How To Handle It If Drivers Lie About Their Role In A Trucking Accident
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-09-16 22:21:26 | Word Count: 741
"Take responsibility." It is an expression that is often mentioned but not often lived up to. In motor vehicle accident matters it is all to frequent that one sees a driver or other party deny, instead of take, blame for bringing about the accident. Any lawyer who handles motor vehicle accidents involving catastrophic injuries, though, will sooner or later come across a situation in which the driver simply lies about what occurred in order to dodge liability.
If attorneys come across a scenario in which they believe this to be the case they should thoroughly check out the circumstances surrounding the accident. Sometimes this involves getting the help of experts, such as an accident reconstruction expert or a toxicologist. Other times the only thing needed is an eye for detail, a bit of sound judgment, and a good deal of hard work. For example, contemplate the lawsuit described in what follows:
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This matter involved the driver of a tractor-trailer who lost control of his vehicle. The truck ended up on the sidewalk by the side of the road where it struck a pedestrian. The driver, however, claimed that the reason he lost control of his vehicle was because he had a coughing fit which resulted in his loss of consciousness. The driver was driving the truck on behalf of his employer. Given this the employer was liable if the driver was liable. The driver and his employer thus claimed that this was a medical emergency and that the driver was thus not at fault and that hence the employer was also not liable. Still that was not the end of the story. While in discovery the law firm that handled the case uncovered that the driver had asserted medical emergencies had been responsible for his three previous accidents
The employer responded with a doctor's certificate put together just sixteen days ahead of the accident clearing their employee as able to drive a tractor trailer. They introduced the certificate so as to clear themselves of liability. The law firm dug deeper into the situation and discovered that the physician had written the certificate based on false information provided the driver thus invalidating the certificate. What's more, the driver never indicated that he had lost consciousness to the policewhen intervied shortly after the accident and appeared lucid.
The female victim, only 58 years old, suffered multiple serious injuries. A ligament on the thumb of her dominant hand was ruptured. Her clavicle was fractured. Three of her ribs were fracture. She also suffered a skull fracture. Since the defendants denied any responsibility for the accident, and therefore had no liability, the law firm that helped the woman took the case to trial. During the trial the law firm was able to persuade the jury that the defendant had invented the story of the coughing fit and the loss of consciousness only after the victim went forward with her case so as to avoid responsibility for the accident. As a result, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the female victim in the amount of $1.2 million.
Perhaps the employer in this case really thought that the driver had been fit to drive a tractor-trailer and had just suffered a medical emergency. It could be the driver convinced himself that he had gone through atill another medical emergency. Or maybe, for whatever reason, the driver believed that if he spoke the truth about how the accident took place he would lose his job. No one will ever know. As this case demonstrates there is no substitute for a thoroughly working up a case.
It requires a certain amount of experience, common sense, resources, and skill to realize that something is not right with a defendant's story and to know how and where to look for the evidence that will rebut it. And yet if a lawyer with the skill and the experience does a thorough workup on a case like this the outcome can be considerable.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting pedestrian accident cases. To learn more about the way a truck accident attorney can be of assistance to you and about other vehicle accident matters including vehicle accident matters visit the websites
