Commercial Truck Accident Attorney

Every year, car accidents in the United States cause financial issues for thousands of families. After an accident, victims are often faced with heavy medical bills while also not able to work. Income falls, expenses rise, and debt builds that have the potential to affect the family for many years. In some cases, it even threatens the comfortable retirement for which the victim has worked so hard.

If you recognize yourself in this introduction, the good news is that you don’t have to deal with the financial burden if your accident was caused by another party. As well as colliding with other car drivers, there’s also the potential to get involved in an accident with a commercial truck. If this is the case, many of the same rules apply. Most importantly, you aren’t responsible for the damages if you didn’t cause the truck accident in the first place.

Today, we want to discuss the intricacies of commercial truck and tractor-trailer accidents. Firstly, it’s important to note that you aren’t alone after a truck accident. If you’re trying to recover from several injuries, your truck accident attorney will protect your legal rights, gather evidence, and claim against the other driver. Meanwhile, you don’t even need to lift a finger. Instead, simply focus on getting better.

Most Common Commercial Truck Accidents

Sadly, many people each year find themselves involved in a commercial truck wreck, a type of accident that can cause serious damage to drivers. As you can imagine, there’s only one winner when a commercial truck collides with a car, motorcyclist, pedestrian, or another road user. In 2021, one of the biggest problems for lawmakers is that many of the causes of commercial truck accidents are preventable. The lawmakers can only do so much, and they rely on the sensible actions of road users to prevent accidents, but the following causes are keeping accident figures high:

• Use of prescription drugs
• Lack of experience on the road
• Dangerous driving for the conditions
• Poor awareness
• Tiredness and fatigue
• Poor use of signals

Sometimes, it’s even a combination of these factors such as poor awareness, dangerous driving for the conditions at hand, and tiredness. Considering the damage that can be caused to property, vehicles, and lives after a commercial truck accident, the many preventable causes of commercial truck accidents are concerning. While commercial truck drivers are shielded by masses of steel, others on the road don’t have this luxury.

Of course, not all commercial truck and tractor-trailer accidents are the fault of the truck driver. In some cases, the vehicle has a mechanical issue. Despite their best efforts, the driver cannot avoid an accident. Elsewhere, it could be problems with the roadway, congestion from another accident, or other road users.

What do we mean by the last suggestion? Well, driving a commercial truck requires lots of skill, and the actions of other road users often make it harder. Often, they don’t realize how long it takes for commercial truck drivers to slow down their vehicles. A car suddenly stops in front of a commercial truck, and the commercial truck driver can’t do anything to prevent an accident.

Whether your accident was caused by a truck driver or another road user, you need experts with knowledge of truck accident law. Don’t worry, you’re in the right place because we can help at The Injury Firm.

Dealing with a Commercial Truck Accident

What if you’ve been involved in a commercial truck accident? Firstly, we always try to make it clear that medical attention is always the most important factor. Your mind might automatically jump to lawsuits and compensation, but none of this can happen without the right care first. As well as getting medical attention for recovery, this also starts a paper trail and details your injuries from the perspective of medical professionals.

If you have friends or family on the site of the accident, tell them to take pictures whether this is of the collision, a faulty road sign, a road defect, or something else. You can never have too many pictures - even if 99% of the photos are worthless, you might find one picture that helps to prove your case against the other party.

Then, contact a commercial truck accident lawyer as soon as you have time. The longer you wait, the harder it becomes for your attorneys to gather evidence. Let’s not forget that your eyewitnesses may forget small details about the accident over time. Therefore, you want to get statements from them as soon as possible; this can only happen if you contact lawyers soon after the truck wreck.

Potential Injuries After a Commercial Truck Wreck

As mentioned previously, it’s normally the other party who suffers the more serious injuries when a commercial truck collides with somebody. The truck driver is much higher off the ground and has a huge, reinforced shell to protect them. Meanwhile, car drivers only have a smaller shell and it’s not designed to protect people inside from heavy contact from a truck.

Over the years, we’ve seen people with broken bones, TBIs (traumatic brain injuries), paralysis, fractures, spinal cord damage, internal organ injuries, concussion, and neck/back injuries. Sadly, some people involved in commercial truck accidents cannot withstand the level of damage and pass away. If you’re a loved one of somebody who has recently died after a commercial truck collision, The Injury Firm will handle your case with care and compassion. We’ll work hard to provide your family with the compensation it deserves.

Commercial Truck Accident Statistics

According to statistics released in 2021, the number of truck accidents in the United States has increased by over 50% since 2009. What’s more, large trucks are involved in nearly three-quarters of all fatal passenger vehicle accidents. Although truck-on-car collisions affect the car driver more than the truck driver in most cases, not all commercial truck accidents are collisions. When the truck driver loses control and collides with the wall or another obstacle, they can face serious injuries or even death. If road signs, poor road maintenance, or a truck defect were to blame for the accident, you could be entitled to compensation (either yourself or as family members).

According to a recent report, over 85% of truck accidents are caused by drivers. Meanwhile, 10% of accidents are caused by vehicles while less than 5% are the result of the environment. The Injury Firm has handled cases in all three areas, so don’t be afraid to reach out today.

Apportioning Blame for a Commercial Truck Wreck

When choosing a commercial truck accident lawyer, you need somebody with experience in the field since every accident is unique. At The Injury Firm, we can help all parties whether you were the driver of another vehicle, the driver of the truck, or another party.

Regardless of your position, the goal will be the same; to prove negligence or carelessness in the actions of the guilty party. As we’ve already seen, the guilty party could be a car driver, a truck driver, the vehicle manufacturer, or the government. If the vehicle caused the accident, you’ll seek compensation against the manufacturer because they shouldn’t have let an unsafe vehicle leave the factory.

When building your case, we may contact investigators and industry professionals to act as expert witnesses. After assessing the case, they will give their expert opinion, and this will strengthen our case against the responsible party. For example, it could be that the expert witness claims that the commercial truck driver didn’t act responsibly in the circumstances. These expert witnesses can be economists, engineers, caregivers, medical professionals, and even experts in accident reconstruction.

When claiming against another road user, the important thing to note is that the burden of proof is on you. If you cannot prove negligence, you won’t receive compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, or any other damage experienced. What’s more, the fact that you could go up against not only truck drivers, but the company too means that you need help from attorneys who understand commercial truck accident law.

Contact The Injury Firm Today

If you were hit by a commercial truck, contact The Injury Firm today. If you were driving a commercial truck and could be entitled to claim through Workers Compensation, contact The Injury Firm. If you feel as though you’re entitled to compensation in any way, get the ball rolling today with a simple phone call.

Unfortunately, the complexities of trucking companies make compensation hard to come by if you don’t have experience. While some commercial truck drivers work for the company, others are independent contractors. Do you claim against the driver, the company, or another party? This depends on the circumstances of your case, and legal professionals will help.

We’ll gather evidence, obtain statements from witnesses, speak to expert witnesses, negotiate with insurance companies, protect your legal rights, and push for the compensation that you deserve. If no fair settlement offer comes, we’ll even push through to court (sometimes the threat of this prompts the insurance company into action!).  Get started with your legal claim today: 954-951-0000.