Delivery Vehicle Accidents
Memphis Lawyers Dedicated to Helping Truck Accident Victims
Roads across the South are packed with delivery vehicles. These include mail trucks, FedEx trucks, UPS trucks, grocery store delivery trucks, and pizza or other take-out delivery trucks. When a delivery truck gets into a crash, people in smaller vehicles or pedestrians may suffer serious injuries or even death. Bringing a personal injury lawsuit may be the only way that you can recover compensation for expensive medical bills, lost income, property damage, and pain and suffering. Not all attorneys are equally equipped to handle a delivery vehicle accident case. Often, trucking companies and their insurance companies take an aggressive approach against accident victims, even when a truck driver was clearly at fault. At Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz, our Memphis truck accident attorneys have substantial experience pursuing damages on behalf of victims.
Bringing a Claim Based on a Delivery Vehicle Accident
Crashes involving delivery vehicles are often results of negligence. The negligence may take many forms. Speeding, running red lights or stop signs, drugs, alcohol, fatigue, and distracted driving may all be factors in a truck accident. To establish the truck driver’s negligence, you will need to prove that it is more likely than not that the truck driver failed to use reasonable care while driving, and as a result you were injured. For example, if a delivery driver is hurrying to make a delivery and runs a red light, T-boning your car, this is likely to be considered a failure to use reasonable care.
Some delivery companies encourage their drivers’ negligence by failing to adopt or enforce proper safety policies or procedures. They may be held responsible directly under theories of negligent hiring or supervision. They may also be held indirectly liable under the doctrine of respondeat superior. To establish respondeat superior, you will need to show that the driver was negligent while acting in the course and scope of their job duties.
Sometimes a trucking company may also be held liable for a delivery vehicle accident under a theory of inadequate maintenance of the vehicle or improper loading. For example, if the truck’s brakes are not operating properly, and that is the cause of the accident, the trucking company may bear some responsibility for failing to ensure that the truck was in good working order. However, if the truck’s brakes had not already been subject to maintenance and repair, an attorney might look into a product liability claim against the truck or brakes manufacturer.
If you are injured in a delivery vehicle accident, you may recover economic and noneconomic compensatory damages for your losses. In some cases, punitive damages may also be available. For example, when a large corporation cuts corners and encourages interstate delivery drivers to falsify their hours of service or defy other regulations in order to ensure that they make tight deadlines, and as a result a member of the public is seriously injured, it may be appropriate to pursue punitive damages designed to punish the defendant and deter future similar conduct.
Discuss Your Case with a Knowledgeable Memphis Attorney
Delivery companies should not put members of the public at risk. If you were injured or a loved one was killed in a delivery vehicle accident in Tennessee or a neighboring state, the Memphis attorneys at Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz may be able to help you recover your damages. Our firm employs over 30 experienced attorneys and over 100 staff members. We serve victims in Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Arkansas, including in Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville, Caruthersville, Hayti, Oxford, Starkville, Grenada, Columbus, Tupelo, Meridian, Jackson, Little Rock, and Jonesboro.Call our office toll-free at 800-LAW-4004 or complete our online form to set up a free consultation with a motor vehicle collision lawyer.
