Many people are involved in collisions with people that are driving company vehicles. These may be either employees of private companies or public employees. While a driver may be liable for injuries even if the driver is engaged in employment and driving a company car, there are many situations where the company that employs the driver is a more feasible defendant. An employee may not have insurance and may have limited assets to pay a personal injury judgment. While you may be able to successfully pursue a claim against the driver’s employer in such situations, this is not always the case. This issue is particularly relevant with the growing trend of cell phone use for calling and texting while employees are working.
Texting or talking on a cell phone when driving is a visual, mental and physical distraction that creates a significant risk of being involved in a collision. An employee generally is liable for injuries caused to third parties in an auto accident if the injuries occurred in the “scope of employment.” This essentially means that the employee is doing something that is beneficial to one’s employer. The trip does not have to have been specifically requested nor does it even need to occur during business hours. If an employee decides to pick up blueprints on the way home from the office to save one’s employer a trip, this may be sufficient to be within the scope of employment. If an employee is in an accident while on the way to the grocery store after getting fast food for oneself while driving home from work, this generally is not within the scope of employment. There is lots of grey area between these two scenarios so it is a good idea to seek legal advice from an experienced Mississippi personal injury lawyer in either situation.
If any employer encourages their employee to use their phone while on the road or tacitly approves such conduct, this may serve as a basis for finding an employer liable if the employee is conducting some form of company business. However, even if an employer does not specifically instruct an employee to use a cell phone or provide a company phone, this does not necessarily mean that an employer is not liable for an auto accident involving an employee. In such situations, our experienced Mississippi car accident lawyers will carefully investigate to determine the employer’s policies regarding cell phone use when driving, enforcement of such policies and the purpose of the driving excursion. Because the factual scenarios can be extremely complex, these cases often turn on their individual facts.
If you are involved in a Mississippi car accident with an employee of a company, the experienced personal injury attorneys at Barrett Law can evaluate the circumstances of your Mississippi car accident so that we can advise you of your rights and options. The experienced Mississippi car accident attorneys at Barrett Law have been providing tenacious representation to car accident victims for over 75 years. We provide diligent legal representation and impassioned advocacy so we invite you to call us today at 662-834-2376 to learn how we can help.