I rented a small track for moving my things to a new place. A car hit the truck in a parking lot. Am I held liable?

Question: I rented a small truck from a well known company to help my daughter move her things to college. I pulled into the driveway of the small house she was renting with friends. After taking one load into the house, I headed back outside, only to witness the rental truck rolling backwards into the street, hitting a small car. I’m positive I put the emergency brake on and am wondering if I’m liable or just the people who rented the truck to me?

Response: While you are likely to be held responsible for this accident since it was your duty to secure that emergency brake, serious questions remain, assuming you placed the car in “park.” You should definitely contact an attorney to help you since this type of accident can damage your driving record.

Be sure to ask your attorney to obtain copies of all the recent maintenance work done on the specific truck you rented. Tell her if you also took out added insurance through the rental company. Brakes are often neglected by many companies since they’re expensive to maintain.

A good personal injury attorney, preferably one with strong knowledge of truck braking systems would be a perfect fit for you. If your lawyer can prove that the truck brakes were poorly maintained, at least the rental company might be held responsible for some (or all) of the damages. However, you’ll still probably need to prove that “your” truck could have slipped out of “park” into “neutral” on its own.

Answered by Elizabeth Smith

Additional Resources

• Truck Accident Lawyers
• Personal Injury Lawsuits

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