No matter how big your car is, a crash with a long-haul truck can be devastating. Their sheer size and weight mean that they can do much more damage than another car could, even at slow speeds. If this happens to you, your best option could be to bring a lawsuit against the truck driver or trucking company to prove that the driver’s negligence caused the crash. What are the elements of a negligence lawsuit that your attorney would have to prove?
The elements of negligence
There are four elements of negligence that your attorney will have to prove in court. These are:
- Duty – that the truck driver had a duty to everyone else on the road to drive in a reasonably safe manner and avoid reckless behavior that could endanger them
- Breach – that the truck driver breached that duty, meaning that they failed to live up to their duty to drive safely
- Damages – that you suffered harm, in the form of physical injury, economic damages, emotional injury, wrongful death and so forth
- Causation – that the truck driver’s breach of duty was the cause of your damages
If your attorney is successful in proving those four elements with evidence, then it’s likely that you will prevail in your suit.
The damages you can recover
If you win your negligence lawsuit, there is a variety of damages you can ask for. For example, you can recover the costs that are related to your physical injuries. This includes any medical bills you’ve had to pay, but it also can include things such as mental anguish, pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life, depending on the circumstances.
You can also recover purely economic damages. These might include the cost of repairing the damage to your vehicle, your lost wages due to your inability to work because of your injury and things of that nature. If your injury results in a permanent disability, you might be able to recover the costs associated with that disability as well.
An accident involving a truck can have lasting consequences that can change someone’s life forever. With luck, you’ll be able to receive the compensation you need to be able to recover physically, economically and emotionally from your accident.
