CR England Lawsuit: Commercial Vehicle Owners Vindicate Lawsuit Incentives
A former truck driver sued a Cornwall, England-based company over the death of his wife and son. According to The Daily Mail, lawyers for the family argued that the firm, Cropego, did not do enough to prevent dangerous driving on their fleet. The accident was supposedly the result of the company’s lack of a specific hazard plan that they had been required to submit to the Department of Transport (DOT) in 2021. The accident, which killed the truck driver’s wife and young son as well as another motorist, was said to be the product of negligent trucking operators. If you have been injured as a result of a trucking accident, you may be entitled to claim compensation against the owner of the company responsible for your injuries.
Truck accidents are one of the most common types of cases that fall under the specialized area of tort law.
Tort law, also known as the law of damages, is a body of law that permits an injured party to be compensated for injury, damages or pain and suffering as the result of negligence on the part of another person or business entity. For instance, a cancer patient may be able to collect damages from a pharmaceutical company that developed a drug that caused his cancer.
In the same way, an individual injured in a trucking accident can collect damages for medical bills, pain and suffering, as well as lost wages. Personal injury lawyers who are experienced in cases such as these may be consulted to help you obtain the right amount of compensation.
Many claims for personal injuries are also the result of negligence on the part of trucking companies.
If you have been harmed due to this negligence, you may be able to take legal action against the owner operator of the company that you feel is responsible. Many times, such operators are personal injury lawyers who are known as “independent owner operators” who are allowed by the UK’s Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Authority (MVA) to represent themselves without the direct involvement of the franchisor, which makes them virtually immune to personal injury lawsuits.
Another common case involves commercial trucks.
Truck drivers are often given heavy weight permits that give them the right to transport products in areas that exceed the speed limit stipulated by the United States Department of Transportation. On certain types of roads, trucks are required to operate at a speed of more than sixty miles per hour, which can easily make them vulnerable to accidents.
Some of these roadways are also built at higher elevations, which increases the risk of collision. MVA guide lists different factors that can contribute to the increased dangers of carrying dangerous goods at these high elevations, including passing through towns or villages below the speed limit, heavy weather, and passing through or over bridges that are higher than usual.
A common case often cited by experts in the realm of commercial truck driving is the case of Jeffery v. Walker. This case involves an insurance company that was paid a large sum of money by the forestry company in question in the event that a lumberjack was injured while working in their log processing facility.
The insurance company, however, argued that their policy did not cover compensation for personal injuries sustained by employees. The court found in favor of the forestry company, therefore, and ruled that the claim was not eligible because it did not fall under the realm of personal injury. The case was later brought before the Kentucky Supreme Court, but the court was unable to resolve the issue of whether the policy was meant to protect against personal injury.
In order to determine whether an MVA guide is relevant in a commercial environment, an insurance expert needs to look beyond the surface of purely personal accidents. An accident that could result in personal injury needs to be assessed from the perspective of an insurance expert in order to determine if it falls under the realm of business-related accidents. Different factors come into play when dealing with truck drivers who drive at greater speeds than allowed by law, as well as trucks that are not properly maintained. An MVA guide can help an expert to determine whether or not a case should be filed in an attempt to recover money for damage or pain and suffering suffered and also to prevent the loss of revenue for the owner operators of the trucking fleet.