Some types of truck accidents include jackknife accidents, rear-end accidents, head-on collisions, side-impact accidents, rollover accidents, and underride accidents. Some accident types inflict dangerous injuries, especially head-on and underride accidents. However, any truck accident can cause severe and even fatal injuries.
Every truck accident victim deserves justice. However, many victims lack the physical, psychological, and legal ability to handle their cases in the manner they should be handled. Allow a Ontario truck accident attorney to lead every step of your case so you can focus on recovery.
Common Types of Truck Accidents
The details of your truck accident matter immensely. Your attorney will begin building your case by determining the category your truck accident falls into, which may include:
Underride Accidents
Underride accidents happen more often than official data suggests.
These collisions can happen when:
- A motor vehicle strikes a truck from the rear, sliding underneath the rear end of the cargo trailer
- A motor vehicle slides underneath the space between the truck’s front and rear tires, which presents the possibility of the truck running over the vehicle’s cab
The risk of serious injury is very high if a motor vehicle becomes lodged underneath a taller truck. While a motor vehicle provides some protection, it may not protect the occupant against the crushing force of a truck.
Rear-End Accidents
The federal weight limit for a fully loaded cargo truck is 80,000 pounds. When a vehicle of this weight rear-ends a smaller, lighter vehicle, the result can be catastrophic.
While rear-end accidents involving two cars are not always devastating, the involvement of a large truck significantly increases the danger.
Head-On Accidents
Head-on accidents are comparatively rare, but they pose an outsize risk of serious injuries when they occur. This is particularly true when a vehicle weighing as much as a large truck strikes another vehicle head-on.
Side-Impact Accidents
When one vehicle strikes another in a T-formation, it’s called a side-impact collision or T-bone accident.
These accidents:
- Can occur when a truck driver runs a red light or engages in other dangerous activity
- Can be particularly dangerous for those occupying the side of the vehicle that the truck strikes
- Can result in severe injury and death of victims
Any truck accident can seriously injure you. Protect your financial future by hiring a truck accident attorney today if you or a loved one suffered an injury in such a collision.
Jackknife Accidents
The formation is known as a jackknife when a cargo truck’s trailer slides around toward the cab. Jackknifing can cause the truck operator to lose control of the vehicle, and the cab or trailer may strike other vehicles.
If you were in one of these or another type of truck accident, you may recover compensation. Insurance companies and other liable parties may offer less compensation than you deserve and can even deny your claim.
Why Should I Hire a Truck Accident Lawyer?
Most accident victims won’t be in a collision with a large truck more than once in their lives. This means you may not know how to proceed.
Hiring a truck accident lawyer can make up for any inexperience you may have with truck accident claims (and truck accident lawsuits).
Hire an attorney because:
- A lawyer has the experience you lack: Truck accident lawyers know how to obtain evidence from trucking companies, value truck accident victims’ damages, and secure fair financial recoveries for their clients. Their experience should allow your attorney to handle your case efficiently and confidently.
- Your primary focus is recovery (and you want to keep it that way): If you suffered an injury in a truck accident, your recovery should have your full attention. You may be in and out of the doctor’s office, resting for large periods of the day, and taking medications that alter your mood and thought process. This can make it challenging to handle your claim or lawsuit (and that is OK, hire a lawyer).
- You have no legal education, training, or experience: Attorneys undergo years of schooling to learn the law and the realities of being a lawyer. They also receive training and accrue experience that allows them to be effective. If you don’t have such training and experience, there is a clear reason to hire a truck accident lawyer.
- You don’t have to pay a lawyer from your own pocket: Attorneys use a low-risk fee structure for clients’ benefit. Their contingency fee arrangement means you can hire an attorney today without paying any out-of-pocket fees or costs. This should make your decision easier than it would otherwise be.
- You want to maintain the option of filing a lawsuit (and going to trial): Some accident victims can handle their insurance claim, though they might not do so effectively. Completing a lawsuit is an entirely more complex challenge. If you hire a truck accident lawyer, you make all options available—including suing.
The benefits of hiring a lawyer may extend to your health. Because a lawyer manages your case, you may face far less stress, have more time to rest and receive treatment, and avoid worsening your health.
Recoverable Damages in Your Truck Accident Case
Large trucks cause disproportionate numbers of fatal accidents due to their size and weight.
Those who survive their truck accidents may face several debilitating damages, including:
- Pain and suffering: Truck accidents are synonymous with pain and suffering. Being in a collision can cause immediate pain, lingering emotional anguish, psychological distress, and conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression. Your attorney will consult qualified mental health providers to evaluate your pain and suffering and establish the cost of these damages.
- Medical costs: Your lawyer will include all accident-related medical expenses in your truck accident claim or lawsuit. The more severe your injuries are, the more complicated your medical needs may be. Your attorney will account for all medical items and services from the accident through the moment you reach maximum recovery.
- Lost income: Accident victims often lose income when they miss work after a collision. You may also lose earning capacity, bonus opportunities, and other professional benefits while you suffer an injury.
- Property-related costs: Cars, small trucks, SUVs, and other passenger vehicles may be totaled when hit by a large truck weighing tens of thousands of pounds. Your lawyer will demand fair compensation to replace (or repair, if possible) your damaged vehicle. Your lawyer will also calculate temporary transportation costs and the cost of replacing any other damaged property.
- Disability-related costs: If your truck accident causes any disability—which is a distinct possibility—your lawyer will consider the total cost of being disabled. It may include debilitating pain and suffering, permanent loss of earning power, medical equipment, a disability-friendly vehicle, and other damages.
Your lawyer will know you have one opportunity to secure compensation for accident-related damages. They will take a detail-oriented, thorough approach to ensure their settlement demands reflect the total cost of your accident (and all related injuries).
Damages in Fatal Truck Accident Cases
The effects of a truck accident don’t always affect the victim alone.
When such accidents kill someone, the victim’s loved ones bear a tragic cost that can include:
- Loss of consortium (which is the non-economic value a person provides their loved ones)
- Loss of the decedent’s income and other types of financial support
- Funeral costs
- Loss of help the decedent provides their household members
- Pain and suffering, which is always a key consideration in wrongful death cases
The loss of a loved one cannot be undone. However, a lawyer can obtain justice for you. A truck accident attorney will work hard to get a fair financial outcome whether you have lost a loved one or suffered non-fatal injuries.
Who Must Pay for the Cost of My Truck Accident?
Your attorney will determine who is financially responsible for the consequences of your truck accident, including economic and non-economic damages.
Those you may hold responsible for your damages (and the subject of a lawsuit) include:
- An at-fault truck driver: If a truck driver’s actions or failure to act resulted in your accident, they may be personally liable for your accident-related damages. Often, suing a trucking company can make more sense, as companies tend to have greater financial resources than truck drivers.
- A trucking company: A trucking company can be financially liable for its employees’ failures, including drivers. The company may also be liable if it engaged in negligence, such as failing to hire fit drivers or using unsafe trucks.
- A truck manufacturer: If defects in a truck or trailer contributed to your truck accident, the manufacturer may be liable for your accident-related damages.
- A municipality: Municipalities can be liable when they create or allow dangerous road conditions. Such conditions include hazardous work zones, malfunctioning traffic signals, and unsafe driving surfaces.
There are endless scenarios that can cause truck accidents. Attorneys must evaluate fault and liability case-by-case, as no two collisions happen in the same way (or for the same reason). Your lawyer will review all available facts, evidence, and accounts to establish liability for your damages.
How Your Attorney Will Work to Achieve Financial Justice for You
When you hire a truck accident lawyer, allow them to take every aspect of your case off your hands. Your attorney will handle both the big-picture and fine details of your case, and they will:
Establish Liability for Your Damages
Your attorney will review all available information to determine who is liable for your truck accident (and related damages). Multiple parties can be liable, and your attorney will create a customized strategy for obtaining the compensation you deserve.
Determine Your Case’s Value
Your lawyer will calculate the exact value of your case, which is based on your unique damages. Because no two truck accident cases are identical, your attorney’s settlement demands will be based on you and you alone.
Secure Proof of Your Damages
Your lawyer will obtain proof of damages to support their settlement demands, including:
- All medical records related to injuries from your truck accident
- Invoices for the repair or replacement of your vehicle
- Mental health professionals’ diagnoses of PTSD, anxiety, depression, and other form of pain and suffering
- Evidence you have lost income because of the truck accident
Truck accident lawyers often hire experts to help prove their clients’ damages. From doctors to therapists and automotive repair professionals, your lawyer will lean on experts in their fields to help build your case.
Gather Evidence of Liable Parties’ Fault and Liability
Your lawyer will investigate your accident and secure all relevant evidence, which may include:
- Witness accounts of driver negligence or other events that led to the collision
- Video of the truck accident
- An expert’s reconstruction of the accident (which can be a suitable substitute for video footage)
- A police officer’s report detailing your accident
- Photos of the accident scene, including vehicle damage
Trucking companies sometimes have useful evidence to support a victim’s case. Understandably, those companies are not usually eager to hand that evidence over. Your lawyer will take any necessary measures to secure such evidence for your case.
Negotiate a Settlement
Lawyers negotiate. Your attorney will have precise settlement demands and documentation supporting those demands.
Your lawyer will insist that you receive compensation covering both present and future damages. They will update you throughout negotiations and advise whether to accept settlement offers.
Handle Any Necessary Lawsuit and Trial
Trials are relatively rare compared with settlements. However, many truck accident victims have secured fair compensation because their lawyers took their cases to court.
If you and your lawyer decide to go to court, your attorney will work to convince a jury to award you the money you deserve.
Don’t Wait to Hire Your Truck Accident Attorney
Your personal injury lawyer only has a limited time to file an injury lawsuit if necessary in your case. Don’t wait to identify the right lawyer for your case and hire them to represent you. The process starts with your free, no-risk consultation.