How to Prove Liability in a Truck Accident Claim

If you or a loved one have been injured in a truck accident caused by the negligence of a truck driver or trucking carrier, you may be able to recover compensation for your losses. However, truck accident claims in Connecticut are challenging, particularly when it comes to determining liability. Here, we want to review how our team works to prove liability for a truck accident claim as we work to recover compensation for a client.

Speak to an Attorney Soon After the Crash

One mistake that individuals often make after an accident involving a larger commercial truck is failing to reach out to an attorney promptly. These incidents can become complicated very quickly, and an attorney needs to be involved to speak to the parties involved and begin gathering evidence.

It is not uncommon for trucking companies and their insurance carriers to try and settle these claims quickly, often for much less than what a crash victim should actually receive. When a truck accident attorney is involved, they can slow this process a bit to ensure that you, as the crash victim, receive fair treatment every step of the way.

Gather and Preserve Evidence

Regardless of whether or not you contact an attorney promptly, evidence must be gathered. In many cases, this includes evidence from the scene of the incident. Some of the main types of evidence that can assist with determining liability include the following:

• Photographs taken at the scene of the incident (of debris, skid marks, vehicle damage, injuries, traffic and weather patterns, etc.).
• Statements from eyewitnesses to the incident or at least contact information for eyewitnesses so they can be contacted later on.
• Video surveillance footage from nearby cameras, which can include cameras on homes, businesses, or even dash cams inside vehicles.

This is only a sampling of information that will need to be gathered to determine liability. In fact, this is the easiest evidence to gather, as the rest will likely be complicated by the trucking company or insurance carriers.

What Will an Attorney Do?

An attorney will work diligently to fully investigate the claim and gather more evidence to determine liability. Some of the types of evidence that an attorney will be more adept at gathering include:

• Maintenance and inspection records from the trucking company or truck owner-operator
• Truck company employment and training records
• The electronic logging device (ELD) and the event data recorder (EDR) for the commercial truck
• The driver’s commercial driving history records
• Medical records related to your injuries

For complex claims where fault is not relatively clear, it may be necessary to enlist assistance from accident reconstruction experts who can utilize computer technology, science, and math to help show what likely occurred to cause the incident.

Ultimately, your attorney’s goal is to show that the commercial truck driver or trucking company (or any other party found to be liable) owed a duty of care to the injury victim and breached their duty of care in some way. An attorney will work to show that this breach of duty caused the injuries in question and that the injury victim sustained monetary losses as a result.