Filing a Wrongful Death Lawsuit After a Tractor Trailer Crash

In Oregon, certain family members can file a wrongful death lawsuit against the truck driver and/or trucking company that contributed to your loved one’s death.

If you plan to file a wrongful death lawsuit after your loved one is killed by a trucker, you need to find the best wrongful death lawyers to handle your claim. The trucker’s insurance company will have aggressive, experienced lawyers trying to reduce the amount of your claim and may even try to blame your loved one for the accident.

Also, trucking companies are required to buy much more liability insurance than a regular car driver. There is a lot at stake in these claims, with sometimes $1 million or more of insurance coverage available. You need a good attorney such as The Herron Law Firm representing you.

Some of the compensation you may obtain in a wrongful death lawsuit against a truck driver and his company are:

1. Funeral costs, medical bills, and other out of pocket expenses.
2. Lost earning capacity, which will pay you for your loved one’s future income.
3. Cost of emotional support services.
4. Loss of services, such as parental or spousal services.
5. Mental anguish
6. Loss of companionship
7. Loss of inheritance
8. Loss of support at home

Which Family Members Can File the Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

The people who can file a wrongful death lawsuit in Oregon are a spouse, children, parents, and the administrator of the estate.

How To File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Tractor-trailer accidents are more complicated than car accidents. Because of the legal concept called vicarious liability, a truck driver who caused a fatal accident by carelessness or recklessness is not the primarily liable party. Rather, their company is responsible for the driver’s negligence and the damages incurred.

This means the best wrongful death lawyers are taking on the trucking company and its lawyers to file a claim against its commercial liability insurance policy to get you the compensation you deserve. There also are other considerations in tractor trailer wrongful death cases, such as the large amounts of supporting evidence that is in the hands of the tractor-trailer company.

To ensure that the attorneys have access to this critical evidence, they will take action by sending a spoliation letter to the company asking them to keep the proof of their driver’s negligence. This could include:

1. Driver rest logs
2. Digital information from the onboard truck computer
3. Dash cam video
4. Drug and alcohol tests after the crash
5. Driver records, including their training records and any documents about previous accidents
6. Truck maintenance records
7. Truck permit information

Your attorney will do an investigation of what caused the truck crash, collect police reports, interview witnesses and even hire an accident reconstruction team if needed. All this work is essential to prove that the truck driver was negligent, that they were driving at the time of the crash, and the truck company is liable for the death of your loved one.

If you have questions about a wrongful death case involving your loved one, please call The Herron Law Firm today.