Categories: Lifestyle

Hit By A Semi-Truck? – You Need A Lawyer

Getting into a motor vehicle accident with a semi-truck is much different from getting into an accident with another car or passenger truck. For one thing, semi-trucks are much larger and heavier than your vehicle, so there’s likely to be much more damage. For another, the laws regulating truck drivers can be tricky, making an injury case significantly more complex. These reasons, among others, are why you need to hire a truck accident lawyer as soon as possible following a semi-truck accident.

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Semi Truck Accident Cases Can Get Complicated

The resulting injury case is usually reasonably straightforward when you are involved in a car accident with another driver. There’s probably one party at fault, and the only thing left to do is make sure that party’s insurance company settles for an appropriate amount to compensate you for your injuries.

But with a semi-truck accident, there could be multiple parties involved in the case. So, for example, there’s the driver, the trucking company the driver is driving for, the truck manufacturer, the shipping company, and possibly even the company that performs maintenance on the truck.

Whether or not all these parties are actually involved in your specific case depends on what is determined to be the cause of the accident, but you’re probably going to be suing more than one entity. This can add quite a bit of complexity to your case that should be handled by a professional who is familiar with cases that involve more than one party.

Trucking Laws Can Be Challenging

Truckers have to follow very specific laws when driving commercial vehicles, which means whether or not they followed those laws will be a factor in your case. You’ll want someone who is experienced in investigating truckers’ driving logs and vehicle reports to handle your case because the determination of a driver’s negligence could hinge on these laws.

When you hire a truck accident attorney, you gain access to their resources, including investigators who know what to look for when examining a trucker’s driving logs. They will also request the truck’s maintenance and driving records to ensure the truck was in good mechanical condition when it was on the road. Since you have to prove negligence to receive compensation or win a court case, you will want an investigator who knows what they’re doing on your case.

Large Amounts Of Money Could Be In-Play

The number of parties involved in a truck accident combined with potentially serious injuries with high medical bills means significant amounts of money could be involved in a settlement or award. Unless you’re an experienced negotiator, you will probably want someone advising you throughout the negotiation process, so you don’t accept an offer that sounds good to you but won’t cover your future medical bills and lost wages. An attorney will make sure you get every penny you deserve.

Conclusion

If you’ve been in an accident with a semi-truck, don’t try to handle the case independently. Instead, these types of complex situations require an experienced accident attorney to ensure your rights are represented every step of the way.