Getting compensation after a car crash is almost always among injured victims’ top priorities. That’s because car accidents aren’t just painful—they’re expensive, too.
To get compensation, you need to hold the at-fault party accountable through either a claim against their insurance company or a lawsuit. But if this is your first time filing an injury claim or lawsuit, you may not know who can actually be held liable. Pinpointing these parties is essential for a successful claim, and we’re here to help.
In this blog, we’ll discuss who you can sue after a crash in Nebraska, why they might be liable, what types of compensation you might be eligible to receive, and how our lawyers can assist throughout the legal process.
Potentially Liable Parties After a Nebraska Car Crash
In some car accidents, it’s obvious who is at fault. Others require a deeper investigation to uncover not just the primary responsible party, but other potentially liable parties as well.
Another Driver
In most car accidents, where a party has violated the Rules of the Road, that party is the primary party liable for injuries and other damages. Nebraska follows a comparative negligence rule, which means if you were partially at fault, your compensation may be reduced by your percentage of fault. For example, if a jury finds that you are 20% at fault in causing an accident, your $10,000 verdict will be reduced to an $8,000 verdict.
Things get more complicated when more than two vehicles are involved, such as in pile-up accidents, and a lawyer might be needed to sort out who is liable for whose damages.
A Commercial Trucking Company
If your accident involved a semi-truck, the trucking company itself might be liable if the driver’s negligence caused the accident. Employers are responsible for many of their employees’ actions while on the job, and trucking companies can also be negligent in ways that lead to crashes, such as:
- Failing to properly train their truck drivers
- Ignoring safety regulations
- Failing to maintain their trucks to a safe standard
A Vehicle Manufacturer
If a defective vehicle part caused or contributed to your accident, such as faulty brakes, tire blowouts, or steering system failures, you may have a claim against the vehicle’s manufacturer. Product liability cases require proving that the defect was directly responsible for the crash.
Two or More of the Parties Listed Above
In some car accident claims, multiple parties may share liability. For example, a trucking company may force one of their truck drivers to work beyond legal limits. When the driver becomes too tired to drive safely, he takes too long to step on the brakes to avoid a rear-end collision. Even worse, his truck’s brakes are defective and don’t slow down the truck properly.
In this case, the injured victims may have valid claims against the trucking company, truck driver, and manufacturer of the brakes, as they all may have played a role in contributing to or causing the crash.
How Is Fault Determined in a Nebraska Car Accident?
At Friedman Law Offices, we dig deep to find out who is liable for our clients’ crashes—and then we work hard to hold those parties fully accountable. When we take on new car accident claims, we follow these steps to build the strongest cases possible.
We Review Police Reports and Witness Statements.
Police reports contain key details, such as citations and officer observations, while witness statements provide firsthand accounts of how a crash occurred.
We Analyze Crash Scene Evidence.
Photos, videos, skid marks, and surveillance footage help reconstruct accidents. Our lawyers also review black box data from commercial trucks and modern vehicles to analyze speed, braking, and impact forces.
We Examine Phone Records.
If distracted driving is suspected in a crash, cell phone records can reveal if a driver was texting or calling at or just before the time of impact.
We Consult Experts.
We work closely with accident reconstruction specialists who use physics-based models to determine how crashes occurred, and who was at-fault based on those models’ results.
We Investigate Employer and Toxicology Records.
For truck accidents, our attorneys review company records for violations of safety regulations. If impairment is suspected in any type of crash, we check for toxicology reports to confirm whether alcohol or drugs played a role.
Contact Our Nebraska Car Accident Lawyers for a Free Consultation
Friedman Law Offices has assisted injured Nebraskans for more than 60 years. We know all of the state’s most dangerous highways and interstates, and it’s our goal to help the people injured on those roadways get the compensation they deserve.
Contact us today to learn how we can help.