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April 20, 2025
After a Harrisburg truck accident, you may encounter many new, unfamiliar legal terms. “Liability” is just one example, but its meaning is relatively straightforward. When someone is liable for your truck accident injuries, they become financially responsible for paying your damages. Establishing liability is obviously something that many injured victims want to achieve, but how do they accomplish this goal? How do courts in Pennsylvania determine liability?
Pennsylvania is one of just a handful of states that follow a “choice no-fault” system. Under this system, drivers may have the option of choosing to participate in no-fault insurance. Alternatively, they can choose a “traditional,” at-fault system.
One of the first steps in determining liability after a truck accident is to consider your specific insurance policy. If you have chosen traditional insurance, you shouldn’t face any barriers in suing the trucking company directly.
If you have chosen no-fault insurance, however, you may need to show that you have suffered a “serious injury” before you can sue the company directly. Note that if you have not suffered a serious injury, you might not need to prove negligence in order to pursue compensation, making liability a moot point.
When it comes to determining liability, you may need to consider the “comparative negligence” system in Pennsylvania. The majority of states follow some variation of this system, and it allows victims to sue even if they are partially responsible for their own accidents. Under a “pure” system, victims can sue even if they are 99% responsible for their own crashes.
Pennsylvania is not a “pure” comparative negligence state. Instead, it follows a system of “modified” comparative negligence. Under this system, you can only sue a trucking company if you can prove you were no more than 50% responsible for the crash. In other words, you need to show that you were not the primary cause of your own injuries. An experienced truck accident lawyer can help you achieve this goal.
Note that you will also need to show that the truck driver or the trucking company contributed to the crash in some way. There are many examples of trucking negligence to consider in this context. The trucker may have been distracted, intoxicated, or fatigued.
Perhaps the trucking company engaged in negligent hiring practices, and they employed a trucker who had a terrible driving record. Maybe they failed to carry out regular maintenance of their trucks according to federal laws. These are only a few examples of trucking negligence – and there are many others.
Although online research can certainly help you learn more about complex legal concepts like liability, it might be easier to make real progress with help from a Harrisburg truck accident lawyer. These legal professionals know how to identify potential signs of negligence, and they can gather various evidence as you build your case. To learn more about determining liability, contact The Law Office of Geoffrey McInroy today.
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