According to the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, one woman has dead after she was involved in an accident with a dump truck near the intersection of Wofford Road and Poplar Springs Road in Gainesville, Georgia. The accident occurred when the truck reportedly slammed into the side of the woman’s SUV.

After the initial collision, the force caused the truck to drag the SUV off the highway and through a nearby yard. The SUV was heavily damaged and its driver sustained critical injuries, leading to her death. There was no word on the condition of the driver of the dump truck or what could potentially have caused the accident, but representatives from the Georgia State Patrol said that an investigation was ongoing.

Injury claims against municipalities

City or county governments often employ dump truck drivers, which means that their work falls under the jurisdiction of those municipalities. If the accident was the result of negligence on the part of the dump truck driver, then the municipality could be considered vicariously liable, as long as the driver’s actions leading up to the accident occurred within the scope of his or her employment.

In such cases, survivors of the deceased may be able to file a wrongful death claim against the municipality, as the vicarious liability rule means that organizations are liable for the actions of their employees. Exceptions occur if the employee in question committed purposefully negligent acts or was intoxicated behind the wheel.

For more information on how you may file an injury or wrongful death claim against a company or a municipality, speak with a skilled Atlanta truck accident lawyer at McMenamy Law LLC.