibly months of work. Hence compensation for lost wages will prove inadequate, unless the same driver receives a huge award. Drivers that acquired injuries during a collision seldom receive such an award.
Who might be the target of a negligence claim?
When two cars collide, one or both drivers bear some responsibility for what happened. Seldom does the legal system consider charging anyone else with neglectful and careless behavior. At the time of a commercial truck crash, it becomes harder for the plaintiff’s attorney to point a finger at a particular person.
That Injury Lawyer in Richmond Hill must study the rules governing the behavior of trucking companies. Did the company that had hired driver of the responsible vehicle break any of those same rules? If it did, it could be charged with negligence. Was the same truck in good condition? Had it undergone the required maintenance check, before carrying a heavy load over the roadways? If it suffered a mechanical failure, then the resulting accident could be declared the fault of the manufacturer or the mechanic.
What about the trucker? Was he or she in good health? More importantly, did that driver’s behavior jeopardize retention of that good heath? A jury in a courtroom might view such behavior as an example of careless and neglectful actions. For example, did the driver’s assigned schedule include time for periodic rest stops? What about any driver-created schedule? In the absence of such rest stops, the driver’s eyes would certainly get heavy. That would create the type of situation that encourages occurrence of a collision.