Accidents involving commercial trucks are often catastrophic. This is in part because no vehicle can compete with the enormous size of an 18-wheeler. When you’ve been injured in a trucking accident, you may be entitled to financial compensation.
But in order to maximize your injury claim, your lawyer will need to ensure all parties who have contributed to your injuries are held accountable. And when federal trucking law violations have occurred, you may have grounds for a lawsuit against more than just the truck driver.
Continue reading to learn more about some of the federal trucking laws that could impact your civil claim and the consequences the liable party could face for breaking federal trucking laws.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is responsible for the regulation of federal trucking laws. As you can imagine, federal laws surrounding the trucking industry can be quite complex, but for the purposes of this article, you only need to know about the ones that could have an impact on your lawsuit against the liable party. Arguably the most important is the laws surrounding truck driver hours.
Under the law, truck drivers are only able to work a fourteen hour shift— and only eleven of those hours can be spent driving. From there, the driver will need to take a minimum of ten hours off before they are allowed to start driving again. This is all monitored, as truck drivers are required to complete driver logs for their workweeks.
Trucking companies have been known to violate these laws in order to meet company goals, without regard to the impact this could have on the driver. When truck drivers are overworked, they may drive when they are too fatigued to be operating a vehicle as massive as a big rig. This drowsy driving is one of the most common causes of truck accidents in the U.S.
Violating federal trucking laws is more common than you might think. Companies that are found to have broken the law could face considerable fines and other penalties. Furthermore, anyone who might have been injured in an accident caused, in part, by these violations, may have the opportunity to pursue a civil lawsuit against the trucking company.
These types of lawsuits give victims the opportunity to collect a sizable injury settlement that actually meets their needs and provides them with compensation for their losses. Whereas civil claims against a truck driver, or pursuing just an insurance settlement may only provide the victim with minimal financial relief.
If you’ve been involved in an accident with a commercial truck and you aren’t sure where to turn for help, you need an experienced truck accident lawyer at Craig Swapp & Associates to represent your interests.
We could help you get justice when violations of federal trucking laws have contributed to the cause of your accident. Give us a call at 1-800-404-9000 or visit our website to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation.
Salt Lake City personal injury lawyer, Craig Swapp and Associates are available to assist all personal injury victims throughout Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming. Our team can help you obtain financial recovery from just about any type of accident. If you’ve recently become an injured victim in a car accident, don’t hesitate to contact Craig Swapp & Associates for immediate assistance from accident lawyers you can trust.Personal InjuryCar AccidentsTruck AccidentsMotorcycle AccidentsWrongful Death... View full business profile here: Craig Swapp & Associates
