Many people drive semis and delivery trucks as the core part of their jobs. Quite often, as is the case with semi drivers, accidents occur. Most semi drivers walk away with very few injuries if any, unless the truck rolls or is hit by another equally large vehicle. Delivery trucks are definitely not immune to accidents either. If you were recently in an accident while driving a truck for your employer, workers compensation laws may apply to you. Here is how.

Your Employer's Insurance Lapsed

If your employer has insurance that is supposed to cover you and all of the other drivers, and it lapses, this may be viewed as negligence. That insurance was put in place by your employer not only to protect his or her business assets, but also to protect the employees in the event of an accident. If your employer also accepts responsibility for your commercial driver's insurance and has allowed that to lapse, that also falls under this "failure to protect" category. Your employer should pay for some, if not all, of your medical costs and/or approve your workers compensation claim forms when it is clearly his or her fault that there was no insurance available to protect you.

Your Employer Sent You on Your Route in an Unsafe Vehicle

Another example of negligence has to do with the trucks you drive. When the responsibility of repairs and maintenance falls to your employer and not you, and your employer fails to perform the maintenance or repair required for employee safety, your employer is responsible for what happens you and the other drivers. Sending you out in a vehicle that is not functioning properly or has not recently passed a safety inspection places you in harm's way. If you can prove that your employer intentionally or knowingly sent you out in a truck that should not have been on the road, a workers compensation lawyer can help you file a lawsuit against your employer to cover your medical costs and lost wages.

Your Employer Forced You to Work When You Were Ill or "Under the Influence"

If you are sick and your employer tells you that you still have to come into work, and then you get into an accident that causes severe injuries to yourself and others, you may be covered under workers compensation too. Additionally, your employer should provide you with adequate recovery time after surgery or other minor medical procedures when you have been prescribed painkillers. Because you would be considered "under the influence" of your prescription medications, an accident resulting during this time could be blamed on you and you would be sued. However, if your employer threatened you with unemployment if you did not appear and you had not made a full recovery and you were still "under the influence," an ensuing accident, medical expenses, related costs and lawsuits would fall on your employer. 

For more information, contact firms like Shoap Law Offices.

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