Mississippi semi-truck collision cases can be complex and difficult because trucking companies have an enormous amount of resources and are frequently involved in trucking accident lawsuits related to injuries caused by their drivers and vehicles. The case of Canton Broiler Farms, Inc v N. Warren (Supreme Court of Mississippi 1968) 14 So. 2d 671 offers interesting insight into the complex factual patterns and convoluted theories often offered by trucking company lawyers designed to assist their clients in avoiding responsibility for serious trucking accidents in Mississippi.
In the Canton case, a tractor-trailer truck owned by the defendant overturned and part of the Semi was on the highway. There also were crates of chickens all over the road that fell from the wrecked tractor-trailer. The truck driver failed to place flares around the semi-truck, remove the chicken crates from the roadway or provide any warn to oncoming traffic of the big-rig accident. Another driver then assisted the trucker but parked his pick-up truck so that its headlights shined in the eyes of approaching traffic.
The semi-truck accident victim was a passenger in his brother’s car and suffered permanent injuries when the driver was blinded by the headlights and crashed into the crates of chickens. The driver took evasive maneuvers to avoid the resulting motor vehicle collision but did not see the road obstruction soon enough because of the blinding headlights.
The trucking company tried to point the finger at everyone but its own driver. For example, the trucking company lawyers claimed that the victim’s brother was responsible because he did not stop when he saw the headlights. The trucking lawyers even had the gall to argue that the injury victim “assumed the risk” of injury in the serious Mississippi trucking accident because he did not make his brother (the driver) stop.
In Mississippi, for there to be an assumption of the risk, there must be a knowing appreciation and deliberate exposure to danger so this argument was rejected. The court refused to allow the trucking company to shift the blame for its own truck driver’s negligence. In other words, a passenger need not act as a “back-seat driver,” or assume the risk of injury.
Another interesting aspect of this Mississippi trucking accident case is that negligence by a truck driver is not excused by the subsequent foreseeable conduct of a third party that contributes to the semi-truck accident. It was foreseeable that the truck driver’s actions in leaving debris in the roadway and failing to provide warnings to approaching traffic could result in an serious motor vehicle accident if an approaching vehicle were blinded by headlights. Thus, the good samaritan’s negligence did not excuse the negligence of the truck driver.
These types of insensitive and offensive tactics are common in Mississippi trucking accident lawsuits. Trucking company insurance lawyers are in court all the time defending their clients in serious Mississippi trucking accident cases. If you or a loved one is seriously injured in a Mississippi trucking accident case, it is important that you seek legal assistance from a law firm that focuses a substantial portion of its practice on Mississippi trucking accident cases.
At Barrett Law PLLC, our firm’s roots date back 75 years so we have handled many trucking accident lawsuits in Mississippi. If you or your loved one has suffered serious injury in a Mississippi semi-truck accident, you need the experience and commitment of Barrett Law, PLLC in your corner. We handle semi-truck accidents in Mississippi and throughout the U.S. so call us today so that we can evaluate your case at (662) 834-2376. No Recovery No Fee!