The drivers of commercial trucks usually do not own the trucks that they are driving. Instead, the trucks are owned by trucking companies that employ the driver. Thus, in many cases in which a person is injured in an accident with a commercial truck, the person may be able to pursue damages from the trucking company that employs the driver. Fort Lauderdale truck accident lawyer Joseph I. Lipsky can assess the circumstances surrounding your accident and advise you on whether you may be able to establish trucking company liability. He represents victims who have been injured on highways and other roads throughout South Florida.
In some cases, a victim may be able to allege that the trucking company was directly liable for their harm under a theory of negligence. To prove a negligence claim against a trucking company in Florida, you must show that the company owed you a duty of care, which it breached, and that the breach caused you to sustain actual damages. An employer may be directly liable for negligent hiring if it did not properly vet a driver, causing it to hire a driver who was unqualified. It may be liable for negligent supervision if it knew or should have known that a driver was not fit to drive a commercial truck but retained the driver regardless. If an accident resulted from inadequate maintenance of a truck owned by the company, your attorney may be able to establish trucking company liability on this basis.
You may also be able to pursue a claim against the trucking company for any negligent acts committed by the driver under a theory of respondeat superior. Respondeat superior does not require you to prove that the trucking company was negligent. Instead, your attorney must show that the driver was negligent, and the trucking company should be held vicariously liable for the driver’s acts.
To establish that a trucking company should be held vicariously liable for a driver’s acts, you must show that the driver was acting within the scope of his or her employment at the time of the accident. An employee’s conduct is within the scope of his or her employment when it is the kind of conduct that the employee was hired to perform, it occurred within the parameters in which the work was permitted to be performed, and it was undertaken to serve the employer.
In other words, you must show that the truck driver involved in the accident was driving on behalf of the trucking company at the time of the accident, and the driver was within the limitations set forth by the trucking company regarding when and where he or she was permitted to drive. This generally will be true as long as the driver was making a delivery or conducting any type of task assigned by the employer.
Trucking companies have a responsibility to ensure that the drivers whom they employ are fit to drive commercial vehicles. When they fail to uphold this duty, they should be held responsible for any resulting harm. If you were injured, or suffered the loss of a loved one, due to a trucking company’s negligent acts, you should meet with a knowledgeable truck accident lawyer to examine your potential claims of trucking company liability. Joseph I. Lipsky is a capable attorney who works diligently to help his clients seek successful results. Mr. Lipsky represents individuals in lawsuits against trucking companies in Miami-Dade, Broward, Orange, Monroe, and Palm Beach Counties, including in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Key West, and West Palm Beach. We have offices in Miami, Plantation, West Palm Beach, and Delray Beach, and we can be reached via our online form or at 1-888-352-5298 to schedule a free and confidential meeting.