Injured In A Truck Accident? Wondering If You Need A Lawyer?

If you care about full compensation, you will want to at least talk to a truck accident lawyer about your case. It’s hard to know what you don’t know, and by talking to a lawyer experienced with truck wrecks about your specific facts, you can get a better idea of what might become important during negotiations.

Higher Stakes

The stakes are often higher in these cases. When the at fault trucking company thinks your case is going to “cost them” more, they are simply more likely to put more money and effort into defending the case. As the amount at issue goes up, the at-fault parties are more likely to fight over facts that seem obvious to you, and they are much more likely to claim the injuries they caused are not real, or are not as bad as they actually are.

Reputation, Licensing, Insurance Concerns

Trucking companies usually have to report accidents to regulatory agencies and insurance companies, and drivers can sometimes face loss of their job or license if they admit what they did wrong. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) makes accident information for trucking companies available online to anyone who wants to look it up, including the customers these trucking companies are working for.

If You Don’t Know What to Ask For, They’re Not Going to Tell You

Trucking companies have both the reasons and resources to cover up their wrongdoing. That means knowing where and how to dig to get the information you need to prove violations of logging requirements, distance limitations, maintenance and other record-keeping requirements, and which of those regulations even apply, can mean the difference between seeing the true value of a case, and making it known to the at-fault party that you see the true value of the case, versus missing it entirely.

If You Don’t Know What Fair Compensation Is, They’re Not Going to Tell You

In all personal injury cases, I believe the injured person should lead the conversation about what fair compensation means. Nobody knows more about how an injury has impacted that person’s life. Too often people who have been injured by someone else end up accepting compensation based entirely on what the wrongdoer is willing to pay. In trucking cases, it is even more important that our side, the plaintiff’s side, lead and guide those conversations. Together, we should determine value based on the injury, the impact of the injury, and wrongdoing by the trucking company.

If the injured person follows the lead of the at fault insurance company, compensation will likely be based on medical bills alone. They often even attempt to use insurance the injured person paid for themselves to their own benefit. That argument basically goes something like “We’ll pay back whatever you paid out of pocket”. That approach serves the interests of those who caused the injury. That approach leaves the injured party “out of luck”.

Why the Rules Matter in Trucking Cases

When someone is operating dangerous equipment, it is reasonable to expect them to be extra careful not to harm others. Commercial trucks are generally more dangerous than the cars and bicycles and people around them, and because those operating them are not always extra careful, their industry is carefully regulated. When people are injured by commercial trucks, the injuries can often be traced back to violations of regulations and/or policies. There are rules that these companies know about, that govern things like how far they are supposed to drive or for how long. The rules may also govern qualifications of drivers, which commercial trucks are used, and how they are used. Those rules exist to keep all of us, including you, and including the drivers themselves, safe.

Somewhere along the way someone at a trucking company makes a decision that they know better than the rules. The rules don’t apply to them, or for whatever excuse they use, they decide the rules shouldn’t apply in this or that scenario. Sometimes it’s a driver. Sometimes it’s a manager or even the owner. The decision may be one bad decision or a pattern of decisions over time. Either way, the decision prioritizes profits ahead of your safety.

Before the truck wreck that left you injured, did someone gamble with your safety? Did someone gamble with the life of someone you love? Should they be allowed to pay medical bills or funeral expenses and move on to the next victim? Is that what they had in mind when they calculated the risk that led to your injury? If the at-fault driver, manager, or company is willing to do that, how likely are they to be fully accountable now if you don’t have help, or if you don’t seem to know what to look for to show what they did wrong?

Get Ready.

Investigating the extent of wrongdoing is important in most personal injury cases. That piece of a case is all the more important in carefully regulated industries. Finding out whether someone knowingly broke rules that would have kept you safe can be of central importance to getting maximum compensation in a truck accident case.

It costs nothing to talk to me about your case. I do not require any up-front payment of fees or any retainer. Like most truck accident lawyers, I am paid a percentage of the funds I recover for you. Call 720-201-3802 to schedule your free, no-obligation office consultation. Phone and video chat meetings are also available.