With more and more people shopping online throughout the year for everything from shoes to groceries, the delivery truck is a common sight in just about every neighborhood these days. Those delivery drivers are under a lot of pressure to make deliveries on time, which means that an individual driver may be clocking in long hours and a lot of miles on any given day. Fatigue and frustration can easily lead to an accident. If you’ve been injured in an accident with a delivery truck and it wasn’t your fault it is important that you contact an experienced truck accident attorney immediately.
Is It the Other Driver’s Responsibility to Pay for Your Injuries or the Delivery Company’s Responsibility?
It depends on the situation. While the delivery driver obviously bears some sort of responsibility for the accident, there’s a provision in Texas law that puts a vicarious liability on the driver’s employer for the negligent actions of their on-the-job employees. If the driver was on the clock and working, it’s likely that the company, not the driver, will have to pay for your injuries.
However, you can’t necessarily tell who a delivery driver’s employer is by looking at the logo on their uniform or truck. Some delivery companies, such as FedEx, outsource their deliveries to independent contractors and other companies. If you’re hit by a FedEx driver or a driver for a similar company, your lawyer will have to carefully assess the facts of your case and the insurance policies of each company involved to determine who may be financially responsible.
Sometimes you run into a problem with claims against delivery companies, however. For example, if the driver regularly takes an unpaid lunch and he forgot to put the emergency brakes on while he parked on a hill to eat or take a nap and the truck slipped out of place, the company may try to avoid liability by saying that the driver was on his own time and therefore wholly responsible for any injuries. Similarly, imagine the driver was at the end of his shift and stopped to run through a drive-thru to grab a burger before returning his truck. If he hit you on the way out of the drive-thru, his employer may try to claim that he wasn’t acting in the course of his employment, which would relieve the employer of liability.
What Causes Delivery Truck Accidents?
As convenient websites like Amazon, Grubhub, and Shipt continue to make more and more goods available for home delivery, demand for delivery services is surging. One result is that many drivers are overworked and under increasing pressure to complete routes faster.
Not only that, but as delivery-based businesses rapidly take on drivers to meet rising demand, they frequently fail to give new, inexperienced drivers the training and support they need. This dangerous combination creates a high risk for driver mistakes and deadly wrecks.
Delivery truck crashes result from a variety of common factors, including human error and mechanical failures. An experienced truck accident attorney should perform a thorough investigation of the collision. Sometimes, they discover:
- Driver negligence, such as failure to yield, speeding, or distracted driving
- Drunk, drugged, or drowsy driving
- Poorly maintained delivery vehicles
- Defective vehicle parts that caused or contributed to the crash
- Poor hiring and training policies on the part of delivery companies
Unfortunately, the consequences of these wrecks are usually severe for the victims. Delivery trucks are much larger and heavier than most passenger vehicles, which makes them harder to maneuver or stop and creates significant blind spots for the driver. The additional weight also means these trucks tend to cause especially devastating injuries when they collide with another vehicle, a cyclist, or a pedestrian.
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