Legal Question in Personal Injury in Michigan
Was this truck driver negligent?
My husband was in an accident at work. A truck driver delivered fork lifts to my husband's. The truck driver was issued an illegal amount of hours to drive and was in a hurry. My husband and another man "Bob" removed the lift trucks from the truck, and my husband entered the truck again to remove wooden crates, which is standard practice at this company. The truck driver entered the building and found "Bob" inside and asked him to sign the bill of lading. As my husband entered the back of the semi on a lift truck, the driver drove away from the loading dock. By this time, "Bob" was once again in the back of the truck helping to remove the crates. The truck driver did not take time to look inside the back of his truck, and he didn't remove the dock plate from inside the vehicle. My husband, on the 6 ton lift truck, rolled out the back of the truck, crashing onto the loading dock. My husband sustained serious lifetime injuries. I have been told that when the bill of lading is signed it gives the driver the green light to go. Does this then wave any responsibility for safety precaution on his part? The insurance co. for the trucking co. does not dispute the injuries, but they claim they are not liable because the bill of lading was signed. Do you agree, and what do you think a jury would say?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Was this truck driver negligent?
I'm not licensed in Michigan, but the negligence rules are pretty much the same everywhere.From what is presented here, it appears the drivers was negligent.Your husband needs an attorney... and so do you, for loss of consortium (in other words the loss of your husband's support and services), and you need an attorney who does a good deal of work in the area since you are going to also have to deal with issues of subrogation (the claim by your insurance company to get reimbursed from your recovery for its payment of his medical bills) and your husband's employer may also claim it is entitled to get back what it pays on any worker's comepensation claim.This is NOT something you want to try to resolve without an experienced attorney.
Was the truck driver negligent?
In my view, it appears that the insurance company is trying to give you the run-around. Even if the standard practice of signing a bill of lading means "time to leave" the driver STILL owed a duty of care to your husband. I would get an attorney asap.
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