Understanding the Severity of Truck Accidents – A Brief Guide

Truck accidents can lead to catastrophic injuries. If the truck is a commercial vehicle, and in most cases, trucks are commercial vehicles, the business that owns the truck might have enough insurance to pay a six-, seven-, or even eight-figure settlement. The settlement amount depends on the severity of the damage or injuries. 

Since every case is different, there is no solid way to predict how much a particular trucking case can settle for. Nonetheless, in every truck accident case, the plaintiff’s truck accident or personal injury attorney will be fighting for the potential damages. 

Compensation for Past and Upcoming Medical Bills

It is important to mention here that since the law might be different in every state, you must hire a lawyer from your respective state. For instance, if you have gotten into an accident in Huntsville, you might want to hire the Huntsville Truck Accident Lawyers and have the lawyer assess your damages before they send a settlement opportunity letter to the defendant’s insurance company. 

Nonetheless, when it comes to assessing the damages, your health is a top priority, which is why the lawyer will seek damages for your injuries. This aspect can include everything from hospital bills, rehabs, medications, medical equipment, home health, physical health care, and mental health care. 

Compensation for Lost Wages

When you get into an accident and sustain injuries, you are also unable to get to work, which is why the lawyer will seek compensation for lost wages. This will occur because you will be unable to work due to your injuries. This aspect doesn’t only include salary but also bonuses, tips, and other employment benefits. 

Compensation for Property Damage and Cost of Repair

Understandably, trucking accidents cause serious damage, and these often result in the victim’s vehicle being completely destroyed or totaled. Now, such damages often include the cost of an entirely new car. 

Compensation for Pain and Suffering

The cost of pain and suffering is typically the highest cost that the defendant must pay, especially when it comes to a trucking accident. The total amount of compensation for pain and suffering typically includes the before-mentioned costs by a mutually agreed upon number. Nonetheless, depending on the details of the case, personal injury attorneys can also negotiate to collect damages for the loss of a spouse and wrongful death. 

What to Know About Trucking Businesses?

There are several important things to know about trucking businesses. For instance, trucking business owners will work from the time right after the accident to control the case as well as control the driver’s liability. 

Who is Responsible for A Truck Accident?

If you get in an accident with a truck, you should know that there are two main groups who are held responsible for the accident. We are talking about the driver who is driving the truck, and the other responsible group is the employer of the business that the driver is working for. On that note, some drivers are independent contractors. In other words, they work for themselves, but they lease their truck to a company or business. 

How is the Law Different for Truck Drivers?

A trucker has to follow a specific set of rules that are different from the rules that car drivers have to follow. The federal government typically regulates the driving of trucks, including large and heavy trucks. So, there are certain sets of rules that drivers have to follow. One of the rules is related to truck drivers who are drunk and driving. 

In most states, the lawful limit of blood alcohol is .08% of blood alcohol. However, for a truck driver, it is even half of that. What this means is that if the truck driver, the night before they drove, drank a bunch of beer and got drunk the night before. They went to bed around midnight but got up early at six o’clock to start driving their truck; in this case, they were still a bit drunk. 

A truck driver cannot be drunk while driving an eighteen-wheeler; if they do so, they are actually performing a criminal act as they are endangering everyone else on the roads. 

Trucking Accidents Can Be Caused by Employers Pushing their Drivers 

It is important to mention here that drivers only get paid if they are packing up miles and if they are moving their cargo from one spot to another. Truckers don’t get paid to park their trucks on the side of the road. So, they are encouraged to work as hard and as long as possible. They are supposed to work within the limits that are set by the law regarding the hours they work. But those limits are pushed as drivers even drive in conditions when they shouldn’t be driving at all. Since drivers keep pushing themselves and they are also encouraged to do so by their employers, trucking accidents occur.

What is the Typical Stance of the Trucking Businesses?

As soon as a truck accident happens, the drivers are instructed about what to do in case of an accident, so the truckers follow the instructions that are given to them by the trucking business or company they work for. On that note, usually, the first thing on the list is to call the police. Another thing is to assess injuries and to ensure everyone’s safety and wellbeing. However, sometimes, the second thing can also be to call the company if it doesn’t make it to the third place.

The reason why the trucker is instructed to call the company is so that they can get the company’s investigator to come out there and start to coach witnesses about what to say, especially their truck driver. The investigator will also take pictures and download data that they can get from the truck.

Essentially, the investigator will do anything possible to impact the accident scene and is already taking control of the case to steer things in their favor.

The Importance of Calling A Truck Accident Lawyer 

Certainly, the company is interested in what is happening with their truck driver, which is why they control the driver after an accident. This aspect perfectly illustrates the importance of hiring a lawyer in an eighteen-wheeler case. Why, you might ask? The answer is as simple as evidence can disappear, and you want to preserve evidence, which is why you need your lawyer’s team working for you right after you get into an accident.