Who Is Liable In a Montana Truck Accident?
Montana is a booming, busy state. The state’s flourishing agriculture, forestry, mining, and manufacturing industries cause Montana’s highways and rural routes to be commonly congested with large commercial trucks. A fully loaded semi-tractor-trailer truck can weigh as much as 80,000 pounds, far outsizing an average 4,000-pound family car. Dump trucks, garbage trucks, and box trucks are also large, unwieldy vehicles that crowd Montana’s roadways and pose a threat to vulnerable motorists. According to the National Safety Council, 70% of injuries and fatalities in truck accidents occur to motorists in other vehicles, not to the truck driver.
What Types of Truck Accidents Happen in Montana?
Truck accidents occur on Montana’s busy interstates, dark rural roads, and within bustling urban centers and communities. Commercial trucks are immense, heavy, and difficult to maneuver. They require lengthy stopping distances, make wide turns, and have extended blind spots immediately behind the rear of the truck, directly in front of the cab, and on both sides of the truck and trailer. Common types of truck accidents in Montana include the following:
- Sideswipes
- T-bone accidents (broadside accidents or angle collisions)
- Head-on collisions
- Rollovers
- Jackknife accidents (the truck crashes with the trailer and cab in the shape of a partly opened jackknife)
- Underride accidents
- Override accidents
Truck accidents can also cause multi-car pileups or chain-reaction accidents when they occur on fast-moving highways and other vehicles don’t have time to avoid colliding with a crashed truck.
The Cause of the Accident Is the First Indicator of Potential Liability
It takes many separate entities to keep a well-maintained, securely loaded truck on the road and driven by an alert, qualified driver. All parties involved in the trucking industry must adhere to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations and take all reasonable care to minimize the risk of a truck accident in Montana or elsewhere. Unfortunately, it only takes one party to cut a corner, ignore a law, or act carelessly for a devastating accident to occur. The most common causes of truck accidents in Montana include the following:
- Speeding, or failing to adjust speed for inclement weather or hazardous road conditions
- Distracted driving
- Fatigued driving
- Unsafe lane changes (blindspot accidents)
- Unsafe merging
- Improper passing
- Tire blowouts
- Failure to yield the right of way
- Wide turn accidents
- Loose or suddenly shifting cargo
- Defective truck parts
- Inadequate maintenance
- Faulty repair jobs
- Impaired driving
In other cases, a Montana truck accident can be caused by a party that’s not associated with the trucking industry. For instance, an accident may occur due to road construction debris, unrepaired potholes, an obstructed traffic sign, a confusing intersection, or the actions of a third-party driver.
Investigating a Montana Truck Accident to Determine Liability
Montana’s fault-based insurance system requires the involved insurance companies to assign adjusters to investigate the accident. Under the modified comparative negligence system, an injury victim can recover compensation from the liable party as long as they didn’t contribute more than 50% to the cause of the accident. After a truck accident, investigators examine the police report and other evidence to assign a percentage of fault to all parties involved.
If the insurance company finds that a truck accident victim in Montana contributed to the accident, the insurance company deducts their percentage of fault from the amount they pay out on the claim. If an injury victim’s claim amount is $100,000, and the insurance company assigns them 25% fault—for instance, because they were exceeding the speed limit when the accident occurred—the insurance company only has to pay out $75,000 to the injury victim.
An important reason for a truck accident victim in Montana to hire an attorney is so their lawyer can conduct a thorough independent investigation by examining the police report, eyewitness testimony, and any photo and video evidence. They may also consult with accident reconstruction experts to prove the responsible party’s liability and prevent the insurance company from assigning an undue percentage of fault to their client or shifting liability to them so they cannot recover compensation at all.
Who Could Be Liable for Damages In a Montana Truck Accident?
If one of the entities involved in the trucking industry or another party acts carelessly, recklessly, or wrongfully, and the result is injury to someone else, the liable party is responsible for the damages, typically through the appropriate insurance policy. Common parties found liable for truck accident damages include:
- The truck driver
- The trucking company
- A negligent truck maintenance company
- A careless freight-loading company
- The manufacturer of a defective tire or truck part
- A negligent road maintenance company
- A negligent road planning agency
- A third-party driver
When an injury victim’s attorney can demonstrate clear and compelling evidence of the negligent party’s liability, the responsible party’s insurance must pay out on the claim for injury expenses, lost wages, and property damage.
Proving Liability In a Truck Accident Claim In Montana
To recover full and fair compensation for damages, an injury victim must prove that the responsible party meets the legal standards of liability. This requires documenting evidence to effectively demonstrate the following:
- The at-fault party owed a duty of reasonable care to the injury victim
- They violated this duty through an act of negligence
- Their violation of the duty of care caused the accident and injuries
- The injury victim suffered damages
A successful claim to recover fair compensation also requires a carefully calculated list of the injury victim’s damages. Proving damages is the final portion of determining liability for a truck accident in Montana, because a negligent party is only liable if their actions caused real damages.
What Types of Damages Does the Liable Party’s Insurance Cover?
In an accident between a smaller vehicle and a large commercial truck, the injury victim often suffers severe or catastrophic injuries, sometimes including traumatic brain injuries, internal injuries, multiple fractures, burns, spinal cord injuries, and traumatic amputations. Common damages recovered in truck accident claims in Montana include the following:
- Medical expenses
- Future medical expenses
- Out-of-pocket costs
- Lost earnings
- Future income loss or reduced earning capacity
- Compensation for pain and suffering
- Any catastrophic injury damages that might apply, such as loss of limb, loss of vision or hearing, the loss of an organ, scarring, disfigurement, or diminished quality of life
If a Montana truck accident ends in a fatality, a close surviving family member may recover wrongful death compensation. Proving liability in a truck accident claim in Montana requires showing compelling evidence of economic and non-economic damages. Contact the Bozeman personal injury lawyers today at Beck, Amsden & Stalpes, PLLC to schedule a free consultation.