If you have been in a crash with a truck, undoubtedly, you got many questions running through your mind. Following a truck accident, it is critical that culpability be identified so that any victims may get the justice they are eligible for.
Crashes involving big commercial vehicles may turn into complex personal injury claims, especially when many parties are involved. The truck driver, the trucking firm, aggressive insurance companies, and legal teams are examples of this. Here is how fault is established in a truck accident in Illinois.
Who Could be Responsible for an Illinois Truck Accident?
In the incident of a truck accident in Illinois, many parties may be held accountable. The following are examples:
- The truck’s operator
- The trucking companies
- A third-party carrier or loader
- A body shop or service crew
- For specific truck parts, the manufacturer.
It is important to identify each truck accident in Illinois to ensure the involved parties are held accountable. Similarly, this entails performing a serious analysis to gather all facts and information necessary to show what happened.
Facts Can Assist in Proving Liability
Evidence will be crucial in assessing culpability in an Illinois truck accident. Evidence will be needed to correctly put together what happened for an insurance company or a personal injury court case. It could be the key determinant in whether or not you file a lawsuit.
The following are some of the most critical sorts of information that must be acquired and utilized in these cases;
- The electronic logging device on the truck
- The electrical control module of the truck
- Either of the driver’s paper logbooks
- Repair data for trucking companies
- Worker files
- Eyewitnesses’ remarks on the driver
- Collision or police records
- Images or video surveillance of the event scene
The evidence may be gathered by a qualified truck accident lawyer in Chicago. If needed, an attorney will collaborate with commercial truck accident reconstruction experts who can carefully evaluate the facts acquired and explain what happened to cause the incident to an insurance provider or a jury.
Likewise, to find blame in these situations, an attorney will collaborate with reputable medical and economic experts who can accurately assess their client’s entire predicted damages.
Joint Liability
It is not unusual for more than one side to be at blame in these cases. On the other hand, Illinois has a “modified comparative negligence” method. It means that even people partly to blame may claim damages for what happened as long as they are not 51 percent or more to blame for the occurrence.
Any party who is 50 percent or less at blame for a commercial vehicle accident may still seek compensation. Still, the whole sum they get will be lowered depending on their proportion of responsibility.
Partnering With a Truck Accident Legal Expert in Illinois
If you or someone you care about has been hurt in an Illinois truck accident, you should contact an experienced lawyer as quickly as possible.
However, most wounded people do not have the means to examine their circumstances thoroughly. Furthermore, commercial trucking businesses are supported mainly by competitive insurance providers and well-funded legal representatives.