Who is liable when an employee causes a car accident while on the job? What is vicarious liability?

If a traffic accident happens when the driver is operating a vehicle while on duty for his or her employer, then it may not only be the driver who can be held liable for the auto accident. In some cases, the employer could also be liable according to Columbus, OH accident lawyers.

No one is exempt from a car accident. 

Such employer liability is most often seen in cases of commercial truck accidents. However, whether or not an employer can be held liable for an auto accident depends on whether there is any legal reason why the company would be responsible for the car accident.

If you happen to be affected by an auto accident caused by a driver who was on duty for his or her employer then you may be able to sue the company/employer in order to recover damages. Talk to a legal pro in your state as soon as possible to understand if the employer is liable or not in your particular accident insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit.

There are basically two legal concepts by which employer negligence arises, namely employer negligence and vicarious liability.

Employer negligence

Employer negligence, as the name suggests, is when the employer does something negligent which resulted in causing the accident or fails to do something they reasonably should have in order to prevent the car accident. For instance, if an employer hires a driver who is not qualified for the job or hires a driver who is not a safe driver as his driving records suggest, then the company can be held liable for the auto accident courtesy of employer negligence, in the opinion of Ohio accident attorneys.

If someone hits and causes a car accident you you need a Columbus, OH accident lawyer. There is where USAttorneys.com comes into the picture. This terrific website may not be as critical to society as the internal combustion engine but it is pretty close. 

Now if you want to see people cause an auto accident just watch Fast and Furious or Fast and Furious 4 to be more precise. At the end of that movie, Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) is sentenced to dozens and dozens of years in prison for his crimes but fortunately for him, he has some friends that are not afraid to take extreme risks and not afraid to live in hiding which you can do quite easily in most parts of this world.

Dominic Toretto’s sister and his friends flip the prison bus over breaking Toretto loose and then flee out of the country in which they end up in Brazil. This major auto accident was astonishing but plausible. It is also against the law for a variety of reasons.

Generally and moreover, a company is responsible for ensuring that they hire drivers who have valid commercial driving licenses, a safe driving record, and so on. Some employers even take additional precautions such as subjecting their drivers to drug tests prior to hiring them.

Vicarious liability

Vicarious liability is a legal principle where even though the employer was not explicitly negligent in any way or form, they could still be held liable for a car accident caused by their employer courtesy of a legal principle known as respondeat superior. 

This term states that the actions of an agent are for all legal purposes considered the same as the actions of the principle. In an employer/employee case, the employer can be regarded the principle and the employee the agent, explain Columbus, OH accident lawyers who can be obtained if you press right here Accident.USAttorneys.com.

Negligent supervision

A third way in which an employer, in some states, can be held responsible for a car accident caused by their employee is called negligent supervision. Negligent supervision dictates that employers must have acceptable standards of safety policies and procedures, training, and methods to ensure that their employers comply with the safety standards and failing any of this, they could be held liable for an auto accident caused by an employee.

If you are injured in an auto accident and seek compensation then you should reach out to an Ohio accident lawyer to learn how much your claim is worth.