Who Is Potentially Liable When You’re Hurt in an Accident Involving a Delivery Vehicle
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the roadways are swarming with delivery vehicles. Many of the drivers of those vehicles are working long hours, often making deliveries after dark. Furthermore, many of the drivers are seasonal employees without substantial experience on the road. It should come as no surprise, then, that the number of motor vehicle accidents involving delivery trucks and vans goes up dramatically in December. What can you do to protect yourself if you’ve been hurt in a crash involving an Amazon, UPS, FedEx, or similar driver?
Potentially Liable Parties in a Delivery Vehicle Accident
As with any type of motor vehicle accident, you can always file a lawsuit based on the carelessness or negligence of the delivery vehicle driver. However, if the accident occurs while the driver is working, you can also bring a claim against the company, under a legal theory known as respondeat superior.
As a general rule, delivery companies have liability insurance to cover claims involving accidents caused by their drivers. Accordingly, whether or not you’ll be able to recover directly from the company will depend on who caused the accident. Common situations where the delivery truck driver will have liability include:
- Violation of traffic laws—Traffic violations that cause accidents include speeding, failure to stop at a traffic sign or signal, failure to yield to your right of way, illegal lane changes, and reckless driving.
- Distracted driving—The driver was checking their phone or looking at the packages in the vehicle, rather than focusing on the road.
- Failure to take winter weather conditions into consideration—In New Jersey, the likelihood of snow and/or ice in December is significant.
- Cutting corners to meet work demands—Most delivery drivers have much larger workloads during the holidays and can lose focus on the road because of the pressure to get the job done
Contact the Law Office of Howard D. Popper
At the Law Offices of Howard D. Popper, we can help protect your rights. For a free initial consultation to discuss your options after any type of personal injury, contact our office online or call 973-993-8787 to set up an appointment. We have offices in Morristown and Newton.
We handle all personal injury claims on a contingent fee basis. You won’t pay any attorney fees unless we recover damages for your losses.