After a truck accident, you may pursue fair compensation from the at-fault party. However, insurance companies make this much easier said than done. Trucking companies and their insurers make accident cases challenging to navigate, especially as you try to handle life post-collision. This is where a skilled Tampa truck accident lawyer comes in.
A truck accident attorney can efficiently handle your compensation claim, allowing you to focus on what matters most, including your physical recovery. Still, you will want to understand a lawyer’s role in your claim and what you can expect when you hire one.
Trucks Accidents – An Overview
Truck accidents are some of the most severe types of vehicular collisions. Victims are often left facing substantial injuries and life-altering consequences, along with severe financial burdens. While you might not witness truck crashes very often, these devastating crashes happen more often than you likely think.
Further, the resulting legal cases can be more complicated than you likely imagine. If you have a truck accident claim, expect to face obstacles every step of the way. The cause of the crash and your injuries are central to your case, but insurance companies can fight both of these aspects. You need a truck accident lawyer as a dedicated advocate from the very beginning.
Common Causes of Trucking Collisions
Large truck accidents can happen for many reasons. Sometimes, a single collision results from multiple causes. Understanding the cause of your trucking crash is crucial, as it can assist in determining liability.
A few of the most common causes of truck accidents include:
- Aggressive driving
- Tailgating
- Violation of road laws
- Distracted driving
- Failure to yield
- Improperly loaded cargo
- Defects and malfunctions
- Hazardous road conditions
Additionally, truck drivers face certain issues on the road, which regularly contribute to accidents.
First and foremost, the trucking industry often works on strict timelines. Consequently, truck drivers face time restrictions imposed by their employers. This frequently causes truckers to speed to get to their destinations quicker. Speeding is particularly dangerous, and accidents caused by speeding can result in extensive injuries and damage.
Truck drivers work long hours, so they are often fatigued. Drowsiness has similar effects on the body as alcohol, which impairs a person’s ability to drive. Tired drivers cause many truck accidents.
Because trucking can be so lonely, trucks commonly suffer from alcohol and substance abuse issues. It is much more difficult for a driver to operate their truck safely while impaired, which is why drunk driving accidents are so common.
The cause of your trucking collision can heavily impact your claim. You can rely on your truck accident lawyer to do whatever is necessary to determine why your accident happened.
Injuries Resulting from Truck Accidents
Truck accident injuries are among some of the worst. A commercial vehicle’s immense size and weight can cause severe injuries to collision victims.
Some of the catastrophic injuries common to trucking accidents include:
- Spinal cord injuries
- Head and brain injuries
- Burns
- Broken bones
- Internal injuries
Due to the seriousness of these injuries, many accident victims are unable to heal fully and must deal with certain consequences. Truck crash injuries can result in amputations, brain damage, and paralysis, among many other things.
Accident victims usually need financial assistance following a collision, especially when injuries are extensive and medical bills are costly. Compensation can alleviate many financial stressors victims and their families regularly face.
Challenges of Truck Accident Cases
Accident victims often believe truck crash cases are similar to other vehicular accident cases, but that’s not typically true. In most situations,truck collision cases are much more complicated. These claims can be much more involved, and encountering obstacles is commonplace.
Significant Insurance Policies Cover Large Trucks
If you drive a car, you may know your state’s insurance requirements. While every state has varying specifications concerning auto insurance, minimums are usually in the five figures. The same cannot be said for large trucks.
Commercial vehicles have a greater capacity to cause substantial harm and property damage. For this reason, insurance policies are much greater. Depending on the size and weight of a truck and the type of cargo, insurance policies can range from the low six figures to even seven figures.
Greater insurance can be a good and bad thing for trucking accident victims. While higher insurance coverage means more available money, insurance companies work hard to limit their liability for a collision and even avoid paying you altogether.
Therefore, you can expect insurance companies to put up more of a fight and make it much harder to acquire the compensation you need following your crash.
The Trucking Industry is Heavily Regulated
Those involved in the trucking industry, including truck drivers and companies, must follow strict state and federal regulations. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) sets forth many regulations, including those concerning hours of service.
These laws aim to keep workers and other drivers safe on the roads. When any participant in the trucking industry violates a regulation, it can have a considerable effect on your claim.
As a result, you need a truck accident lawyer to handle your case, as they have a deep understanding of these regulations and their impact on trucking collisions.
Liability Can Be Complicated
Liability for truck accidents is often one of the most convoluted parts of a compensation claim. Several parties can be at fault for one accident, and various parties can share liability, adding a layer of difficulty to your case.
Parties that are regularly held accountable for commercial truck accidents include:
- Truck drivers
- Trucking companies
- Truck maintenance workers
- Cargo loaders
- Truck manufacturers and distributors
- Governmental entities
Having an experienced truck accident attorney investigate your accident is vital to determine who is at fault. You can generally pursue compensation from any party that played a part in causing your collision.
What is a Truck Accident Lawyer?
A truck accident lawyer is a legal advocate who is highly experienced at handling truck collision cases. Truck accident cases fall under the area of personal injury law. By filing a personal injury case, you can seek financial recovery for the injuries, losses, and expenses stemming from your accident.
Truck accident attorneys are very knowledgeable on all things trucking. They have a special understanding of trucking collisions and compensation claims. Therefore, a truck accident lawyer is your best ally during your legal fight for justice and monetary recovery.
The Importance of Having a Truck Accident Attorney
After a commercial truck accident, you may receive advice from your closest friends and family. These important individuals may urge you to schedule a meeting with a local attorney immediately to discuss your collision. Still, you may wonder why you need a truck accident lawyer and how an attorney can benefit your situation.
Understanding the importance of hiring a truck accident lawyer might help motivate you to take the first step.
A Lawyer Helps You Understand Your Legal Rights and Options
Following a truck accident, you may not realize you have any rights or options, but you do. A truck accident attorney can review the details of your collision and explain your rights as a crash victim. Then, based on the circumstances, they can explain your options and how best to proceed with a collision claim.
An Attorney Handles All Case-Related Tasks
Throughout your truck accident claim, there will be plenty of tasks to complete. These tasks must be completed properly and timely to strengthen your claim and get closer to achieving fair financial recovery.
A truck accident lawyer can handle all case-related tasks, including the following, so you don’t have to.
Investigating Your Accident
Your lawyer may answer your many questions after your collision. Your truck accident attorney can investigate your crash to obtain any necessary information they can utilize for your claim.
Proving Cause and Fault
Cause and fault are two of the most crucial parts of a truck accident case. With the information your lawyer acquires during their investigation, they can show how your collision happened and take the appropriate steps to establish fault.
Often, negligence causes commercial truck crashes. Therefore, your attorney must satisfy the elements of negligence, including duty, breach, causation, and damages, to hold the responsible parties accountable.
Calculating Your Damages
You must know how much your case is worth to get the compensation you need. Your damages serve to compensate you for your injuries and other expenses.
Damages can represent your monetary and non-monetary losses, including:
- Present and future medical expenses
- Therapy and rehabilitation
- Property damage
- Lost income
- Diminished earning capacity
- Emotional distress
- Pain and suffering
- Disability
- Loss of enjoyment of life
Your damages are based on several factors, including, but not limited to:
- The severity of your injuries
- The total cost of your medical care
- Whether you’ll require further medical treatment in the future
- How your injuries have impacted your life
- Whether you’ve had to take time off from work
- Your total lost earnings
- How your accident has affected your mentally and emotionally
- Whether you’ll make a full recovery
A skilled truck accident lawyer can accurately calculate your damages and assign a monetary value to your claim. It helps ensure you receive fair compensation after your accident.
Engaging in Settlement Negotiations With the Insurance Company
At some point, your lawyer will try to settle your claim. Truck accident lawyers are highly skilled at settlement negotiations. They can communicate back and forth with the opposing party to work out an agreement that’s fair to everyone, especially you.
Representing You in the Courtroom
Most personal injury cases are settled outside of court. However, a small percentage of cases go to trial. If your attorney believes taking your case to court is the wisest move, your lawyer will continue representing your best interests until the end.
A Lawyer Protects You from the Insurance Company
Insurance companies strategize to pay out as little as possible. Throughout your case, they may try to use these sneaky tactics to sabotage your case. When you have a truck accident attorney handling your claim, you don’t have to worry about this happening.
Lawyers particularly understand how insurers operate and will do everything possible to protect you and your case.
An Attorney Can Give You the Best Chance of Obtaining Favorable Financial Recovery
You are free to handle your truck accident claim entirely on your own, but you don’t have to, and you shouldn’t. Truck accident attorneys have the knowledge and resources to handle your claim in a way that puts you in the best position to get the financial recovery you’re owed.
A lawyer yields much better results than working your claim alone.
A Lawyer Gives You Peace of Mind
The days, weeks, and months after a trucking collision are typically stressful and tumultuous. A truck accident lawyer can provide calm in the storm. Your attorney can provide the care, kindness, and peace you need during a trying time.
When is the Best Time to Hire a Truck Accident Lawyer?
After suffering injuries in a truck accident, time is limited to take action. Depending on your state’s personal injury statute of limitations, you may have roughly one to six years to file a lawsuit. Consequently, the sooner you hire a truck accident attorney, the better.
While you may have some years to file your claim in court, many pre-lawsuit steps are involved with truck accident cases. Hiring a lawyer early on gives them enough time to efficiently handle your case and file your claim before the running of the statute.
Following a Trucking Collision, Do Not Wait to Consult with an Experienced Attorney
When you suffer an injury in a truck accident, you deserve just compensation. An attorney can greatly benefit your situation by effectively navigating your case to achieve the best possible result. Schedule an initial consultation with a personal injury lawyer to begin working on your case as soon as possible.
Chris Castillo
Chris Castillo is an experienced Plaintiff’s attorney who has recovered millions of dollars in compensation on behalf of his clients from insurance companies.
He previously served with the Office of the State Attorney for the 13th Judicial Circuit here in Tampa for the better part of a decade where he handled cases a serious as murder and vehicular homicides.