Statistics from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration indicate that truck accidents in the United States are on the rise. Over the past two decade, the number of truck accidents has increased by 20 percent, and there has been a corresponding rise in lawsuits filed over these incidents.

However, truck accident lawsuits are not always as straightforward as standard auto accident cases. The biggest complication facing many people as they go through their truck accident cases is determining who is liable in their particular case.

Depending on the circumstances of your accident, any of the following parties could be held liable:

• The driver of the truck
• The owner of the truck or trailer
• The company or person that had leased the trailer or truck from the owner
• The company that manufactured the vehicle or any of its parts that could have caused the accident
• The loader or shipper of the cargo being carried by the truck (specifically in cases involving the improper loading of the vehicle)

Trucking companies can become liable when it’s determined that they somehow violated one of the various laws or regulations that govern everything that happens within the trucking industry. For example, if a company fails to ensure that all of its drivers have commercial driver’s licenses, then it could be held liable if that driver causes an accident. Or if a company does not keep proper track of the amount of time all of its drivers are spending on the road, it could be held liable in an accident in which fatigued driving leads to the accident, even if the driver should have known that he or she had exceeded their max hours for the day.

For more information on how to determine liability after an Atlanta truck accident case, consult the skilled legal team at McMenamy Law, LLC.