Anyone who’s ever shared the road with semi-trucks, logging trucks, moving trucks, or other types of large commercial vehicles may find themselves wondering: what happens when a truck driver has an accident?
While truck accident cases are rarer than accidents involving personal vehicles, they often involve more severe injuries, greater vehicular damage, and a more involved litigation process. Truck accident law is a special type of personal injury law that focuses on these cases.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is responsible for setting the standards for interstate trucking safety in the United States. The individual states regulate truck use inside their borders, along similar categories. This includes hours of service, drug and alcohol testing, and protocols for transporting hazardous materials, among other things. After a trucking accident, it is common for one or more of these standards to have not been met, either by the truck driver, the trucking company, or another third party.
As truck accident attorneys, we provide legal representation to those injured in a commercial truck accident. This could be a pedestrian, a private driver or passenger, or even a truck driver. Our goal is to successfully advocate for people in trucking accidents.
Do you need a truck accident lawyer? Call our law firm for a free consultation: 301-790-3600.
What happens after a truck accident?
When a truck driver is involved in an accident, the aftermath can involve several steps, both legal and otherwise. The consequences of the accident will depend on accident severity, the parties involved, and liability (who is at fault). The first steps for anyone involved in a trucking accident are getting to safety and determining the extent of the injuries.
After a truck accident, the driver(s) should ensure the scene is safe by parking in a secure location, using hazard signals, and then immediately assessing for injuries. Because trucks are much heavier than passenger cars, collisions with smaller vehicles can result in a medical emergency. If you are involved in a truck accident, call 911 as soon as you are able to dispatch emergency medical services.
After an accident—even a relatively minor one—the truck driver must report the accident to law enforcement and their employer. If the accident is serious or involves fatalities, a drug and alcohol test may be required.
If you have been involved in a trucking accident that you believe is not your fault, you may wish to retain a personal injury lawyer to help you secure compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering, property damage, lost wages, and so forth.
Call the truck accident attorneys at Poole Law Group for a free consultation on your truck accident case: 301-790-3600.
Determining Liability after a Trucking Accident
Many truck accidents are the result of driver negligence. If the truck driver’s actions (e.g., distracted driving, speeding, or fatigue) caused the accident, they may be held personally liable for damages. This liability often extends to the trucking company if it fails in hiring, training, or maintaining its vehicles properly. Liability may be shared between the driver, trucking company, or even third parties like other motorists or manufacturers of faulty equipment.
To determine who was responsible for your trucking accident, you may need to work with an experienced truck accident law firm like the Poole Law Group. Proving liability may require dashcam footage, truck bed video, black box reports, and other technology, and it is rare that the defendant—in this case, the trucking company—will give this up without a fight. Your attorney needs to act very quickly. One of the most common errors we see is that parties wait to get an attorney or that attorney is slow in gathering the key evidence after a crash. Delay can severely impact your case; it is not unusual for key evidence to “disappear” soon after the incident. If liability is in dispute, a truck accident attorney will be able to speed up the process to resolve your case quickly.
What happens to the truck driver after an accident?
Like any professional, truck drivers may face legal and financial repercussions if they fail to follow the rules governing their profession. If a truck driver is found at fault for an accident, they could face lawsuits for damages covering medical expenses, lost income, property damage, and emotional suffering. Accidents arising from drug or alcohol use may result in license suspension or revocation for CDL drivers, as well as disciplinary action from their employer, up to and including termination.
Broader Impacts of Truck Accidents
Truck accidents often lead to road closures and long delays, particularly if the truck is in the way of traffic. Because of the weight of the vehicles involved, cleaning up truck accidents may require special machinery or equipment to move the tractor and/or trailer if the vehicle is inoperable. Additionally, if hazardous materials have spilled during the accident, there could be significant environmental damage.
How do truck accidents occur?
Truck accidents occur due to a variety of factors, namely: human error, mechanical issues, and environmental conditions.
Driver-related factors may include fatigue, distracted driving, or speeding. Aggressive behaviors—tailgating, improper lane changes, and so forth—make it harder to control large trucks. Truck drivers may be as young as 18 in some states, and as such, driver inexperience may also be a factor in truck accidents. Finally, alcohol or drug use impairs reaction time and decision-making and is a common cause of motor vehicle accidents, including those involving trucks.
Not all accidents are the fault of the truck driver, however. Mechanical issues, equipment failures, and improperly loaded cargo can cause rollovers, fishtailing and a loss of control that can result in trucking accidents. Trucking companies are responsible for maintaining their fleet; brake problems, tire blowouts, or other mechanical defects contribute significantly to crashes.
Finally, environmental and external factors can increase the risk of trucking accidents. Just as with personal vehicles, rain, snow, and ice reduce visibility and traction, increasing accident risks. Roadway problems—issues like potholes, loose gravel, or poor signage—can lead to accidents, as can traffic flow issues. In the latter cases, municipalities may be found partially liable.
If you have been involved in a truck accident, talk to our team of dedicated truck accident attorneys at Poole Law Group: 301-790-3600. We offer free consultations, seven days a week.
What is the average settlement for a semi-truck accident?
If you have been injured in a truck accident, you may be wondering what your case is worth. The truth is that case value can only be determined through a settlement or verdict; in many cases, full, fair compensation is only achievable with the help of a truck accident attorney.
The potential value of a truck accident case will vary widely depending on the specifics of the case, including the severity of injuries, liability, and state laws. National averages typically range from $500,000 to $1,000,000, in cases involving severe injuries or wrongful death, but, depending on the evidence and how it is presented, the values can be much more. Cases involving long-term disability or multiple injuries often result in settlements meeting or exceeding $750,000, and often far in excess of $1,000,000. If the facts support such a claim, the key is understanding and uncovering the types of insurance involved, and the parties that should be held liable.
In cases involving life-altering injuries, fatalities, and/or a defendant’s flagrant disregard for the law, truck accident case outcomes may far exceed $1,000,000, with some cases reaching many millions of dollars. All trucking companies are required to have at least $750,000 in liability insurance; multistate truck carriers may carry insurance policies of $5 million or more.
If your attorney is well-versed in transportation law, he or she will be able to explain to you the different parties that may have liability, the specific claims that can be made against each, and the varying types of insurance that can apply, and under what circumstances. If your attorney is not able to do that, you might consider a second opinion. The work is complicated, but the effort can be very worthwhile.
Call Poole Law Group to speak to a truck accident attorney about your case: 301-790-3600.
