Trucking accidents cause some of the most serious injuries on the roads of Virginia and elsewhere. Often drivers or passengers in smaller vehicles sustain terrible injuries or fail to survive the crash. The issue of which parties can be sued after a commercial vehicle accident is more complicated than after a car wreck.
As experienced Hampton-based trucking accident attorneys, we are often asked who can be sued in a trucking accident lawsuit. The answer is not always straightforward and can involve multiple parties.
A lawsuit may be brought against a number of parties after a trucking wreck depending on the nature of the accident. Even when a truck driver is clearly to blame for the accident with injuries, liability may not end there. Under the law of “respondeat superior,” an employer trucking company can be held liable for the actions of its drivers as long as they are in the scope of his or her employment and not deliberate.
For this reason, lawsuits involving commercial vehicles often lead to larger settlements and jury verdicts than those involving private vehicles. Trucking companies typically have more insurance coverage available.