Commercial vehicles like trucks are complicated to handle. Silly negligence may end up in traumatic accidents that cause severe damage to the surrounding properties or sometimes even it involve taking people’s lives. How to overcome such trauma? What are your chances of winning a truck accident settlement?
Consulting and taking suggestions from a very experienced truck accident lawyer is the best option to meet fair compensation from the opposing party. Trucking companies and many other people in the line of work can make mistakes that lead to accidents. The victim’s party goes restless as they move through recovery and settlements.
Role Of Truck Accident Lawyers
An accident happens due to various conditions related to the driver, the machine, the roads, other vehicles on the route, flaws in security checks, and much more. Significant truck collisions turn out from mild carelessness. The settlement part of the commercial vehicle accident is obscure and laborious for an ordinary accident victim. Since they need to be more precise about the loophole points that prove their innocence, they have to rely on an efficient truck accident lawyer. He can explain their chances of winning a settlement by collating enough points that demonstrate the validity of the crime.
The investigating authorities overlook a wide range of reasons behind these collisions due to serious negligence. Truck accident lawyers skillfully handle such matters, which brings notable progression in accident compensation procedures. They get the requirements for a victim’s chances of winning the settlement as fast as possible. The possibilities and probabilities of an accident reimbursement are much more tedious without the help of an accident lawyer.
Causes Behind Truck Accidents
Source: forbes.com
- High-speed, broad turns, and hairpins cause the least control in driving and lead to significant accidents.
- Minor blind spotting by the driver while driving can be dangerous. A blind spot is a space that surrounds the vehicle where the driver keeps his sight with the help of rear glasses and sensors to avoid collisions.
- Overloading the vehicle with improperly arranged goods and skipping proper loading security checks can edge to serious road mishaps caused by weight shifts while driving.
- A tired driver becomes one crucial reason behind road accidents.
- A driver’s aggressive and tailgating driving habit is a tremendous threat that paves the way to serious road collisions.
- Drunk or drugged driving impacts unsafe on-road traffic.
- Unknown local routes covered by inexperienced truck drivers are also a notable reason behind severe road calamities.
- Defective vehicle parts and a little maintained road result in accidents that may take lives.
Truck driving is risky and challenging due to prolonged and tight working hours. The vehicle itself is enormous, and when something goes wrong, the results are devastating. The US truck industry is worth more than $700 billion per annum. Around 4000 people in the country are killed by commercial vehicle collisions yearly, and almost 130,000 are injured annually. Out of these, 97% of deaths are caused when trucks collide with large passenger vehicles.
Trucking Laws & Regulations
- The trucks moving through interstates has a speed limit of 75 miles per hour, and semi-trucks can weigh about 80,000 lbs.
- According to the model, the vehicle’s height, width, and length also have limitations. The drawbars or the connector between two trailers should be within 15 feet measurement.
- Commercial trucks have a height limit of 14 feet and a length of up to 8 feet 6 inches, per the law.
- The driver should have a commercial driving license (CDL) for a vehicle weighing a minimum of 26,001 pounds.
- The vehicles that carry sand, rock, dirt, or pebbles must have a cover and should not exceed the height of a cargo compartment.
How To Win A Truck Accident Settlement
Source: forbes.com
- Get Immediate medical treatment after the accident. Medical reports and treatment records are vital documents to establish liability.
- To claim compensation and establish liability, a plaintiff must identify all the business entities and government authorities responsible.
- Including all defendants, the plaintiff in an accident lawsuit must stress the theory of liability. Suppose the defect of the truck or the poorly maintained road is the reason behind the accident. It can be established using the idea of negligence.
- The plaintiff must prove the loss by providing all the proof of their damages. An expert witness can accomplish these damages by connecting them to the evidence.
- A truck accident lawyer will fight for your right to settlements. To avoid judicial risks and threats, every truck company do have an efficient team of lawyers and investigators working for their firm. So to face the truck company’s investigating team, a truck accident lawyer’s expert advice and assistance are inevitable.
- The plaintiff has to enforce the injury caused by accident. The treatment expenses and duration of treatment records are points to initiate the settlement process.
- Explain the depth of the damage caused by the truck collision, especially the personal injuries and expenses behind the recovery procedures, e.g., medical bills, loss of earnings, suffering, and pain.
- Negotiating a fair settlement is very hard unless you employ an efficient truck accident lawyer who will fight for your right with the other party’s judicial council.
- Most truck collision settlements are done outside the court because of the risk and expenditure involved. But in some cases, if the opposition party is rigid, taking the topic to court is essential.
- Hire an efficient truck accident attorney to ease the way toward settlement. They will make the tedious process a cakewalk with their skillful interference.
- A resourceful judicial team will inform the accused company that the court or a jury will decide a reasonable settlement for both parties if they deny fair compensation.
Some Facts & Figures
Source: forbes.com
The United States has a humungous truck industry with millions working long hours. The gross revenue of this industry is $800 billion, and it also claims $400 billion as its operating revenue. 3.5 million truck drivers are actively working on national roads in the United States. And not less than 8 million people are employed in this industry.
If we look into truck accident statistics, 4% of trucks carrying cargo cause fatal accidents. 14% of collisions are caused due to speeding, and 7% happen because of light-truck fatalities. 16% of truck crashes involve passenger cars hitting. Truck collision deaths have been severe in the US since 2009.
To Conclude
Commercial vehicles must travel across the country, not only on interstate or work areas but also through rural landscapes. Extremely foggy conditions increase the chances of accidents. Many accidents go unreported to skip the risky lawsuit. Based on the above facts, specific precautions can prevent collisions. So, avoiding commercial vehicle crashes is the only solution to keep lives at peace.
