Accidents happen. These days, more and more accidents are happening on the roadways, and increasingly they are involving large transport trucks. The results and the aftermath of these accidents are never pretty. Because of the devastating losses that can occur, trucking accidents attorneys are essential to anyone who has been involved in a commercial trucking accident. An attorney is experienced and understands what can happen as a result of a commercial trucking accident.
A trucking accident attorney has specialized knowledge in this field, and that is why they are so useful to anyone who has been injured, or has suffered loss or damages due to an accident with an 18-wheeler, a semi-truck or a tractor-trailer. Accidents such as these are increasing in number and in severity.
Greater damage, more injuries, higher bills
Consider the size and weight of one of these big rigs with a full load of cargo in its trailer. The maximum for the biggest trucks with the biggest loads can be as much as 80,000 pounds on the Interstate, but can be even greater on other roadways, depending on the laws and regulations of the area. Anything that big, travelling at speed, can leave significant property damage and more devastating injuries should an accident occur.
Two cars of similar size and weight (usually only about 3,000 pounds) could not do so much damage. For one thing, car accidents don’t always involve injury, but an accident between a commercial truck and a car always results in injuries, more so for the driver of the car — broken bones, whiplash, spinal injuries, traumatic brain injuries and even death can be the result. Having a truck accident attorney to fight for the injured is essential and even more so than in other accidents. It should be obvious that the medical bills will also be higher, because the injuries are so much worse. Longer stays in the hospital, more tests and greater repercussions from the accident mean that much more is involved for all parties.
Different purposes
Commuter vehicles, passenger cars and commercial trucks have different purposes. The driver of the commercial truck is not usually its owner. The owner is often a large national trucking company who carries a large insurance policy that can be worth millions of dollars and have a strong interest in keeping the fleet moving and are accustomed to these accidents occurring. They will have good insurance writers and powerful attorneys.
Different regulations
Trucks travel across the country and sometimes internationally. Different regulations govern their movements. As such, they keep detailed logs and records, and so, have files with detailed information on hand and this information can be useful to the attorneys for all parties if the trucking accident attorneys know how to access it, and if they know what they need to look for. This is one reason for having an experienced attorney on your side. This type of case can be won or lost on the smallest amount of liability proven by either side.
What to do next?
Those who have been in an accident with a truck should focus on bringing their own documentation to have in place as soon as possible to share with their trucking accident attorney. Having accident reports are key. Get medical attention and be sure that that information is documented as well. Talk to your own insurance company, and most importantly do not accept any offers from the other insurance company or the other lawyers before talking with your trucking accident attorneys. As discussed, the trucking companies have a great deal to lose and so do their insurance companies. They may want to offer a quick deal to close the case. An attorney who understands the situation completely will be any accident victim’s best friend at this point.
If you or anyone you care about has suffered due to an accident that was not your fault, talk to a trucking accidents lawyer as soon as you can. It is important to get started and know what is going to happen in order to be prepared. An accident involving a big rig and a small car can be devastating and the costs and the losses can last far into the future. Don’t let a big industry lawyer take away what you need.
