Because of their much larger size and weight compared to regular vehicles, trucks almost always cause serious damage during a collision with another car. An accident involving a truck in Kansas caused the death of an elderly couple.
Highway patrol finds an elderly couple that collided with a pickup truck
The Kansas Highway Patrol responded to the area of the incident just south of Wichita in Sedgwick County on a Thursday morning. They believe that the 85 year old male driver of the victim’s vehicle failed to yield during a left turn on Kansas Highway 42. During this turn, a pickup truck crashed into the passenger side of the vehicle at a high rate of speed while it was travelling in the opposite direction.
The passenger of the vehicle was the driver’s 86 year old wife, who died at the scene. The driver also died a short time later at a local hospital.
The driver of the truck sustained only minor injuries, and police do believe that he attempted to apply his brakes before the impact. There was no information regarding citations or charges filed against any of the drivers involved.
Situations where commercial trucks cause accidents
Pickup trucks are used for a number of purposes, and many of them are also used as commercial vehicles by businesses. If a vehicle that is owned by a company is responsible for injuries or death, it is certainly possible to bring a lawsuit against the business. There is a doctrine in the civil law that says a business is strictly responsible for all actionable civil offenses caused by employees engaged in normal job duties. This is one of the reasons why transportation companies and others who own large fleets of vehicles purchase special kinds of liability insurance in case of accidents. From a plaintiff’s perspective, it is important to sue the business that owns the vehicle because it is unlikely that an individual driver would have enough money to cover all of the victim’s losses.
How are these losses paid for?
When the plaintiff and their attorney are successful in a personal injury case, the defendant will either sign a settlement agreement or be subject to an order signed by a judge after a jury verdict. This documentation is enforced to make the defendant pay for the total amount of damages listed. In most cases, this summary of damages will be a fairly large amount meant to cover everything from lost wages to medical and hospital bills. They may have insurance to cover some or all of these losses.
Get immediate assistance after a truck accident
There are lawyers who focus their practice on suing trucking companies and commercial drivers. You can use the listings on USAttorneys.com to find a local legal professional who matches your needs.