For many of us, getting into our cars is a daily ritual for getting around Georgia. We make those quick trips to school or work so frequently it becomes as automatic as the car switching from reverse to drive. Left turn here, stop sign there, speed bumps there. Then, without warning, we can be rear-ended or suffer some other collision with another driver. At that moment, nothing seems automatic anymore.
If you’ve been driving on Georgia roads for a while, you know accidents like this are an unfortunate daily occurrence. But what happens when you are hit by a company vehicle? As more and more businesses share the roadways with us, more Georgia drivers are asking Montlick for support in these challenging situations. There are older concerns, like dealing with a collision with “big rigs,” and newer challenges like Ubers and Lyft accidents. Whichever company owned the vehicle, one thing remains the same after a collision: seek medical treatment.
Of course, seeking the medical care you need after a collision can come with additional challenges and questions. Chief among these is how you’ll be able to afford treatment for the injuries you’ve sustained. While there isn’t an average settlement for commercial vehicle accidents, we can help you understand the process and give you a case value once we have all the necessary documents to do so. We’ll explain what the aftermath of a company vehicle collision looks like, how to maneuver the obstacles that exist, and how to find the right company car accident attorney for you.
What Happens After a Company Car Accident?
It’s worth repeating that the first priority after a collision with any vehicle—including a company car—is seeking medical attention. Even if you feel perfectly fine at first, that may not be the reality of the situation. While first responders are able to identify many injuries at the scene of the accident, they aren’t as able to identify serious internal injuries like blunt force trauma, concussion, or traumatic pneumothorax.
As you recover, you may start receiving phone calls from the company’s insurance provider. If the collision results in a hospitalization, it’s illegal for the company’s driver or their insurance company to reach out to you. Georgia law protects hospitalized victims from insurance companies seeking to negotiate a settlement or pressure them into a waiver within 15 days of an accident. The law exists because the company may try to prey on the vulnerability and uncertainty you feel immediately after an accident. It’s just one reason why you or a loved one will want to reach out to a trusted company car accident attorney as soon as you’re able to. Unfortunately, it’s not the only reason.
Companies Retain Lawyers and Investigators
One of the major dissimilarities between a car collision involving individuals and a collision with a company car is that the company has resources typically unavailable to private individuals. Well-resourced companies that operate large fleets of company vehicles likely employ lawyers and investigators and if not, their insurance company does.
How does this impact a “hit by a company vehicle” claim? Whether an injured victim agrees to a settlement or decides to go to trial, they’ll need evidence. That evidence can disappear within hours in the best of circumstances. However, if a company vehicle has investigators and lawyers organized into rapid response teams, they may get to the scene of the accident within minutes. It’s not unheard of for trucking companies in particular to operate 24/7 teams.
What do these teams do once they arrive? They document the accident, talk to witnesses, and critically, they remove their company vehicle from the scene. In some cases, these teams repair the vehicle and send it back out for regular duty as if nothing happened. If you needed documentation of the company car’s damage to show how, why, and where the accident occurred, it may already be gone. Without experienced attorneys who have seen and addressed these tactics before, your case might have a hard time going forward.
Follow Your Doctor’s Treatment Plan
Once you’ve reached out to an attorney and have their assistance, you’re likely interested in knowing how much your accident claim is worth. It’s an understandable and important question to ask, considering you may have medical bills and lost wages to manage. But, at the outset of any case, that can be difficult to predict.
It’s almost impossible to predict how much a hit by a company vehicle settlement is worth because the total damages you can pursue in a claim may not exist just yet. As you get treatment for a car collision, the doctor may recommend a specific treatment plan. This plan might include follow up visits, medication, or physical therapy. You may also need to seek counseling for any mental trauma that the collision may have caused.
When you’re first speaking with your attorney, you may not know or may not have begun your treatment plan. Once you do have this plan, your personal injury attorney will recommend that you follow it to a tee. Why? First, because your doctor would not have created it if it wasn’t the best way to treat your injuries. Second, your attorney will recommend strict adherence to the plan because the expenses incurred for your treatment can be part of your claim, and failure to follow the plan could be used against you in a settlement negotiation or lawsuit. Another vital step to help you navigate a company car collision settlement is documenting the impact. While a well-resourced attorney and law firm should have the resources to investigate and recreate the accident scene, there’s other information they’ll need. No two accidents are the same, and no two cases are the same. However, having the support of trusted counsel in the aftermath of a company car collision can make a difference. The typical claims process for commercial vehicle accidents involves various legal doctrines, statutes, and regulations that aren’t present in collisions between individuals. An experienced attorney will use their legal expertise to explore every possible avenue to maximize compensation. In addition to the uncertainty they’re experiencing regarding medical expenses and lost wages, innocent injured victims may feel confused about the legal process. Turning to an experienced attorney puts a fighter and an advisor in your corner. While they passionately advocate for your rights in a negotiation or courtroom, they should also take the time to help you understand the applicable laws. In a claim involving a company vehicle, an important legal doctrine known as vicarious liability or respondeat superior applies. Hearing outdated Latin terms discussed in the same breath as the injuries you sustained might seem strange, but there’s a reason. Respondeat superior is a longstanding doctrine that holds companies responsible for the negligent acts of their employees. Why might vicarious liability matter? If the at-fault driver was using a company vehicle, the company may have resources the individual driver does not. If your expenses exceed the individual driver’s personal liability, you could be stuck covering the difference. With an attorney by your side though, they can look at bringing a claim against the company and the driver instead. Vicarious liability is enshrined into Georgia law under O.C.G.A. § 51-2-2 which holds employers responsible for negligent acts committed by employees at the command of their employer or done within the scope of the employer’s business. As you might imagine, there can be disagreement about when and whether an employee is acting within the scope of their employer’s business and whether a person is an employee or independent contractor. A plumber driving a company car out to a customer’s house is likely within the scope of their employer’s business. But that same plumber using their car to pick a child up from school might not. Pursuing justice through vicarious liability may be the best way to ensure the expenses the collision caused are fully covered. Speak with one of Montlick’s experienced company car settlement attorneys today to learn more. At the core of many cases involving company car collisions is negligence. When someone acts or fails to act as a reasonable person would, causing harm, and their act or omission breached a legal duty, that is negligence. O.C.G.A. § 51-1-2 defines the ordinary care which we all have a duty to exercise to others and courts have applied that ordinary care to drivers of motor vehicles. However, a seasoned attorney understands this ordinary care applies to more than just a driver of a company vehicle. While there may be cases where a driver of a company car performed an action that was unreasonable given the circumstances and the company may then be vicariously liable, there can also be situations where the company itself is directly liable. Applicants seeking to drive commercial vehicles in Georgia, like tractor trailers or buses, must list their previous employers, dates of employment and reason for leaving going back ten years. Once hired, they also need to report any traffic violations or convictions that occur. Why does this matter for your hit by a company car settlement? If the company failed to review these records it could be considered negligence on their part, known as negligent hiring, negligent supervision or even negligent retention of an employee. An attorney might consider bringing a negligent hiring claim depending on the circumstances. If the company’s auto liability insurance maximums are less than your damages it might make sense to bring an additional claim against the company’s business liability coverage. An experienced attorney will also make a thorough investigation of the vehicles, streets, and conditions involved in the accident. Such an investigation could reveal that other companies share liability for the injuries sustained. Consider air bags that failed to deploy, exacerbating injuries. Or a street light that was improperly maintained or failed to operate. These could all be sources of products liability, and the companies who had a duty to ensure these products would function properly may be held responsible for the damages. So far, we’ve explored what a person struck by a driver operating a company vehicle experiences. But what if the situation is reversed? What if you are driving a company vehicle and are injured in an accident. If you’re not at fault, the process is fairly similar but with different insurance companies and sources of liability. Seeking medical attention should always be the first step. You should also still consult with an experienced attorney because there may be workers’ compensation coverage available to you. If the injuries will cause you to miss work for an extended period of time, this coverage could bridge the gap caused by lost wages. However, if you are the at-fault driver, there may be disputes between your personal auto insurance and your employer’s auto insurance. The doctrine of respondeat superior would apply here and your insurance may argue that you were performing work duties while driving and that the employer’s insurance should apply. Meanwhile, your employer’s insurance may try to argue the reverse. The line from accident to recovery is rarely straight, but a trusted lawyer can help you maneuver the twists and turns along the way. Given this important role, you’ll need to know what to look for when searching for an attorney. Critically, you or a loved one should seek out an attorney, they should not be searching for you. If an attorney or a representative of one is contacting you, this isn’t a sign of a dedicated professional. Instead, it’s a sign of an attorney looking to profit from your hardship. That said, websites and online reviews are a great place to identify potential firms to hire. Look for free consultations with actual lawyers mentioned in the reviews or located on their webpages. If the firm charges for consultation, this could be another sign that they are interested in money, not justice. You can assess the firm before, during, and after the initial consultation. Before the consultation, see how easy it is to reach someone on the phone. Do their hours work for your life and needs? During your first call, see if it leads you to the attorney that will be taking your case. Some firms may not put you in touch with an attorney early on in the process, or ever. That’s not a good sign. After the consultation, you should have a better understanding of the firm, and your case. Regarding your case, the attorney should have answered your initial questions and provided you with a broad strategy going forward. They should not provide guarantees. They should have also provided you with their payment structure, such as a contingency fee basis in writing. If you didn’t receive these in the initial consultation, this probably isn’t the firm for you. Most days, we hardly think of how many people on the road are driving company cars to deliver food, transport people, bring supplies to a worksite, or keep Georgia running. Then, a split-second later, a driver collides with your vehicle. Pain, confusion, and loss can all follow. But you can recover through justice. At Montlick, our dedicated team of car accident lawyers fights for injured clients against callous companies. When the at-fault driver, their company, and the company’s insurer all try to downplay a client’s injuries, we provide the reassurance that comes from knowing someone is looking out for their interests. Each lawyer is backed by our firm’s 40 years of experience, our wealth of knowledge, and the resources needed to help our clients recover. Contact us today to see how Montlick can make a difference. Your initial consultation is free.
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