{"id":8390,"date":"2021-02-25T14:08:09","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T19:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:10028\/uncategorized\/who-is-liable-in-a-commercial-vehicle-accident\/"},"modified":"2021-02-25T14:08:09","modified_gmt":"2021-02-25T19:08:09","slug":"who-is-liable-in-a-commercial-vehicle-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/article\/who-is-liable-in-a-commercial-vehicle-accident\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Liable in a Commercial Vehicle Accident?"},"content":{"rendered":"

At-fault drivers are legally responsible for commercial crash damages. Typically, employers are financially responsible for car crash damages, because of the respondeat superior<\/em><\/a> rule.<\/p>\n

This legal doctrine holds employers responsible if their employees are negligent.<\/p>\n

As outlined below, New York law defines these key terms in broad, victim-friendly terms. So, these victims have an additional source of recovery.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s very important in catastrophic injury claims, like wrongful death claims.<\/p>\n

Typically, tortfeasors (negligent drivers) do not have enough insurance coverage to provide fair compensation to these victims.<\/p>\n

A New York personal injury attorney<\/a> is an essential part of this process.<\/p>\n

A lawyer has the resources to collect evidence and establish first party liability. Furthermore, an attorney evaluates the legal aspects of your claim.<\/p>\n

First Party Liability<\/h2>\n

Employers are only responsible for Uber driver, taxi driver, bus driver, and other commercial vehicle wrecks if the driver was negligent.<\/p>\n

Typically, drivers are negligent if they did not use ordinary care or if they broke a safety law.<\/p>\n

Fatigue is a good example of a lack of care.<\/p>\n

Driving after twenty hours without sleep is like driving with a .08 BAC<\/a>. That\u2019s twice the legal limit for commercial operators in New York.<\/p>\n

Many truck drivers are behind the wheel for this amount of time. They usually get paid by the load and not by the mile.<\/p>\n

So, they must drive as far as they can as quickly as they can if they want to make money.<\/p>\n

Circadian rhythm fatigue is often an issue as well. Regardless of how well rested they are, most people are naturally drowsy at certain times of day and night.<\/p>\n

Fatigue is also an issue among ridesharing operators and taxi drivers. Many of these people have other jobs.<\/p>\n

So, before they even get behind the wheel, they are already dangerously fatigued.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s illegal to use a hand-held cell phone while driving.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, device distraction<\/a> is a serious issue, especially in ridesharing crash cases. Other device activities, such as using a hands-free device, are technically legal but nevertheless dangerous.<\/p>\n

These actions could constitute a lack of care.<\/p>\n

Insurance Company Defenses<\/h2>\n

On a related note, seatbelt compliance is much lower in ridesharing and other commercial vehicles.<\/p>\n

In the Empire State, if victims do not wear seatbelts, insurance companies can try to reduce or deny compensation.<\/p>\n

The insurance company has the burden of proof in seatbelt defense<\/a> cases.<\/p>\n

The comparative fault defense is even more common. This legal loophole shifts blame for the accident from the tortfeasor to the victim.<\/p>\n

For example, the insurance company might admit that its driver was distracted and blame the accident on the victim\u2019s excessive speed.<\/p>\n

In these instances, jurors must weigh the evidence and divide fault on a percentage basis. New York is a pure comparative fault state.<\/p>\n

So, even if the victim was 99 percent responsible for the crash, the tortfeasor is still liable for a proportionate share of damages.<\/p>\n

Third-Party Liability<\/h2>\n

The aforementioned respondeat superior<\/em> rule applies if the tortfeasor was an employee acting within the scope of employment at the time of the wreck.<\/p>\n

The collision must also be a foreseeable consequence of the employer\/employee relationship.<\/p>\n

Any person the employer controls in any meaningful way is an employee.<\/p>\n

That includes people like independent contractors, owner-operators, and even unpaid volunteers.<\/p>\n

The ridesharing, transportation, or other company controls these drivers in terms of things like route travelled or cargo carried.<\/p>\n

Somewhat similarly, any act which benefits the employer in any way is within the scope of employment.<\/p>\n

Deadheading is a good example. Uber and other rideshare drivers spend a significant amount of time driving without passengers.<\/p>\n

Although the company does not profit from deadheading, this conduct is within the scope of employment.<\/p>\n

If the vehicle has a company logo on it, the free advertising benefits the company. Having drivers on the road also benefits the company.<\/p>\n

Foreseeability is normally not an issue in commercial crash claims.<\/p>\n

An accident is usually a foreseeable consequence of driving. Third party misconduct, like a driver who breaks into the parking lot and steals a car, sometimes affects foreseeability.<\/p>\n

Damages in a vehicle collision claim typically include compensation for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering.<\/p>\n

Employers are ultimately responsible for commercial vehicle collisions.<\/p>\n

For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney in New York<\/a>, contact Napoli Shkolnik, .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At-fault drivers are legally responsible for commercial crash damages. Typically, employers are financially responsible for car crash damages, because of the respondeat superior rule. This legal doctrine holds employers responsible…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8391,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[775],"tags":[824,846,851,964,1043],"class_list":["post-8390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-injury","tag-auto-accidents","tag-car-accident-attorney","tag-personal-injury-lawyers-near-me","tag-personal-injury","tag-commer"],"acf":[],"page_builder_type":"gutenberg","gutenberg_data":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}