Frequently Asked Questions about Truck Accident Injuries
Provided by the Truck Accident Injury Law Firm of Messa & Associates, serving clients through Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey
Q: What is a trucking/vehicular accident?
A person who operates a vehicle is expected to exercise reasonable
care. A failure to use reasonable care resulting in an accident
is considered negligence. A person who negligently operates a
vehicle may be required to pay for any damages, either to a person
or property, caused by his or her negligence.
Q: What is to be proved in a personal injury action
under a trucking/vehicular accident?
The injured party is required to prove that the person who caused
the accident was negligent, that negligence was a proximate cause
of the accident, and that the accident caused the plaintiff's
injuries. A driver may also be liable for an accident due to his
or her intentional or reckless conduct.
Q: What are the damages recoverable in a trucking/vehicular
accident?
The law permits a person to seek recovery after an accident to
“make his/her whole again.” The central concept is
that one should be compensated in a manner that, as best as the
law can arrange, places one back in the same position as he/ she
were before the accident. In addition to normal compensatory damages,
punitive damages are awarded in extreme cases if the injury was
the result of someone else's reckless or irresponsible behavior,
or if the cause of the accident or the extent of the injury was
caused by defective or dangerous nature of the vehicle that the
manufacturer ought to have corrected.
Q: What regulations are enforced for truck driver
conduct?
A truck driver is prohibited from operating a commercial motor vehicle
if their conduct includes:
- Containing blood alcohol concentration of 0.02 or greater when
reporting for their assignment
- Possession of alcohol on their persons, which also includes
medication containing alcohol such as cold medicine or cough syrup.
If alcohol is part of the shipment it must remain stored and not
in the passenger or driver seat.
- Alcohol consumption during a performance of safety-sensitive
functions
- Consumption of alcohol within 8 hours prior to an accident,
if occurred
- Use of any drug that affects the driver’s ability to
operate a motor vehicle when reporting for duty
- Refusal to comply with any Department of Transportation mandated
alcohol or drug test
Q: Who can be held liable in commercial
trucking accidents?
The driver and / or company at fault for causing the accident can
be held liable an sued. Any entity that could have contributed to
the accident can also be held liable, such as:
- Shipper that owns or handled the cargo in the truck
- Vehicle manufacture of truck involved in the accident
- Manufacturer of the tire from the truck that caused the accident
- Owner of any public or private property whose negligence contributed
to the accident
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