If you or a loved one have been injured in an accident with a truck driver who fell asleep at the wheel, you may be wondering what to do next. This can be a difficult situation, especially if the truck driver is employed by a large company. It is important to go after the employer in these cases, as they may be held liable for the actions of their employees. In this blog post, we will discuss how to go after the employer of a truck driver who fell asleep at the wheel.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has strict hours of service regulations to try to prevent accidents caused by drivers who are overly fatigued. Fatigue, however, is still a main cause of commercial truck accidents and injured victims can hold the fatigued driver responsible by filing a legal claim.
Employers of commercial drivers are responsible for ensuring that their employees comply with all regulations on hours of service. This means that the employers should be regularly monitoring their drivers’ time logs to make sure they are not working too many hours. If a driver is found to be in violation of these time regulations, the employer can be held liable for any damages that are caused as a result. Additionally, if the employer was aware of their employee’s fatigue and failed to act on it (for example, by allowing them to continue driving despite knowing that they were fatigued), then this can also be used as evidence in a personal injury case against the company.
In some cases, an employer may try to claim that their driver was in violation of the hours-of-service regulations without their knowledge. But in cases where they had reasonable opportunity to know about the fatigue and ignored it, the employer is negligent. In these cases, they can still be held responsible for any injuries that occurred as a result.
Injured victims may also try to hold trucking companies accountable by filing lawsuits against them under certain legal theories. For example, a company may be liable for their drivers’ actions if they can prove that the driver was acting within the scope of their employment at the time of the accident.
If you or a loved one have been injured in an accident with a truck driver who fell asleep at the wheel, it is important to speak with an experienced personal injury attorney as soon as possible. If you need help filing a claim against the trucking company, an attorney can advise you on your best course of action and guide you through every step of the process.
The attorneys at The Soliz Law Firm are available 24/7 to assist clients with personal injury claims related to any type of motor vehicle accident.
