Being in a truck accident can be traumatic and confusing. You may have significant injuries and vehicle damage. The trucking company or their insurance company may also claim you share some fault through “comparative negligence.” This allegation can leave you wondering if you can or should still file a lawsuit to recover damages.
What is Comparative Negligence?
Comparative negligence refers to laws that allow the sharing of fault between two or more parties in an accident. It impacts the potential compensation you can receive in a lawsuit.
Here’s a quick overview of key things to know:
- Comparative negligence laws exist in 46 states and Washington DC. These laws allow for the sharing of blame if more than one party’s actions contributed to an accident.
- The level of fault assigned to each party will impact the compensation they can recover in a lawsuit. For example, if you are found 25% at fault, your compensation will be reduced by 25%.
- There are two main types of comparative negligence laws – “pure” and “modified”. Under pure comparative negligence, you can still recover compensation as long as you are not 100% at fault. Modified laws set a cutoff threshold where you cannot recover anything if you are found over 50% or 51% at fault depending on the state.
- Trucking companies have a financial motivation to allege comparative negligence and assign partial fault to the other driver. This will limit their payouts in a lawsuit. But this does not prevent you from suing.
So in short – comparative negligence allows for shared fault, which reduces the special and general damages one can recover in a lawsuit. But in most cases, you can still sue the truck driver or company even if they claim you hold some blame.
Why Might a Trucking Company Allege Comparative Negligence?
It’s important to understand why a trucking company may allege comparative negligence following an accident. Mainly, it reduces their potential financial liability and payouts to you.
Some common reasons a trucker or their insurance company may claim comparative negligence include:
- To deny full liability – By assigning percentage-based fault, they do not have to fully admit causing the accident. This may help limit reputational damages beyond just financial payouts.
- To reduce settlement amounts – Any percentage of fault placed on you reduces their overall out-of-court legal settlement payout in a lawsuit. Even slight percentages mean significant savings for them.
- To avoid safety violations – Admitting full fault may open them up to additional safety violations and fines from regulators. Comparative negligence muddies fault and may allow them to avoid full responsibility.
- Litigation strategy – Alleging shared fault is a standard legal practice to reduce payouts and gain negotiating leverage in settlements. It’s simply their starting position.
The crucial thing to understand is that allegations of comparative negligence are often strategic financially-motivated legal maneuvers. They should not prevent you from exercising your rights to sue for damages – but may impact your ultimate compensation.
Steps to Take if Comparative Negligence is Alleged Against You
If the trucking company or their insurance alleges you share fault, here are crucial steps to take:
- Document evidence from the scene – Take photos and video, get contact info from witnesses on the scene, request police reports, etc. Evidence is key.
- Seek medical attention immediately – Get evaluated and start treatment right away. Medical records will document injuries suffered which may contradict allegations.
- Consult an attorney – Speak with a truck accident attorney in your state. If possible, try to get an attorney with the best track record possible. For example, an attorney who has recovered billions for his truck accident injury clients is a way better choice than one whose track record is less remarkable. And this is more important especially if there is a possibility of your damages being reduced because of comparative negligence.
- Do not admit fault or accept quick settlement – You may not know the full extent of injuries or damage in the immediate aftermath. Wait until you consult an attorney before admitting any fault or settling.
- Gather evidence of negligence – Your attorney can help gather police reports, ELD logs, inspection records, and other evidence to demonstrate the trucker’s negligence.
- File necessary complaints – For severe incidents, consider filing complaints with the FMCSA, NHTSA, and state agencies alleging safety regulation violations.
The more evidence supporting your claim, the better. An attorney familiar with trucking cases can develop your case to dispute unfair allegations of comparative negligence.
How Comparative Negligence Impacts Your Lawsuit
Allegations of comparative negligence can impact your potential lawsuit in several ways:
- Reduces settlement/verdicts – Any percentage of fault assigned to you reduces the total damages a court or settlement will award. For example, 25% comparative negligence equals a 25% reduction in value.
- Complicates case value – Factors like disputed fault percentages make valuing truck accident cases much more complex for settlement negotiations.
- State-specific factors – Laws vary widely in aspects like pure/modified structures, 50/51% fault cutoffs, and precise Impact of different negligence findings. An attorney familiar with your state is crucial.
- Joint and several liability – Laws differ on whether you can recover all damages from one partially negligent party or must seek percentages from multiple parties.
- Overall negotiating power – Comparative negligence allegations may hurt negotiating leverage and strategic positioning during settlement talks. An experienced attorney levels this playing field.
While these factors can be worrying, skilled trucking lawyers know how to confront dubious comparative negligence allegations, establish actual fault percentages, and still maximize your potential recovery.
Overcoming Allegations of Comparative Negligence
The key to overcoming unfair allegations of comparative negligence is compelling evidence. An experienced truck accident attorney can help collect and compile evidence showing the truck driver’s sole or primary fault.
1. Use Records to Prove Safety Failures
Trucking companies and drivers must comply with extensive safety regulations. Violations of these rules can demonstrate clear negligence. Important records your attorney can obtain include:
- ELD/Logbook Violations – Fatigued or over-hours driving often contributes to truck crashes. ELD records can prove regulatory breaches.
- Improper Maintenance Issues – Trucking companies must adequately maintain vehicles. Inspection and repair records can reveal failure to address safety issues.
- Licensing Lapses – Suspended, revoked, expired, or improper licenses indicate negligence in hiring or oversight. Driver histories get scrutinized.
- Past Safety Violations – Documented records of prior collisions, inspections, or violations help establish ongoing negligent safety practices.
These records can effectively counter allegations of comparative negligence by proving the trucker’s fault.
2. Use Witness Statements and Crash Evidence
Police reports, eyewitness statements, skid mark measurements, and crash scene analysis help clarify exactly how the collision occurred and who bears responsibility. Your attorney can:
- Obtain third-party witness statements – Unbiased eyewitnesses provide essential testimonies about fault and circumstances.
- Investigate sight line issues – Consider what was visible or obscured from each driver’s vantage point.
- Analyze crash mechanics – Assess weight shifts, braking capacity, vehicle positioning, and other physics factors that caused the crash.
- Review police report conclusions – Officer diagrams, determinations, and citations often support victim claims when properly investigated.
Witness and expert crash analysis counter efforts to shift blame without facts.
3. Dispute Biased Investigations
Trucking insurers often send their own “expert” crash scene investigators to introduce questionable analyses blaming other drivers. However, an attorney can:
- Question investigation objectivity – Insurer-hired experts have inherent bias given who pays them.
- Scrutinize questionable methodologies – Many insurer analyses ignore or distort key facts to reach conclusions favoring reduced liability.
- Bring in objective specialists – Your own veteran crash reconstruction experts can dispute questionable insurer theories.
- Demand original ECM data – Insurer experts often fail to comprehensively review crucial vehicle computer records.
You can defeat comparative negligence claims by exposing faulty crash examinations aimed more at limiting payouts than finding the truth.
Should You Sue if Some Fault is Possible?
If there’s potential you may share in some minor fault for the accident, is moving forward with a lawsuit still worthwhile?
In most cases, the answer is yes:
- You have rights to recovery – Even under comparative negligence, you remain entitled to collect proportional damages from responsible parties.
- The level of fault is uncertain – Insurers allege maximum fault, but the actual determined percentage may be much less or nonexistent.
- Cases still hold settlement value – Responsible parties want to avoid courtroom uncertainties and costs. Settlement remains possible.
- Legal advocacy impacts outcomes – Experienced trial attorneys make winning difficult liability disputes possible. Don’t face insurers alone.
- There may be multiple defendants – Beyond just the truck driver and company, cargo loaders, equipment maintenance companies, etc may share some liability.
While total compensation amounts may have to be reduced in proportion to your determined fault share, the net damages can still prove substantial and worthy of aggressive pursuit.
An attorney can advise if enough liability grounds against the trucking defendants exist to justify moving your specific case forward even with some degree of comparative negligence involved.
Final Thoughts
Being involved in any vehicle collision brings physical, emotional, and financial hardship. Having a trucking company allege you share fault through comparative negligence laws adds frustrating insult to injury. They utilize these laws to deny responsibility and reduce potential damages owed.
But understanding exactly how comparative negligence functions allows you to smartly assess risks, navigate strategic maneuvers by insurers, and retain power over your legal options. Even with allegations of partial fault, experienced attorneys can often compel trucking companies and insurers to accept majority responsibility. This still results in significant recovery for you.
Here are key concluding takeaways:
- Comparative negligence laws do NOT inherently prevent you from suing or recovering damages, even if some fault is possible.
- Expect trucking companies to allege comparative negligence to limit potential settlements. However experienced attorneys can defeat these claims.
- Compelling evidence of safety violations and examination of questionable insurer crash reports allow you to overcome dubious blame allegations.
- Consult with an attorney experienced specifically in truck accident liability laws in your state. They can accurately advise if filing a lawsuit remains viable and worthwhile even with disputed comparative negligence involved.
- Work with your attorney to aggressively demand the compensation you deserve in the wake of devastating truck collisions. Powerful legal advocacy makes overcoming insurer negligence defenses possible. Don’t hesitate to stand up for your rights!
