If a commercial truck hit you on the Main Line, more than one party may be liable. This could include the driver, the trucking company that put them on the road, a maintenance contractor, the crew that loaded the cargo, or the maker of a defective part. Which of them answers for your injuries depends on the evidence, and Pennsylvania’s fault rules then decide how the responsibility is divided. A truck accident is rarely the fault of just one person.
Being hit by a vehicle that size can leave you injured, out of work, and unsure who to hold accountable, which is a lot to face while you’re trying to heal. You don’t have to sort it out alone. Silver & Silver’s truck accident lawyers, who serve Wayne and the Main Line, help injured people understand who may be responsible and what a claim involves.
More Than One Party May Share Responsibility
A crash between two passenger cars usually comes down to one other driver. A collision with a commercial truck is different. Delivery trucks and tractor-trailers roll down Lancaster Avenue and the nearby Blue Route (I-476) every day, and each one is a business operation with potentially several companies behind it. Any of them may have contributed to what happened.
Depending on what caused the crash, several parties may share responsibility:
- The truck driver, for speeding, distraction, or driving while too tired
- The trucking company, for how it hired, trained, or dispatched its driver
- A maintenance contractor, if poor upkeep left brakes or tires unsafe
- The company or crew that loaded the trailer, if an unsecured load shifted
- The maker of a defective part, such as a brake or coupling that failed
With so many businesses connected to a single truck, these truck accident claims often involve several parties at once rather than just the driver. When a defective part caused or worsened the collision, the company that made it can be pulled into a defective product claim. Because each party brings its own insurer, these claims take patient, careful work to sort out.
The Evidence That Sorts Out Who’s Responsible
The answer to who is liable usually lives in the truck’s own records. Most commercial trucks carry an electronic logging device, or ELD, a black box that records how long the driver was behind the wheel.
The driver’s daily logs and the company’s maintenance and inspection records fill in the rest. Together, those records can show whether a tired driver, a skipped repair, or a badly loaded trailer set the crash in motion.
Federal hours of service rules limit how long a trucker can drive before taking a break. A driver who pushed past those limits, along with the carrier that dispatched them, may share the blame. Records like these can be overwritten or lost quickly. Even though Pennsylvania generally gives injured people two years to file a claim, it helps to act while those records still exist.
How Pennsylvania Divides the Fault
Pennsylvania follows a rule called modified comparative negligence. Your recovery is reduced by your share of the blame, and if you are found more than half at fault, you cannot recover at all. In a truck crash with several possible defendants, fault can be split among them and, in some cases, partly assigned to you.
Because fault can be shared this way, a truck’s insurer may try to place some of the blame on you to reduce what it pays. When you understand how fault is assessed, and how the truck’s records support your account of what happened, you can see where responsibility may fall and what you may be able to recover.
Finding Out Who Pays After a Main Line Truck Collision
A serious truck collision leaves you with plenty to carry: medical bills, missed paychecks, and worry about what comes next. Sorting out who is accountable shouldn’t be one more weight on your shoulders. The truck accident attorneys at Silver & Silver, serving Bryn Mawr and the surrounding communities, can explain who may be liable in your situation and what a claim would involve, so you can focus on getting better.
For 45 years, Silver & Silver has represented injured people across Pennsylvania in personal injury cases. The firm also handles Social Security Disability matters in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
When you’re ready for clear answers about who is responsible for your injuries, contact Silver & Silver today to talk through what happened and what your next step could be.
Disclosure:
This website is designed to provide only general information. The information presented on this website is not formal legal advice. You should not rely on any general information from any source for making legal decisions. Each legal matter is unique and requires specific attention from a qualified attorney. Unless a representation agreement has been signed with the Law Offices of Silver and Silver, we are not your legal representatives.
