Livingston Truck Accidents

Legal Guidance for People Injured in Wrecks Near Livingston

Located in tranquil Overton County, Livingston is a small town in Tennessee that serves as the county seat. It is part of the Cookeville Micropolitan Statistical Area and has easy access to Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. Livingston is known for low-cost living, a low crime rate, and clean, beautiful places to hike, bike, and fish. The town was purchased in 1833, when it consisted of just 40 acres. It is organized around a town square. Like other places in Tennessee, there are a number of creeks, streams, and rolling hills. If you have been hurt in a truck wreck in Livingston, you may want to bring a lawsuit against the commercial driver and possibly the trucking company that owns the vehicle and hired the driver. These cases can be complicated, so enlisting an experienced Livingston truck accident lawyer is essential. Matt Hardin has helped countless victims of car, truck, and motorcycle accidents as well as medical malpractice, slip and falls, defective products, wrongful death, and other injury claims.

Assert Your Rights with a Negligence Lawsuit

Many big rig accidents are caused by the negligence of drivers who have fallen prey to distractions or failed to get the requisite rest before their shift. If you are suing a trucker or trucking company, you will have to prove the four elements of your claim by the preponderance of the evidence. These are the defendant’s duty, a breach of duty, causation, and damages, and a Livingston lawyer familiar with truck accidents can assess whether the facts of your case may fulfill these elements. If the crash happened because a commercial driver violated one of the many federal or state laws that regulate the trucking industry, you may be able to apply a presumption of duty and breach by proving negligence per se.

In these cases, a victim seeks to show that the defendant broke a law that was enacted for the benefit of a particular class of people or the public. The injured person also must establish that he or she was among the group that the statute or ordinance was intended to protect, and that the accident was a direct and foreseeable result of the defendant’s violation. For example, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has enacted laws that prohibit texting while driving. Sometimes a victim can show that a trucker was engaged in this behavior. If he or she was distracted as a result, the commercial driver might run a red light and crash into your car. In that situation, a Livingston truck accident attorney can help assess whether you might be able to present a persuasive negligence per se claim.

Under the doctrine of comparative negligence, a defendant can try to prove that the victim acted carelessly and thus was partially or wholly responsible for his or her own injuries. In Tennessee, if an individual bringing a claim is 49% or less responsible for the accident, he or she can recover damages to the extent of the defendant’s fault. However, if a victim is 50% or more responsible for the injuries, he or she is barred from compensation completely.

Livingston Attorney Skilled in Truck Accident Cases

Serious harm can be caused by commercial drivers and their employers, so they and their insurers may be aggressive in fighting a claim by a victim whom their carelessness has harmed. If you have been injured in a tractor-trailer accident near Livingston, you should not hesitate to consult a lawyer who is experienced in these types of cases. Matt Hardin can tenaciously negotiate with the insurers and lawyers on the other side to ensure that your rights are fully vindicated. Set up a free initial consultation with him by calling 615-200-1111 or completing our online form.