5 Things You Should Know About Accidents Involving a Tractor-Trailer Truck
- Do I need to hire a lawyer for my truck accident?
- When should I hire a truck accident lawyer?
- Dealing with the Insurance Companies
- Negligence that causes truck accidents
- Complex trucking laws and regulations
#1: Do I need to hire a lawyer for my truck accident?
A: The simple answer is no.
However, you need to be careful not to sign away your legal rights with the other insurance company for a small settlement. If you agree to a settlement and sign the release papers, you cannot change your mind or come back for another settlement at a later date.
#2: When should I hire a truck accident lawyer?
If you have been affected by the following, we recommend you contact a lawyer immediately for a free consultation.
- Life-Altering Injuries: If you are permanently injured after a semi-truck accident, it is likely that you will be facing a lifelong battle of challenges. An experienced truck accident lawyer can help the insurance companies, and a jury, understand precisely how much your injury has affected how you will live the rest of your life.
- Your Injuries Are Severe: Even when not permanent, severe injuries can still be debilitating resulting in expensive medical bills. An experienced tractor-trailer accident attorney knows that their client should reach maximum medical improvement before beginning negotiations with the insurance companies. This will ensure that all of your medical bills relating to the accident are included in a settlement. In addition, they will make sure lost wages are also included.
- Liability Is Uncertain: It’s not always clear who is at fault in a Virginia truck accident and who should be held liable. When multiple parties are involved, the insurance companies will do all they can to shift liability to another insurer. If there are numerous injuries, there may be less settlement money to go around. Sometimes it’s uncertain if the at-fault driver has insurance. In these situations, you should contact a personal injury lawyer to ensure all avenues of compensation are explored.
#3: Dealing with the Insurance Companies
Truck injury and death cases demand immediate attention more so than any other type of case we handle. Because of the severe injuries suffered by many truck accident victims, trucking companies and their insurance companies have ‘rapid response’ teams on stand-by to fly in and sanitize their liability to an extraordinary extent.
To level the playing field, truck accident victims should act quickly to hire an experienced lawyer to secure critical evidence. Our attorneys and staff will immediately notify the insurance companies involved to protect you from abusive insurance company tactics.
#4: Negligence that Causes Accidents & Injury
- Truck drivers who have been on the road for too long with inadequate sleep
- Truck drivers who have become impaired from alcohol and drugs, especially stimulants taken to overcome excessive time on the roads
- Trucks with excessive loads; causing the overloaded truck to become dangerously uncontrollable over-sized trucks which exceed established rules and regulations for the safe length, width, and height for operation
- Missing safety equipment; including the absence of reflectors, lights, and other warning devices
- Poorly maintained brakes and tires
- Excessive speed & following too closely
- Cell phone use and other distractions
#5: Trucking Laws and Regulations are Complex
Our attorneys understand there are extensive rules and regulations unique to truck drivers and trucking companies which operate in our state. There are numerous complicated factors that need to be looked into when it comes to commercial vehicle accidents.
It is critical to hire a lawyer who understands these complex rules and regulations.
The heavy volume of trucking in our area coupled with the huge weight of a tractor-trailer, resulting in a significant number of truck accident victims who often suffer from severe injuries including brain damage, spinal cord injuries, major damage to the vertebrae and discs of their neck and back, and even death.
Contact a Virginia Truck Accident Personal Injury Lawyer
These rules exist for our safety. There are too many truck accidents on the road, and too many truck drivers willing to take reckless risks at the expense of everyone else’s safety. As an experienced truck accident attorney, I have seen what these accidents can do first-hand. Trucking is a wonderful way to transport goods around the country, but the fact is, the job needs to be done safely—and that’s why it’s important we have rules to combat dangerous and preventable behavior like driver fatigue.
Trucking in Virginia
Norfolk International Terminal, Portsmouth International Terminal, Newport News International Terminal, as well as commercial trucking centers located in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Eastern Shore and other communities of Tidewater Virginia have generated an explosion of truck and tractor-trailer traffic in our area.
The Interstate 95 corridor throughout Petersburg, Richmond, and into Northern Virginia hosts a very significant volume of trucks. Route 460, cutting east to west across the state of Virginia is notorious for fatal trucking accidents. And, the interstate 81 corridor, which runs through Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, is one of the most notorious for tractor-trailer traffic in the state. The result for Virginia drivers has been devastating.
