300+ Google Reviews
Truck accidents occur every day due to many different causes. Unfortunately, these accidents tend to cause severe injuries and can turn fatal. The situations that frequently lead to wrongful death cases involving truck accidents in Rock Hill include driving too fast for conditions. Often, tractor-trailers take longer to stop than other vehicles. If they are traveling too fast for conditions when they make contact with a vehicle, it is usually severe and results in severe catastrophic conditions and even death.
If your loved one was killed in a fatal truck accident in Rock Hill, a compassionate wrongful death attorney at Schiller & Hamilton could help your case.
Who Could Be Held Liable for a Fatal Tractor-Trailer Collision?
In most fatal trucks accident cases in Rock Hill, the driver and the trucking company could be held liable for damages. The truck driver is leasing the vehicle and driving for a trucking company, so the parent company could be liable. The leasing company could be liable as well as the driver. In many cases, there are two or three individuals or companies responsible for paying any claims.
These cases look different in situations in which a truck driver is being represented against a trucking company due to the number of defendants involved. If the truck driver owns the truck and is the one driving, there will be only one defendant. If they are leasing or operating a truck on behalf of another company and have a contract with several clients, they may have as many as four defendants.
The who could be held liable for damages include:
- Parent trucking company
- The company of the product they are moving
- The owner of the truck, the leasing company
- The truck driver
How Are Fatal Truck Accident Cases Handled Differently Than Other Wrongful Death Cases?
Due to the corporate association of most trucks on the road, these cases handled differently than other wrongful death cases because there are many factors that go into determining liability. For example, the maintenance of the vehicle has to be investigated as well as the hiring procedures, and whether or not the corporation was negligent hiring the driver.
Attorneys will look to see if the trucking company knew or should have known that this particular individual was unfit to be driving a tractor-trailer. They look at the training of their drivers, the maintenance of the vehicle, and the maintenance records of the vehicle to determine if the accident may have been caused by or if it was a contributing factor that they did not properly maintain the vehicle, like having the brakes serviced regularly.
The attorneys will also look at supervision and whether or not they were allowing drivers to drive more hours than allowed by law. They look at the hiring practices of the company, the maintenance of the vehicle by the company, the supervision, and training of the driver by that corporation, which is completely different than another individual vehicle crashing into another vehicle.
Seek Help from a Wrongful Death Attorney Today
When a loved one is killed a fatal accident, the responsible party should be held accountable in court. A dedicated wrongful death attorney could work to help you seek justice for your loved one. They will work diligently to help you recover compensation that covers damages such as medical expenses and funeral costs. Call today to learn about the nuances of fatal truck accidents in Rock Hill.