Commercial Vehicle Accidents in Kentucky
When you’re involved in a motor vehicle collision with a commercial vehicle, the injuries that you suffer feel the same as those that you’d suffer in a crash with a private motorist. It’s the legal issues that are different, especially those involving insurance and liability. They become quite complex very early in your personal injury claim.
Who Can be Held Liable?
Several business entities or individuals might be held liable for your accident and injuries. Those might include the driver, a dispatch service, the vehicle owner or lessor or even a company that loaded a giant 18-wheeler. It all depends on what type of a commercial vehicle that you were in an accident with. Maybe it was a delivery driver for an auto parts store who caused your accident, and maybe it was the driver of a gigantic dump truck carrying a load of asphalt.
Under Pressure
In Kentucky, commercial vehicles are classified in accordance with what they weigh and what they carry. They’re far less maneuverable than passenger cars. They usually have blinds spots around them that can become dangerous when you’re driving next to them, and the truck driver wants to make a lane change. Even the driver for the auto parts store is on a tight schedule. Time is money, and delays mean lost profits. That pressure sometimes gives rise to negligent driving, distracted driving, inadequate vehicle maintenance, drinking and drugs.
A recent wreck
Someone asked us this week if the Louisville Water Company is a “company vehicle”. In this case it is a bit more complicated as the Louisville Water Company is a “municipal water company”, which means it is owned by the City of Louisville. They had just read the story on WDRB about a fatal accident in the Park Hill neighborhood of Louisville. According to that article, a water company truck swerved to avoid a Louisville Metro Police Department cruiser, but a van had to swerve to avoid hitting the water truck. The van was then hit by a dump truck. Tragically, the driver of the van was killed in this terrible accident.
As a note, claims against government entities are a complex matter, especially when they involve a fatality. Governmental entities work differently and have special insurance circumstances far beyond the scope of this article. These claims may have special statutes of limitations as well.
Get Started Right Away
Our Kentucky personal injury lawyers represent motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians who have been injured in commercial accidents in Louisville, Lexington and everywhere across Kentucky and southern Indiana. We’ve positioned ourselves to be able to start on the investigation of your case right away after we’re retained. You’ll want that. The insurer of the commercial vehicle that caused your accident and injuries has its own team of investigators. That insurer will try to push over some or all of the fault for your accident over onto you. Deny them that opportunity by contacting us right away for a free consultation and case evaluation. We’ll control your case and the opposing insurer for you as soon as we’re retained.
