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Understanding Liability: Who’s Responsible in Accidents Involving Towed Vehicles?

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Understanding Liability: Who’s Responsible in Accidents Involving Towed Vehicles?

Towing accidents may pose some problems in assigning responsibility in the event of an accident involving towed motor vehicles. Again different to regular car accidents, in such cases you need to consider general traffic laws and general tort law to identify who is at fault. In this article, we will discuss the process of identifying of those who is at fault in the accident involving towed vehicles and how to file for personal injury in such cases.

Who Might Be Held Responsible in Accidents That Involve Towed Vehicle?

In cases of towed cars, negligence can be taken to have occurred in different people at different times. The most common entities that could be held responsible include:

1. The person that drives the towing vehicle

The towing driver has a special role which entails to make sure that they have taken through the towed vehicle safely. They need to abide to all traffic laws of the road, be in full control of the towing and the trailered car as well as guarantee that the trailered car is correctly connected. The driver is duty bound with these responsibilities and if through negligence he causes an accident he is answerable to the outcomes.

2. The Towing of the Vehicle by the Owner

In some occasions the owner of the towed vehicle will contribute to the forces as this may occur from problems elicited by the towed vehicle. For example, if the vehicle had bad breaks or steering and the owner did not indicate this before towing, then he would be partly liable for the accident. There is also the duty on the owner to make a confirmed status of their cars as being fit to be towed.

3. The Towing Company

When it comes to a professional towing company, then they have certain responsibilities that precede the operation that involves moving vehicles. This includes equipment’s and towed vehicle securing, and the training the drivers to safely drive the towing vehicles. When the towing company has defaulted in such duties, they become answerable to the consequences regarding accidents that result therefrom in terms of compensation for property damage and/or bodily injuries.

4. Third Parties

Depending on the type and nature of towed vehicle accidents there are the third party of drivers and sometimes the pedestrians that can also be held responsible. Let’s suppose, in a situation where the accident occurred because the other driver turned into the path of the towing vehicle or rolled-on while disregarding the traffic signals, the latter stands to be defended.

How Is Liability Determined?

1. Fault in Accidents Involving Towed Vehicles

Determining liability for accidents involving towed vehicles operates on the same legal basis as all other traffic mishaps. Some of the ways that fault can be established include by using police reports, statements from the witnesses, and by video recordings from the time of the accident from cameras within the vehicles, or from other cameras nearby. However, with the towing of another vehicle, there are many other variables which include: the status of the towed car, the quality of the towing link up, and the driver’s competence level.

2. Joint Liability

Sometimes liability may be distributed among more than one party. For instance, the driver of the towing automobile may contribute to the accident partly, as may the towing firm, or the owner of the vehicle being towed. In such a situation, each party is equal as a proportion of the total responsibility for the incidence of the accident.

How Does It Works: Personal Injury Law

Any individual who is involved in an accident that involves a towed vehicle, they entitled to make compensation claims in the case of physical injuries. The tort law permits the claimant to claim for revenues lost, cost of medical treatment and other costs, and stresses and other pains they suffered. In such circumstances; the legal responsibility to pay for the losses incurred will be based on the same factors used in apportioning blame in the accident.

The individuals who become involved in accidents with towed vehicles should consult with a personal injury lawyer who will explain the possibilities of recovering for the losses. It can be particularly so in the cases where there are many players involved because decisions on attribution of fault may take more time than in usual accidents.

Conclusion

Towing accidents involve potentially complicated issues regarding liability and who may be deemed at fault, but by identifying the part played by each party it became easier to know whether the particular party would be deemed at fault.

In any situation, whether it is the driver of the towing vehicle or the owner of the towed car, or even a third party involved, every situation is different and has to be determined on the facts of the case as they exist. The use of professionals Emergency Legal Advisors, towing companies which can be found by searching “towing near me mascot sydney” in case of an accident involving a towed vehicle.