Trucking Accident

steph66 · Jan 31, 2004

Relative of mine involved in semi-truck accident. Driver of semi( my relative) supposedly pulled out in front of pickup truck and driver of pickup truck airlifted to hospital Friday. Was wondering what to expect now.

Do you get fired. Lawsuits. Should he get his own lawyer right away.
Not on drugs and not drinking just an accident.

Would like to be a little prepared. Anyone been through this. Would like to hear. Thanks

redytrk · Jan 31, 2004

Get to a good lawyer fast...Even if driver wasent at fault according to police report.Other drivers atty will sue everyone in sight... your bro,the truck co,the co he was hauling for,etc.GOOD LUCK.Ps.Hope he got whitness names and addresses.

RichM · Jan 31, 2004

One very important piece of information is,did he get a citation from the police. If he did I would recommend talking to an attorney right away. Also,if he was a OTR driver his logbook needs to have all of the I!s dotted and T!s crossed. I gather he is not an owner operator so in that case I think his carrier would have to defend him. If his driving record is good I don!t think he would get fired.
Where I live a law firm advertises on TV several times a day to call them ,if you are involved in a trucking accident ,as tired drivers break rules and cause inocent people(right) to suffer losses. Be prepared is the best defense.

Weave · Jan 31, 2004

I can speak on this from family experience. You do not need to get an attorney right away, and probably won't need to get one at all. About the only thing you can and should do now is as Rich stated make sure logbook, truck inspection, and all other paperwork is clean up to the date of the accident. You can consult an attorney, but that is about all they will say. They can't defend you unless someone comes after you. But I wouldn't worry much. Nine times out of ten if the injured party sues anyone, it is the insurance company as that is where they have the most to gain. That is usually as far as they go unless there was severe negligence on the part of the truck driver.
As far as losing one's job, that is possible, depending on what the policy is with the trucking company's insurance carrier and the driver's current record.
It's really just a "wait and see" game, so just pray for the best outcome.
-Weave-

guest · Jan 31, 2004

my two cents worth....

The truck driver getting a ticket is not relivent at all. The criminal charge is no big deal. If he did get charged I'd tell him to be careful about fighting it too much. If he did what he is charged with he needs to plead no contest or what ever the correct legal term is in the jurisdiction the accident occured. In some jurisdictions a guilty plea or verdict can be used in civil court but a no contest plea can't. If he is guilty and fights it he is presenting himself two major problems in my opinion.

1. He is going to cause the other party to have to come to court and testify against him and make them relive the trama and make them mad. Which translates into wanting money more.

2. any testimony he gives in a criminal trial will be picked over and could come back to haunt him during the civil action.

Some say hire a good attorney. I don't think that is necessary in most cases. If he simply made a mistake and pulled out in front of someone (in other words he commited a simple act of negelance) his employers insurance will provide him with an attorney and 5-10 million dollars of insurance will most deffinantly handle any libality that he will personally be assigned.

Now, if he comitted an act of gross negelance, like drunk, on drugs, been driving for 20 hours, did not do a good pretrip inspection, knew the brakes or tires were bad and kept driving.....you get the point, he will need his own attorney because his company (their insurance company) will file a motion to seperate his actions from the company. If that happens he is sunk. But this VERY rarely happens.

Tell him to expect a lawsuit with his name on it because you can't sue an insurance company, only the company and the driver. When he gets the paperwork tell him not to panic, just personally take the papers to the proper person in his company and move on.

Bottom line, its bad but not a bad as some make it out to be. Their are procedures in place that take care of just this kind of thing.

Andy

Trooper Andy..... so I've dealt with this stuff for 20 years.

Weave · Jan 31, 2004

Your first paragraph is dead on the money Andy- simply plead guilty to the traffic ticket if one was received. If it was for "Failure to yield" then that is all the guilt one has admitted to. Case is basically closed.
You are right about the part where one cannot sue an insurance cpmpany Andy, I should have worded that as "goes after."
If an appropriate settlement can't be reached with the insurance company, then the injured party usually goes after (sues in this case) the driver or the company or both. VERY rare as you stated in the case of a simple accident with injury, and if the driver is clean he really has nothing to worry about.
I should mention one other thing to any driver who is involved in any accident with injury. In the case of my family the truck driver was NOT asked to go for a drug and alcohol screen after the accident when police arrived as he was visibly coherent and sober. I thought the drug/alcohol screen was required by law after an injury accident, but apparently not in all states. He did, however, request it, and it was done. VERY smart move on his part, always have it done even if not asked just to cover your butt.
-Weave-

D Green · Feb 1, 2004

One of our drivers had an accident (not at fault) in Aug2000. Learned then that driver must be drug/alcohol tested post accident, if there are any injuries.

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rulesregs/fmcsr/regs/382.303.htm

FWIW

RichM · Feb 1, 2004

It was explained to me by the FDX CC safety department that there is 3 scenarios that require post accident drug test.
1 If anyone was killed.
2 If the trucker receives a citation and the other person is injured.
3 If the trucker receives a citation and the other vehicle must be towed.
So the big issue is the citation.

steph66 · Feb 5, 2004

Well, the trucking company let my relative go. Will he hear further from them? Didn't receive a ticket yet, will that come later.

How hard will it be for him to get another job. He drove for 14 years without an accident and this year has had his share of minor accidents up until now. Backed into something like that with minor damage, ran into an animal and something else dumb.

Will he ever be able to drive again??

guest · Feb 6, 2004

4 in 12 months with 3 being his fault?

In SC he'd have to take the driving test over again at the DMV.

I'd say a big company won't hire him right now, maybe a small company. Its really up to the insurance company that covers the business. I know even in my spriter I have to notify my insurance company prior to hiring another driver and they will send me a go/no go letter.

Good luck and I would not worry about the accident. Can't do anything about it now.