When Trucking Companies Try to Shift Blame After Your Accident
If you’ve been hit by a commercial truck in Colorado, you’re facing mounting medical bills, lost wages, and trucking companies minimizing their responsibility. Colorado’s HB21-1188 strengthens your position against trucking companies attempting to dodge accountability by holding employers directly accountable for their own negligence beyond just their drivers’ actions.
💡 Pro Tip: Document everything immediately after your accident, including photos of vehicle positions, road conditions, and any company logos or DOT numbers on the truck – these details become crucial when establishing both driver and company liability.
Tangled up in a truck accident? Let Jarret J. Benson Law guide you through the complex web. Reach out today by calling (720) 710-6753 or contact us to ensure every avenue for justice is explored.
How Colorado’s New Liability Laws Protect Truck Accident Victims
Colorado’s HB21-1188, passed in May 2021, fundamentally changed victim compensation after truck accidents. Previously, when trucking companies admitted vicarious liability for their driver’s actions, victims were prevented from pursuing additional claims against the company for its own negligence. Crucial evidence about company safety violations, inadequate training, or dangerous policies often never surfaced. Now, victims can pursue both the driver’s negligence and the company’s direct negligence simultaneously.
The law allows plaintiffs to assert direct negligence claims against an employer even when that employer admits vicarious liability. If a trucking company admits their driver was at fault, you can still investigate and prove the company’s own wrongdoing – such as pressuring drivers to violate hours-of-service regulations, failing to maintain vehicles properly, or hiring drivers with dangerous records. These claims often reveal systemic problems that contributed to your accident.
💡 Pro Tip: Keep records of any communications from the trucking company or their insurance – statements about "accepting responsibility" may not tell the whole story of their liability.
Your Path to Recovery: Understanding the Truck Accident Claims Process
The timeline for resolving a truck accident case involves several critical phases. Unlike simple car accidents, truck cases often involve multiple liable parties, federal regulations, and complex insurance structures requiring careful navigation.
- Immediate Response (0-72 hours): Secure medical treatment, report to police, and preserve evidence before trucking companies dispatch rapid response teams
- Investigation Phase (1-3 months): Your attorney requests driver logs, maintenance records, and company safety data
- Discovery Period (3-12 months): Both sides exchange information, including depositions and examination of crash data
- Negotiation Window (6-18 months): Armed with evidence of both driver and company negligence, your attorney negotiates for full compensation
- Trial Preparation (12-24 months): If settlement fails, preparing expert witnesses who explain complex trucking regulations
💡 Pro Tip: Colorado’s statute of limitations for truck accident injury claims is generally three years, but evidence in truck cases can disappear within weeks – contacting an attorney immediately protects your ability to build a strong case, as ECM data is sometimes overwritten in as little as 30 days.
Maximizing Your Recovery with Strategic Legal Representation
Successfully resolving a truck accident case requires comprehensive understanding of state and federal trucking regulations. An experienced lawyer identifies all potentially liable parties beyond the driver, including the trucking company, cargo loaders, maintenance contractors, or truck manufacturers. Jarret J. Benson Law understands how to leverage Colorado’s expanded liability laws to ensure trucking companies can’t hide behind their drivers’ actions while ignoring their own corporate negligence.
Working with a Denver truck accident attorney who understands HB21-1188 provides strategic advantage. This law prevents trucking companies from using "admission and avoidance," where they admit their driver was at fault but argue this shields them from claims about their own wrongdoing. Your attorney can present evidence about the company’s hiring practices, training deficiencies, vehicle maintenance failures, or policies encouraging unsafe driving. This dual approach often leads to significantly higher settlements by exposing the full scope of wrongdoing.
💡 Pro Tip: Request a copy of the police report and any citations issued – traffic violations by the truck driver can establish negligence per se, making liability clearer from the start.
Federal Data Reveals Alarming Truck Accident Trends Affecting Colorado
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts reports provide crucial context for understanding truck accident severity. These annual reports compile data from four major sources: NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), NHTSA’s Crash Report Sampling System (CRSS), the FMCSA Crash File (formerly MCMIS), and the Federal Highway Administration’s Highway Statistics; for reports before 2017 the General Estimates System (GES) was used instead of CRSS. When your attorney reviews these federal statistics alongside Colorado’s crash data from CDOT, patterns often emerge supporting claims of systemic negligence.
Using Crash Data to Strengthen Your Case
CDOT maintains detailed crash data, typically up to five years of recent data, available through open records requests for specific intersections or corridors in the Denver metro area. As of 2025, this includes data from approximately 2021-2025. This data helps identify whether your accident location has a history of truck-related crashes, indicating infrastructure issues or common driver errors. Combined with national Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts statistics, your attorney can show your accident wasn’t isolated but part of a larger pattern of negligence.
💡 Pro Tip: Ask your attorney to request CDOT crash data for your specific accident location – a history of truck accidents at that site could indicate known hazards the trucking company should have addressed.
Common Trucking Company Defenses and How Colorado Law Counters Them
Trucking companies and their insurers have developed sophisticated strategies to minimize payouts, but Colorado’s legal framework provides tools to combat these tactics. HB21-1188 specifically addresses where companies admitted their driver was at fault but claimed this prevented examination of their own negligent practices.
Breaking Through the "Independent Contractor" Defense
Many trucking companies claim their drivers are independent contractors rather than employees to avoid vicarious liability. However, courts look beyond labels to examine the actual relationship – who controls schedules, routes, and truck maintenance? A skilled attorney knows how to pierce this defensive veil by showing the company exercised sufficient control over the driver to establish an employer-employee relationship, regardless of classification.
💡 Pro Tip: Save any communications about delivery schedules or route requirements – these often prove the trucking company controlled the driver’s actions despite "independent contractor" claims.
Frequently Asked Questions
Understanding Your Rights After a Truck Accident
Truck accident victims often have similar concerns about their rights and pursuing compensation. These questions reflect the unique challenges of truck accident cases compared to standard vehicle collisions.
💡 Pro Tip: Write down your questions as they arise during recovery – organized concerns help your attorney address all aspects of your case during consultations.
Navigating the Complex Legal Landscape
The intersection of state and federal regulations in truck accident cases creates a complex legal environment requiring experienced guidance.
💡 Pro Tip: Request a case evaluation that includes discussion of both immediate compensation needs and long-term impacts of your injuries.
1. How does Colorado’s HB21-1188 specifically help truck accident victims in Denver?
This law allows victims to pursue claims against trucking companies for their direct negligence even after the company admits vicarious liability. You can still present evidence of systemic problems like poor maintenance, inadequate training, or dangerous policies, potentially increasing your compensation significantly.
2. What role do federal Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts play in my Colorado truck accident case?
These federal statistics provide context showing whether your accident fits patterns of truck crashes nationwide. Your attorney can use this data alongside Colorado-specific information to demonstrate that certain accidents are preventable with proper safety measures, strengthening arguments about trucking company negligence.
3. Can I still pursue a truck accident lawsuit if the company admits their driver was at fault?
Yes, under Colorado law, the company’s admission of vicarious liability doesn’t prevent you from also proving their direct negligence. This might include evidence of hiring drivers with poor records, pushing unrealistic delivery schedules, or failing to maintain vehicles properly.
4. How long do I have to file a Denver truck accident lawsuit after my crash?
Colorado generally allows three years from the accident date to file a lawsuit for motor vehicle accidents, including truck accidents, though other types of personal injury claims have a two-year statute of limitations. However, crucial evidence in truck cases can be lost or destroyed much sooner, so contacting an attorney immediately is essential.
5. What makes truck accident cases different from regular car accident claims in Colorado?
Truck cases involve federal regulations, multiple potentially liable parties, higher insurance limits, and more severe injuries. They require investigation of driver logs, maintenance records, and company safety practices. Colorado’s expanded liability laws allow pursuit of both driver and company negligence simultaneously.
Work with a Trusted Truck Accident Lawyer
Navigating Colorado truck accident law requires deep understanding of both state statutes like HB21-1188 and federal trucking regulations. The interplay between vicarious liability and direct negligence claims creates opportunities for fuller compensation when properly presented. Jarret J. Benson Law brings comprehensive knowledge of these evolving legal standards to help accident victims recover maximum compensation. Their approach combines thorough investigation of both driver actions and company practices, ensuring trucking companies are held fully accountable. If you’re facing the aftermath of a truck accident in the Denver area, experienced legal guidance can make the difference between a settlement that barely covers immediate costs and compensation that truly reflects the full impact on your life.
Wrestling with the aftermath of a truck accident? Reach out to Jarret J. Benson Law for experienced guidance to navigate these turbulent waters. Call us at (720) 710-6753 or contact us to ensure every avenue for justice is examined.