One factor that makes truck crashes more complicated than typical collisions is the number of potentially liable parties. Everyone from the truck driver and their employer to maintenance crews and parts manufacturers could be responsible. It’s up to your Milwaukee truck accident lawyer to investigate and identify who owes you compensation for your injuries.
How Liability Works in Wisconsin Truck Accidents
The person or organization whose careless actions caused the collision is liable in a Wisconsin truck accident. For example, if a truck driver rear-ends another car because they were looking at their phone instead of the road, the truck driver would likely be liable for the crash.
To prove someone is liable for a truck accident, you must provide evidence showing that it’s more likely than not that their actions caused the crash. A truck accident attorney can uncover evidence to support your claim, including police accident reports, expert testimony, eyewitness accounts, surveillance footage, and more.
Truck Drivers and Their Responsibilities
Truck drivers’ responsibilities to avoid accidents include following traffic laws, keeping a safe speed, and paying attention to the road at all times. Federal rules also limit the number of hours a driver can stay behind the wheel without rest.
Unfortunately, truck drivers frequently engage in behaviors that make accidents more likely. Common issues include distracted driving, impaired driving, and ignoring poor weather conditions. Proving these failures often requires looking at driving logs, electronic data, and other records that show how the driver behaved before or during the crash.
Trucking Companies and Employer Liability
Trucking companies often share responsibility when accidents involve their trucks and drivers. In some circumstances, Wisconsin law allows injured people to hold employers accountable if the driver caused the crash while on the job.
A trucking company may also be directly liable for unsafe practices that cause a collision. These dangerous practices may include hiring unqualified drivers, failing to provide proper training, or pushing drivers to ignore safety regulations. In some cases, poor vehicle maintenance or skipped inspections trace back to the company’s negligence. These factors make trucking company liability a key part of many claims.
Other Potentially Liable Parties
Others who could potentially be liable for a Wisconsin truck accident include:
- Cargo loaders: When workers fail to secure or balance freight correctly, shifting loads can cause rollovers or jackknife accidents.
- Parts manufacturers: If defective brakes, tires, steering systems, or other components contributed to a crash, the manufacturer may be liable.
- Maintenance providers: Repair shops or contractors that skip required inspections or perform poor-quality work may be responsible for a truck accident if those failures led to the crash.
- Other drivers: Motorists who cut off trucks, drive aggressively, or ignore traffic laws can share responsibility when their actions trigger a collision.
- Government entities: Unsafe road design, poor signage, or lack of proper road maintenance may make local or state government agencies responsible for a truck accident.
How a Milwaukee Truck Accident Attorney Can Prove Who Caused the Crash
Our Milwaukee truck accident attorneys can uncover the truth about who or what caused the crash. We’ll review driver logs, black box data, and maintenance records to see whether the truck driver, their employer, or someone else violated safety regulations. Most modern commercial trucks come equipped with devices that monitor and record the vehicle’s speed, as well as cameras inside and outside the cabin. We can send letters to the trucking company and other key parties to make sure that speed data and video footage doesn’t disappear before we can review it.
We’ll also examine police reports, witness statements, and any other video that may exist. By piecing together these details, we can identify every party that shares responsibility for the accident.
Contact Warshafsky Law Firm for Legal Assistance
Warshafsky Law Firm has fought for Wisconsin’s injured for over 60 years and recovered millions of dollars. We handle all the legal work in your case so you can concentrate on healing. You don’t owe us any fees unless you recover compensation, so call now or complete our contact form for a free case review.
