Flatbed Accidents

Flatbed accidents may result from unsecured or improperly secured cargo. Heavy items like logs or cranes may fall from a flatbed and hit a passenger car or motorcycle, causing catastrophic injuries to operators of these vehicles and their passengers. Truck drivers are required to follow federal regulations promulgated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), as well as state regulations. The FMCSA regulations require that cargo be properly secured, among other things, as well as proper maintenance.

If flying cargo in a flatbed accident injures you, you may be able to sue for negligence and recover damages. You will need to show that more likely than not, the truck driver failed to use reasonable care to secure the cargo, and this caused your injuries. Sometimes accidents are the fault of multiple people. For example, unsecured cargo might cause another driver to lose control of their vehicle and hit your car. There may have been a chance to avoid the cargo, and in that case, the other driver may be partially to blame for your injuries. Our flatbed accident attorneys can help Memphis residents identify all of the parties who may have been at fault for a crash.

Many states no longer follow the rule of joint and several liability, whereby drivers are only responsible for damages up to their own degree of fault, as determined by a jury. With a few exceptions, in Tennessee, the doctrine of joint and several liability has been abolished. (The exceptions involve civil conspiracy cases and product liability actions involving manufacturers when the lawsuit is based on a theory of strict liability or breach of warranty.) Thus, for example, if a truck driver is 65% responsible for flying cargo, another driver is 35% responsible for failing to pay attention and swerving into your vehicle, and the total damages are $1 million, you may be able to recover $650,000 from the truck driver and $350,000 from the other driver.

You may also be able to hold a trucking company directly or indirectly liable after a flatbed accident. Trucking companies are supposed to make sure that their truck drivers are competent and careful on the road. Among other things, they are required by law to conduct background checks on their drivers. If they fail to conduct a background check or ignore red flags and hire someone incompetent who fails to secure cargo properly, they may be held liable under a theory of negligent hiring. They may be vicariously liable for a flatbed accident that arises out of negligence in the course of employment. This may be helpful because trucking companies typically have insurance policies with a greater amount of coverage than do individual drivers.