The D.C. metro area is always buzzing. This means that traffic is often heavy, and that your chances of being in a car accident may be heightened. If you’re reading this blog, then you’re probably well-aware of the dangers posed by negligent drivers. The damages can be nothing short of stunning. This is especially true for those individuals who have been injured in a truck accident because the sheer size of big rigs tend to utterly devastate other vehicles and their passengers.
The good news is that truck accident victims might be able to recover compensation for their damages if they are able to succeed on a personal injury claim. This means proving negligence on the part of a trucker, but even winning a lawsuit against a negligent trucker doesn’t automatically mean that you’ll recover the compensation that you deserve. This is because many truckers simply lack the financial resources to pay judgments against them, especially when those damages are extensive like those seen with catastrophic injuries.
So what are you to do? Consider a vicarious liability claim. This is claim that is filed against a negligent truckers employer seeking to hold it accountable for the employee’s negligent actions. To succeed, you have to show that the negligent trucker was performing his or her job duties when the accident occurred, the trucker was not detouring from his or her prescribed course, and that the employer was benefitting from the trucker’s duties that were being conducted when the accident occurred.
Of course, going up against a truck company and its attorneys can be challenging, especially when they have well developed legal defenses ready to go. Therefore, you need to know how to gather evidence supporting a vicarious liability claim before moving forward, as well as how to anticipate and counter potential defenses. If you’re successful in doing so, though, then you might secure the financial resources you need and deserve to move past your accident with focus on your health and financial wellbeing moving forward.