Maintaining your motor vehicle has to do with more than just its cleanliness. Rather, it means making sure that it is safe enough to operate on the busy Maryland roads for the sake of your protection and all other drivers with whom you share it. Follow along to find out who is responsible for poor truck maintenance and how a proficient St. Mary’s County truck accident lawyer at The Dorsey Law Firm can help you hold them accountable.
In what ways can a poorly maintained truck cause an accident?
If a truck is considered to be poorly maintained, it may mean that it consists of worn-out, broken, or defective parts. For example, worn-out tires may blow out on busy Maryland roads and cause a driver to lose control of the truck and collide with another driver. Or, broken side mirrors may enlarge the already-prominent blind spots of a truck and cause a driver to merge into an already occupied lane. Lastly, defective coupling between the truck and its trailer may cause it to swing out onto neighboring lanes and collide with another driver.
Without further ado, other examples of poorly maintained truck features that may cause an auto accident are as follows:
- Broken taillights.
- Missing reflective tape.
- Worn out or defective brake pads.
- Overloaded or improperly loaded trailers.
- Faulty or broken locks on the backdoors of trailers.
Who is responsible for poor truck maintenance that causes an auto accident?
Essentially, the responsible party for an auto accident is dependent on the exact poorly maintained truck feature that served as its catalyst.
Usually, the owner of a trucking company is to blame. This is because an owner is expected to conduct routine inspections of its fleet of trucks and make timely repairs as deemed necessary. So, they may be the responsible party if they fail to identify and fix a truck’s worn-out, broken, or defective parts.
Similarly, a truck driver should do an overview of the truck they have been assigned before hitting the road. In addition, they may be charged with loading and locking the trailer of the truck they have been assigned. Therefore, they may be at fault if they fail to properly load the trailer for equal weight distribution or lock the backdoor behind them.
A liable party that you may not initially think about is the truck parts manufacturer. That is, they may be responsible for sending out a recall notice as soon as they notice a defect in one of their parts. Failing to do so on time or at all may make them the negligent party in the event of an auto accident.
Regardless, what you need the most is likely strong legal representation from a talented St. Mary’s County auto accident lawyer if you have been struck by a large commercial truck. Someone at The Dorsey Law Firm is eagerly waiting for you to reach out.
