Our Laurel truck accident lawyers have been practicing tort law in Laurel and the greater Maryland area for nearly 70 years. With the larger size of trucks, catastrophic injuries occur with unfortunate regularity. To make a claim following a truck accident, you may claim for either a negligence cause of action or for intentional conduct. For a negligence claim, the defendant should not have meant to cause the accident but is still the at-fault driver. For an intentional act, the driver means to hit you with his or her truck. This can be either an assault or a battery, even though it may not be what first comes to mind when thinking of these legal terms.
To proceed with a viable negligence claim in Laurel, you cannot be at fault yourself in the accident. In fact, if you are even 1% negligent, you may be unable to make a negligence claim. This is because Laurel and all of Maryland are contributory negligence jurisdictions. However, your Laurel truck accident lawyer may be able to apply the exceptions in the law to your case.
Meanwhile, a civil battery or assault are two additional potential claims. A claim for civil battery is available when there is a harmful or offensive contact to the plaintiff’s person, intent by the defendant, and legal and actual causation. While the general rule requires contact to the plaintiff’s person, the law sees the car or truck as being connected to your person. Thus, a civil battery is possible despite being in a motor vehicle. On the other hand, a civil assault is more difficult to prove and almost always less valuable. To make a claim for civil assault, the defendant must put the plaintiff in reasonable apprehension of immediate harmful or offensive contact, there must be intent by the defendant, and there must be causation.
As you have likely surmised, making a claim for one of the three causes of action discussed above require plenty of technical legal knowledge. In addition, one cause of action may be more fruitful than another. But perhaps most importantly in a Laurel truck accident is your lawyer can help you determine which party to sue. While you can always sue the driver of the truck who injured you in a truck accident, you may sometimes be able to sue the trucking company as well. Of course, if it is a large corporation such as Amazon, you will not be able to handle your case alone.
The legal process entails first proving liability on the part of the defendant. Additionally, you need to prove vicarious liability on the part of the company that employs the driver. Most likely, the company has significantly more assets and insurance coverage than does the truck driver. And if you are hurt by a truck such as an 18-wheeler, your injuries may result in total impairment or death. In such a case, you need to choose the defendant with as much coverage as possible so you can obtain the compensation you deserve. Then, we proceed against the defendant, more than likely through its insurance carrier.
The first three elements of negligence are duty, breach, and causation. The last element to prove is damages. To prove damages and make a negligence claim, there must be actual harm or injury. As the plaintiff in a truck accident case, you may recover all damages, past, present, and future. This includes economic and noneconomic damages. You may also recover for impaired future earning capacity, though you will not necessarily obtain the full number. Rather, that number is discounted to present value. There is a plethora of other damages you may obtain. The general categories include property damage, which is broad, potentially punitive damages, and emotional distress. Of course, a deep dive into each of these three additional categories can uncover substantial economic value, especially when the accident results in a wrongful death. For more information, contact a Laurel truck accident lawyer.
In our nearly 70 years of experience, we have dealt with nearly every kind of truck accident in Laurel. If you believe you may have a case or have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out.