Negligence is the key legal concept behind most personal injury and wrongful death cases. For instance, in a car accident case, a driver who causes an accident through negligence can be held liable for the damages he or she caused. It’s important to note that in some cases, more than one party may have contributed to the accident. It’s possible to hold more than one party liable.
A terrible accident that recently killed a man in Louisiana helps illustrate some of the issues involved.
According to police, a 36-year-old Bossier City man was walking near a moving train when a tractor-trailer truck crossed the train tracks. The truck’s trailer somehow shifted as it was crossing the tracks and fell against the man, pinning him to the train. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
In many cases involving a fatal truck accident, the victim’s family can hold both the truck driver and the driver’s employer liable for their damages. This stems from a traditional legal principle known as respondeat superior, which allows employers to be held liable for damages caused by their employees’ negligent acts.
This principle can be very important, as employers are usually better insured than their employees, and therefore more capable of compensating the injured or their families for their damages.
However, it’s very important to remember that insurance companies have a strong incentive to pay the injured or their families less than they need and deserve. Their agents and attorneys are also highly skilled at talking plaintiffs into accepting settlements that are lower than they should accept. For these and other reasons, it’s important for the injured and their families to speak to a personal injury attorney.
