Answer:

Not too long ago, we had a client that came to us after she was in a serious truck accident in which the truck driver was believed to be driving drunk. She wanted to know whether or not she could sue the trucking company as a result of that crash. We explained to her that, yes, under almost every circumstance, when a truck driver is driving for another company, that company is also at fault for the truck driver’s negligence.

When a person is at fault for driving drunk, we can also seek what’s called punitive damages – punishing that individual for doing reckless behavior, like driving drunk. Just because their driver is drunk, a trucking company, under most circumstances, would not be also liable for punitive damages. What we explained to her is that there’s more investigation that needs to be done, as that trucking company could be held liable for punitive damages because of that truck driver’s negligence, not just because he was drunk but because maybe he had been involved in numerous other crashes and that they continued to let him drive for them; or maybe he continued to violate the Federal Motor Carrier Safety regulations and some of the rules that govern his conduct, and they just looked the other way and continued to let him drive for them. We would need to look at their conduct and decided whether or not their conduct was reckless, too, that could rise to that level of punitive damages.

If you have any questions after a truck accident, or anything involving a drunk driver, please contact us. We’d be happy to help you. We’d love to give you our guidance and explain to you the unique nature of those types of cases. Our consultations are always free.