What Are Your Rights After An Accident Where One Commercial Truck Collides With Another?
You only need to recall the sense of trepidation you feel when you drive on a stretch of highway where there is more than one commercial truck in view to know how disastrous it can be when a passenger car collides with an 18-wheeler truck. Collisions that involve a commercial truck account for a disproportionate share of fatal traffic accidents, as well as for a disproportionate share of multi-vehicle pileups, which are collisions that involve three or more vehicles. One truck is huge and capable of causing enormous damage, so how bad are accidents that involve more than one truck? If you have been injured in a collision that involved one or more commercial trucks, contact a Columbia truck accident lawyer.
Two 18-Wheelers Collide on I-77 in Chester County
In March 2023, a fatal accident occurred near mile marker 60 on I-77 in Chester County. Just after the end of morning rush hour, a Kenworth wrecker with another truck attached to it for towing was parked in the emergency lane beside the roadway. The driver was sitting inside the cab of the truck. A Freightliner tractor-trailer was driving in the lane adjacent to the emergency lane when it veered out of its lane and sideswiped the Kenworth truck. The impact caused the Freightliner to change its trajectory, strike a tree, and overturn. The driver of the Freightliner was pronounced dead shortly after the accident. News reports did not reveal his name, age, or place of residence. The driver of the Kenworth was not injured.
Who Is Legally Responsible for Collisions Involving Commercial Trucks?
People who get injured in traffic collisions have the right to compensation for their accident-related financial losses for the parties responsible for causing the accident. For this reason, drivers in South Carolina must carry liability insurance to pay for vehicle repair costs and medical expenses that others incur as a result of accidents caused by the insured driver. If the damage resulting from the accident exceeds the insured driver’s policy limit, as is often the case in accidents involving serious injuries, the injured person has the right to file a personal injury lawsuit against the at fault driver. Because of South Carolina’s comparative fault laws, you can still recover compensation if you were partially at fault for the accident, but the amount you can recover is proportional to the percentage of fault for the accident that is not yours.
Meanwhile, property owners are legally responsible for accidents caused by their property. In the case of collisions involving commercial trucks, this usually means that the best chance of recovering compensation is by filing a claim against the company that owns the truck.
Let Us Help You Today
The personal injury lawyers at the Stanley Law Group can help you if you suffered serious injuries in a traffic accident that included one or more commercial trucks. Contact The Stanley Law Group in Columbia, South Carolina or call (803)799-4700 for a free initial consultation.
Source:
wbtv.com/2023/03/31/one-killed-crash-involving-tractor-trailer-wrecker-chester-county/
