We take on complex, high-stakes truck cases.
We build your case from the ground up, on the details. The other side’s insurance company will call you almost immediately, and we assume they are already working on their defense. So we move first. We send the preservation letter to secure the evidence your case needs before it disappears. From there we do the background work this page walks through, detail by detail, until we can account for everything the trucking company was required to do.
Pennsylvania Truck Accident Lawyers
Guide contentsWhat We Do First in a Truck Case
When a truck case comes to CM Injury, we go through it with the client. We ask what happened, who else was involved, which vehicles and companies we can already name, and what paperwork the client has received so far.
Once we are retained, our office takes over the correspondence. We notify the insurance carriers on the case that the client is represented and ask that mail, calls, forms and requests for statements come to us instead. We ask clients to send us anything that arrives after that and to let us answer it. If a form or a release is put in front of a client, we read it here before anything is signed.
How We Ask for the Evidence to Be Preserved
In a tractor-trailer case we send a preservation letter at the start. It goes to every custodian we can name: the motor carrier, the driver, the owners of the tractor and the trailer, any leasing, brokerage or maintenance company we can identify, and any yard where we can establish the vehicle is being held.
The letter asks that the equipment be held as it is and that the records be kept as they are. It names what we ask be kept: the data on the truck's electronic control module, the driver's electronic logging device records, records of duty status and the supporting documents behind them, dispatch and trip paperwork, maintenance and inspection files, and the driver's qualification file. We ask that nothing be overwritten, repaired, returned to service or discarded while the request stands.
We ask each custodian to confirm in writing that the letter was received. We keep a record of who was written to, on what date, and what each one was asked to preserve, and when we identify another custodian later in the case we send that party the same letter.
Understanding the Clock: How Long You Have to File
Pennsylvania sets the deadline at two years.1 The two years cover an action to recover damages for injuries to the person, or for the death of an individual, caused by the wrongful act or neglect or unlawful violence or negligence of another.2
So when does the clock start? Under Pennsylvania law, your filing period is computed from the time your cause of action accrued, except as the statute itself provides otherwise.3 The statute's own words are that the time within which a matter must be commenced under the chapter that contains § 5502 "shall be computed, except as otherwise provided by" § 5502(b) "or by any other provision of" that chapter, "from the time the cause of action accrued, the criminal offense was committed or the right of appeal arose".3 Section 5502(b) provides that court rules may make § 5502(a) more specifically applicable to particular classes of matters by defining the acts, omissions or events from which the limitation is computed, and that rules adopted under § 5502 "shall take effect only in the manner provided by section 503(b) (relating to procedures)".4
Not every injury can reasonably be known the moment it happens. That is the problem Pennsylvania’s discovery rule addresses; its purpose has been to exclude from the running of the statute of limitations that period of time during which a party who has not suffered an immediately ascertainable injury is reasonably unaware he has been injured, so that he has essentially the same rights as those who have suffered such an injury.5 As the rule has developed, the salient point giving rise to its application is the inability of the injured, despite the exercise of reasonable diligence, to know that he is injured and by what cause.5
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania stated the holding that governs when the discovery rule tolls the limitations clock in these words:6
Today, we hold that it is not relevant to the discovery rule’s application whether or not the prescribed period has expired; the discovery rule applies to toll the statute of limitations in any case where a party neither knows nor reasonably should have known of his injury and its cause at the time his right to institute suit arises.
The standard the rule holds you to is reasonable diligence,5 and the court has clarified that in this context, reasonable diligence is not an absolute standard, but is what is expected from a party who has been given reason to inform himself of the facts upon which his right to recovery is premised.5 Be clear, too, about what does not toll the statute: mistake, misunderstanding, or lack of knowledge in themselves do not toll the running of the statute.7
What about a child? If the injured person is an unemancipated minor at the time the cause of action accrues, the period of minority is not counted as part of the time within which the action must be commenced.8 A minor is an individual who has not yet attained 18 years of age.9 After attaining majority, that person has the same time to commence an action as the subchapter allows anyone else.8
Some things do not stretch the deadline. Except as otherwise provided by statute, insanity does not extend the time this subchapter limits for commencing a matter.10 Imprisonment does not extend it either.10
Suing a Pennsylvania Government Body After a Crash
This one is Pennsylvania law. In Pennsylvania, except as its own subchapter provides, no local agency is liable for damages for an injury caused by any act of the agency, its employees, or any other person.11
What follows takes three questions in order: when a local agency can be held liable, when notice is due, and what kinds of loss the law allows.
When Is a Local Agency Liable?
A local agency is liable for damages for an injury to a person or property within the limits set forth in that subchapter, and only if both of the following conditions are satisfied and the injury results from an act listed in subsection (b).12 The damages must be recoverable at common law or by statute against a defendant with no immunity defense.13 The injury must come from negligent acts within the scope of the agency's or the employee's duties, and crime, actual fraud, actual malice and willful misconduct are not negligent acts.14
Section 8542(b) of the Pennsylvania statutes lists the acts by a local agency or any of its employees that may result in the imposition of liability on a local agency.15 We set out three of them here, not the whole list. The first is the operation of any motor vehicle in the possession or control of the local agency.16 For that item, the local agency "shall not be liable" to a plaintiff who claims liability under it if the plaintiff was, during the course of the alleged negligence, in flight or fleeing apprehension or resisting arrest by a police officer, or knowingly aided a group, one or more of whose members were in flight or fleeing apprehension or resisting arrest by a police officer.16 The second is a dangerous condition of trees, traffic signs, lights or other traffic controls, street lights or street lighting systems under the care, custody or control of the local agency.17 The third is a dangerous condition of streets owned by the local agency.18 For both of those last two, under § 8542(b)(4) and § 8542(b)(6)(i), "the claimant to recover must establish that the dangerous condition created a reasonably foreseeable risk of the kind of injury which was incurred and that the local agency had actual notice or could reasonably be charged with notice under the circumstances of the dangerous condition at a sufficient time prior to the event to have taken measures to protect against the dangerous condition".1718 Section 8542(b)(6)(ii) also reaches a dangerous condition of streets owned or under the jurisdiction of Commonwealth agencies, but only if all of the conditions listed in that provision are met, and this page does not set those conditions out.18
The Six-Month Notice Rule
Within six months of the injury or the accrual of the claim, anyone about to sue a Pennsylvania government unit for damages must file a signed written statement in that unit's office, plus the Attorney General's office if the defendant is a Commonwealth agency.19
Skip it and a case filed more than six months after the injury shall be dismissed and the claim forever barred, though the court shall excuse the failure on a showing of a reasonable excuse.20 Separate rules then apply to a Pennsylvania government unit other than the Commonwealth government.21 Time the injured person cannot give notice because of incapacity or disability from the injury does not count, up to 90 days of incapacity.22 If the injuries result in death, the notice time starts at the death.23 Failure is not a bar if the unit had actual or constructive notice of the incident or condition giving rise to the claim.24
What Kinds of Loss Are Recoverable?
Clear all of that and there is still a limit on the losses themselves. Pennsylvania makes damages recoverable only for the types of loss the statute recognizes.25 Past and future loss of earnings and earning capacity.26 Medical and dental expenses, including the reasonable value of reasonable and necessary medical and dental services, prosthetic devices and necessary ambulance, hospital, professional nursing and physical therapy expenses accrued and anticipated in the diagnosis, care and recovery of the claimant.27 Loss of consortium, loss of support and property losses.28
Then read the pain and suffering paragraph word by word, because it is narrower than the rest. Pain and suffering is recoverable in two instances only: death, or a permanent loss of a bodily function, permanent disfigurement or permanent dismemberment where the medical and dental expenses referred to in paragraph (3) are in excess of a threshold amount the statute sets.29
One more subtraction. If a claimant receives or is entitled to receive benefits under a policy of insurance other than a life insurance policy, as a result of losses for which damages are recoverable under subsection (c), the amount of those benefits is deducted from the damages that would otherwise be recoverable.30
Being Partly at Fault Is Not the End of Your Case
The statute says it in one sentence. Under 42 Pa.C.S. § 7102(a), contributory negligence does not bar recovery where the plaintiff’s negligence was not greater than the causal negligence of the defendant or defendants against whom recovery is sought, and any damages are diminished in proportion to the negligence attributed to the plaintiff.31 Partial fault reduces a recovery.31 It bars one only when your negligence is greater than the causal negligence of those you seek recovery from.31
In Pennsylvania, where recovery is allowed against more than one person, including in strict liability actions, and liability is attributed to more than one defendant, each defendant is liable for a proportion of the total damages awarded: that defendant's share of the liability attributed to all defendants and other persons to whom liability is apportioned under subsection (a.2).32 Except as set forth in paragraph (3), a defendant's liability shall be several and not joint, and the court shall enter a separate and several judgment in favor of the plaintiff and against each defendant for the apportioned amount of that defendant's liability.33
What about a defendant who settles and leaves the case? Under 42 Pa.C.S. § 7102(a.2), the question of the liability of a person who has entered into a release with the plaintiff with respect to the action, and who is not a party, is still transmitted to the trier of fact, for purposes of apportioning liability only, on appropriate requests and proofs by any party.34 A person whose liability may be determined this way does not include an employer to the extent that the employer is granted immunity from liability or suit under the Workers' Compensation Act.34
In our cases the carrier’s fault number arrives early and in writing, before anyone has reconstructed the crash. It is an opening position, not a finding. We make them prove it.
Limited Tort Is Not Always the Last Word
You were hurt in a truck crash. Your auto policy carries a limited tort election. You may believe that choice settles what you can recover. Pennsylvania law says otherwise in defined situations: an individual otherwise bound by the limited tort election, who sustains damages in a motor vehicle accident as the consequence of another person's fault, may recover damages as if that individual had elected the full tort alternative, whenever the person at fault falls within the circumstances the statute goes on to list.35
Among the circumstances that statute lists35 is this one: the person at fault is operating a motor vehicle registered in another state.36
Pennsylvania law adds a separate rule: an individual otherwise bound by the limited tort election retains full tort rights if injured while an occupant of a motor vehicle other than a private passenger motor vehicle.37
When the Driver's Employer Is Liable Too
When a truck hurts someone, the driver is not the only person we look at. The first question we ask is who the driver was working for at the time. Under Pennsylvania law, an employer is held vicariously liable for the negligent acts of its employee that cause injury to a third party, provided that those acts were committed during the course of and within the scope of the employment.38 In plain words, the employer answers for its employee's negligence toward an injured person, but only when both of those conditions are met.38
That makes the scope of the employment the part of the rule we spend the most time on. An employee's conduct is considered within the scope of employment for vicarious liability if it passes a four-part test.38 First, the conduct is of a kind and nature that the employee is employed to perform.38 Second, it occurs substantially within the authorized time and space limits.38 Third, it is motivated, at least in part, by a purpose to serve the employer.38 Fourth, if the employee intentionally used force against another person, the use of force is not unexpected by the employer.38
Those four questions are the ones we build the file around. In the first request to the company, we ask for the driver's employment records, the dispatch and route assignments for that trip, and the hours the driver was authorized to be on the road, so that what the driver was hired to do, and when and where he was supposed to be doing it, comes from the company's own paper.
In certain circumstances, Pennsylvania law also allows the employer's liability to extend to intentional or criminal acts committed by the employee.38 The same opinion repeats a line Pennsylvania courts have drawn: an assault committed by an employee on another person for personal reasons or in an outrageous manner is not driven by an intent to perform the employer's business and, for that reason, is not within the scope of employment.38
When we take a truck case, we plead the claim against the driver and the claim against the employer together, and we put the scope question to the company in writing at the start.
We Hold Trucking Companies to Strict Federal Safety Rules
We build truck cases on knowing the trucking company's obligations cold. The rules in this section are federal, separate from the Pennsylvania statutes taught elsewhere on this page. Under these federal rules, a person may not drive a commercial motor vehicle unless qualified, and, except as provided in § 391.63, a motor carrier may not require or permit an unqualified person to drive one.39 Except as provided in subpart G of that part, a person is qualified to drive if the rule's requirements are met.40 Among them: the driver can read and speak English well enough to converse with the general public, understand highway traffic signs and signals in English, respond to official inquiries, and make entries on reports and records;41 is physically qualified to drive under subpart E;42 and holds a currently valid commercial motor vehicle operator's license issued by only one state or jurisdiction.43
Federal regulation also prescribes minimum levels of financial responsibility.44 Proof of that financial responsibility must be maintained at the carrier's principal place of business,45 and that proof is considered public information, produced for review upon reasonable request by a member of the public.46 The driving-hours rules have their own section below. When we take on a truck case, we examine the carrier's compliance with every rule on this page, and we keep doing the background work until we can account for each one. Clients and referring attorneys get the benefit of that depth, and we put defense counsel on notice of it early.
Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance
Every motor carrier must systematically inspect, repair, and maintain all motor vehicles subject to its control, or cause that to be done.47 Parts and accessories must be in safe and proper operating condition at all times.48 Motor carriers, except a private motor carrier of passengers (nonbusiness), must keep records for each vehicle they control for 30 consecutive days.49 When we build a case, the carrier's maintenance file is one of the first things we demand, and we read it page by page.
Drug and Alcohol Testing After a Crash
After an occurrence involving a commercial motor vehicle operating on a public road in commerce, the employer must, as soon as practicable, test its surviving drivers for alcohol50 and controlled substances51 in listed situations. For alcohol, the situations are a driver performing safety-sensitive functions with respect to the vehicle, if the accident involved the loss of human life,52 and a driver cited within eight hours of the occurrence under state or local law for a moving traffic violation arising from the accident, if the accident involved bodily injury immediately treated away from the scene, or one or more vehicles with disabling damage transported away from the scene.53 For controlled substances, the situations include a driver cited within thirty-two hours of the occurrence under state or local law for a moving traffic violation arising from the accident, in that same kind of accident.54 We know these tests exist, and we ask for the results early.
The rule also puts clocks on the tests themselves. If an alcohol test required by that section is not administered within two hours following the accident, the employer must prepare and maintain on file a record stating the reasons the test was not promptly administered; if it is not administered within eight hours, the employer must cease attempts to administer an alcohol test and prepare and maintain the same record.55 If a controlled substances test required by that section is not administered within 32 hours following the accident, the employer must cease attempts to administer it and prepare and maintain on file a record stating the reasons the test was not promptly administered.56 Records shall be submitted to the FMCSA upon request.5556 A missing test with no record explaining why is something we look for.
Shifting and Unsecured Cargo
Cargo must be firmly immobilized or secured on or within the vehicle by structures of adequate strength, dunnage or dunnage bags, shoring bars, tiedowns, or a combination of these.57 Cargo likely to roll must be restrained by chocks, wedges, a cradle, or an equivalent means not capable of becoming unintentionally unfastened or loose in transit.58
Federal Hours of Service Limits and the Driver's Record of Duty Status
Start with the clock. These limits are federal, from part 395 of title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.59 Except as otherwise provided in § 395.1, no motor carrier shall permit or require any driver used by it to drive a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle, nor shall any such driver drive one, regardless of the number of motor carriers using the driver's services, unless the driver complies with the following requirements.59 Three of those requirements are set out below. They are not all of them. A driver may not drive without first taking 10 consecutive hours off duty.60 A driver may not drive after a period of 14 consecutive hours after coming on duty following 10 consecutive hours off duty.61 During that 14-hour period, a driver may drive a total of 11 hours.62
The Weekly Limits and Restarts
Hours are one clock. Days are another. No motor carrier shall permit or require a driver of a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle to drive, nor shall any driver drive one, regardless of the number of motor carriers using the driver's services, for any period after the following.63 The first is having been on duty 60 hours in any period of 7 consecutive days, if the employing motor carrier does not operate commercial motor vehicles every day of the week.64 The second is having been on duty 70 hours in any period of 8 consecutive days, if the employing motor carrier operates commercial motor vehicles every day of the week.65 Any period of 7 consecutive days may end with the beginning of an off-duty period of 34 or more consecutive hours.66 That provision is paragraph (c)(1), and it speaks to the 7-consecutive-day period.66
The Duty to Record, and the ELD Mandate
A limit nobody writes down is a limit nobody can check. Except for a private motor carrier of passengers (nonbusiness), as defined in § 390.5 of this subchapter, a motor carrier subject to the requirements of this part must require each driver used by the motor carrier to record the driver's duty status for each 24-hour period.67 That recording uses the method prescribed in paragraphs (a)(1)(i) through (iii) of that section, as applicable.67 Subject to paragraph (a)(1)(ii) of this section, a motor carrier operating commercial motor vehicles must install and require each of its drivers to use an ELD, an electronic logging device, to record the driver's duty status in accordance with subpart B of this part.68 That had to be done no later than December 18, 2017.68 A motor carrier may require a driver to record the driver's duty status manually in accordance with this section, rather than require the use of an ELD, if the driver is operating a commercial motor vehicle in circumstances the rule then lists.69
What the Record Must Contain, and How It Is Kept
Now look at what the record itself has to show. What follows is some of what the rule requires of that record. It is not all of it. All entries relating to a driver's duty status must be legible and made by the driver.70 Drivers shall keep their records of duty status current to the time shown for the last change of duty status.71 For each change of duty status, such as the place of reporting for work, starting to drive, on-duty not driving and where released from work, the name of the city, town, or village, with State abbreviation, shall be recorded.72
Identification comes next. For each commercial motor vehicle operated during each 24-hour period, the driver shall show on the record of duty status the number assigned by the motor carrier, or the license number and licensing State.73 The driver of an articulated (combination) commercial motor vehicle shall show that same information for each motor vehicle used in each combination operated during that 24-hour period.73 The name of each motor carrier for which work is performed shall be shown on the form containing the driver's record of duty status.74 When work is performed for more than one motor carrier during the same 24-hour period, the beginning and finishing time worked for each motor carrier, showing a.m. or p.m., shall be shown after each motor carrier's name.74 Drivers of leased commercial motor vehicles shall show the name of the motor carrier performing the transportation.74
Then comes the signature. The driver shall certify to the correctness of all entries by signing the form containing the driver's duty status record with his or her legal name or name of record.75 The driver's signature certifies that all entries required by that section that the driver made are true and correct.75 The driver's duty status record shall be prepared, maintained, and submitted using the time standard in effect at the driver's home terminal, for a 24-hour period beginning with the time specified by the motor carrier for that driver's home terminal.76 Two or more consecutive 24-hour periods off duty may be recorded on one duty status record.77
Falsifying a Log or Tampering With an ELD
Records can be falsified. Devices can be tampered with. No driver or motor carrier may make a false report in connection with a duty status.78 No driver or motor carrier may disable, deactivate, disengage, jam, or otherwise block or degrade a signal transmission or reception, or reengineer, reprogram, or otherwise tamper with an ELD so that the device does not accurately record and retain required data.79 No driver or motor carrier may permit or require another person to do any of those things to an ELD so that the device does not accurately record and retain required data.80
Submitting and Keeping the Records
None of this matters if the record disappears. That record is due to the motor carrier within 13 days of the 24-hour period to which it pertains.81 When the services of a driver are used by more than one motor carrier during any 24-hour period in effect at the driver's home terminal, the driver shall submit a copy of the record of duty status to each motor carrier.82 Motor carriers, when using a driver for the first time or intermittently, shall obtain from the driver a signed statement.83 That statement gives the total time on duty during the immediately preceding 7 days and the time at which the driver was last relieved from duty prior to beginning work for the motor carriers.83 A motor carrier shall retain records of duty status and supporting documents required under this part for each of its drivers.84 The retention period is not less than 6 months from the date of receipt.84 The driver shall retain a copy of each record of duty status for the previous 7 consecutive days, which shall be in his or her possession and available for inspection while on duty.85
When Defective Equipment Causes the Crash
Not every wreck starts with the driver. Brakes fail. A tire separates. A coupling gives way at highway speed. When the part is the problem, we investigate the company that put it on the market, not just the carrier.
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has stated what a plaintiff must prove to demonstrate a breach of duty in a strict liability matter, in its own words:86
To demonstrate a breach of duty in a strict liability matter, a plaintiff must prove that a seller (manufacturer or distributor) placed on the market a product in a “defective condition.”
The same court held what that proof takes in Pennsylvania. Two routes, in the alternative:87
As we explain, after reviewing the provenance of the cause of action, the Second Restatement reporter’s choice of words, and the evolution of the cause of action in application, we hold that, in Pennsylvania, the cause of action in strict products liability requires proof, in the alternative, either of the ordinary consumer’s expectations or of the risk-utility of a product.
The court also spoke to the bench and bar about using that test. The alternate theories contour what a defective condition is, in principled terms the court intended as comprehensive guidelines, malleable enough to account for different products, a variety of legal claims, and applications of theory:88
It is essential for the bench and bar to recognize that the test we articulate today is not intended as a rigid formula to be offered to the jury in all situations. The alternate theories of proof contour the notion of “defective condition” in principled terms intended as comprehensive guidelines that are sufficiently malleable to account for product diversity and a variety of legal claims, products, and applications of theory.
The part itself tells the story. We preserve it, we retain the right experts, and we make the proof.
The Standard for Punitive Damages in a Pennsylvania Truck Case
Clients whose crash involved a commercial truck often ask about punitive damages. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has explained that punitive damages are penal in nature and are proper only in cases where the defendant’s actions are so outrageous as to demonstrate willful, wanton or reckless conduct.89 The purpose of punitive damages is to punish a tortfeasor for outrageous conduct and to deter him or others like him from similar conduct.89
In Pennsylvania, two things must be established, and they are worth reading in the court’s own words:90
Thus, in Pennsylvania, a punitive damages claim must be supported by evidence sufficient to establish that (1) a defendant had a subjective appreciation of the risk of harm to which the plaintiff was exposed and that (2) he acted, or failed to act, as the case may be, in conscious disregard of that risk.
In the same opinion, the court said it did not dispute that a showing of ordinary negligence is not enough to warrant punitive damages.90
Nearly every claim we bring after a truck crash sounds in negligence, and the court in Hutchison spoke directly to punitive damages in that setting:90
The penal and deterrent purpose served by an award of punitive damages is furthered when the outrageous conduct occurs in a case sounding in negligence no less than when an intentional tort is at issue.
When we investigate a truck crash, we do not look only at the driver. We also look at how the company supervised the people it put on the road. In the same case, which did not involve trucking at all, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania disagreed with the Superior Court’s conclusion that punitive damages are never available for claims of negligent supervision.91 The court saw no reason to distinguish between claims sounding under Section 317 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts and other actions sounding in negligence for purposes of punitive damages.92
Part of our work in a truck case is examining the conduct behind the crash and telling you honestly whether it supports a punitive claim. If it does not, we will say so. If it does, we pursue it.
Where a Pennsylvania Truck Case Can Be Filed: Venue Under Rule 1006
Before we file a truck-accident lawsuit, we have to settle which county the case may be brought in. In Pennsylvania that question is called venue, and the general rule is Rule 1006 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure, a court rule rather than a statute.93 This section states Pennsylvania law only.
The general rule covers an action against an individual and opens with a limit: "Except as otherwise provided by subdivisions (b) and (c) of this rule," the action "may be brought in and only in a county where" one of five conditions is met.93 The first is a county where the individual may be served.93 The second is a county where the cause of action arose.93 The third is a county where a transaction or occurrence took place out of which the cause of action arose.93 The fourth is a county where venue is authorized by law.93 The fifth is a county where the property, or part of it, that is the subject matter of the action is located, "provided that equitable relief is sought with respect to the property".93
A separate subdivision covers actions against political subdivisions, partnerships, unincorporated associations, and "corporations and similar entities": "except as otherwise provided in subdivision (c)," those actions "may be brought in and only in the counties designated by" other rules: Rule 2103, Rule 2130, Rule 2156, and Rule 2179, respectively.94
An action to enforce a joint or joint and several liability against two or more defendants, "except actions in which the Commonwealth is a party defendant," may be brought against all defendants in any county in which venue may be laid against any one of them under subdivisions (a) or (b).95
Improper venue "shall be raised by preliminary objection and if not so raised shall be waived".96 If that objection is sustained and there is a county of proper venue within the State, the action "shall not be dismissed but shall be transferred" to the appropriate court of that county, with the costs and fees for transfer and removal of the record paid by the plaintiff.96 One ground for transfer under subdivision (d) is that "for the convenience of parties and witnesses, the court upon petition of any party may transfer an action to the appropriate court of any other county where the action could originally have been brought".97
Why Choose CM Injury
Every truck and car collision case we accept is built to be tried, and the insurance companies know it. A demand letter on its own rarely moves a carrier to take a claim seriously. What moves them is a firm that has stood in front of juries and won.
We work up the tractor-trailer cases we accept as if the trial date is already on the calendar. We dig into the details, we audit the driver’s logs, and we review the maintenance history.
Reading every page of the record, retaining the right experts early, and preparing for trial from the start. If you were told your crash was not worth pursuing, call us before you give up.
Call us about your collision. The consultation is free, and you pay no attorney’s fee unless we win your case.
Reviewed and approved by Frank Mangiaracina
How we handle these cases
What happens after you call.
The preservation letter goes out.
ECM data, driver logs, dispatch records, dashcam footage, put on legal notice before they can disappear.
We name every responsible defendant.
Driver, carrier, shipper, loader, maintenance contractor, broker. Each one is a separate policy.
We negotiate from a trial posture.
Most cases settle. We prepare the cases we accept for a jury, and the carriers price their offers accordingly.
A careful review and a straight answer.
Or call a partner now at (267) 936-2233.
Common crash-case questions.
Can the trucking company be held responsible for what its driver did?
That is the first thing we look at: who the driver was working for at the time of the crash. Under Pennsylvania law, an employer is held vicariously liable for the negligent acts of its employee that cause injury to a third party, provided that those acts were committed during the course of and within the scope of the employment. Both of those conditions have to be met. Whether the driver's conduct was within the scope of employment for purposes of vicarious liability is decided by a four-part test. First, the conduct is of a kind and nature that the employee is employed to perform. Second, it occurs substantially within the authorized time and space limits. Third, it is motivated, at least in part, by a purpose to serve the employer. Fourth, if the employee intentionally used force against another person, the use of force is not unexpected by the employer. That is why our first request to the company asks for the driver's employment records, the dispatch and route assignments for that trip, and the hours the driver was authorized to be on the road.
What if I was partly at fault for the crash?
You may still have a claim. If you were partly at fault for the crash, that fact alone does not bar you from recovering damages, as long as your own negligence was not greater than the causal negligence of the defendant or defendants you are pursuing. Instead, whatever damages you are awarded are reduced in proportion to the share of fault attributed to you. When recovery is allowed against more than one person, and liability is attributed to more than one defendant, Pennsylvania law sets out how the total damages awarded are divided among them. Each defendant is responsible for the same proportion of the total damages awarded as their own proportion of the total liability. That total liability is measured across all defendants and other persons to whom liability is apportioned under subsection (a.2). Except as set out in paragraph (3), each defendant's liability is several and not joint. The court enters a separate and several judgment in favor of you as the plaintiff and against each defendant, for that defendant's own apportioned share. We do not treat a fault number sent by an insurance carrier as settled. We make them prove it.
How long do I have to file in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania sets the deadline at two years. Those two years cover an action to recover damages for injuries to the person, or for the death of an individual, caused by the wrongful act or neglect or unlawful violence or negligence of another. As a general rule, that time is computed from the time the cause of action accrued. Not every injury can reasonably be known the moment it happens, which is what Pennsylvania's discovery rule addresses. Its purpose is to exclude from the running of the limitations period the time during which a party who has not suffered an immediately ascertainable injury is reasonably unaware that he has been injured. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has held that the discovery rule applies to toll the statute of limitations in any case where a party neither knows nor reasonably should have known of his injury and its cause at the time his right to institute suit arises. The standard it holds you to is reasonable diligence. That is not an absolute standard. It is what is expected from a party who has been given reason to inform himself of the facts his right to recovery rests on. Mistake, misunderstanding, or lack of knowledge in themselves do not toll the running of the statute. There is a separate rule for children: if the injured person is an unemancipated minor when the cause of action accrues, the period of minority is not counted as part of the time within which the action must be commenced, and a minor is an individual who has not yet attained 18 years of age. After attaining majority, that person has the same time to commence an action as the subchapter allows anyone else. A much shorter deadline can also apply when a Pennsylvania government body may be responsible. The next answer explains it. Because when the clock started depends on the facts of your case, do not assume from a web page that your time has run out. Ask a lawyer about your own dates.
What if a government body may be responsible for the crash?
Pennsylvania law sets extra requirements for a claim against a government body, and the first one is notice. Within six months from the date the injury was sustained or the cause of action accrued, a person who is about to bring a civil action against a government unit for damages for injury to person or property must file a signed written statement in the office of that government unit. If the action is against a Commonwealth agency for damages, the statement must also be filed in the office of the Attorney General. If that statement is not filed, an action commenced more than six months after the date of injury shall be dismissed and the claim forever barred, although the court shall excuse the failure on a showing of a reasonable excuse. Separate rules then apply where the case is against a Pennsylvania government unit other than the Commonwealth government. Time during which the injured person is unable to give notice because of incapacity or disability from the injury does not count, up to 90 days of incapacity. If the injuries result in death, the time for giving notice starts with the death. And failure to comply is not a bar if the government unit had actual or constructive notice of the incident or condition giving rise to the claim. Immunity is a further limit. Except as its own subchapter provides, no local agency is liable for damages for an injury caused by any act of the agency, its employees, or any other person, and that subchapter makes a local agency liable, within the limits it sets, only if two conditions are satisfied and the injury results from an act listed in its subsection (b). The statute also sets out what that written statement must contain, and this page's section on suing a Pennsylvania government body sets out what kinds of loss the law allows. If a government body may be involved in your crash, raise it at the start.
What does it cost to bring a case with CM Injury?
The consultation is free and there is nothing to pay up front. No fee unless we win. We discuss costs at the start of every case.
