A truck accident can leave you with significant damages, which you may well know if you’re reading this post. A personal injury lawsuit may be able to help you alleviate those losses, but you’ll have to ensure that you’re presenting strong legal arguments to support your position if you hope to succeed. Part of your strategy should be anticipating and preparing to counter common truck company defenses, which may include each of the following:
- Frolic and detour: One common strategy utilized by truck companies is to argue that the trucker who caused the accident is solely to blame because he was operating outside the scope of employment at the time of the wreck. This is often seen when a trucker makes a detour to see a landmark or takes an unauthorized shortcut.
- Contributory negligence: Another tactic deployed by truck companies is to argue that you, as the victim, are at least partially to blame for the crash. If they can successfully argue this, then they may be able to escape liability
- Third-party negligence: A truck company might also try to shift the blame to a third-party, such as another motorist. So, make sure that you’re including everyone in your lawsuit that you need to.
- No fault: In some instances, a truck company may try to argue that no one was at fault for the wreck and that it was a true accident. This might be argued when there’s poor weather or an unexpected hazard in the road.
Putting in the work to hold truck companies accountable
To successfully counter these defenses, you’ll need to put in a lot of prep work. You’ll have to have a command of the facts and the law and utilize them to your advantage. An attorney who has a track record of success handling truck accident cases may be able to help you there while assisting you in building the aggressive and persuasive legal arguments that you need on your side.