Personal Injury of Nevada

By Farhan Naqvi, Truck Accident Lawyer in Las Vegas

Imagine that you’re driving along a sidestreet in a warehouse district in Pahrump. Or down a major thoroughfare in Clark County. Or on a freeway passing through Las Vegas.

Now pretend that an 18-wheeler in front of you loses its load (as it did on I-15 in February of 2010), and you are unable to avoid an accident. Whose fault is it?

Under federal law, the driver of the truck and the driver’s company are ultimately responsible for securing the load on any tractor-trailer. Therefore, you would most likely not be at fault for any accidents caused by a truck’s spilled contents.

Trucking companies are held to very high safety standards when it comes to making sure their cargo is secure during transport. Nevertheless, accidents caused by the spilled contents of tractor-trailers do sometimes occur. Some of the most common causes include:

• Carelessness or negligence during loading
• An overloaded truck
• A truck that is traveling too fast
• Inclement weather
• The unanticipated shift of a load during transport

One thing to keep in mind is that the company which operates the truck itself may not have been the entity responsible for loading the vehicle. In many cases, trucks are driven to warehouses, docks, or other transport hubs where they are loaded with cargo by employees of another company. In these cases, it is quite possible that the party who transferred the freight onto the truck is partly or mostly to blame for an ensuing accident involving spilled cargo.

If your vehicle has been damaged from a truck’s spilled contents, or if you or your loved ones have suffered injuries sustained in an accident involving a lost load, contact an attorney immediately. He or she can help you receive compensation for your repair costs and/or medical bills.

About the Editor: Farhan R. Naqvi is a Las Vegas personal injury lawyer who has experience representing victims injured in car accidents, drunk driver crashes, truck wrecks, slip and falls, taxi cab accidents, and bicycle crashes. He also has experience handling spine injury, product liability, underinsured/uninsured driver, and wrongful death cases. If you’ve been seriously hurt in an accident in Summerlin, North Las Vegas, Clark County, Henderson, Boulder City, Green Valley, or Pahrump, give Farhan a call at 702-553-1000 for a free, no-hassle consultation.