Accidents Caused by Brake Failure Could be an Intentional Tort
Motor vehicles are some of the most dangerous things out there. Death by motor vehicle is one of the most common forms of death in the industrialized world. Common causes for car accidents are people just spend so much time in vehicles, but also include those who break the law and have poor maintenance.
Cars, trucks and motorcycles share one thing in common when it comes to a Denver car accident. All have all of their weight supported by tires. When you think that only a small portion of the tire is in contact with the ground at all times it will not surprise you to find that over a quarter of all Denver motorcycle accidents come from problems with tires or brakes. If you have been injured in a car crash or motorcycle accident that was a result of damaged or improperly maintained tires, you may have legal recourse to sue.
There could be several different parties that were responsible for the brakes or tires. If you had an injury from a car crash involving failed brakes or tires, the negligent parties could include the driver, brake manufacturer, the mechanic, or the employer of the driver. If it was a truck accident, the trucking company might be liable for and personal injury in Denver.
Because there could be multiple liable parties, each one will probably try to shift blame and get another company’s insurance to pay for the accident. However it is possible to sue multiple parties and it is possible that several people were to blame for the accident. If you are suing multiple people it might be prudent to hire a Denver injury attorney to avoid being caught in the run-around.
If the brake manufacturer was at fault, you have a good chance of being awarded a settlement because of strict laws regarding braking systems. Truck brakes especially are regulated by the federal government to have a certain braking power. If the brakes on the car that hit you does not meet these standards you could claim the manufacturer did not design the brakes well or that there was a manufacturing defect. These kinds of cases fall more under product liability than personal injury.
If the trucking company failed to provide regular maintenance on the brakes you could sue. Some truckers even de-power the front brakes on purpose to reduce the cost of brake replacement. It seems crazy but some truckers would rather use the trailer brakes and the transmission to slow down. Choosing a dangerous thing like unhooking the brakes just for a little cost savings might actually result in an intentional tort instead of a personal injury negligence case. If this happened you could sue both the driver and the trucking company that allowed this to happen.
