Unique Issues When Handling Commercial Vehicle Accidents
By Dan Brazil | Published on August 3, 2011 | 0 Comments
The main difference between a typical personal injury case and a commercial vehicle accident case is that commercial vehicle drivers have a higher duty of care than most other vehicle drivers on the road, explains Dan Brazil of The Law Offices of Daniel J. Brazil, a Minneapolis personal injury attorney, Minnesota.
As far as the law is concerned, this higher duty means that commercial drivers – such as those people who are paid to drive semi-trucks for a living – are held to more rigid standards than people who drive their own cars for personal use, as far as safety is concerned. Brazil says that there are federal safety regulations that govern commercial carriers, such as semi-trucks and garbage trucks. These regulations detail what duties a driver does and does not have.
As a Minneapolis personal injury attorney, Brazil says that there is a fair amount of discovery that goes into cases involving accidents with commercial vehicles. Whenever there is an accident involving a semi-truck, for example, there is certain information that is obtainable, such as logs that must be kept by the driver.
This information can be used by Brazil and his associates to determine whether or not the commercial driver was actually in compliance with the federal safety regulations at the time of the accident, and whether or not that driver may have committed some type of violation of a federal statute or regulation. If so, then that information can be used in the case that the Minneapolis personal injury attorney files on his client’s behalf.
Other information that Brazil will gather in these types of cases includes any relevant police reports and eyewitness accounts. He may also seek out experts who can testify about the facts of the case in court, such as accident reconstructionists who are able to determine who was at fault in a collision case based on the relevant facts from the scene.
The goal of any personal injury attorney in Minneapolis should be to identify the cause of the accident – whether it is with a commercial vehicle or otherwise – and to then seek the maximum compensation possible from the negligent driver, the insurance company, or the commercial business the driver was representing.
Because Brazil has handled many cases involving collisions with commercial vehicles, he is not afraid to go to trial to seek maximum compensation for his clients when necessary. He recommends that people who are involved in collisions with commercial vehicles first seek medical help, and then seek the advice of a competent personal injury attorney.
*Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Publication of this article and your receipt of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.