Hit by a Company Vehicle in Louisville: Your Rights and Who Pays

Under a long-standing rule called respondeat superior, an employer is generally liable for an employee’s negligence while the employee is acting within the scope of employment. Kentucky courts look at whether the driver was doing the employer’s work, or acting at least partly to serve the employer, when the crash happened.

• Usually covered: driving to a job site, making a delivery or service call, running a work errand, driving a company vehicle during work hours.
• Often disputed: a personal detour in the middle of a work trip, driving a personal car for work, or a crash right after a shift.
• Usually not covered: an ordinary commute to and from work in the employee’s own car, though there are exceptions.

• Negligent hiring or retention: hiring or keeping a driver with a bad record.
• Negligent entrustment: handing a vehicle to someone the company knew or should have known was unsafe.
• Poor maintenance: bad brakes, bald tires or broken lights on a fleet vehicle. See tire blowout accidents.
• Pressure to rush: schedules that push drivers to speed or use phones. See distracted driving.

If the employee was an independent contractor, the analysis changes. Who controlled the work, whose vehicle it was and what the contract says all matter.

Businesses usually carry commercial auto policies, and many also have umbrella or excess coverage. Larger trucks and vans used in interstate commerce may also fall under federal safety rules for drivers, hours and maintenance. See our commercial vehicle crash lawyer page, FMCSA safety records and the MCS-90 endorsement.

Unless you rejected it in writing, your own PIP (personal injury protection) coverage pays up to $10,000 of medical bills and lost wages regardless of fault. See how Kentucky PIP works. To recover pain and suffering from an at-fault driver, Kentucky’s no-fault law generally requires more than $1,000 in medical expenses, or an injury such as a fracture, permanent injury, permanent disfigurement or permanent loss of bodily function (KRS 304.39-060).

1. Call 911 and get medical care.
2. Photograph the vehicle, including the company name, phone number, unit or truck number and any USDOT number on the door.
3. Get the driver’s name, the employer’s name and both insurance policies if you can.
4. Ask witnesses for contact information.
5. Don’t sign anything or give a recorded statement to the company’s insurer before getting advice. See insurance adjuster tactics.
6. Ask a lawyer to send a preservation letter for GPS, telematics, dashcam and maintenance records. Fleet data can be overwritten.

If you were hurt while driving for your own job, workers’ compensation usually covers your medical care and part of your lost wages, and you generally can’t sue your own employer (KRS 342.690). You may still have a claim against the at-fault driver or another company (KRS 342.700). See workers’ comp and injury claims and our third-party workplace injury lawyer page.

Most Kentucky motor vehicle injury claims must be filed within two years of the crash or the last PIP payment, whichever is later (KRS 304.39-230). Claims against a government vehicle follow different rules; see government vehicle accidents. Estimate your dates with our statute of limitations calculator.

We identify every company and policy involved, get the fleet and driver records, and build the case against the business, not just the driver. Larry Forman has tried 50+ jury trials, and we prepare every case as if it may go to trial.