Garbage trucks are essential to the health and sanitation of the City of Las Vegas. Due to risks such as their size and weight, frequent stops, and limited driver visibility, however, garbage trucks can become involved in accidents with residents. Understanding your rights after a garbage truck accident may take having a conversation with a truck accident lawyer in Las Vegas.
Why Do Garbage Truck Accidents Happen in Las Vegas?
Garbage trucks are large and heavy commercial vehicles that are subject to many safety rules and regulations. Garbage trucks and the professionals who operate them must comply with these laws. This includes adhering to certain standards in terms of driver hiring and training, garbage truck maintenance, and truck operation. If someone responsible for garbage truck operation violates one of their duties of care, accidents can happen.
Garbage Truck Driver Error
Workers hired to operate garbage trucks must be properly trained on how to do their jobs safely and correctly. Errors such as speeding, failing to keep a proper lookout, texting and driving, driving under the influence, running stop signs in neighborhoods, and failing to check before backing out could all contribute to accidents.
Waste Management Company Negligence
The company or entity could be held responsible for issues such as poor driver training, broken hours-of-service regulations, improperly loaded trucks, inadequate garbage truck maintenance or failure to enforce safety protocols.
Truck Maintenance Issues
A garbage truck will only be safe to operate in Las Vegas if it is in proper working condition. Poor truck maintenance (often to save the company time or money) can increase the odds of equipment breakdowns and defects, such as tire blowouts, brake failure and steering problems. Other crash causes can include defective and poorly maintained roads, dangerous road designs, vehicle part defects, and the mistakes of other drivers or road users.
Who Is Responsible for Paying for a Garbage Truck Accident in Las Vegas?
Determining the cause of a garbage truck accident is necessary before a victim can file a claim under Nevada’s fault-based insurance law. This law states that the person or party responsible for causing a traffic accident must pay for the victim’s medical bills and property damage repairs. Waste management companies can often be held liable in garbage truck accident cases. Republic Services of Southern Nevada is the waste management company that owns most of the garbage trucks in Las Vegas. The government has a franchise agreement with this company for waste collection and recycling. However, other private companies may also be used for these services in Clark County.
The Importance of Hiring a Lawyer
It can be difficult to correctly handle a garbage truck accident case in Las Vegas on your own. You may not know exactly how much your truck accident case is worth, especially if you suffered a serious or catastrophic injury. This can put you at risk of accepting a lowball settlement that is not enough for the extent of your injuries. An insurance company will not be on your side. However, you can protect yourself by hiring a Las Vegas injury attorney to represent you. An attorney can carefully prepare your case to improve your odds of success. This can include comprehensive crash investigation, evidence collection and settlement negotiations. You can trust an attorney to fight for maximum compensation on your behalf while you heal from a garbage truck crash in Las Vegas.