In any personal injury case, a plaintiff is required to prove certain elements at trial in order to build a viable case. These elements vary from claim to claim, but any negligence claim must generally involve proof of four basic elements: duty; breach; causation and harm.
Together, these elements essentially involve demonstrating that the defendant failed to abide by a legal duty and that this caused harm to the plaintiff. There are a variety of ways to demonstrate breach of duty in personal injury claims depending on the specific facts of the case. In cases involving commercial drivers, it is important to explore the possibility of regulatory violations as an avenue of establishing breach of duty.
We’ve specifically been speaking in recent posts about the hours of service rules. Truck and commercial bus accident victims who work with an experienced legal advocate will invariably consider whether there any regulatory violations at play in the accident. In commercial vehicle accidents where the facts suggest fatigue as a potential cause for the accident, a thorough attorney will use the discovery process to gather as much evidence as possible regarding the truck driver’s compliance habits, as well as the habits of his or her employer, who may or may not be involved in the accident. Trucking and commercial transportation employers can also be held accountable for failing to ensure their drivers comply with federal regulations.
Building a solid personal injury case can be challenging, particularly when the available evidence is scant. An experienced advocate knows how to make the most of a case, though, and to make use of the legal process to give an accident victim the best possible opportunity to seek compensation.
