Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog
December’s Surge In Commercial Traffic
Every December, commercial traffic in Greater Boston surges. Amazon vans crisscross neighborhood streets, box trucks squeeze into alleys behind retail centers, and company cars rack up miles shuttling to client meetings and holiday events. When a crash involves a commercial vehicle, questions multiply: was the driver on the job, who owned the car, what does the insurance cover, and if you were working at the time, how does workers’ compensation fit into the picture? Sorting the answers quickly prevents valuable electronic evidence from disappearing and positions your claim for a fair recovery.
Employer Responsibility And Vicarious Liability
The first concept to understand is vicarious liability. In Massachusetts, an employer can be held responsible for its employee’s negligence if the crash occurred within the scope of employment. That means a delivery company may be liable when a driver rear-ends you during an active route, even if the individual driver has modest personal insurance. The employer’s commercial auto policy typically provides higher limits, but commercial carriers also aggressively defend and seek ways to shift blame. They might argue that the driver was “off the clock,” on a detour, or driving a personal vehicle outside of work. Route logs, delivery app data, timecards, and GPS points are the antidote to speculation, so we move fast to lock them down while the holiday schedule is still visible in the system.
Hired And Non-Owned Vehicles: Multiple Insurance Layers
Not all company-related crashes involve corporate-owned vehicles. Many businesses rely on employees’ personal cars, or they rent vehicles to cover seasonal volume. In those cases, layers of coverage may apply. A non-owned and hired auto policy can sit above or beside a personal auto policy, and a rental agreement might provide supplemental liability coverage that operates differently from consumer rental counter offerings. It is common for multiple carriers to point fingers at one another over which policy should respond first. Our role is to analyze the contracts and force the right carriers to step up, sparing you from a maze of denials and delays.
If You Were Working: Coordinating Comp With Third-Party Claims
If you were injured while working, say you were a retail employee struck in a parking lot by a delivery van, or you drive for a courier service and were hit in traffic, workers’ compensation comes into play even as we pursue a claim against the at-fault party. Comp pays medical bills and wage loss regardless of fault, but it does not compensate for pain and suffering. A third-party negligence claim against the driver or company that caused the crash can recover those additional damages. Coordinating the two is critical. We keep your medical treatment authorized under comp while making the liability claim whole, and we protect the comp insurer’s lien in a way that maximizes what you take home.
Weather Defenses And Fleet Data
Commercial defendants often defend by claiming sudden weather made the collision unavoidable, or that a pedestrian or cyclist “came out of nowhere” behind a delivery truck. December conditions require more care, not less. Speed for conditions, following distance, mirror use, and backing protocols are part of safe operation, especially for vehicles with significant blind spots. Telematics and event data recorders can show speed, harsh braking, and rapid accelerations; on many fleets, hard-brake and hard-turn events are logged in real time. Warehouse maintenance and brake inspection records can reveal whether a vehicle was placed into service with worn tires or deferred repairs. When a crash happens at a loading dock or logistics yard, lighting and signage are often part of the story; photographs taken promptly can counter later claims that the area was perfectly marked.
Practical Steps For Injured People
From your perspective as an injured person, the steps are straightforward, even if the legal analysis is complex. Seek medical care and follow through. Do not discuss the crash with an opposing insurer until you have counsel; recorded statements are designed to limit your claim. Save everything: photos of the damage, exchanges with the driver, and any receipts or app screenshots showing where the commercial vehicle had been and where it was headed. If you notice a dashcam on the truck or a camera on a nearby building, make a note. Those details help us send targeted preservation letters that stop routine deletion. Then call us. Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers will identify every liable party, preserve the data that proves what happened, and pursue the full value of your losses. We are available for a free consultation at (617) 777-7777 or through our secure online form, day or night. If you contact us early, we can often secure video and telematics that would otherwise be overwritten within days.