Truck Accident Lawyer In Duluth, Georgia

The commercial trucks category can include 18-wheeler tractor trailers, tanker trucks, delivery vehicles, and other large freight trucks. Commercial trucks can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. Commercial trucks are often used to deliver products and freight for interstate commerce throughout the country, not just in intrastate driving.

That’s not to say that pick-ups and vans can’t also be commercial vehicles. But they can also simply be private vehicles. Pickups and vans also get into truck accidents in Georgia. According to the NHTSA, for example, pick-ups caused 235 deaths in crashes and vans caused 46. Light utility trucks were responsible for 217 fatalities in traffic accidents.

Any collision with pick-ups, light utility trucks, and vans may do more damage than a passenger car, but they are not likely to do as much damage as an 80,000 pound 18-wheeler. That is roughly 40 times as heavy as a small passenger car.

A major difference between any commercial vehicle and a pick-up or van driven for personal use is the licensing requirement and potential liability in an accident. Let’s discuss those.

Commercial truck drivers must have a valid commercial driver’s license (CDL). Drivers need to obtain a CDL in Georgia if they will be driving a combination of vehicles weighing 26, 001 pounds or more, one vehicle that weights 26, 001 pounds or more, a vehicle that requires a placard of hazardous materials, or a vehicle that will be carrying over 15 people, such as a bus.

Large commercial vehicles can be quite different to drive than smaller vehicles. The CDL is designed to require both knowledge of how to operate the larger vehicles and a skills test that demonstrates the ability to do so. Specific tests are also required for specific types of vehicles (school buses, for example) or transport (such as hazardous materials).

The tests also require drivers to know pertinent information, such as how to check a truck’s load.

If you have been injured in a truck accident in Georgia, liability for any injuries and property damage rests with the at-fault party, which can be a person, a company, or other entity. This is true of any vehicle accident, whether it’s with a truck or not.

However, commercial truck liability can be very complicated to assess. The reason? Multiple parties may bear responsibility for an accident occurring in a commercial truck accident.

If the driver’s actions cause the accident, the driver (via the insurance company) will be liable for your injuries. If the driver is speeding and going too fast to stop at a red light, for example, and runs into you in an intersection, the driver is at fault. You can pursue the driver’s insurance company to pay damages from the accident, such as medical bills for injuries caused by the accident and any wages lost from work the accident caused. You may also pursue a personal injury claim for these damages, and pain and suffering.

But other factors can cause what appears on the surface to be driver error. If commercial trucks are not maintained properly, the brakes or other areas may not work properly. If brake failure was the reason the truck didn’t stop, the truck’s owner, the truck fleet owner, or the company charged with doing periodic inspections, maintenance, and repairs can all be partially or even completely responsible. Federal regulations require commercial truck owners to perform regular inspections, maintenance, and necessary repairs.

In addition, improper loading of the cargo into the truck can cause some truck accidents. It needs to be balanced and secured in very specific, appropriate ways. If it isn’t, the truck can become difficult or even impossible to steer. Unbalanced or too heavy loads can prompt rollovers and jack-knifes, especially if the driver goes too fast or the weather is inclement.

Defective components or defects in truck manufacturing can cause accidents. The manufacturer or maker of the truck and its components can be liable if that’s the case.

Finally, if a truck driver causes an accident and does not have a valid CDL license, the entity responsible for hiring drivers can be partially liable for the accident, because trucking companies have a responsibility to hire qualified drivers.

Because of the potential for multiple at-fault parties (often with different insurance companies), it’s often necessary to investigate the causes of accidents involving large commercial trucks. Law firms often work with investigative teams in such cases.