If a semi-truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and caused serious damage to you, your car, or your home, you need to understand the potential lawsuit and its complexities. A lawsuit of this type can be difficult, but you can earn a lot of money for your personal suffering.
There Are Limits To The Hours Truckers Can Drive
First of all, it's important to understand that truckers have a limit to how many hours they can work in a single period. These rules vary depending on the number of hours they've been off-duty. For example, drivers can drive 11 straight hours if they have taken off 10 consecutive hours. They are also unable to drive after 60-70 hours of duty in 7-8 consecutive days.
If a truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and caused your accident, there's a good chance they were likely in violation of these rules. This means that someone wasn't properly tracking their hours, leading to negligence. But who is to blame? The driver or the trucking supervisor?
Establishing Proper Negligence
If tracking records show that the driver was breaking federal regulations on rest breaks, it's important to find out if they were acting under their own power or under orders from their supervisors. Even if they were changing their hours on their own, it might be possible to argue that their supervisor was negligent in not carefully double-checking all records.
However, it's easier to argue against the driver, as it will be trickier to prove negligence by his supervisor. You will need actual evidence that they were being negligent, such as an e-mail suggesting altering hours or eye-witness testimony stating that the supervisor paid no attention to tracking hours properly. The driver's negligence is apparent in his failure to stay awake.
The Size Of Many Settlements
Many truck driving accident settlements are large. Why? Semi-trucks are huge vehicles, and they are capable of generating massive damage when a driver falls asleep. As a result, judges and juries are more likely to offer large settlements in lawsuits, particularly if bodily injury or death was involved.
Just how big can truck driving lawsuits get? In one suit, a father successfully sued a trucking company for $10.1 million for the wrongful death of his children when the driver of the semi-truck fell asleep at the wheel and slammed into his vehicle.
For more information, contact Teresa P Williams PA or a similar legal professional.
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