The Legal Consequences of Rear-End Collisions Involving Commercial Trucks

Could You Be Injured in a Rear-End Truck Collision?

In Georgia, if you are injured because the driver of a commercial truck crashed into the rear of your vehicle – and you survived the accident – you are entitled to compensation, but you must take your personal injury case to a Georgia truck accident attorney.

What are your rights if you are injured in a rear-end collision with a large commercial truck? In order to be compensated for your medical expenses and lost wages, what steps will you need to take? When will you need to contact a Georgia rear-end collision attorney?

What Should You Know About Rear-End Collisions and Trucks?

In 2022, across the United States, more than 160,000 traffic collisions involved large commercial trucks. These accidents caused more than 5,000 fatalities. In Georgia alone, in 2023, accidents with large commercial trucks resulted in more than 250 fatalities.

A rear-end collision with a commercial truck occurs when a semi-truck crashes into another vehicle’s rear end. If a large commercial truck crashes into a car at high speed, the car and its passengers will sustain considerably more damage than the truck.

A fully-loaded large commercial truck may weigh forty or more tons, but the average automobile weighs in at only about 3,000 pounds. Statistically, car accidents with large commercial trucks are the most devastating and injurious traffic accidents.

What Are the Causes of Rear-End Truck Collisions?

While poor weather or defective truck or auto parts are responsible for some of the most disastrous rear-end truck collisions, the leading cause of these accidents is a truck driver’s negligence, in several forms:

1. Distracted driving: Drivers face plenty of distractions on the road. Smartphones, GPS systems, and audio systems frequently divert the attention of drivers from the road and substantially increase the risk of rear-end commercial truck accidents.
2. Tailgating and sudden braking: When commercial trucks follow cars too closely, rear-end truck accidents are inevitable. Without some distance between vehicles, there’s little or no time for a truck driver to react if the car in front suddenly brakes or stops completely.
3. Fatigue: A truck driver’s hours are regulated by federal law, but most truckers are paid by the mile, so they may try to work more than the limit, which is eleven hours a day. This means truck drivers are often fatigued, and fatigue is a principal cause of truck accidents.
4. Driving under the influence: It’s less common than other causes, but if a truck driver is operating a truck while under the influence, an accident is likely to happen.

Who Has Liability for Rear-End Truck Collisions?

How is liability determined after a rear-end truck collision? When a large commercial truck is involved in a rear-end truck accident, even if the driver was clearly negligent, it may be a challenge to determine which parties may share liability for the damages.

If the truck’s brakes or tires were defective, if the cargo was improperly loaded, or if the truck’s maintenance was improperly conducted or entirely neglected, more than one party may have liability for the accident and injuries.

Trucking companies, truck manufacturers, parts manufacturers, contractors, subcontractors, freight companies, and leasing companies may or may not have partial liability for any particular rear-end truck accident.

What is Vicarious Liability?

The legal principle of vicarious liability holds an employer liable for an employee’s negligence on the job, provided that the negligence wasn’t intentional and happened in the “course and scope” of the worker’s job duties.

A trucking company may be assigned liability for a truck driver’s negligence if the driver is an employee, but employers may not be held liable for the negligence of an independent contractor. If a driver is an independent contractor, vicarious liability will not apply.

What Steps Should You Take After a Rear-End Truck Accident?

You may be injured and unable to take all of the following steps after a rear-end truck collision, but you must try. If you’re severely injured, there may be someone at the scene of the accident who can help you:

1. Call for medical help immediately for yourself or anyone else who appears injured. That’s the paramount priority after any traffic collision.
2. Summon the police. After a rear-end truck accident, the police will usually conduct an investigation. Ask the officers when and how you can acquire a copy of the written police accident report.
3. Exchange personal contact information and complete insurance details with the truck driver. Obtain as many details and as much information as you can.
4. If there are eyewitnesses, ask for their names and a way to contact them. If you bring a personal injury lawsuit, your attorney may need their testimony or statements.
5. Take photographs of the accident site, damage to vehicles, license plates, skid marks, broken glass, and your visible injuries.

How Will a Lawyer Handle Your Personal Injury Claim?

After a rear-end truck accident, refer any inquiries – from the truck driver’s employer or that employer’s lawyer or insurance company – to your Georgia rear-end collision attorney, and let that attorney do the negotiating and talking for you.

This cannot be emphasized strongly enough: Don’t accept any settlement from an auto insurance company until you’ve discussed your case with your personal injury attorney. Most injury claims are resolved out-of-court when the lawyers for each side negotiate an out-of-court settlement.

However, if you’re not offered an acceptable settlement amount, or if liability for the accident is contested, your lawyer will take your injury claim to trial, tell a jury how (and how seriously) you were injured, and ask that jury to find in your favor and award your compensation.

What Else Should You Know?

The deadline for taking legal action after a truck accident in Georgia, with very few exceptions, is two years from the accident date. Don’t wait two years. Witnesses forget details, and evidence gets lost or contaminated, so contact an attorney as soon as you’ve been treated for your injuries.

A Georgia truck accident attorney will handle your case on a contingent fee basis. There’s no cost or obligation for your first consultation with a personal injury attorney, and you will not owe a fee to your attorney until and unless your compensation is recovered.

Take Your Truck Accident Claim to Jarrett & Price

After a rear-end truck accident, if you’ve been injured, take your case to Jarrett & Price. If you’ve been severely injured and you can’t work – temporarily or permanently – you must be represented by a legal team that knows how to prevail in the most difficult personal injury cases.

The legal team at Jarrett & Price will handle the legal paperwork and fight on your behalf so that you can concentrate on what’s important – avoiding financial hardship and recovering your health.

If you are injured due to negligence in any traffic accident, call Jarrett & Price at 855-909-3021 to learn more, schedule your first legal consultation, or begin the legal process at once. You’ll learn how Georgia law applies to your case, and you’ll receive personalized, sound legal advice.