After a truck accident, it is natural to want to blame the truck driver. Sometimes, it is even fairly obvious that the trucking company or the owner of the truck was to blame.
Sometimes though, truck manufacturers are also at fault and these cases are not always so obvious. Truck manufacturers have a legal obligation to ensure the parts they use in their big rigs are safe and without faults. Manufacturers also have a legal duty to ensure the entire truck as a whole is safe to operate. When they do not, they can be held liable for paying full damages.
Determining that a truck manufacturer is liable in your truck accident case is not always easy. An Atlanta truck accident lawyer will conduct an investigation and collect evidence to help you obtain the full financial compensation you deserve.
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When are Trucks Considered Defective?
A truck is considered defective when they pose an unreasonable risk of harm to the public. Defects on a truck are classified into one of the three following categories:
- Design defects: A design defect occurs when the design of a truck, or a part of a truck, is inherently dangerous. Design defects occur before the truck, or truck part is even manufactured. For example, a truck’s design may be too high, meaning it is at a greater risk of tipping over and causing a catastrophic truck accident.
- Manufacturing defects: A manufacturing defect is caused by negligence during the manufacturing process. For example, faulty rubber may cause a tire to deform, causing the tread on the tire to separate. This type of defect occurs during the actual manufacturing process.
- Marketing defects: Also known as a failure to warn, marketing defects occur when the manufacturer is aware that there are risks associated with their product but they do not warn consumers of it. For example, commercial trucks typically use air brakes because they can create and transmit high forces over long distances. Air brakes are not as easy to use as hydraulic brakes, though. If a manufacturer did not involve operating instructions for air brakes in the manual, that could be considered negligence that would leave them liable for paying for injuries after an accident.
To collect damages for a defective truck, you must prove that the defect caused the accident you were involved in and that you were hurt as a result.
What Parts of Trucks are Most Commonly Defective?
A single truck is made up of thousands of parts. However, there are some parts on trucks that are more commonly defective than others. These include:
- Tires: It is not uncommon for motorists to see blown tires and tire treads from commercial trucks along the sides of roads and highways. Cracking tires and separating treads often cause tire blowouts, which can result in a very serious truck accident.
- Brakes: Commercial trucks already take much longer than other vehicles to slow down and come to a full stop. When the brakes on a truck are defective, the vehicle may not be able to slow down or stop at all. This type of defect not only causes accidents but also increases the force of impact, which means even more serious injuries are likely to result.
- Fuel systems: The placement of a fuel system on a truck is very important. If the fuel tank is placed in the wrong location, it could be more susceptible to causing an explosion or fire, and innocent people could be injured because of it.
- Steering system: Truck drivers have the most control of their trucks using the steering system. If the system is defective, or the parts are faulty, components of the steering system may break and the truck driver may not be able to avoid a serious collision.
- Electrical system: Faulty electrical systems can cause safety features within a truck to fail, or cause another malfunction while the truck is on the road.
- Accelerators: A part that many people do not think of when considering defective truck parts is the accelerator. This though is another very important part of a truck and it must operate properly. If an accelerator breaks or sticks, it may cause a truck driver to speed up when they do not mean to, or even slow down too quickly, which can also cause a crash.
How to Prove a Truck Manufacturer is Liable in Your Truck Accident Case
Truck manufacturers can indeed be held liable when a vehicle they made is defective, or they use faulty parts. Unfortunately, your word is not enough when filing a claim. You must also prove the truck manufacturer is liable.
Proving truck manufacturers were at fault for causing an accident is incredibly difficult. This is particularly true considering that after a crash, you will likely be recovering from serious injuries.
A lawyer will conduct the thorough investigation that is required after a truck accident. During this investigation, an attorney will also collect evidence that can prove the truck manufacturer was at fault.Â
A lawyer will also have a network of experts they can reach out to that can advise on your case. For example, an attorney may use an accident reconstruction expert that will use photographs, computer technology, and other resources to determine how the crash happened.
Once a lawyer has determined that manufacturer negligence caused a crash, they will also know how to hold them accountable for paying the full financial compensation you deserve.
Our Lawyers at MG Law Can Help After an Injury
If you or someone you love has been injured in a collision, our lawyers can help with your case. At MG Law, our skilled attorneys have years of experience building strong cases against truck manufacturers and holding them responsible for paying the full damages accident victims deserve. We want to put that experience to work for you. Call us today at 770-988-5252 or fill out our online form to schedule a free consultation.