Most people have been involved in some sort of accident at one time or another. Often, these collisions result in a parking lot dent or fender-bender, but truck accidents are more serious and can cause devastating injuries.
Experienced lawyers know how to identify liable parties in truck crash cases and pursue maximum compensation for their clients. They also understand how to calculate damages such as medical bills, lost wages, property damage, and pain and suffering. Check out this website at https://www.kaapc.com/ for more details.
Damages
Because of their immense size and weight, trucks often cause catastrophic accidents that leave victims with severe injuries. The physical and emotional trauma caused by these crashes can have long-lasting impacts on various aspects of a victim’s life, including their ability to earn a living or enjoy family activities. Fortunately, the law provides victims with recourse by allowing them to seek compensation for their losses from the liable parties in these cases.
Depending on the severity of your injuries, you could be eligible for several types of damages. These include economic and non-economic damages, as well as punitive damages. Economic damages include compensation for the expenses you have incurred because of your accident, such as medical bills, lost income, and property damage. Non-economic damages include emotional distress, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and disfigurement.
Truck accident victims can suffer a wide range of financial losses because of the impact of their injuries. Their medical bills, rehabilitation costs, and loss of earnings can place a significant strain on their finances. They can also face expensive property damage from the crash, such as the cost of repairing or replacing their car, bikes, and other personal belongings.
In addition to monetary compensation for these financial losses, victims may be entitled to compensation for the loss of their quality of life. They may no longer be able to participate in family activities or hobbies they used to love, or they might have to move to a new location because their home is now inaccessible.
A skilled lawyer can provide a thorough presentation of the evidence to prove your losses and establish liability in your case. A firm like Vaziri Law Group can also help you navigate the complex legal issues involved in a truck accident claim, such as when multiple policies are at play.
In some states, the driver of the truck, the trucking company, and the truck manufacturer may all be liable for the crash. The legal team at Vaziri Law Group can identify all parties that could be liable in your case and ensure that you receive maximum compensation for your losses.
Fault
When passenger vehicles like cars or SUVs share the road with large trucks, there are a multitude of safety concerns that can come into play. Despite these risks, it’s rare for the blame in a truck accident to fall entirely on one party.
Instead, it’s often a matter of shared fault in truck accidents due to the sheer size difference between trucks and other smaller vehicles. The key to establishing liability in these cases is demonstrating that the other party breached their duty of care to you by violating a legal concept known as negligence.
Duty of care is the obligation for parties to act as a reasonable person would in specific circumstances. It includes following traffic laws, maintaining a safe vehicle, and taking other precautions. An attorney can help you establish that the other party violated their duty of care by showing how their actions led to the accident and your injuries.
There are many different ways that truck drivers, their employers, and the companies they work for can be held liable in crashes. For example, truck driver fatigue from long hours spent trying to meet demanding quotas may cause them to nod off and drift into opposing lanes of traffic. Tire blowouts and other mechanical problems can also lead to head-on collisions.
Rear-end collisions are another common type of crash. Truck drivers who fail to observe the FMCSA-recommended following distances will likely slam into smaller vehicles behind them. Drivers who speed, tailgate, or drive recklessly may also cause rear-end accidents.
T-bone crashes can occur when a truck driver turns across multiple lanes of traffic, slamming into cars and other vehicles on either side of the rig. T-bone crashes can result in severe or fatal injuries to those inside the smaller vehicle.
Eyewitness testimony can be critical in establishing negligence in a truck accident case. A lawyer can help you identify and interview witnesses who may be able to provide an unbiased view of what happened. In addition to eyewitness accounts, law enforcement officers called to the scene of a crash can make an official report that includes their opinions about the cause of the collision.
Preparation
For many truck accident victims, a collision with a large commercial vehicle can be catastrophic. The disparity in size between the truck and passenger vehicle can result in severe, life-changing injuries such as traumatic brain injury or spinal cord damage. This often requires costly medical treatment that has a long-term effect on a victim’s quality of life and ability to work. It can also lead to substantial financial losses due to lost income or property damage. A skilled lawyer can investigate the incident and build a strong case for compensation to cover these costs.
Proving negligence is not easy, however, since each case is unique and has its own set of circumstances. For example, the truck driver may have violated traffic laws such as speeding or improper lane changing, and this can provide compelling evidence of their liability. In addition, trucking companies must abide by federal regulations on truck maintenance and truck drivers’ hours of service, which may also serve as evidence of negligence.
A lawyer who focuses on truck accidents has in-depth knowledge of these regulations, and can use them to your advantage by investigating the cause of the crash and holding responsible parties accountable for their actions. This can involve examining the crash scene, interviewing witnesses, reviewing truck logs and maintenance records, and hiring specialists to conduct inspections and analysis of the vehicle and its parts.
In addition to establishing fault, your attorney will work to document the physical, emotional and financial impacts of the accident. This includes gathering evidence such as police reports, witness contact information, photographs of the crash site and the damaged vehicles, a detailed list of your injuries and expenses, and documentation from any other sources of financial loss.
Your lawyer should also urge you to seek medical attention, even if your symptoms seem minor. Seeking care as soon as possible can reduce the risk of complications, including internal bleeding or damage to vital organs. It can also help your lawyer establish the full extent of your injuries in court, which will be necessary to prove your eligibility for damages.
Trial
When a truck accident case goes to trial, it can be more complex than a typical car accident claim. This is because trucks usually have multiple parties involved in their operations and accidents, including the truck driver, trucking company, and third-party product manufacturers. Identifying all responsible parties requires a detailed investigation and specialized knowledge of trucking laws and insurance systems. It also often involves expert testimony on issues like air brake adjustments, steering system malfunctions, braking systems, cargo load capacity, driver fatigue, and other factors that set trucking cases apart from standard car accident claims.
In some cases, a trucking company may be held responsible for its employee’s wrongful actions under the legal theory of respondeat superior. This is especially true when the defendant acts with recklessness, which means a conscious disregard for others’ safety. This type of behavior is rare, but it can be grounds for punitive damages if you’re able to establish it during your case.
As in all personal injury cases, it’s important to start your claims process as soon as possible. This ensures that you don’t miss any deadlines, which could jeopardize your ability to recover compensation. It also gives your lawyer the most time to properly investigate your case and gather evidence. If you wait, witness testimony and physical evidence can become stale or lost over time.
Once your attorney has a firm understanding of your injuries and how the accident happened, they will move forward with a claim against the trucking company. This will involve demonstrating that the trucker or their employer violated state and federal regulations. These laws address everything from truck drivers’ hours worked to logging and maintenance requirements, and they are vital to your success in a lawsuit.
A skilled truck accident attorney will be able to anticipate any defense tactics the defendant might use and develop strategies to avoid them. For example, the trucking company may try to rebut your claim by arguing that you were partially at fault for the crash. If this is successful, it will reduce the amount of your final settlement. Our experienced New York trucking lawyers will know how to read through any of these tricks and fight for the full amount you deserve.
