When someone is injured in an 18-wheeler crash, it’s natural to think about what went wrong when the accident occurred. Maybe the truck driver was speeding, driving while impaired, fatigued behind the wheel, or failed to look in their blind spots before changing lanes.
To ensure that all responsible parties are held liable for your injuries and total damages, we need to take a step back and look at the whole story. Below, we discuss how negligent hiring practices can lead to dangerous, inexperienced truck drivers on the road.
Trucking Company Hiring Responsibilities and Liability
In many instances, big truck crashes could have been prevented if the trucking company had better screened or monitored the applicant in the first place, before the driver was even given permission to get on the road. However, trucking companies struggle to fill positions, which can lead them to hire less-than-qualified applicants. Often, negligent hiring is caused by one or more of the following:
- Oversight
- Greed
- Convenience
- Ignorance
- Misplaced loyalty
It is the responsibility of all trucking companies to hire individuals who they believe are safe drivers. Pre-employment screenings are crucial, and may involve the company gathering information on the applicant, including driver qualification (DQ files), substance abuse records, and medical exam records. If a trucking company fails to take such steps and an unqualified driver causes a truck wreck, the company itself may be held liable.
How to Prove Negligent Hiring Caused Your Truck Crash
Whether or not the trucking company knew about a driver’s lack of qualifications does not matter. They have a responsibility to ensure that every driver who is given permission to drive their trucks has the skills, qualifications, and education required to do so.
While many things may be uncertain after a truck crash, you can bet that the trucking company will do everything in their power to limit their own liability in the accident. At Jamie Casino Injury Attorneys, our Savannah truck accident attorneys are not afraid to go up against large, powerful trucking companies or their insurers.
If you’re injured in a big truck accident, don’t wait to get help—time is of the essence! Contact our tenacious legal team at (912) 809-5335 to schedule your free case review. We would be honored to fight for you.