Truck accidents are not like other types of motor vehicle accidents. When you hire a lawyer to handle your truck accident claim, you should make sure that the lawyer has experience with these cases. The lawyer should understand the key differences in truck accident cases and use that knowledge to your benefit.
Those differences include:
- Tractor-trailer accidents involve potentially high damages awards. Semi-truck accidents can cause life-changing injuries and major property damage. As a result, damages claims tend to be much higher than in other car accident cases. Trucking companies and their insurers know the stakes are high. They aggressively investigate and litigate claims and often try to resolve cases through settlements that fail to fully compensate plaintiffs. Your lawyer should be ready to stand firm for you and protect your rights, regardless of whether your case involves extensive settlement negotiations or taking your personal injury lawsuit to trial. The Sloan Firm has board-certified personal injury trial lawyers ready to prosecute your claim against a negligent trucking company and/or truck driver.
- Your lawyer must investigate your trucking accident right away. The best way to counter trucking company and insurance company tactics is to launch an immediate investigation of the trucking accident – before evidence gets lost or destroyed. Trucking companies investigate collisions within hours, often while those injured are still receiving emergency medical treatment. The Sloan Firm has two full-time investigators who can help our lawyers gather and analyze key evidence and track down witnesses.
- The large truck accident and their insurers have crisis team who likely involve violations of trucking regulations. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rules address nearly every aspect of the trucking industry. They cover aspects such as truck driver qualifications, vehicle inspections, tractor-trailer size and weight restrictions and how many hours a driver may be on the road during a given period of time. The Sloan Firm’s lawyers are able to determine whether a violation of these regulations contributed to your truck crash injuries.
- A truck accident lawsuit may name multiple defendants. If you get hurt in a collision with another passenger car, you typically will bring a car accident claim against that other driver and nobody else. However, when collision involves an 18-wheeler, you may be able to sue many parties besides the driver, including the trucking company. To maximize your financial recovery, the Sloan Firms’s lawyers know how to identify all parties who should be held liable in your case.
- A truck crash settlement could involve numerous insurers. Because a truck accident could involve numerous responsible parties, it could also involve multiple insurance policies, including your own. Trucking companies often carry policies with higher limits than standard auto insurance policies, which could provide greater compensation to a person injured in a wreck involving a commercial vehicle. However, handling the claims process and interplay of these policies is challenging. The Sloan Firm’s lawyers are able to use these policies to your advantage.
The Longview commercial truck accident attorneys at Sloan Firm have extensive experience with trucking accident cases. We know how to tackle the unique issues that these cases involve while, at the same time, providing clients with the care, attention and high level of service they deserve. Contact our team today to get in touch.