A truck accident can upend life as you know it, leaving you with extensive injuries that impact everything from your mobility to your emotional well-being and financial stability. While a personal injury lawsuit might help you obtain accountability and recover compensation for your losses, these cases aren’t always the walk in the park they appear to be. In fact, you may run up against aggressive defenses that can threaten the viability of your case. Therefore, you need to be prepared to effectively counter them.
What truck accident defenses could you face in your personal injury case?
It depends on the facts at hand, but there are several that could be raised in your case. This includes:
- Arguing that you were contributorily negligent, meaning that you’re at least partially to blame for the accident.
- Claiming that a third-party, such as another driver who was involved in the accident, caused the crash.
- Blaming the trucker for the wreck which, if successful, may shield the truck company from liability.
- Presenting evidence to show that an emergency arose that gave the trucker very little time to make a rational decision and that they acted consistent with how a reasonable person would’ve responded if put in that same situation.
- Arguing that an unexpected mechanical failure not attributable to the trucker or its employee caused the accident.
- Claiming that the plaintiff failed to show causation between the accident and the claimed harm.
- Attacking the victim’s claimed damages.
Don’t let a truck company’s defenses erode your personal injury case
Although you might be up against several defense arguments in your truck accident personal injury case, you can’t let that scare you. Instead, use it as motivation to build a comprehensive claim that anticipates the defense’s arguments and seeks to defeat them. By learning more about these defenses and the legal process, you might be able to successfully do just that.