More than 15 types of trucks are seen regularly on the roads of the US, including- minivans, trailer trucks, tank trucks, garbage trucks, pickup trucks, etc. So, a huge portion of road accidents involves trucks as a directly-related party. In such cases, a truck accident lawyer can help you the most.
As most trucks are controlled by any organization, especially commercial trucks, a truck accident case can be more complex than it seems. Organizations will try their best to avoid their faults just to compensate less. They can try several ways so that you withdraw the case or settle outside of the court.
An experienced truck accident attorney can support you in this case in many ways. That’s why going for a truck accident lawyer is mandatory. But before that, make sure you’re safe.
What to Do after a Truck Accident?
Truck accidents are often very dangerous and cause serious injury in most cases. So, just after the accident happens, you need to stay calm. If you’re in full sense, check your body for any kind of injury. If you’re injured, ask the people around for help.
Otherwise, get yourself out of your vehicle immediately.
In case you’re not injured and in full sense, check other people inside your vehicle. Bring them out of the car. Then call for an ambulance or emergency help if anyone needs instant medical help.
After ensuring everyone is safe, you need to collect proof of injury. Take some pictures of the vehicle and the people injured. If the truck doesn’t run away, talk to the driver and collect information from the driving license. Also, take note of the truck number.
If the truck is not there, talk to the people around. Save their information so that they can support you in court.
Another thing you must do is check if there is any CC camera or not. Camera footage would help you a lot while suing the truck driver.
Then you can go to the hospital or clinic to receive basic treatment for your injuries. After that, call a truck accident lawyer if you want compensation for the accident from the responsible parties.
Who Can be Sued for Truck Accident?
A collision with a truck may take place for your fault. Also, this can be the fault of the truck driver too. Several parties can be blamed for a truck accident. Let’s know them.
- The truck driver- Can be blamed for not driving carefully or for any other reason.
- The employer- The employer is responsible for any accidents caused by the employees. So, you can sue the company too. But if the driver is an independent contractor, the company can avoid liability.
- The manufacturer- The manufacturer is liable if the accident happens because of any manufacturing fault in the truck.
- Third-party Broker- If the employer takes the help of a third-party broker to hire the truck, you can sue the broker if necessary rules are neglected while hiring the truck and driver.
- Another party- The accident may happen when the truck driver tries to save another party, maybe another truck or car. In such cases, if the third party has a fault, you can sue them too.
Finding the exact faulty party is tough. So, you should take the help of a lawyer who has previous experience with all these. Lawyers can dig deeper and find out the exact liable parties for the accident so that you can get your compensation.
But that’s not the only thing a lawyer can do for you when you’re the victim of a truck accident.
How Can a Truck Accident Lawyer Help?
A truck accident lawyer can help in many ways. Investigating the incident and finding out the responsible parties is one I’ve talked about already. Let’s learn about more ways a truck accident lawyer can help.
Investigating the Scene
The lawyer can investigate the scene for evidence, as evidence is crucial in any kind of accident case. When the truck company knows about the accident, there is a chance that they send people to hide or destroy evidence. The reason is simple- they don’t want to compensate as this is a huge amount.
Your lawyer can quickly reach the accident scene and look for useful evidence to sue the truck and other related parties. Due to experience, they can identify if any evidence is destroyed.
Negotiating with Insurance Companies
Insurance companies want you to minimize your loss as they have to pay for it. Their representatives are trained to manipulate you. So, you can’t negotiate with them. But your lawyer can.
When you hire lawyers, they will handle the representatives from insurance companies so that you can express the exact loss in court.
Utilizing Experience
It might be your first time facing a truck accident and filing a lawsuit in court about it, but the lawyers do it regularly. So, anything they can do within a short time would take a long time for you. Taking too long might result in a loss of evidence.
In a word, lawyers can utilize their experience and make the process faster than the time you take. Also, their experience would help them find the key points of the case you may miss.
Communicating or Negotiating with Other Parties
The process of court may require you to communicate with the other parties several times. Lawyers can do that for you.
Also, if you want to negotiate outside of the court, lawyers can help with that too. The faulty parties will always try to negotiate for a short amount. If they are backed by any organization, they have their own lawyers to support in negotiation. In that case, you need someone to face them strongly and maximize the compensation.
When you’re busy with your or others’ injury, your lawyer can handle everything regarding the court and negotiation, that too faster than you. That’s what a truck accident lawyer can do for you.
How to Choose a Truck Accident Lawyer?
Choosing a good lawyer to handle such an accident case is important if you want to receive the compensation you want. So, you have to be careful while picking someone. If you follow some steps, there is a chance that you can select someone better than most others out there. Let’s check the process.
Search for Lawyers Around You
If you search carefully, you’ll find a lot of lawyers around you who are experienced with truck accidents. You can ask search engines to suggest you some. Make a list of them for further processing.
However, the search engine is not the only place to look for lawyers. The best option is to ask your friends, families, and neighbors for a recommendation. Check if they can suggest someone they have experience with. Include them in the list too.
Evaluate the Ones in the List
After making a list, evaluate the lawyers in it. Check their websites, see the ratings, and see what clients have said about you. Check the certifications too.
Don’t rely on their websites only. Collect this information from other websites too. You’ll find several websites for rating lawyer services. Check those sites.
Check Activity
While evaluating, check their recent activities. This might include their recent and ongoing cases, recent feedback, number of cases, etc. Many lawyers update such information on their websites.
Try to pick a lawyer who is active.
Communicate Directly
After the evaluation, sort the list and pick the top 5-6 lawyers. Communicate with them and let them know about your accident. Check how they demonstrate the process.
Good lawyers would take you through the steps and possible solutions. Also, communicating with them would help you to check their communication skill. Good communication skill is a necessity for a lawyer. So, pick the one with good communication skills, and you’re comfortable with.
What to Ask a Truck Accident Lawyer?
When looking for a lawyer to aid you with truck accident cases, you need to be specific in conversation about possible options. Below are some questions you must ask a truck accident lawyer.
- What type of cases do you focus on?
In most cases, you won’t find a lawyer who focuses on only one type of case. If it is a firm, the focus point is way wider. However, the reason behind asking this question is to know their expertise.
You can consider the person or firm if the answer is any accident case. If the answer is only truck accidents, keep them at the top.
- Can I file a case?
Filing a case has several points to consider. You should ask this question to know whether your scenario is acceptable in court or not.
If you can’t do it, ask the reason too.
- Will you be my attorney?
You must ask this question if you go to a large firm. In large firms, typically, the person who’s going to handle the case doesn’t come first. So, ask this question while talking to a person about your case.
Try to communicate with the person who would represent you in court. The reason is- you need to build strong communication and a sense of trust with the person before assigning someone.
- What should I do if someone from insurance company contacts me?
The insurance company has its benefits if your loss is reduced. So, they’ll try to communicate with you. You should discuss this with your lawyer because they need to know everything about the case.
They can negotiate with the insurance company and bring the actual compensation you deserve. So, ask for suggestions about it.
- Are you free to handle my case?
In most cases, lawyers work on several cases at a time. If your appointed lawyer is busy with a few other cases simultaneously, there is a chance that your case won’t get the priority it should get. So, while talking to the lawyer, ask about the number of cases they are handling.
You don’t have to worry if the number is 2-3. But if the lawyer is handling more than 4-5 cases at once, there is a chance that they can’t allocate time properly.
When to Consult a Lawyer for a Truck Accident?
Consulting a truck accident lawyer as soon as possible is the most important task after a collision with a truck. If you want, you can have a few days to finish treatment and other issues before going to a lawyer. But you should hurry because-
- The evidence can be vanished
The party at fault in a truck accident has to pay huge compensation. So, to avoid this, the organization or driver may try to hide the evidence after the accident. Communicating with a lawyer soon can help you save the evidence.
- The insurance company may settle in minimum compensation
Insurance companies try to minimize the amount of compensation to maximize their profit. When you’re suffering from the trauma and pain of the accident, they can easily drive you towards minimum payment.
Your lawyer can face them on behalf of you and negotiate the deal at a high amount.
- You need to receive your legal right
As a victim of an accident, you have some legal rights, including compensation for the medical cost. If you don’t receive the compensation soon, you may end up having inadequate treatment in case you cannot bear the cost.
On the other hand, if you hire a lawyer soon after the accident, you’ll get compensation soon and enjoy the right medical treatment.
These are the main reasons you should hire a truck accident lawyer as soon as you face such accidents. Hiring a lawyer doesn’t need you to pay initially. So, don’t be late even if you don’t have money.
How Much Does a Truck Accident Lawyer Cost?
Before discussing the amount you need to pay to the lawyer, let’s discuss the payment plan.
It is a relief that most lawyers charge following a contingency plan. A contingency plan means you don’t have to pay anything if they fail to win the case. If you win and receive compensation for your loss, a percentage of the compensation should be paid as the payment.
Typically, the charge is around 30% to 40% of the compensation. If you receive $1,00,000 as compensation, you must pay the lawyer $30,000 to $40,000.
The contingency rate varies depending on the lawyer you pick. Common factors that affect the rate are the complexity of the case, strength of the in-fault party, experience of the lawyer, etc.
Some lawyers may ask for a monthly or daily charge, or even a fixed amount, for handling your case. The problem with such payment systems is that you have to pay even if you don’t receive compensation.
That’s why contingency is the best payment plan, as you have to pay only if you receive compensation.
Possible Compensations for a Truck Accident
If you’re able to pick the best truck accident lawyer for your case, there is a chance that you’ll get maximum compensation from the other party. As trucks are heavy, the result of a truck accident is dangerous. So, the compensation is also huge.
The possible compensation areas for a truck accident are discussed below.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are the damages where money is involved directly. Several economic damage fields for compensation are-
- Cost of the damaged vehicle
- Medical expenses
- Cost of medicines and therapies
- Funeral costs
- Lost wages
- Loss of income capacity, etc.
But there might be many more fields in your situation.
Non-economic Damages
These kinds of damages are not directly connected to money. Mostly emotional damages are counted here and compensated by money as per court suggests. Possible non-economic damages are-
- Pain and sufferings
- Loss of consortium
- Loss of happiness
- Mental trauma
- Permanent disability
- And many more
Truck accidents result in a huge loss in most cases. So, the compensation is a huge amount. Be careful while choosing a lawyer because picking the wrong person might result in zero compensation. The organization owning the truck usually tries its best to save bucks by avoiding compensation.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
If I’m partly at fault for the accident, can I win a lawsuit?
It varies based on several factors. If you’re partially at fault, but that doesn’t work as the primary reason behind the accident, there is a chance that you’ll win. It all depends on the degree of your fault.
However, even if you win the lawsuit, the amount of compensation gets affected because of your fault.
What if the party at fault calls me to settle before I hire an attorney?
Such a thing may seem attractive, but don’t fall for it. If they call for settlement, there is a huge chance that they’ll offer way less compensation than what you actually deserve.
In such cases, ask for some time, hire a lawyer or attorney, and then sit for the meeting.
Do the same in case the insurance company calls you.
How much compensation will I get from the lawsuit?
You’ve already seen several compensation fields in a truck accident. So, the amount of compensation you’ll get varies a lot. However, the average compensation from truck accident lawsuits is around $40K-$45K.
You may receive less than this if the impact is low. If the impact of the accident is huge, you may get higher compensation than the average amount.
What If I lose someone in the accident?
If you lose someone in such an accident, file a wrongful death claim. Such a claim is way stronger than an accident claim. A wrongful death claim ensures benefits for the victim’s parents, spouse, or children.