With reduced speed limits, lane shifts, heavy equipment, and workers present, construction zones are sometimes confusing and hazardous for drivers. That confusion sometimes leads to traffic accidents—and when the vehicles that crash are 18-wheelers, the accidents may be very serious and resolving them becomes highly complex. Figuring out who's responsible for the damage isn’t always straightforward, which leads many people to wonder: "Who might be liable for a truck accident in a construction zone?"

Answer: Liability for a truck accident in a construction zone depends on the circumstances of the accident. It may involve multiple parties, including the truck driver, the trucking company, third-party trucking dispatchers, the construction crew, their employer, and road designers.

As you see, things can get more complex than just pointing a finger at someone. We're going to look at each mentioned party more in-depth, but before we get to that we should quickly talk about why we see so many truck accidents in or near construction in the first place.

Why Are Truck Accidents So Common in Construction Zones?

Truck accidents are particularly common in construction zones due to a mix of environmental challenges, driver behavior, and logistical issues that make those areas especially risky for large vehicles. Here are some key reasons why these crashes happen so often:

• Driver negligence (e.g. speeding, intoxicated or distracted driving)
• Driver fatigue
• Improper merge or lane change
• Failure to inspect or maintain a truck
• Unsecured loads
• Improper or missing signage or warnings from construction crew
• Narrowed or shifted traffic lanes
• Sudden stops or speed reductions

That's just a handful of possible factors for a truck accident in a construction zone, but hopefully they help illustrate how many explanations there could be. Work sites are highly vulnerable to those wrecks—but because they could happen for so many reasons, figuring out who's to blame for one can be pretty complex.

So Who Might Be at Fault for a Truck Accident in a Construction Zone?

Above we laid out some of the most common reasons a commercial truck might crash and hurt someone in a construction zone. Below are some of the most likely parties to have some or total liability for such an accident:

• The Truck Driver: People might roll their eyes to see a law office blame a trucker for his own accident, but the unfortunate truth is not everybody driving an 18-wheeler treats it with the care it requires and deserves. Truckers make the same mistakes as anyone else—speeding, texting, falling asleep, you name it—but when they crash, their massive vehicles stand a greater chance of dealing devastating damage. They're trained to understand that and avoid accidents, so when they get careless they should answer for it.
• The Trucking Company: Trucking companies operate under a lot of of pressure and competition, and that causes some of them to make poor choices and cut corners to save money and stay competitive. Those that ignore truck maintenance, fail to train their drivers, or "encourage" reckless behavior for faster deliveries break the law and increase the chances of major accidents. If their driver crashes because of something they did (or failed to do), they may be considered responsible for what happened.
• Third-Party Trucking Dispatchers: This part of the trucking industry sometimes gets overlooked in favor of drivers or employers, but dispatchers have quite a bit of influence on how a truck gets from A to B. If dispatch pushes a driver to meet unrealistic deadlines, they may be encouraging unsafe behavior like speeding or skipping breaks. Since they also help drivers navigate some routes, it may be their fault the truck ended up in a dangerous construction zone in the first place. That might be grounds to hold them accountable for any accidents that followed.
• The Construction Crew: As we mentioned earlier, a construction zone may create a lot of hazards both for the workers at the site and for anyone passing through or by it. Unsafe equipment placement, uncleaned debris, improper signage, and narrow or poorly-marked lanes all create an environment prone to crashes. If construction workers are careless on-site, or if they were improperly trained by their employer, there's a chance their subpar work could put themselves and others in danger.
• The Construction Company: The law typically considers a company legally responsible for any damage its employees cause while on the clock. If workers in the construction zone move a crane boom into traffic, say, or fail to pick up warning signs that blew over in the wind, then an attorney could argue they were negligent in their duties. If so, and if that negligence hurt someone, then the law may consider the company who put them out there responsible for the mess they made.
• Road Designers: Sometimes roads need heavy construction because they were poorly designed in the first place. Road designers make mistakes like anyone else; the real problem is that their errors are built out of concrete and rebar and may cause problems for years or decades to come. If the construction zone exists because the road itself was crummy in the first place, then the planner who decided it should be that way may deserve a share of the blame for crashes that occur on it.

Those are some of the most commonly liable parties involved in truck accidents at construction zones. That doesn't mean that every single such accident is their fault; there are plenty of cases where a civilian driver triggered a wreck, and even some where poor government oversight played a role. However, most of the situations we've litigated over the years were the result of professional negligence.

That doesn't mean whoever seems to be at fault will accept it, though, so let's look at how to find out—and prove—where liability should rest.

How Do I Prove Who's at Fault for a Truck Accident in a Construction Zone?

Evidence is always the best way to resolve any confusion about liability for a crash. Clear and plentiful evidence is crucial in determining exactly what happened and why, which in turn usually clarifies who or what is to blame. In terms of a truck accident in a construction zone, some of the key sources of evidence would probably be as follows:

• Truck Data: 18-wheelers tend to have quite a few electronic monitoring devices to help keep track of speed, braking, steering, and many other useful metrics. Much of that is stored in the truck's electronic control module (ECM), or "black box." Just about every modern 18-wheeler also has monitoring software for compliance with Hours of Service rules, which exist to reduce driver fatigue and increase road safety. The truck may even have a dashcam or cab-monitoring camera that could shed some light on what the driver was doing just before the wreck.
  These are all valuable sources of clear, objective information that could help build a case—which is why no trucking company wants to let an attorney within a country mile of them. If there's a chance any of that data could be used against them, why give it up without a fight? Attorneys who want to see any of that information typically have to get a court's help to obtain it.
• Truck Driver Data: You can tell a great deal about an accident from looking closely at the people involved, and that's doubly true for truck drivers. Attorneys may look into the driver's past at health and traffic safety records, as well as checking his cell phone for any signs of distraction like text history or call logs.
  Just like companies withholding data from their trucks, neither the driver nor his employer is likely to hand over something that could get them in serious trouble. Attorneys often have to act fast to ensure that evidence is preserved just as it was before the crash.
• Scene Analysis: The site of an accident may not look like much of anything to the untrained eye, but an attorney often enlists the help of accident reconstructionists who know better. They can analyze the crash scene, determine speeds and angles from vehicle damage, and measure other sources of important data at the scene. That kind of careful scrutiny is extra important in construction zones because the work may continue, and a differently-arranged work site could muddy the waters of the investigation.
  Hiring industry experts to survey the surrounding area and examine the design of the road may show it didn't meet the area's needs. In those cases, the person or firm that designed the road may need to answer for not planning it out better.

That's a fly-over view of some steps an experienced attorney would likely take to get a clear snapshot of events after a truck crashes in a construction zone. A paragraph or two about each thing doesn't really capture the complexity of the investigation, though, and a lot of people have found out when trying to go it alone how quickly these accidents start to ask more than they can give.

Grossman Law Can Help

Truck accidents in construction zones often involve a mix of factors and parties, which means there will almost inevitably be a lot of finger-pointing and buck-passing as defendants scramble to avoid liability. What's more, those companies and their insurers have defense attorneys who have a duty to protect their clients to the best of their ability. Put those together, and people without the training or experience to overcome them may quickly find themselves overwhelmed—especially when they're busy just trying to get their lives back on track. The best solution? Hiring an experienced attorney to thoroughly investigate what happened, file suit on your case, and hold any responsible parties accountable.

The truck accident attorneys at Grossman Law Offices have decades of experience helping victims of all sorts of commercial accidents, including many which occurred in construction zones. If you or someone close to you were hurt in any kind of commercial truck accident, please do not hesitate to contact Grossman Law Offices any time for a free and confidential consultation.