The person at fault for a truck accident is the negligent individual or entity. In truck accident claims, this could be a number of individuals or companies. In order to establish negligence, the injured person needs to show that a truck driver or trucking company owed a duty of care to other motorists, breached that duty and caused harm to another driver.

Put simply, truck drivers and their employers owe a duty to you to operate their vehicles in a safe manner and supervise their employees in accordance with state, local, and national regulations. Showing that a truck driver or trucking company has breached their duty is the more difficult task. This breach can occur from failing to adhere to a number of rules and regulations, especially if the accident involved an interstate trucking company.

For example, an injured individual can show a breach of duty by the truck driver where the truck driver was speeding, driving while distracted, driving while under the influence, or by not exercising proper discretion when driving in difficult weather conditions. A trucking company may be said to have breached their duty when they do things like order a truck driver to haul too much weight, fail to do proper safety inspections on their trucks, fail to do proper background checks on their drivers, or even fail to make sure that their employees are getting enough rest before driving.