When you are driving down an icy hill, and successfully come to a stop, you might suddenly have your car struck by a commercial truck. When a commercial truck is traveling down a hill and not following appropriate safety precautions, it may fail to stop in time. You will then need to turn to a truck accident attorney to determine what to do next.
Understanding What Went Wrong
When you are rear-ended, you will likely not be considered at fault for the accident. However, you will still want to make sense of everything that went wrong so that you can make sure that the driver is held responsible for your accident.
Because of the size and weight of a commercial truck, drivers should know that they will need to stop earlier on. This is especially true on an icy hill where all vehicles take even longer to stop. The truck driver might also exacerbate the situation by trying to brake and turning the wheel at the same time since this will increase the odds of the vehicle slipping.
Knowing What to Do
The truck driver should be trained on how to properly regain control. Unfortunately, many drivers are not properly trained or they might also be distracted by a mobile device and may not have both hands on the wheel. The driver will need to understand that trying to stop while partially on an icy hill will increase the odds that the vehicle will roll down the hill out of control.
You might not be sure of what went wrong but an experienced truck accident attorney will be able to examine the evidence at the scene of the accident and will be able to use it to show that the driver was negligent and that the employer had vicarious liability.
Determining Fault
If the driver was an employee of a company and not self-employed, such as if the driver files a W2, the employer will be vicariously liable. The employer may even be so negligent that you may be able to receive punitive damages. The employer would need to be very negligent on how the employee was trained or would need to have hired an employee who shouldn't have been hired.
Fortunately, with the help of an attorney, you will likely be able to receive a much higher settlement. Settlements that are reached by an attorney are often several times larger.
For more information, contact a truck accident attorney.
