[vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” el_id=”banner-general” css=”.vc_custom_1583133255962{background-image: url(https://getreport.today/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/inner-banner.jpg?id=602) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”20px”][vc_custom_heading text=”The 6 C’s of Truck Accidents” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_empty_space height=”20px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” el_class=”c6-row”][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”c6-txt”]
The Trucking Attorneys Present: The 6 C’s of Truck Accidents
If you have been involved in a truck accident, you need guidance on how to proceed, and answers to your questions. This site introduces the basics of truck accidents through the 6 C’s of Truck Accidents: Causes, Crash Aftermath, Case Steps, Commonly Asked Questions, Compensation and finally, how to Contact Us. In your time of need, the Trucking Attorney can help.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” el_class=”c6-row”][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”c6-txt”]
The First C: Causes of Truck Accidents
When we say “truck accidents,” we generally mean the kind of large trucks known as commercial trucks, which usually weigh between 10,000 and 80,000 pounds. Commercial trucks include single unit trucks with 2 or 3 axles, semi-trucks, 18 wheelers, tractor trailers, and more.
Commercial trucks can be dangerous to other drivers because these trucks weigh 20 to 30 times more than a typical passenger car, and simple physics tells us that force equals mass times velocity. When you increase the mass by 20 or 30 times, you can see how a commercial truck can cause major damage. Commercial trucks also need 20 to 40 percent more room to stop than passenger cars.
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association (FMCSA), the major causes of commercial truck accidents are:
- Braking problems, including faulty equipment and failure to maintain
- Prescription drug use
- Over the counter drug use
- Excessive speed
- Trucker’s unfamiliarity with roadway
- Driver fatigue
- Industry pressure (e.g., deadlines for deliveries)
- Improper loading
- Unqualified drivers
Time is also a major factor in truck accidents. U.S. Department of Transportation guidelines permit drivers to drive up to 11 hours consecutively per day, and to drive within a 14-hour daily window.
Also, as a result of trucking deregulation rules enacted in the early 1980s that increased competition among firms, most truck drivers are paid per mile in addition to their strict deadlines for delivering cargo.
Because of their sheer size, large trucks cause more deaths per crash than other vehicles. Statistics from the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) indicate that in 2018, large trucks represented only 4 percent of all registered vehicles, but represented 9 percent of all vehicles in fatal crashes.
In 2018, statistics show nearly 5,000 people died in crashes involving large trucks, and more than 150,000 people were injured. Of those killed, 71 percent were in a different vehicle, 18 percent were in a large truck, and 11 percent were pedestrians, bystanders, or bicyclists.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” el_class=”c6-row”][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”c6-txt”]
The Second C: Crash Aftermath (What Do I Do Now?)
If you have been involved in a large truck crash, it’s normal to be disoriented, dazed, and not know what to do. Your safety is most important, so if you need medical attention and you can call 911, do that right away. Some other steps to take are:
- Stay at the scene and report the crash to the police. After calling 911, this should always be your first step.
- Identify the other driver: what trucking firm name is on the truck?
- Exchange information with the driver, and make sure you identify the driver’s employer. As we’ll explain later, there are many parties who can be found liable in a truck accident, and you’ll want to identify as many of them as possible.
- Identify any witnesses to the crash and get their contact information. Your attorney will want to interview them to find out what they saw.
- Document the crash in pictures. Pictures really are worth a thousand words, especially when it comes to re-creating an accident scene. Remember, the details of the scene won’t last—the vehicles will be towed away, memories fade, but pictures can show exactly how everything looked.
- Keep all of your medical records related to the crash. This includes doctor visits, reports you receive from any medical-related source, prescription records, and the like.
- AVOID posting anything about the crash on social media. There’s nothing to gain from posting details of the accident, but there can be a lot to lose. Keep the details between yourself and your attorney.
- Be very careful when speaking to insurance adjusters, and think long and hard before accepting any settlement offer an adjuster might make. Remember, insurance adjusters don’t work for you, they work for the trucking firm, so their goal is to make the case go away as quickly as possible. Let your attorney handle all negotiations of that sort.
- Consider getting an attorney. Personal injury cases, like truck accidents, can be lengthy and complex. It’s often best to have an experienced attorney handle your case, rather than trying to handle it all yourself.
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The Third C: Case Progression
After being involved in a large truck crash, you should follow the 10 steps above, first.
At that point, though, many individuals decide to retain an attorney. If you do retain an attorney, here is a brief overview of how a typical case might go. While every case is different, some of the general steps are the same.
- Sign an agreement. First, you’ll discuss with your attorney the scope of the representation—what the attorney is representing you for. You’ll also discuss fees—how, and how much, your attorney will be paid.
Many attorneys take truck accident cases on a contingent fee, which means the attorney is paid a percentage of what you recover in the case.
- Investigation/evidence collection. Your attorney will compile the evidence in your case, and there’s likely to be a lot.
Evidence in truck-crash cases can include scene investigations and measurements, particularly measurements of the truck’s speed and braking. Most trucks are equipped with event data recorders, or EDRs, which record vital data about the truck’s movements before the collision, and are similar to the “black box” in an airplane.
Evidence also includes police reports, medical records, insurance paperwork and conversations with insurance adjusters, your recollections, traffic data, witness interviews, document review, and conversations with the other side.
Accident investigation can be a lengthy process involving many different parties.
- A demand letter. Once your attorney has put together the evidence in your case, he or she will serve a demand letter on the other side’s attorney, outlining exactly what you want to receive as compensation—usually money, but other things as well.
- Settlement negotiations. Truck crashes generally belong to the class of cases called personal injury It is important to note that few personal injury cases make it all the way to trial; most are settled beforehand. The negotiation process with the other side’s attorney(s) can be lengthy, but it is important to let the process play itself out rather than simply accepting the first offer that’s made.
- Although trials in personal injury cases are comparatively rare, they do happen. A trial involves a judge and a jury, and a verdict for your side or theirs. Settlements often occur right before and even during the trial process, so getting to trial does not necessarily mean your case will end in a verdict.
A Few Words About Negligence
Truck accidents, like many other personal injury cases, typically involve the legal concept of negligence. Negligence has four basic pillars: duty, breach, causation and damages. Let’s look briefly at what each of those terms could mean in a typical truck accident:
Duty: A truck driver, for example, owes a duty to other drivers, to drive safely and not endanger them. A trucking company owner has a duty to other drivers, to supervise the employees and ensure they are driving safely.
Breach: Someone in the chain, either the driver or the company owner or someone else—maybe the owner of the shipping company who contracted with the owner to ship goods—has failed to meet the required duty.
Causation: The actions of the truck driver, or company owner, have caused the accident and associated injuries to occur.
Damages: The other party—in this case, the driver of the passenger car—has suffered damages of some sort, either physical or economic or both.
Other theories that permit recovery in truck accidents are wrongful death—a death that occurs from another person’s negligence—respondeat superior, which is basically an employer’s liability for the actions of his employees, or negligence per se, which involves the violation of a statute as written.
An experienced truck accident attorney can explain all these theories.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” el_class=”c6-row”][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”c6-txt”]
The Fourth C: Commonly Asked Questions
At this point, you probably have many, many questions about truck accidents. This section answers some of the most common questions about truck accident cases:[/vc_column_text][vc_tta_accordion color=”sandy-brown” spacing=”5″ gap=”4″ c_icon=”chevron” c_position=”right” active_section=”1″ no_fill=”true” el_class=”6c-acc4″][vc_tta_section title=”Q: How common are truck accidents, compared to automobile accidents?” tab_id=”1588330080365-b9685a51-6ba7″ el_class=”c6-acc”][vc_column_text el_class=”c6-acc2″]Car accidents are more than 10 times more likely to occur than large truck accidents.
In 2018, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration reported there were about 531,000 crashes involving large trucks, defined as trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds. These statistics do not include buses or recreational vehicles (RVs).
In contrast, in 2018 there were 6.73 million motor vehicle accidents nationwide, so there were about 12-13 auto accidents for every large truck crash.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Q: So why are large truck accidents so dangerous?” tab_id=”1588330080391-5906287a-b297″ el_class=”c6-acc”][vc_column_text el_class=”c6-acc2″]Simply put, large trucks cause more damage in accidents than passenger cars, because of large trucks’ sheer size. Remember that large trucks are 20-30 times heavier on average than cars, and force equals mass (weight), times acceleration.
The force delivered is the vehicle’s speed, squared; this means that doubling a large truck’s speed increases the force it delivers by four.
Now imagine the force of an 80,000-pound vehicle traveling at highway speeds. A large truck will deliver many times more force than a passenger car, and therefore will cause much greater damage.
We see this in the numbers: 70 percent of people killed in large truck accidents were in a different car, while only 18 percent of those killed were in the large truck. You’re generally safer in the bigger vehicle.
Injury rates are similar. In 2018, 72 percent of those injured in large truck accidents were riding in another vehicle, while 26 percent of those injured were in the large truck.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Q: What should I watch out for when I’m driving around large trucks?” tab_id=”1588330299700-545adfe8-69dd” el_class=”c6-acc”][vc_column_text el_class=”c6-acc2″]The U.S. Department of Transportation identifies several aspects of large trucks that make them prone to accidents, including:
- Large blind spots
- Longer stopping distances—a large truck traveling 65 mph needs two football fields to stop!
- Wide turns
- Size differences. Large trucks have a higher center of gravity, so they roll over more easily than smaller vehicles. Also, smaller vehicles can be pushed or pulled under a commercial vehicle with high ground clearance, like a large truck.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Q: Where and when do most large truck accidents occur?” tab_id=”1588330325766-8d2b8e3a-64a4″ el_class=”c6-acc”][vc_column_text el_class=”c6-acc2″]Seeing large trucks whiz by on the interstate suggests most large truck accidents happen there, but that isn’t the case. Only about one-quarter of large truck accidents in 2018 happened on interstate highways. So, most crashes occurred on state highways, rural roads or city streets.
The state with the highest percentage of fatal truck crashes is Texas, with 13.5 percent in 2018—a rate nearly double that of the next-highest state, California.
More than three-fourths (77 percent) of all fatal truck crashes occurred during the week; two-thirds of all fatal truck crashes occurred in the daytime.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Q: Do truck drivers have special laws they have to follow?” tab_id=”1588330349941-13a04aa7-c80e” el_class=”c6-acc”][vc_column_text el_class=”c6-acc2″]Yes. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has enacted a set of regulations for the trucking industry, found in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations. States also have their own regulations for large trucks.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Q: What do those special laws look like?” tab_id=”1588330373962-2abdbee9-8565″ el_class=”c6-acc”][vc_column_text el_class=”c6-acc2″]In terms of regulation, for example, truck drivers must have a commercial driver’s license, or CDL. For work hours, drivers are limited to 11 hours consecutively when hauling property, and 14 hours in a day. To help enforce these time rules, large trucks are equipped with Electronic Logging Devices attached to the engine.
Other laws concern drivers’ blood-alcohol limitations—which are more stringent than for “regular” drivers—and properly securing cargo.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Q: If I’m involved in a large truck accident, whom can I sue?” tab_id=”1588330397695-163fddd6-6553″ el_class=”c6-acc”][vc_column_text el_class=”c6-acc2″]
A truck accident often involves more people, and thus more potential liability, than a typical auto accident. For example, a truck accident victim may sue one or more of the following:
- the truck driver individually
- the owner of the trucking company
- the company that provided the driver
- the shipper of the truck’s cargo
- the truck manufacturer
- The truck mechanic
- the city or town that controls the roads
Because there are so many potential defendants, and strategic reasons about which ones to sue and on what basis, many victims often turn to a truck accident attorney for help.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Q: If I decide to sue, what can I be compensated for?” tab_id=”1588330429885-8a128cfb-1e06″ el_class=”c6-acc”][vc_column_text el_class=”c6-acc2″]You can recover for things including, but not limited to, pain and suffering, medical expenses, lost wages, lost earning potential, and property and vehicle damage. There is no comprehensive list—it all depends on the specific facts of your case.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Q: How much can I expect to recover in a lawsuit?” tab_id=”1588330457072-ab1fbd21-e042″ el_class=”c6-acc”][vc_column_text el_class=”c6-acc2″]The short answer is, there is no average dollar figure. Each case has different facts and circumstances, not to mention different states, different defendants, and the fact that some cases get settled before trial while others end in jury verdicts.
Some attorneys will tout past jury verdicts their firm has achieved, and those large numbers might look appealing. However, those huge numbers can be misleading. Past results are no guarantee of what will happen in your case. Your attorney will explain the unique aspects of your case and help you understand what to expect.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Q: What other factors can affect my lawsuit?” tab_id=”1588330485380-754a5328-ad1a” el_class=”c6-acc”][vc_column_text el_class=”c6-acc2″]Keep in mind that in a truck accident lawsuit, time is very important. Truck accidents often result in personal injury lawsuits, which are a type of civil lawsuit.
Every state has a statute of limitations for civil lawsuits, which sets a time limit after which a lawsuit can’t be filed. Most states’ statutes range from 1-6 years, so if you sue after that time, your suit will be barred.
Also, evidence degrades and disappears over time. Memories fail, and details become fuzzy.
Finally, in some states, if you are even 1 percent at fault for an accident, you can’t recover damages for negligence. An attorney can help you understand the laws in your state.
The main thing to remember if you’re involved in a truck accident is, you have to act quickly.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][/vc_tta_accordion][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” el_class=”c6-row”][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”c6-txt”]
The Fifth C: Compensation
As stated above, there is no average dollar amount you can expect to receive if you are involved in a large-truck accident. There are too many factors that go into any single case.
Just a few of the many factors that dictate your case’s value include:
- Your age
- Your injuries and related medical expenses
- Your other economic damages, e.g., lost wages
- The state where the accident occurred
- Your degree of fault
- The size of the trucking company’s insurance policy
- How many defendants there are
There are many more factors that determine how much you can recover in a large-truck accident. The best way to understand your own situation is to contact an experienced truck-accident attorney.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” el_class=”c6-row”][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”c6-txt”]
The Sixth C: Contacting Us
The dedicated attorneys at The Trucking Attorney are standing by to hear from you. Call us at 877-444-7929 and let us help. The Trucking Attorney’s experienced staff will work with you to get the best possible result for you and your family.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” el_class=”c6-row”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”50px”][/vc_column][/vc_row]