You were just in a crash with a big truck. After the impact, you are grateful to be alive. Someone called an ambulance, and you went to the hospital for treatment. Undoubtedly, you feel frightened, you are probably in a lot of pain, and you are most likely very confused about what comes next.

How can a truck accident lawyer help me? After getting into an accident with a truck driver, contact a truck accident lawyer in your area. Knowing what to do after a truck accident is tough, but a Cape Girardeau truck accident lawyer can help you get the results you want from a truck accident claim.

What Is a Commercial Truck Accident?

A commercial truck accident is a traffic collision between a commercial vehicle and another motor vehicle. A commercial vehicle is a motor vehicle used to transport passengers or goods.

Examples of commercial vehicles include:

• Cargo trucks
• 18-wheelers, tractor-trailers, and semi-trucks
• Box trucks
• School and city buses
• Garbage trucks
• Delivery vans
• 15-passenger vans
• Taxis and personal vehicles used for rideshares

Why Do Truck Accidents Happen?

Driver negligence is the main cause of truck accidents. When a truck driver is negligent and causes an accident, the results can be devastating. The sheer size of commercial trucks can cause deadly results. Examples of driver negligence include the following:

Speeding

Speeding can cause an accident that leads to severe injuries or death. Disobeying the speed limit is negligent. If a commercial driver is speeding through traffic and causes injury, the driver and the trucking company may each be at fault and liable for paying the victim’s damages.

Fatigued Driving

Fatigued driving happens when a driver uses their vehicle without getting adequate rest. Commercial trucking companies cannot have drivers and others on the highways at risk by requiring them to work long hours without time to rest.

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, commercial vehicle drivers that carry goods cannot drive for more than 11 consecutive hours, and drivers who transport passengers cannot drive their vehicles for more than ten consecutive hours without a break.

All drivers must take a lunch break of at least 30 minutes every eight hours they work. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration prohibits drivers from driving more than 60 hours per week.

Impaired Driving

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, impaired driving is the number one cause of fatal traffic crashes across the United States. Under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or even prescription drugs, a driver’s reaction time slows. Impaired drivers put everyone on the road at risk. When a commercial vehicle collides with a non-commercial vehicle, the passengers in the non-commercial vehicle are at a much greater risk of permanent injury.

Disobeying Traffic Rules

Every driver must follow traffic laws, and if they disobey them, they are negligent. It is important that every driver follows the rules of the road. Traffic rules are in place to keep everyone safe. A truck driver that fails to follow traffic rules puts others in greater danger than drivers of normal-sized vehicles. A truck driver that disobeys traffic laws may be legally responsible for paying the damages if they cause a traffic accident because of their negligence.

Who is Responsible for Paying for Damages in a Traffic Accident?

There are likely multiple responsible parties if you get into an accident with a truck driver. If a party caused the accident, they are responsible for paying your damages. If the other driver is a commercial truck driver employed by a trucking company, the company may also be responsible for paying for your injuries.

If there are defective parts on the truck that caused it to malfunction, you may even have a claim against the manufacturer. An accident attorney knows how to find every potentially responsible party and hold them accountable for your injuries.

How Can a Truck Accident Lawyer Help Me?

After an accident with a commercial driver, an experienced truck accident lawyer is your best resource to try to recover from your harm. A truck accident lawyer acts as your advocate to ensure that you get the money that you deserve after being in an accident. Truck accidents do the following to protect their client’s legal rights:

Answer Your Questions as the Case Progresses

Take the time to research a truck accident attorney before you choose them to represent your interests. The attorney you pick should be knowledgeable about the civil litigation process and particularly about truck accident cases. You should be confident that if you have a question about any stage of the process, your truck accident attorney will have the answers or can find the answers for you.

Negotiate With the Insurance Company

If you hire a truck accident lawyer to represent you after an accident, you have an advocate in the room when you go to the table to negotiate a settlement with the insurance company. A truck accident attorney with experience settling cases knows the typical strategies of insurance adjusters and how to avoid them. The best way to put yourself in a good position for success is to hire a truck accident attorney.

Sending a demand letter is a part of settlement negotiations. A demand letter (or demand packet) is a document or set of documents that your attorney’s office will prepare and send over to the insurance company to attempt and settle your case. Included in a demand letter are medical records, medical bills, proof of lost income, pictures of injuries, pictures of property damage, witness statements, and other evidence that helps prove your allegations. A demand letter will also include your desired settlement amount.

Help You File a Lawsuit

It can be tricky filing a lawsuit, especially if you have little experience with the legal system. Insurance companies and defense teams rely on inexperienced accident victims to remain unrepresented so they can pressure them into quick and inadequate settlement offers. In addition to helping file a lawsuit, the attorney you choose will know the applicable rules of civil litigation. Your attorney’s knowledge will help protect your case from getting dismissed on technical grounds.

Investigate the Accident

A truck accident attorney and their team will investigate the accident as a part of their representation. This is in addition to the investigation completed by the police at the scene and the insurance company. Most attorneys want to get as close to a firsthand idea about what happened to you as they can. An attorney’s investigation can include visiting the scene, reviewing your medical records, speaking to witnesses, and other fact-finding measures to help build your case.

Talk to Third Parties

A truck accident attorney will speak to third parties on your behalf. After a traffic accident, you may receive correspondence from debt collectors and hospital billing departments about your claim. These phone calls and letters can sometimes feel like harassment. By intercepting this kind of contact, an attorney is helping you have the chance to recover in peace without the stress of paying bills immediately after a major accident.

Find All Potentially Responsible Parties

Truck accidents are unique because they can involve multiple responsible parties. First, the driver is responsible for your harm if they drove negligently. The driver’s employer may also be responsible for your injuries and paying your damages if the driver was on duty when the accident happened. Liability may also extend to the manufacturer that makes the truck parts that make up the truck. A truck accident attorney can help you find each person or business responsible for your injuries.

Help Get You Access to Medical Care

Getting medical care is important after an accident with a commercial truck. It can save your life. If your injuries are severe, you may need long-term treatment. Some accident victims who require long-term treatment or rehabilitative care face barriers to receiving medical assistance.

This happens because some doctors, even primary care physicians, do not want to get involved in a personal injury case. The doctors want to avoid becoming witnesses for either side of the case. Therefore, some doctors decline to care for people that get hurt in traffic accidents. Since this is a common problem, accident attorneys often have connections with doctors willing to treat and care for people who have been in an accident with a commercial truck and who are willing to back up the nature of your injuries.

Hire Expert Witnesses

If you file a claim with an insurance company or a lawsuit, you must prove the allegations that you make. Every accident victim must prove damages and causation to recover for injuries after an accident. Connecting the cause of the accident and your injuries and describing the severity of your harm sometimes requires an expert medical witness. Accident attorneys often work with expert witnesses and can provide access to this valuable resource.

File Motions in Court

A lot of the work in a civil case takes place before trial. Pre-trial work includes filing motions in court. Sometimes a judge’s ruling is the only thing that can resolve disputes between the parties. If an attorney files a motion, the other party must respond regardless of whether an attorney represents them or not. Having an attorney working for you allows you to rely on their knowledge of the legal system and their skills in making legal arguments instead of trying to figure it out on your own.

Prepare You for Trial

If both parties cannot settle the case, it will proceed to trial. Trials can be intimidating. The thought of going in front of a judge or jury and telling a painful story is scary. And the thought of losing your case can be overwhelming. The best way to ease the anxiety of going to trial is to get prepared. A truck accident attorney will take steps to ensure that they prepare you for trial.

Examples of what goes into trial prep include:

• Reviewing witness statements
• Completing discovery and depositions
• Mock direct and cross-examination
• Preparing exhibits

Help You Understand What Your Case is Worth

It is hard to get a good idea of how much money to expect after a truck accident and if it is reasonable to expect payment. A truck accident attorney has likely seen cases like yours and can help you gauge the likelihood of a successful outcome. An attorney can help you manage your expectations and help you recognize a reasonable settlement offer.

An insurance company wants to keep its costs low, so it will avoid paying out claims as much as possible. When the insurance company cannot avoid a payout, they will likely offer an unreasonably low settlement to resolve the case quickly. If you do not have experience with accident cases, settling the case as soon as possible and moving on with your life may be tempting. However, you might be settling for less than your claim is worth.

Help You Prepare an Appeal

If you lose your case and appealing the decision is possible, an attorney can help you navigate the appeal process. Your Cape Girardeau personal injury lawyer may represent you during the appeal or may refer you to another firm if they do not handle a lot of appeal cases. The trial level and the appellate level are very different and have different sets of rules. An attorney is a valuable resource to have during and post-trial.

 

Schedule A Free Consultation