ESPANOL
Whether you should hire a truck accident lawyer for a minor accident can only be decided by you. You must consider your circumstances and legal options when weighing the possibilities of receiving an undervalued settlement from the insurance company.
A Lawyer Can Help You Pursue Compensation After a Truck Accident
A lawyer can negotiate with all involved insurance parties so that you can pursue the fairest settlement possible. Sometimes, accident victims do not know of all the ways they may be able to recover financial damages to cover their losses.
A truck accident attorney can work with you to evaluate all of your damages. These damages may include (but might not be limited to):
- Medical bills
- Physical therapy mobility devices, like crutches
- Psychological counseling or therapy to alleviate the trauma of surviving a truck accident
- Wrongful death damages, such as burial costs or your lost loved one’s medical bills
- Loss of guidance and consortium if you lost a loved one in the accident
- Loss of a loved one’s income if they died
- Childcare costs while you are unable to look after your family as you are recovering
- Lost wages you could not earn while you were healing
- Reduced earning potential if your accident affects your ability to work in the future
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of limb
- Loss of enjoyment of life
An Accident Attorney Can Guide You Through the Claims Process
Even if your truck accident is minor, you may still have suffered serious injuries. Large freight trucks or 18-wheelers can cause extensive damage when they collide with a passenger vehicle.
The Federal Highway Administrationlimits the weight of commercial vehicles traveling on the Interstate Highway System at 80,000 pounds. Smaller vehicles can easily be crushed by such a large vehicle. Even if your car only suffered minor damage in your accident, you may have suffered injuries that could entitle you to pursue compensation.
Pursuing a minor claim alone may seem like no big deal, but liability and negligence in even the “smallest” accidents can involve a lot of groundwork to prove. For instance, you will have to prove negligence by establishing that:
- The truck driver owed you a duty of care
- The truck driver violated this duty
- The violation caused your accident
- The accident resulted in a financial loss for you
You will also need to secure all the supporting evidence necessary for your claim. You will need to collect and study:
- Eyewitness testimony
- CCTV or security footage of the accident
- Photos of the scene
- Police reports detailing the events surrounding the accident
- Your medical and insurance documentation
- Any expert witness testimony that could prove relevant
This can be a lot to handle when recovering from an injury. A truck accident lawyer can tackle all of this for you.
What You May Not Know About Compensation from Truck Accidents
Some victims of truck accidents do not realize that there may be more than one liable party in their accident. The most logical party to pursue for damages would be the truck driver. However, you may also be able to seek compensation from the trucking company, a truck parts manufacturer, or a mechanic/assembly worker who worked on or repaired the truck.
The trucking company may have encouraged the truck driver to speed or overload their vehicle (making their truck heavier and more dangerous). The required notes and records a truck driver must keep about their rest and drive times must be accurate as well. If the trucking company has a history of not holding their drivers accountable to an accurate logbook, this may indicate negligence.
A defective or incorrectly installed part may have contributed to the accident as well, such as a broken brake line. We may be able to hold a mechanic or manufacturer liable for your injuries, in a case like this.
Do Not Tackle Your Truck Accident Case Alone – Contact Our Office Today
Call us or fill out our online form today to reach out to George Sink, P.A. Injury Lawyers. We want to help you through this difficult time. You do not need to handle all the complicated processes and paperwork of filing a claim or lawsuit on your own. Talk to a truck accident lawyer in more detail about your case during a free consultation today.