What to Know If You Have Been Involved in a Truck Accident
If you have been in a truck accident, know that the process of seeking compensation can be time-consuming and difficult. Also, know that a truck accident lawyer can handle a lawsuit or insurance claim for you, allowing you to focus on your medical treatment and physical recovery.
Truck accident cases can be complicated in many ways, and you may risk losing a large financial recovery if you do not build a strong case. This is why many truck accident victims hire a Tulsa truck accident attorney to fight for their settlements and verdicts.
Important Realities About Truck Accident Cases
Many truck accident victims find themselves in unfamiliar, uncomfortable circumstances. You may not know what comes next and may not know the challenges that can come with truck accident cases.
Some important facts to know about truck accident cases include the following:
Diagnosing the Cause of a Truck Accident Can Be Tricky
To win a truck accident case, a lawyer must know precisely why the collision happened. However, diagnosing the cause of a truck accident can be difficult because:
- Trucks are complicated vehicles including computer components, trailers, and various other parts (one or more of which could have malfunctioned before the accident)
- One must understand the truck driver’s work history and personal history to determine if they were unfit to drive
- Diagnosing the cause of any traffic requires a thorough investigation, and truck accidents are not an exception
Your lawyer may work with automotive experts to identify the cause of your accident and establish liability.
Securing Evidence from Trucking Companies May Be Difficult
The components of the truck involved in your accident can be important evidence. It means that your lawyer may need to obtain evidence from a trucking company—perhaps the same trucking company you are suing.
Your attorney may file a letter of spoliation and take other legal measures to obtain evidence in the trucking company’s possession.
You May Have a Large Financial Recovery to Lose (or Win)
The value of auto accident cases varies depending on the severity of a victim’s injuries. Because trucks are larger and heavier than most other vehicles, they:
- Take longer to stop (a fact that contributes to high-speed truck accidents)
- Have a crushing capacity greater than most other vehicles
- Can cause severe, potentially disabling injuries
- Can cause fatal injuries
Cases involving serious injuries and wrongful deaths usually warrant a large financial recovery. Therefore, you may have much to lose if you do not succeed in your case.
Your Case May Require a Trial
Though truck accident cases do not typically require a trial, yours might. If liable parties reject your lawyer’s settlement demands, a trial may become your best option for seeking the compensation you deserve.
Trials are:
- Often months- or years-long
- Expensive
- Labor intensive
- High-stakes
Winning a trial also requires a strong knowledge of the legal system, persuasive abilities, and a strong work ethic. Having a lawyer handle any necessary trial may be the right decision, as an attorney will have the time, training, and resources to present a strong case.
Know How a Lawyer Can Help After Your Accident
An attorney provides numerous benefits following a truck accident, as they will:
- Take the thought out of the insurance process: Truck accident victims shouldn’t have to worry about what comes next in the insurance process. Your lawyer will take the claims process off your hands.
- Advise you about whether filing a lawsuit makes sense: As your attorney moves your case forward, they will determine whether insurance companies intend to pay you fairly. If not, filing a lawsuit may be necessary.
- Deal with insurance companies: Your lawyer will be the contact point for auto insurers involved in your case. By dealing with insurers, your lawyer will help move the claim forward as quickly as possible while preventing any violation of your rights.
- Enable you to focus on recovery: Because a truck accident lawyer will be responsible for your case, you should have more time for treatment, rehabilitation, and rest.
- Accept the financial cost of your case: Your truck accident attorney and their firm will be responsible for the financial cost of completing your claim or lawsuit. Firms often have resources that accident victims don’t—like networks of experts and mock courtrooms. Such resources come at no additional cost to you and are instead built into the firm’s fee structure.
Because truck accident lawyers usually use contingency fees, you won’t lose sleep over the cost of hiring a lawyer. The law firm will cover the entire upfront cost of your case and will only receive a fee if you get paid.
Know the Risks of Handling Your Own Truck Accident Case
While considering the benefits of hiring a truck accident attorney, you must also consider the potential downside of handling your own case. If you choose not to hire a truck accident lawyer for your case, then:
- You may have to spend time learning the steps in an insurance claim or lawsuit (time that may be better spent on recovery)
- You may be at risk every time you interact with insurance companies (even the smallest slip-up can compromise your claim’s success)
- You may suffer psychological and emotional harm as you re-experience the details of the truck accident (as a claim or lawsuit will require you to)
- You have failed to obtain evidence or documentation that can help your case (as your time is likely limited)
- You may fail to achieve the case outcome you seek
Hiring a truck accident lawyer does not automatically guarantee you will receive the compensation you deserve. However, there are several obvious risks in handling your own case, and hiring a lawyer may allow you to avoid those risks altogether.
What (Exactly) a Truck Accident Lawyer Will Do for You
In exchange for a percentage of any settlement or verdict they obtain for you, your lawyer and their team will:
Document the Truck Accident and Establish the Fault
Your attorney will identify who caused your truck accident and who owes you compensation—these may be different parties. As your lawyer gets to the bottom of the accident, they may gather:
- Witness accounts of the collision
- Video footage (perhaps from traffic cameras, security cameras, or other sources)
- The police report from the accident
- Experts’ reconstructions of the accident
- Expert testimony about liability
- Photographs of your damaged vehicle
Importantly, your lawyer will also seek any evidence in a trucking company’s possession. This may include black-box data, photographs of the damaged truck, the trucker’s work history, and information about any past violations related to your case.
Detail Your Damages with Proof of Harm
Truck accident lawyers must detail exactly how the collision has harmed their clients. Your lawyer may achieve this objective using:
- Your income statements (which may show a drop in earnings since the accident)
- Medical bills
- Medical records (including diagnoses of your injuries)
- Images of injuries
- Your own account of how the truck accident has negatively impacted you
- A mental health expert’s diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, or any other conditions related to the truck accident
- Invoices for the repair or replacement of your vehicle
- Receipts for temporary transportation (which may include ridesharing or rental car receipts)
As your lawyer identifies all of your accident-related damages, they will secure all available documentation.
Calculate Exactly How Much Money You Are Entitled To
Your lawyer will first determine how much your accident-related damages are worth. Together, these values will set the financial bar for your case.
Truck accident lawyers consider:
- Existing damages (including any medical care you’ve already received)
- Future damages (such as income you will continue to lose)
- Economic damages
- Non-economic damages
This all-encompassing approach will ensure your lawyer is fighting for the financial recovery you deserve.
Negotiate a Settlement on Your Behalf
Negotiating is one of a lawyer’s most important skills. Over time, truck accident lawyers come to understand the many tactics insurance companies and other liable parties use during negotiations. This negotiating experience is one reason a lawyer’s experience may be a massive credit to your claim or lawsuit.
File a Lawsuit and Go to Trial, if Necessary
Your case may require a lawsuit (and possibly a trial) if:
- Parties liable for your accident do not have insurance
- Insurance coverage does not pay for the cost of your damages
- Liable parties refuse to offer the settlement you are entitled to
Attorneys handle every aspect of a trial. While going to trial may lengthen the timeline for your case, you and your lawyer will have an in-depth discussion about whether a trial is the proper approach. Ultimately, the potential financial reward from the trial may be worth the added time.
Manage Every Other Detail of Your Case
Your case will also require paperwork, communications, fact-checking, appointment-setting, and other obligations. Your attorney and their team will handle these details for you.
Damages Your Lawyer Will Include in Your Truck Accident Case
Because trucks typically weigh several tons, the effects of truck accidents can be devastating for victims. Your recoverable damages may include:
- Medical expenses: Truck accident victims often require emergency transport and treatment, medical imaging, surgery, hospitalization, and other medical services. Your attorney will work to ensure you face no out-of-pocket cost for such services.
- Lost income: Professional damages from a truck accident may include lost income, decreased earning power, lost bonuses, missed promotion opportunities, and lost benefits.
- Pain and suffering: Your attorney will retain a mental health professional to evaluate whether you have anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, lost quality of life, and any other forms of pain and suffering.
- Mental health service expenses: Your lawyer will determine the cost of any counseling, medications, or other mental healthcare you need because of the traffic accident.
- Property expenses: Your attorney will calculate the cost of repairing or replacing property damaged during the accident, including your vehicle, cell phone, and clothing. They will also include the cost of temporary transportation in your claim or lawsuit.
If you have disabling injuries, you may face additional financial and non-economic burdens. You may need a wheelchair, injury-related home additions, a new vehicle, long-term rehabilitation and medical services, mental healthcare, and other services related to your disability.
Damages in Fatal Truck Accident Cases
In 2021, large trucks accounted for only 5 percent of all registered vehicles but 9 percent of vehicles involved in fatal accidents. This shows the immense danger that truck accident victims face, and some of those victims lose their lives because of accident-related injuries.
If you lose or lost a loved one following a fatal truck accident, your damages may include:
- Loss of consortium, including the loss of a spouse’s companionship
- Pain and suffering (both the decedents’ and survivors’)
- Loss of the decedent’s handiwork, chores, security, financial services, and other household contributions
- Loss of the decedent’s financial support
- Funeral and burial costs
Injuries and wrongful deaths can be expensive. A truck collision lawyer will work hard to ensure that liable parties cover the cost of all your accident-related damages.
How to Choose Your Truck Accident Attorney
As a roadmap for finding the right truck accident attorney for your unique needs, you should consider the following:
- Whether the law firm features truck accident cases prominently on its website
- Whether former clients generally praise or criticize the law firm
- Whether the law firm has achieved many case results in truck accident cases
You can also evaluate law firms through free consultations. You have the opportunity to speak with a firm’s representative at no cost. During consultations, consider asking why the law firm is the right choice to handle your case.
There Is No Time to Wait Before Hiring Your Truck Accident Lawyer
You should never delay in hiring a Tulsa personal injury lawyer because:
- Your attorney needs to obtain evidence from the trucking company as soon as possible (the company may otherwise dispose of necessary evidence)
- There is typically a deadline for filing a truck accident lawsuit, and you don’t want to miss it
As soon as you can, conduct your search for a lawyer and let them begin pursuing the settlement or judgment you deserve.
