If you are a victim of a trucking accident, you may be filled with questions about why and what could have led to the injuries and how the claim process will look. One of the critical questions you may ask yourself is who to blame and how to place that liability on the accused person.
Many issues come into play in a trucking accident. Before you can file your claim, it better to understand what may have caused your accident and the kind of injuries that may lead to your compensation.
Common Causes Of Truck Accidents
With the right knowledge of what may have caused your trucking accident, it becomes easier to handle your claim. Some of the most common causes of trucking accidents include:
- Fatigue: Due to the nature of truck drivers’ work, some spend long hours behind the wheels. When one is fatigued, this affects the reaction time, coordination, and how one can make a sound judgment. Proving a driver was fatigued may not be easy. One helpful resource for establishing liability would be the police report, or the driver may admit that they were forced to work under pressure for long hours. Where the driver was forced to work for long hours, the trucking company may be held liable for the accident. To file a claim, it must be established that laws concerning hours of service were not observed.
- Impaired driving: In such a case, your lawyer should prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the truck driver was intoxicated, and this led to your injuries or property damage. There are many ways to prove this, such as use field sobriety tests. However, it’s worth noting that if there is evidence that the driver had drunk alcohol and was driving, that may not constitute impaired driving. The juror or judge must be satisfied that the truck driver’s ability to drive was impaired due to alcohol consumption.
- Lack of experience: Some truck drivers hardly get the necessary training needed to perform maneuvers correctly. An inexperienced truck driver cannot cope with the demands of the road environment or maneuvers of other drivers. Such a driver needs all the attention when driving. To prove lack of experience as negligence, you can show that the driver tried to cope with additional tasks such as talking over the phone or texting, and this limited their ability to meet the demand of the unexpected situation.
- Improper loading: Any cargo loaded should not move during transit; where such cargo is unsecure, it may shift and become very difficult to control the truck. Depending on the circumstance, such kind of negligence may fall on multiple parties. For instance, the cargo loader should ensure the cargo is loaded so that it will not trip. Also, the driver should confirm that the cargo was adequately loaded before transit. When multiple entities are to blame, it becomes more complicated. Such a case may necessitate the need to consult Anchorage law firms for legal help.
With the above, a truck may cause an accident leading to severe injuries. Equally, one may suffer property damage.
Common Trucking Injuries
For anyone involved in a trucking accident, the first step is to seek medical attention to themselves and others involved. Trucks are known to cause some serious injuries such as:
- Neck and Back injuries: An intense force from a collision may cause severe damage to your back and neck. Such injuries are likely to limit your ability to walk.
- Traumatic spinal cord injuries: According to Mayo Clinic, a sudden blow can result in trauma, leading to the breakage of sensitive tissues in the spinal cord. When one’s spine is affected, signs such as incoordination, back pain, and paralysis may be detected.
- Broken bones: Due to the truck’s weight, the bones may be put under unmanageable stress. Depending on the type of bone break, one may take time to heal, while other breakages may lead to permanent disability.
- Chest injuries: Trauma from the seatbelt is enough to cause bruises in your chest. These injuries become more severe when there is internal bleeding. You may also suffer from chest injuries if your body is thrown forward during the accident,
The above injuries may affect a victim emotionally, mentally, and also socially. The remedy to such would be to file a personal injury claim.
Getting Legal Help
You may be a pedestrian or a car driver who has been involved in an accident due to negligent truck driver. You may save yourself a lot of trouble by looking for an experienced trucking accident lawyer to help you negotiate with the at-fault driver insurance company. While negotiating, it’s better to avoid any conversation with a trucking company or their insurance without your lawyer. The reason is because you may be tricked to accept a lower settlement that will not be enough for your injuries. That’s why you need legal help. An experienced lawyer understands what it takes to deal with trucking accident injuries and will use the best strategies to win your case.
