Motorists in Oklahoma who share the highways with commercial vehicles often risk their lives. A big rig or dump trucks weighs approximately 30 times more than a passenger vehicle and is an even more severe threat when hauling hazardous cargo. When these massive vehicles are loaded with industrial waste, gasoline or other flammable or dangerous cargo, ensuing truck accidents can have catastrophic consequences.
Whenever motorists are injured or killed in truck accidents, the victims or surviving family members are typically entitled to pursue civil lawsuits to pursue recovery of monetary damages. However, personal injury or wrongful death claims require the plaintiffs to prove negligence on the part of the truck driver or other parties linked to the commercial vehicle. This could prove to be complicated.
The plaintiff must show that the defendant had a duty to drive with reasonable care to avoid injuring other road users. The next step is to prove that, by breaching the duty of care, the defendant caused injuries or death. Once negligence is established, the court may adjudicate documented claims for damages sustained by the injured party or the deceased person and his or her surviving family members.
This is a complicated field of the law, and the skills of a personal injury attorney in Oklahoma with experience in navigating claims resulting from truck accidents can simplify the entire process. Along with establishing negligence, legal counsel can also identify the parties to name as defendants. With truck accidents, the freight company, employer and several other parties might have shared in the cause of the injuries or death.