An accident caused by a semi-truck or some other type of commercial vehicle can have devastating consequences for unsuspecting motorists. Far too often, these individuals suffer catastrophic injuries such as those that affect their brain and spinal cord. The physical, emotional and financial losses that stem from these motor vehicle accidents can be overwhelming and threaten to derail an individual’s life at a time when they feel utterly cheated by the party who caused the accident in question.
While a personal injury lawsuit filed against a negligent driver may lead to the recovery of compensation, in many instances these negligent individuals are unable to pay for the full extent of the damages they have caused. This can leave motor vehicle accident victims in a tough financial position without additional recourse. Fortunately, though, these individuals have another option, which would be pursuing a vicarious liability claim.
Vicarious liability holds an employer responsible for the actions of their employees under certain circumstances. Therefore, those who succeed on a vicarious liability claim are typically more likely to recover the full extent of their damages because employers have more assets that can be utilized to pay a judgment than an individual driver.
In order to succeed on one of these claims, though, certain legal elements must be proven, such as that the driver was on the clock at the time of the accident and was performing his or her job duties at the time. An employer may try to defend against one of these claims by arguing that the employer was operating outside the scope of his or her employment at the time of the accident.
Those who choose to pursue any type of personal injury lawsuit should consider seeking out legal assistance. However, those who are contemplating filing a vicarious liability claim may want to take extra care in determining whom they choose to help them develop their legal strategy given the fact that their claim will likely be hotly contested. Therefore, victims of commercial vehicle accidents should carefully consider how they wish to proceed in these matters