KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Multiple parties—including the truck driver, trucking company, cargo loaders, and truck parts manufacturers—may be liable for your truck accident.
- Virginia’s contributory negligence law bars you from receiving compensation if you’re even partially liable for your truck accident.
- Strong evidence, such as black box data, driver logs, and maintenance records, can help our attorneys prove that someone else is entirely at fault for your truck accident.
Who Can Be Held Liable for a Truck Accident in Virginia?
The commercial trucking industry has a long chain of responsibility. Misconduct or error at any point in this chain can cause an accident. Multiple factors often contribute to truck accidents, and multiple parties may be jointly liable for the same accident.
Truck Drivers
Truck drivers run on tight deadlines and spend long hours on the road. These factors may influence some drivers to engage in unsafe driving behaviors that increase the risk of an accident, such as texting while driving, speeding, tailgating, or running red lights.
Drivers up against deadlines may violate federal hours of service regulations by driving more hours than allowed or not taking required breaks. These violations can cause fatigued driving, which affects the driver’s reaction time and decision-making.
Additionally, drivers who operate a commercial vehicle without a valid Virginia commercial driver’s license, or CDL, may contribute to accidents due to insufficient training or experience with large vehicles. Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs also may prompt driver liability.
Trucking Companies
Trucking companies may be responsible for damages through vicarious liability, which means the company is liable when its negligent employee driver causes an accident.
A trucking company may also be directly liable if its negligence contributed to the accident, such as when it violates the FMCSA’s driver qualifications imposed by 49 CFR §391.11 and 49 CFR §391.15. Commercial trucking employers should not hire drivers with disqualifying offenses, such as drunk driving, on their records. If a trucking company fails to perform a background check or disregards a driver’s previous offenses, it may be found liable for any accidents the driver causes.
Other possible forms of trucking company negligence include the following:
- Failure to properly maintain and inspect vehicles
- Failure to enforce hours of service regulations for drivers
- Improperly training drivers
- Failure to address safety concerns about a driver’s behavior
Cargo Loaders & Shippers
Virginia Code §46.2-1126 sets weight limits for large trucks traveling on Virginia highways. If a truck’s cargo exceeds these weight limits, the parties responsible for loading it may be liable for accidents resulting from overloaded cargo. Improperly securing cargo or distributing it unevenly may also cause cargo-related accidents.
Cargo-related negligence may cause the following:
- Rollover accidents
- Jackknife accidents, which occur when a truck’s trailer swings to the side
- Cargo spills on the road
- Loss of control by the driver
Truck and Parts Manufacturers
A manufacturing defect in a truck or its parts may cause an accident. The vehicle or part manufacturer may be liable for any accident resulting from a design or manufacturing defect. Common examples of defects include faulty brakes, steering systems, or tires.
Third-Party Maintenance Providers
Truck maintenance providers, such as repair shops, are responsible for properly maintaining and inspecting trucks. They also must address safety issues they find in their inspections.
A repair shop’s failure to properly service a vehicle may create unresolved safety issues, such as worn brake pads, old tires, or malfunctioning lights. If improper maintenance causes an accident, the provider may be liable for negligence.
Government Entities & Contractors
Government entities, such as state departments of transportation, are responsible for maintaining safe roads and highways. Failure to properly maintain roads can cause truck accidents. For example, a poorly maintained road with large potholes or uneven surfaces can cause a truck’s cargo to shift or the driver to lose control of the vehicle.
Contractors working for the government, such as construction crews, also may be liable for unsafe conditions. For example, if a construction crew improperly sets up a work zone, it can create hazardous conditions for truck drivers.
How Virginia’s Laws Impact Truck Accident Liability
You may be partially liable for your truck accident. In many states, this would simply result in reduced compensation based on your percentage of fault. For example, Tennessee’s modified comparative negligence system allows victims to recover damages if they’re less than 50 percent at fault.
Unfortunately, Virginia has one of the nation’s strictest comparative negligence laws. Under Virginia’s pure contributory negligence law, you may not receive any compensation if you’re found even 1 percent at fault for the accident.
That’s why it’s vital to have an experienced Virginia truck accident lawyer on your side. We can compile and present strong evidence proving that the other party is 100 percent liable for the accident.
Even if the other party is 100 percent at fault, you may lose your right to seek compensation if you miss your case’s filing deadline. In most cases, Virginia’s personal injury statute of limitations requires you to file a claim within two years of the accident date. Cases against government entities may have deadlines as soon as six months after the accident date.
The deadline for wrongful death claims is two years from the date of death. If your claim is for an injured minor, the filing deadline is extended to the victim’s 20th birthday. Call our experienced injury attorneys as soon as possible after a Virginia truck accident to ensure your case is filed by the proper deadline.
Determining Fault in a Virginia Truck Accident
Determining fault for a truck accident requires a thorough investigation. We’ll investigate the accident by doing the following:
- Assessing the accident scene: Our legal team may visit the accident scene in person to gather evidence, such as photos of vehicle damage, visible road hazards, and skid marks. We’ll also look for nearby surveillance cameras that may have captured the accident.
- Interviewing witnesses: Our attorneys will speak with people who saw the accident happen. The witnesses may share key details, such as unusual behavior from the truck driver before the accident, or statements they heard the responsible party make following the wreck.
- Requesting trucking company evidence: We’ll request evidence from the trucking company, such as black box data, driver logs,hiring records, and training documents. This internal information may reveal details about the truck driver’s behavior and the company’s safety practices.
- Consulting with experts: We may collaborate with third-party experts to evaluate evidence and provide their opinion on what happened.
Critical Evidence for Establishing Liability
A variety of evidence can help us determine and prove who is liable in a truck accident:
- Black box data: Most commercial trucks are equipped with electronic control modules, also known as black boxes. These computers record data about the truck’s operations, such as speed, braking, and steering. They can reveal essential information about the events leading to a truck accident.
- Driver logs: Federal trucking laws require trucking companies to keep six months of logs of their drivers’ activities, including hours spent on the road. These records can show if the driver violated hours of service regulations.
- Maintenance and inspection records: These records can show if the trucking company violated federal inspection requirements or if the maintenance company failed to properly address safety hazards.
- Training files: The trucking company’s training records can reveal if the driver received proper training for the circumstances leading up to the accident.
Why Immediate Action Matters for Preserving Evidence
Evidence can fade quickly after a truck accident. If you are injured in a truck accident, it’s important to gather evidence promptly to prevent it from disappearing or becoming less reliable.
For example, companies usually retain security footage for a few weeks or months. If a nearby business recorded evidence related to your truck accident but you waited too long to request it, the business may delete the footage before you can obtain it. Additionally, witness memory is most reliable in the first 24 hours, so it’s crucial to gather witness statements as soon as possible.
Virginia’s spoliation of evidence laws also require you to preserve evidence that you can reasonably foresee will be relevant for future legal action. Failure to do so could harm your case and prolong its timeline.
What If Multiple Parties Are Liable?
Each liable party is responsible for paying the full amount of your damages under Virginia’s joint and several liability laws. In other words, if multiple parties are liable, you can seek compensation from any and all responsible parties, regardless of that party’s share of the fault.
This law makes it easier to recover fair compensation for your damages. Our attorneys can help you identify all liable parties to increase your chances of receiving the full compensation you deserve.
Trust Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers With Your Truck Accident Claim
At Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers, we have over 120 years of combined experience representing injured people and their families in Virginia, including victims of catastrophic truck accident injuries. Your injury is our fight, so you can trust us to handle your truck accident case with thorough and compassionate care.
It costs nothing upfront to work with our truck accident lawyers, and we’re ready to start building your case today. If you or a loved one was harmed in a Virginia truck accident, contact us online or call (757) 333-3333 for a free, confidential consultation.
