You make your way along the highway with the expectation that you will reach your workplace relatively quickly. However, a commercial truck stops you in your tracks — literally — by colliding into you and causing you injuries. Now, instead of focusing on your job tasks, your mind is on how to handle the serious truck accident you have just experienced.
Semi-trucks are much larger than the average personal vehicle is. Therefore, when truck collisions take place in Louisiana, the resulting injuries can easily be catastrophic. Fortunately, if you have suffered injuries in a semi-truck resulting from a truck driver’s carelessness, you have the right to seek justice through the civil court system.
License requirements
Both state and federal laws govern the trucking world, addressing truck drivers’ many responsibilities and the requirements they must meet. One of them has to do with licensing. The driver of any large truck — for example, an 18-wheeler — has to abide by case law and state statutes regarding the licensing of commercial drivers. If the truck driver who struck you and caused you injuries lacked the proper commercial driver’s license, this is grounds for litigation.
Weight and hazardous weight requirements
A semi-truck’s size dictates the maximum number of pounds the vehicle can haul. For instance, a single-axle truck may carry a load as large as 20,000 pounds. Meanwhile, a two-axle truck may carry a load as heavy as 34,000 pounds. Following your truck accident, it may be worth investigating what the truck driver was carrying and how much it weighed at the time of the crash. If authorities determine that truck drivers have overloaded their trucks, which is dangerous, they may be liable for any injuries stemming from this.
A truck driver may also be liable for your injuries if your accident injury stemmed from the truck driver’s failure to follow safety regulations governing the transportation of hazardous materials.
Your rights as an injury victim in a truck accident
If a semi-truck accident has left you with serious injuries, you may choose to file a personal injury claim against the truck driver, and even against his or her employer, seeking the reimbursement of monetary damages. If you are successful, you might receive a financial award that may help you to cover your medical costs and other losses stemming from these types of accidents. The monetary compensation might also help you to more easily move forward from the ordeal.