Even the safest passenger vehicles can be completely destroyed in a wreck involving a semi-truck. The tragic reality is that far too often there are innocent motorists in these vehicles when truck accidents occur. As a result, these victims tend to suffer serious injuries, with some of them catastrophic in nature such as traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries. The damages associated with these injuries can be overwhelming. While there’s certainly a physical and an emotional toll taken on these individuals, there’s also an enormous financial burden unfairly thrust upon them.
Sure, compensation may be recoverable through a personal injury lawsuit against a negligent trucker who caused the accident in question, but even a successful claim against this individual might not be enough. Truckers have relatively modest incomes that pale in comparison to the economic and noneconomic damages suffered by truck accident victims.
Fortunately, you might have other legal avenues open to you. Perhaps the best is a vicarious liability claim. With one of these claims, you seek to hold a negligent trucker’s employer accountable for that employee’s actions. If you’re able to successfully do so, then you might be more likely to recover the compensation you need to make yourself whole again. In order to successfully pursue a vicarious liability claim, though, you’ll need to prove certain legal elements, including the fact that the trucker wasn’t deviating from his job duties or his route at the time of the accident.
With the benefits of a vicarious liability claim also come challenges. Chief amongst them is the fact that you have a whole other team of attorneys to square off against. This might be stressful, especially at a time when you’re simply trying to get your life back on track after it was unfairly derailed. The good news is that you don’t have to address these mattes on your own. Instead, you can seek out legal assistance to help you fight for what you deserve every step of the way.
