Big rig or tractor-trailer accidents sometimes cause catastrophic or deadly casualties, particularly at California highway speeds. Our practice focuses on building and proving claims in cases where the spine or brain has been badly hurt, and the person can’t work. Our ability to back up your request for damages with specific documentation about all of your current and future losses can give you a significant advantage in getting your claim settled. Most of the time, accident reconstruction specialists, highway safety engineers, materials experts, and people in the trucking industry will testify and write reports to show how and why your accident happened. We focus on quickly investigating everything that could affect who is responsible, from the truck’s driver to the owner’s maintenance service. More than one person or group can be held responsible in many truck accident cases. Call (408) 716-1629 to contact our lawyers at Shea & Shea – A Professional Law Corporation in Santa Clara.
How Often Are Truck Accidents?
The number of individuals killed or seriously injured in truck accidents is 5,000 each year. Only 4% of the 268 million vehicles are heavy trucks, including tractor-trailers and 18-wheelers, yet they account for as many as 10% of traffic fatalities. At least one-third of the accidents were caused by truck driver mistakes. People in smaller automobiles were the most likely to die in truck accidents.
Trucking legislation has been established to help reduce the number of accidents involving commercial trucks. However, a 3,000-pound car has little chance against a giant rig that can haul at least 80 thousand pounds. Large trucks can’t stop as fast as smaller vehicles because of their mass and size, resulting in many fatalities. Even slower speeds, cars may be deadly when they slip beneath heavy trucks. They may have lasting brain damage if they survive.
What Are Some Of The Most Common Causes Of Truck Crashes?
As was previously indicated, the bulk of these collisions is caused by the negligence of the truck drivers. These include failing to pay attention, driving while careless, reckless, or distracted, going above the speed limit, and driving when impaired by sickness, alcohol drunkenness, or weariness.
The trucking business has a significant challenge that poses a significant risk to drivers’ lives: fatigue. In addition to the myriad of health issues that may be brought on by it, driver weariness can also bring about significant injuries for other people on the road. Truck drivers often put in long shifts on the road, sleeping for just an average of four hours each day. This is far less than the eight hours of rest they need to fully replenish their energy and perform at their best. It should come as no surprise that most truck drivers have at least one bout of tiredness lasting six minutes per day while on the road.
To prevent this behavior, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Law restricts truck drivers from driving for a maximum of 11 hours during 14 hours and mandates that they take a 30-minute break after driving for 8 hours continuously. Under federal laws, it is illegal for drivers to be on the clock for more than sixty hours in any given week. If you fail to comply, you risk having legal action taken against you and having earnings withheld.
Truck accidents are often caused by distracted drivers. Any distraction that diverts a driver’s attention from the road is a recipe for disaster. It’s risky to converse with the dispatcher, send a text, jot down notes, or eat while you’re driving. This should be made clear to all truck drivers. Nearly 10,000 truck accidents have been blamed on external distractions like billboards.
After A Truck Accident, What Are The Next Measures To Follow?
- Stop. Check on yourself, your friends, and your surroundings for any injuries. You must stay at the site of the accident. Put your warning lights on and use cones to notify approaching vehicles of your presence.
- Seek medical attention, no matter how well you believe you’re doing. Injuries to the body might take hours or even days to become evident. A lack of medical attention might jeopardize your claim for compensation in the event of an accident.
- Identify the witnesses. If you can’t get a hold of the witness, request a written statement from them or their phone number. They may be crucial to your case review, and your lawyer may need to speak to them. However, the police must conduct a thorough investigation and interrogate any witnesses.
- Be sure to write down what happened and take pictures of it. In a truck collision, thoroughness is not a bad thing.
- Contact a truck accident attorney.
An experienced truck accident lawyer can help ensure you get the total amount of damages you are entitled to after an accident.
A tractor accident lawyers help you deal with the insurance firms involved and advise you on what to say. To win a personal injury lawsuit, you’ll need an experienced injury attorney on your side.
Truck Accident Lawyer Oakland County, Will Use Resources To Help You
Tractor-trailer accident attorneys use various experts to determine the entire extent of your losses, including treating doctors and medical experts, vocational rehabilitators, and economics. Suppose the defense believes that you have not had a closed head injury. In that case, they will hire a neuropsychologist to establish a connection between your particular decline in cognitive function and the precise hit you sustained to the head.
Truck accident lawyers would work with a life care nurse and a case manager to explain all of the fees you may anticipate paying throughout a protracted recuperation if you incurred significant burn damage.
When developing your legal strategy, a truck accident lawyer in Oakland County will conduct a comprehensive investigation to determine the exact cause of the accident.
Whatever your car collision-related injuries are, the Oakland truck accident attorney will work with you and your doctors from the start of the case. They will ensure you get the medical treatment and diagnostic testing you need, even if your primary insurance refuses to pay. Because the proof of both responsibility and damages in the cases they handle so frequently includes highly technical evidence provided via expert practitioners. It is sometimes required to invest significant resources to generate and present the facts vital to prove your claim. They advance all the expenditures connected with the research and presentation of your case and recoup them only if they succeed on your side.
Call Shea & Shea – A Professional Law Corporation Today For More Information
A truck collision may cause severe damage and involve numerous at-fault parties. Our Oakland lawyers can assist you in obtaining the compensation you need to go on with your life. Call us at (408) 716-1557 for a free first consultation with one of our motor vehicle accident lawyers. You may also make an appointment by emailing us our contact form.
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