Truck accidents are an everyday part of life in the United States, and truckers make up a sizable chunk of road users. The number of semis and other trucks on our roads has grown exponentially over the years.
Subsequently, most highways and interstates are dominated by trucks carrying goods nationwide. The chance of a motorist (or pedestrian) experiencing a truck-based accident has never been higher. If you have been involved in a truck accident, you should always contact an experienced Fort Lauderdale truck accident attorney near you to discuss your rights.
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Fort Lauderdale truck accident Guide
- Truck Accidents Can Be Devastating
- The Truck Accident Claim Process
- Calculating Your Damages
- Gathering Evidence to Support Your Claim
- Having Your Truck Accident Lawyer File Insurance Claims
- Using A Truck Accident Lawyer
- Insurance Settlement Negotiations
- Hire an Experienced Truck Accident Attorney Right Away
Truck Accidents Can Be Devastating
In a recent year, there were over 4,500 large truck crash-related fatalities, with most of them occurring in daylight hours when motorists likely least expect it. Unsurprisingly, the majority of those injured were not truck drivers, but those in smaller vehicles. Many truck accident injuries are catastrophic, and fatal truck accident rates have become higher than they were in previous decades.
Because collisions can cause such devastation, you should understand what to do if you experience an accident.
Seek Medical Attention
Medical attention is essential after any accident when you suspect you have any injuries. There are many types of injuries that commonly arise from truck accidents, including the following:
- Head Injuries: These can include internal or external head injuries, concussion, brain tissue or blood vessel damage, persistent headaches or migraines, double-vision, dizziness, nausea, or facial disfigurement.
- Soft-Tissue Injuries: Whiplash is a common soft tissue injury that can have many symptoms, including pain, blurred vision, muscle pain, or restricted bodily motion. Soft tissue damages can also involve pinched nerves or sciatica, limagent, joint, or tendon pain, muscular problems, or spinal cord trauma.
- Mental Health Issues: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) might present after an accident as flashbacks, anxiety about the event, or nightmares caused by the episode. Victims can also suffer depression or raised hypertension, appetite and sleep loss, and other mental struggles.
Some of these injuries may not be apparent at first, but seeking medical help immediately can result in a diagnosis of your injuries. This diagnosis allows you to begin receiving treatment immediately and also creates medical records that can be evidence of your injuries. Not seeking medical attention may affect your claim, as you might have difficulty connecting your injuries to the truck accident.
You must always address all your medical needs after any accident, not least to have a timeline of events, a medical record, and other witnesses to your damages.
Consulting a Truck Accident Attorney
Once necessary treatment begins, the next step is to locate a truck accident lawyer. Truck accident claims are highly technical and complicated matters, often involving multiple parties and a web of bureaucracy, insurance providers, and difficult trucking companies. Finding the right truck accident lawyer will put you on the path to fair compensation and peace of mind.
The Truck Accident Claim Process
When someone's negligence leads to others' damages, the injured or affected party can seek compensation. Truck accident lawyers work within "tort law," a specific area of legal experience that provides relief to clients injured by negligent parties. After negligent parties cause a truck crash, you need an attorney with experience in this area of law.
While each truck accident claim is different, the following are some general steps your truck accident attorney will take.
Identifying Liable Parties
There can be several people involved in a truck accident, and liable parties might include more than just the truck driver. One difficult part of any truck accident is determining who is liable, as it might be one or more of any of the following:
The Truck Driver
If the driver was directly responsible for the accident, they shoulder the blame in a legal context. Certain actions that render the truck driver liable are:
- Speeding or driving too fast for conditions
- Driving while distracted by devices, other motorists, or other passengers
- Driving after consuming alcohol or banned substances
- Driving aggressively
- Ignoring traffic signs or signals
- Fatigued driving or falling asleep at the wheel
The Trucking Company
Sometimes, a trucking company can force drivers to work excessive hours, causing fatigue and slowing reaction times. Truck drivers must legally work limited hours for safety reasons, so if you can prove company misconduct, it should be liable for any damages. Other trucking company negligence includes failing to inspect and maintain the fleet of trucks.
Trucking companies do not even have to engage in negligence to share liability. They can be vicariously liable for the negligence of drivers. Your truck accident attorney will identify when a company shares liability, which allows you to access higher insurance policy limits.
The Truck Manufacturer
If a truck accident happened due to a malfunction of the semi-truck, a component might have been defective to begin with. In such cases, the manufacturer of the defective part can be the liable party.
The Government
On occasion, no driver is at fault because the road condition caused the accident. The government can be liable for these truck crashes, though the timelines can be shorter and procedures different than claims against private parties.
Government Contractors
In some cases, the government outsources infrastructure work to private construction companies. If construction companies make mistakes that cause a truck to crash, the company should be responsible for all losses, including the truck driver and any other motorists injured.
The truck driver may not always be the only liable party, and a truck accident lawyer will use their legal experience to establish fault of all appropriate parties. This is an important first step of the process.
Calculating Your Damages
Calculating damages is a complicated task. Insurance companies will usually arrive at a much lower number than you truly deserve under the law, as they might undervalue your non-economic damages or fail to address any potential future losses. This is why you need your truck accident lawyer to calculate your damages, so you know how much you should demand and negotiate for.
Your attorney will consider both economic and non-economic losses when calculating the value of your case. Economic damages cover aspects one can measure and verify financially, like medical bills, lost earnings, and property damage. Meanwhile, non-economic damages refer to the intangible consequences of an accident, such as pain and suffering or psychological harm, which is harder to measure.
A truck accident lawyer can pursue the following damages, as they apply in your case:
- Medical expenses
- The estimated cost of future treatment
- Vehicle or property damage
- Lost income
- Loss of earning capacity
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Permanent impairment or disfigurement
- Wrongful death
If you incurred any of these because of a truck accident, don't delay in finding a truck accident attorney. They can determine how much compensation you deserve and gather evidence to build a strong claim.
Gathering Evidence to Support Your Claim
The chaotic nature of a post-truck accident inquiry involves the police and other parties, such as the trucking company's investigators. However, a truck accident attorney can also gather evidence from a later independent truck crash investigation. Therefore, it is paramount that you contact a truck accident legal professional as soon as possible following the collision. They can get started before evidence starts to fade or disappear.
Trucking companies or even government investigators will not have your best interests in mind, so it's important to have someone on your side. While other parties might interview the trucker at fault, your lawyer will hear your account first.
Moreover, it is equally important not to speak to any other party before consulting a truck accident lawyer, as other interested parties or insurance companies may hold your words against you.
A truck accident lawyer will take steps to help build your case, including:
- Gathering any available physical evidence from the accident
- Speaking to witnesses or seeking expert testimony
- Making reconstructions of the crash event timeline
Other forms of evidence an experienced truck accident attorneys might use include the following:
- The police accident report
- Eyewitness statements
- 911 call recordings
- Cargo records, including the contents of the trailer and its weight
- The truck driver's hours-of-service logs
- The truck or driver employer's training and hiring policies
- Truck inspection and maintenance logs
- The truck driver's profile information, including driving records
- The truck driver's latest drug or alcohol test information
- Your medical records and receipts
- Video or photographic footage of the accident site
- Injury photos
- Proof of lost earnings or income
- Receipts for other damages related to the accident, such as travel or logistical costs
- Statements from those affected by the crash: i.e., the plaintiff and truck driver
- The truck black box or electronic data recorder
Your attorney can use this evidence to build a claim against a negligent truck driver, trucking company, or other parties.
Having Your Truck Accident Lawyer File Insurance Claims
Auto insurance companies have the same goal in common as any other business — to protect their bottom line. Regardless of how much you deserve in a claim, this will always be the case — insurance companies will offer less than you deserve for your claim.
Some companies may even try to intimidate claimants, using tactics such as calling you to seek recorded statements or delaying the claim processing to increase financial stress.
Often, they rely on distressed truck accident victims who may be suffering physically not to fight their antics, taking a lowball offer instead of what's owed them. They know that injury victims have piling bills, lost income, and other immediate financial concerns, so there is a chance that unrepresented claimants might accept an offer faster, even though it is lower than they deserve.
Having the right truck accident attorney ensures you never accept an inadequate amount for your claim.
Using A Truck Accident Lawyer
Facing an insurance company after a harrowing truck accident is the last thing any victim needs. By hiring a truck accident, you can avoid contact with the insurance companies, meaning there is no pressure to accept anything less than the best offer. Moreover, it leaves the victim free to recover their health and manage their injuries.
Truck accident lawyers will help with the following tasks:
- Gather evidence to present in your case.
- Negotiate a better settlement from the insurer.
- Create a barrier between the victim and the insurance company.
- Talk to the victim's own insurance companies on their behalf when necessary.
Hiring the right truck accident attorney will ensure a smoother recovery with less conflict. It simply makes sense to have a truck accident lawyer on your side.
Insurance Settlement Negotiations
A truck accident insurance claim should be fair and cover a victim’s losses. However, the complicated nature of post-accident investigations and subsequent claim negotiations means you must clearly understand your rights and have a professional handling the process.
Dealing With the Insurance Experts
With such a large group of parties looking to protect their interests, you need an experienced truck accident lawyer to negotiate this web of characters. They will likely face the trucking industry experts that insurance providers use, who are trying to limit liability.
Leave the Negotiating to a Truck Accident Attorney
Trying to negotiate alone or not negotiating at all will lead to lower compensation that may not even cover your costs. In no unclear terms, you need a truck accident lawyer on your team if you want the best insurance settlement.
Drivers or pedestrians who fall victim to negligent truck driving regularly receive bad settlements. A truck accident attorney will help protect your legal rights and not fall into this trap.
Hire an Experienced Truck Accident Attorney Right Away
While we never imagine we might fall victim to negligent truck driving, if it happens, you must know what to do. In the days following an accident, victims may struggle to think clearly, endangering their chances of a good settlement.
Therefore, finding a truck accident lawyer in your area will ensure you don't also become a victim of a low insurance settlement. Knowing where you stand in the event of a truck accident will help you immeasurably. Don't delay, hire a Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyer right away. Consultations are free.