Driver exhaustion is one of the most common truck accident causes and it can often be traced back to the impossible schedule set by the company.
Thousands of people are injured each year in Nevada in truck accidents. These types of crashes are more liable to lead to severe injuries, such as brain trauma or spine damages, because of the force of the impact between a 4,000 lbs car and an 80,000 18-wheeler. Such injuries may require months of intensive medical care. The costs are enormous and you don’t know how you’re going to recover such damages. Your only chance to make sure you’ll get the money you desperately need is to contact the best Nevada truck accident lawyers and let them show you how to proceed.
If you have sustained serious injuries and medical bills keep piling up, you need to take advantage of the joint and several liability law. Nevada is one of very few states that uses this law.
What is the joint and several liability law?
According to this law, if two or more parties can be held accountable for the crash and you are not even partially at fault, all the parties involved are jointly and severally liable for your damages. To put it in simpler terms, you can recover damages from all those that contributed to the accident through their actions. If you file a claim and one of the defendants is unable to pay, the other parties involved will have to make up the difference. It doesn’t matter what part they played in the accident, each of them are 100% liable for your damages.
This law is hugely important when it comes to truck accidents that cause significant injuries, leaving you with an impairment and unable to work for a considerable period of time. The damages in such a case can be quite high and it’s unlikely that you can recover them from the truck driver’s insurance. Commercial drivers must carry mandatory insurance, but in most cases the maximum liability is somewhere between $25-30,000. Not nearly enough to cover the medical bills of a victim with various broken bones and back damage, let alone their lost wages.
When you talk to a skilled truck accident lawyer in Las Vegas, they will look for ways to include the trucking company among the defendants. Under federal law, trucking companies are required to carry insurance with a $750,000 liability.
The question is how does the trucking company get involved in your claim? That is for your attorney to decide. Experienced truck accident lawyers know the right questions to ask. You can point them in the right direction if, for instance, you notice that the truck driver had dark circles under his eyes and seemed very tired. Driver exhaustion is one of the most common truck accident causes and it can often be traced back to the impossible schedule set by the company. If the company puts pressure on its employees to deliver the goods faster and encourages them to ignore federal regulations concerning mandatory rest, then they should be held accountable for the ensuing accident. The same goes for accidents caused by a mechanical malfunction or an improperly-loaded truck.
A good accident lawyer will advise you to file a claim against both the driver and the company and use the joint and several liability law to recover damages. You can claim economic damages, covering your medical expenses and lost wages, as well as non-economic damages to compensate you for your pain and suffering.
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