Recovering For Injuries In Truck Accidents
Each year, over 5,000 people are killed in accidents with trucks and
over 100,000 are severely injured. Large trucks can weigh over ten
times as much as a passenger vehicle, so accidents between cars and
trucks are far more serious to the car’s driver than the truck’s
driver. According to published reports, over 90% of people killed in
car-truck accidents are the occupants of the car.
Because of the nature of truck accidents, including the heavy loads,
long driving hours and drivers under pressure to deliver goods
quickly, car-truck accidents usually have more complicated issues
than accidents involving just cars. Here is information about truck
accident claims.
Liability for Injuries
As with most accident claims,
negligence must usually be shown. This means a party failed to use
reasonable care, which caused a person’s injuries. Victims usually
try to show a truck driver’s negligence by such factors as the truck
driver’s speeding or careless driving, poor maintenance of the
truck, too much cargo, or driver fatigue.
Responsible Parties
The driver of a car who is hurt in an accident
with a truck typically makes a claim against the truck driver and
his or her employer. Under the law, employers are liable for the
acts of employees occurring on the job. This provides another source
of recovery for the accident victim if the truck driver does not
have enough money or insurance to pay a claim.
If the truck driver is not a company employee but rather an
independent contractor, then other issues come into play to
determine if the trucking company is liable, including how much
control the company has over the truck driver. It’s hard for most
non-lawyers to determine which parties are legally liable in truck
accident cases, so an attorney’s help is vital.
Here are some recent real-life cases involving truck accidents:
• A woman driving her car up a mountain road was killed when a truck
coming down lost control and hit her. The woman’s husband made a
claim against the driver of the truck and the company that hired
him. The man alleged the truck driver’s speeding caused the
accident. The parties settled, with the man receiving a large amount
of compensation from insurance companies for both the truck driver
and his employer.
• Another woman was killed on a highway when a truck crossed the
center line and hit her. A claim was made against the truck’s driver
and his employer, which was accused of not having done a proper
background check on the truck driver, who had a poor driving record.
A jury awarded the woman’s family a large amount of damages.
Damages You Can Recover
If you are hurt in an accident with a
truck, you can likely be compensated for many types of damages, including lost
wages, medical bills, pain and suffering and damage to your car. You
may be entitled to compensation even if you are partly at fault for
the accident.
Families who lose a loved one in an accident involving a truck can
make a “wrongful death” claim.
Truck accidents are potentially very costly to employers and
trucking companies, so after an accident, businesses act fast to limit
their liability. Company representatives and investigators may try
to interview victims, and will likely try to shift blame away from
the truck driver. This may include trying to get the driver of the
car to admit he or she caused the accident, destroying evidence or
other steps. Because of this, it is vital to contact a lawyer
promptly if you or a loved one has an accident with a truck. You
need a lawyer’s help to protect your legal rights. Also, except for
answering police questions or providing the other driver with
information required by law, do not give a statement or sign
anything without first consulting your lawyer.
Truck accidents can devastate the injury victim and his or her
family. The injuries and economic and other losses will likely be
much greater than from an accident with a passenger vehicle. Because
of this — and because of the often complicated issues in truck
accidents — it is critical to have legal help immediately if you or
a loved one has an accident with a truck.
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