Why You Need a Truck Accident Lawyer?

Truck accidents can bring about severe injuries that require ongoing medical treatment for many weeks and months to come. Accident victims may also experience permanent symptoms.

Following a truck accident, you may be eligible to recover monetary compensation from your insurance company or the at-fault driver’s insurance company, depending on your jurisdiction and accident circumstances.

However, insurance companies and their adjusters are never on your side. In fact, adjusters will do everything they possibly can to undermine your personal injury claim and offer you as little monetary compensation as possible to settle. Insurance companies are big businesses, and the more money they have to pay out to settle your truck accident claim, the less money they can keep for themselves.

By having an experienced truck accident lawyer on your side, you significantly increase your chances of recovering the monetary compensation you deserve. A truck accident attorney can negotiate with insurance company representatives and pursue the highest amount of financial compensation available.

Moreover, in a third-party claim, your attorney can threaten the insurance company with litigation and actually, file a lawsuit if the adjuster will not make you a reasonable settlement offer. Throughout the process, your lawyer can answer all of your legal questions and help you make both informed and intelligent decisions throughout your case.

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How Truck Accidents Usually Happen?

Truck accidents frequently occur when truck drivers are careless. In some instances, truck drivers willfully violate traffic laws or motor carrier regulations. For example, a truck driver might speed excessively, fail to use their turn signal at the appropriate time, fail to yield the right-of-way to another vehicle, or violate a state or federal motor carrier regulation.

Standard motor carrier regulations include failing to load and unload truck cargo properly or violating weight limits. When truck drivers violate traffic laws and motor carrier regulations, they significantly increase their chances of causing a dangerous truck accident.

Truck accidents also frequently happen when people drive in a distracted manner. A distracted truck driver is one who fails to observe the road and look out for their surroundings. Instead of watching the road, a truck driver might be looking at a cellular device, tablet, or GPS navigation system. Alternatively, they might be adjusting the volume on their stereo, listening to loud music, or speaking with other individuals in the cab of their truck.

However, many of these activities may distract truck drivers, causing them to divert their attention away from the road and preventing them from seeing an approaching vehicle or pedestrian.

Truck accidents may also occur when drivers are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. An intoxicated truck driver cannot focus their full attention on the road. They may also experience delayed reaction time and reflexes, preventing them from stopping their vehicle in time to avoid a severe crash. Intoxicated truck drivers might also experience physical symptoms, including blurred vision, dizziness, and nausea, preventing them from seeing other vehicles or pedestrians nearby.

While most passenger vehicle drivers are legally intoxicated if their blood alcohol concentration, or BAC, meets or exceeds 0.08 percent, commercial truck drivers – including tractor-trailer operators – must follow stricter legal standards.

In addition to alcohol, some truck drivers fall under the influence of stimulant drugs. Drivers may take these drugs to try and keep themselves awake for long hours on a road trip. However, these mind-altering drugs can sometimes have the opposite effect and make a driver tired while they are on the road.

Another common cause of truck accidents is fatigued driving. Many truck drivers try to drive for hours on end without stopping or taking breaks. This is because trucking companies frequently offer their drivers huge financial incentives if they deliver their cargo to its final destination ahead of schedule. However, when drivers fail to take regular breaks and get the necessary sleep, they may exhibit mannerisms similar to intoxicated drivers.

For example, they may lose concentration and may be unable to focus their attention on the road. Moreover, if a truck driver falls asleep at the wheel, they may lose control of their vehicle, causing a series of subsequent collisions with other nearby cars.

Although negligent truck drivers are the most common cause of truck accidents, these accidents may also occur when trucking companies behave negligently. Trucking companies have a duty to only hire and retain the most capable truck drivers who have safe driving records.

When a trucking company employs or retains a problem driver, and that driver causes an accident, you can hold the employer trucking company fully or partially responsible. Similarly, you can hold a trucking company responsible for failing to ensure that their employee drivers satisfy the necessary continuing education requirements for commercial truck drivers.

If you sustained injuries in a truck accident that resulted from someone else’s negligence, you should seek out the legal help that you need right away. Your attorney can help you submit a claim with the appropriate insurance company and pursue the full monetary recovery you deserve for your injuries. Your lawyer can also help you negotiate with insurance company representatives and work to maximize your overall monetary award.

Injuries that Truck Accident Victims Often Suffer

Victims of severe truck accidents often suffer severe injuries due to ongoing medical treatment, physical therapy, and other complications. The injuries that a truck accident victim ultimately suffers will depend upon the force of the collision, the circumstances surrounding the accident, and the accident victim’s bodily movements in their vehicle during the crash.

Some of the most common injuries that truck accident victims sustain include:

• Internal organ injuries
• Open lacerations
• Bruises
• Traumatic head and brain injuries
• Soft tissue contusions
• Rib fractures
• Bone fractures
• Full or partial paralysis injuries
• Spinal cord injuries
• Death

Sometimes, a truck accident victim’s injuries are so severe that they cause the accident victim to suffer medical complications for the rest of their life. These types of injuries are called permanent injuries.

Medical providers can establish, to a reasonable degree of medical probability, the permanence of an accident victim’s injuries. A medical provider can also connect your injuries to the subject truck accident.

After a truck accident, you should follow through on all recommended treatment options. For example, you may need to follow up with your primary care doctor, attend physical therapy sessions, or consult with an orthopedic doctor or another specialist.

Successfully completing your medical treatment regimen serves two purposes.

• First, it ensures that you fully recover from your accident-related injuries.
• Second, it shows insurance company representatives that your injuries are serious, that they directly relate to the accident, and that they deserve appropriate monetary compensation.

While you focus on getting the medical treatment you need, a truck accident lawyer can begin advocating for you by gathering your medical records and bills to date, obtaining copies of the police report and witness statements, and assembling a settlement demand package on your behalf. After your medical treatment concludes or you know your prognosis, your lawyer can submit these documents to the insurance company for evaluation and review.

How a Truck Accident Attorney Can Help You?

One of the most important steps in your truck accident case is to retain an experienced attorney to represent you at every stage of the legal proceedings. First, your lawyer can meet with you to discuss how your accident happened. They can then file a claim with the appropriate insurance company.

If your truck accident occurred in a no-fault jurisdiction like Florida, you must first assert a claim under your own Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance policy. That policy provides monetary compensation up to a maximum of $10,000 and compensates accident victims for their accident-related medical expenses and lost income.

However, if you suffered a permanent injury or disability in your truck accident, you may file a third-party claim directly with the at-fault truck driver or trucking company’s insurer for additional compensation, including monetary damages that cover your mental anguish, pain and suffering, inconvenience, loss of use of a body part, and loss of life enjoyment.

If your truck accident occurred in a fault-based jurisdiction like Washington State, you can involve the at-fault party’s insurance company from the onset of your case.

In addition to filing a prompt claim on your behalf, your attorney can help you negotiate the settlement compensation you deserve.

Your lawyer can help you accomplish this goal by:

• Submitting the necessary documents, including medical records and bills
• Highlighting the strengths of your case
• Downplaying any weaknesses in your case
• Threatening the insurance company with litigation if they fail to offer you fair monetary compensation

If you can file a third-party claim with the at-fault party’s insurer, your lawyer can help you litigate your case through the court system and represent you at all legal proceedings, including your civil jury trial or binding arbitration hearing.

Potential Damages in a Third-party Truck Accident Claim

In a third-party personal injury claim arising from a truck accident, accident victims may be eligible to recover various damages, depending upon the seriousness of the accident, the severity of their injuries, the extent of their medical treatment, and the cost of their treatment.

Potential damages may include monetary compensation for:

• Related medical costs
• Lost earnings
• Loss of earning capacity
• Loss of spousal consortium
• Loss of the ability to use a body part (such as from paralysis)
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Inconvenience
• Pain and Suffering

Call a Truck Accident Attorney Right Away

If you recently suffered injuries in a truck crash, speak with legal counsel right away about your options. Your personal injury attorney in Tampa can file your claim promptly and work towards an efficient resolution.

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Boohoff Law P.A. – Tampa Office

829 W Dr Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Tampa, FL 33603

Phone: 813-725-5606